Monday 18th March Day 240
Monday morning sees me at the dinette at 8.30am after a coffee in bed and a few more chapters read. I spend a few hours working on the freelance book festival work and then start faffing again with the canal book. I really need to get a move on and start editing if I’m going to publish it this year. I’m still wondering if i will self publish or try and find a home for it but first it needs to be written and edited.
After lunch we decide to cruise and as we untie the ropes, the sunshine joins us and we enjoy a pleasant two and a half hour cruise stopping to fill up with water as we have put the washing machine on. The travel pack comes on as we stop for water – we have given up trying to work the blooming thing out! The water point is situated at a lovely CRT boat yard and if you use your imagination, you can picture how it used it was probably a hive of activity back in the day. It has a fab clock tower and some very interesting building surrounding it.
We moor up near some woods and go for a walk… ((Peachy stopped here because they went for a walk. Imagine if she never came back and this was it… ohhhh that would make a great thriller. The case of the disappearing author… I might write a book about that. About the only way to make you famous so you sell more books)) Hey, ((Ooppps she’s back!)) I haven’t gone yet!
It’s a lovely walk past Springwood Marina where you can hire boats and then over the bridge and upto the Quarry Mans walk. There is a lovely area here which has been turned into a nature reserve and it’s a very pleasant wander – although wellies were required as most of the towpath are muddy. We really need some precious sunshine and dry days. Day done. Until tomorrow. x
Cruising miles: 3
Tuesday 19th March Day 241
Various noises coming from the direction of the woods wake us at 1.30am. It’s probably just animals or just maybe the wind moving the buoys. Of course, my brain thinks of serial killers or vampires and before I know it my imagination is off making up characters and stories so takes a while to get back to sleep.
As a result we don’t make until about 9am but by 10am we’ve had the usual coffee in bed and catch up on socials before it up and time to get some vlogging done as it’s raining outside definitely an inside type of morning.
After lunch the rain clears so we decide to cruise the boat in the afternoon. It’s not the nicest stretch of the Coventry canal as there is a lot of rubbish, predominately plastic bottles everywhere and it isn’t until we get past Nuneaton; where there are lots of lovely allotments and before we know it we are at the entrance of the Ashby canal. We didn’t mean to cruise this far today but here we are. We both feel different arriving onto this new section of canal. I’ve mentioned before we’ve cruised the Ashby canal before on a hire boat back in 2021 and it’s great to be back. Almost feel like we are holiday ((Well!)) we cruise past a couple of bridges and moor up for the night, else before we know it will be another canal ticked off the list.
About half an hour before sunset we go for a little walk and end up seeing the couple who we have been boat hopping on the Coventry canal and through the Atherstone locks. As the chat progresses we exchange names and realise that they were in Great Haywood marina for the same amount of time as we were and we’d never met them. The marina wasn’t that big so I’m surprised none of us remember seeing each other. They have been boating for many years and it’s lovely to chat to them and get a few very important top tips.
A very pleasant day done. Until tomorrow. x Cruising miles: 5
Wednesday 20th March Day 242
We were very rudely woken at who knows what hour by a bloomin’ duck who had seemingly decided to enter the duck Guinness World records of how long it could quack for! This duck was probably the longest holder of the world record for quacking continually for a indecent amount of time! Anyway, once up and about I crack on with some book festival work whilst Chris cleans the boat keeping ours eyes peeled to shout at the culprit.
It was more or less a day at the dinette for me to get all the vlogs sorted and uploaded to Patreon and Youtube so not much else to share. I did edit quite a lot of my canal book and realised how much I say I’m doing this – which of course I will edit from the book ((Oh, I see! But we have to read it!)) but that is normal life on the boat. ((We know, you mainly sit on your backside)) OI!
As the promised rain hasn’t arrived, we decide it’s cruising time in the afternoon and very pleasant it is, as we reminisce about the time we were on here on a canal holiday and how much we’ chatted’d talked about owning our own and 3 years later here we are. ((You don’t muck about Peachy!)) Life is too short Brackets – if you get an opportunity go for it and worry about the consequences after! Day Done. Until tomorrow. x Cruising Miles : 5
Thursday 21st March Day 243
Today we broke our bodies by wandering into Hinkley and around the charity shops and buying some shopping we needed. I don’t know how far it is but it was one of those when you feel like you’ve been walking forever! A bit like when we walked the Yorkshire Three Peaks and after 11 hours you wondered if the end was in sight so you could lay down.
When we get back to the boat we both have a power nap ((You’re both so old!)) then powered by coffee after the nap I record the vlog about living in the marina over winter; which has been really popular. Our subscribers are increasing most days which is good. Hopefully I will be able to share reaching that all important 1K subscribers in the not too distant future.
I never used to like power naps but as middle age has arrived i’m all for them. My strict rules are no napping after 2.30pm and for no longer than hour and a strong coffee must be consumed afterwards. Then you’re good to go.
We decide to stay put rather than cruising so I spend the rest of the afternoon faffing. Day done. x
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Friday 22nd March Day 244
Today we left the lovely mooring at Hinkley as it was time to cruise as we need the boat facilities. There are a distinct lack of places to empty our bins; in point of fact, I think the only place is at the end of the canal as all the others have been removed which is a bit annoying so we just have to stash the bags in the bow until we get to the end. Apparently, people were dumping so much rubbish at the one near on the rubbish bins they got rid of it. I don’t know if that is canal gossip or the truth but I’m sure we have all seen signs of people fly tipping! I don’t think it’s really the answer that we should go without a service because of other people’s actions but there you go.
We manage to film a baby Muntjac deer on the towpath – what an amazing animals we are lucky enough to see, as we spot a few water voles as well. There is so much wildlife to enjoy on this canals and we feel so privileged to see it.
We cruise for another 5 miles today from Nutts Bridge to Sutton Wharf mooring which is near the Battle of Bosworth, so once the rain has stopped we take a wander up and enjoy the stunning views across the countryside.
There is nothing much to report at the moment on the book front as I’m waiting to get my book back from my publishers for editing and I’ve been working on the canal book. I really need to set aside some proper time to work on thriller novel as I’m more than ready to get stuck into the series. Day done. Until tomorrow. x Cruising Miles: 5
Saturday 23rd March Day 245
Rain. Sun. rain. Sun. sun. Hailing. Rain. Sun – oh yes folks, Spring has Sprung in the UK! We loiter around in the morning watching a bit of bike racing and I did some more editing on the canal book and then after lunch we decided to brave a cruise as I’m meeting a friend tomorrow and want to be near a place she can park.
I lasted a few minutes on the stern before going back in the boat as it’s so cold even though there are blue skies ((Wimp!)) I know, I’m a fair-weather cruises kinda person and Chris insists on being the captain so he has to cruise in all weather conditions. I did make him hot drinks ((So kind!)) anyway, I have work to do so crack on with that. ((Oh yeah. Any excuse to not go out in the dodgy weather!))
We cruise for a couple of hours before arriving at the mooring near Market Bosworth. There are two water points here as well so it will probably be a washing day on Monday when we cruise, so we can fill the tank straight back up again. Moored up we decide to wander into the historic town which is about a 20 min walk ((they are so exhausted they end up going to the pub! They are old so don’t think too badly of them)) Actually, it was mainly to visit he second oldest building in the town The Red Lion Pub built in… ((oh pull the other one and save it for the canal book)) well, the canal book will have more of a history element to it so i will.
With black clouds threatening, we walk back to the boat with our shopping. A hire boat has moored behind us and they ask us how far it is to walk into town as they have had enough of ‘barging’ ; this makes us chuckle. I’m sure someone might have told them that’s not the right term but we just point them in the right direction and tell them to enjoy themselves. Like in all walks of life, hire boaters seem to get it in the neck and rightly so sometimes they go too fast or do things wrong but we were all novices at one time ((Remember all the boats you’ve crashed into and how you both couldn’t even moor one of hire boats!)) exactly. I’m all for people having fun and enjoying the canals. Day done. until tomorrow. x Cruising Miles: 3
Sunday 24th March Day 246
It’s a beautiful sunny morning so we got stuck into cleaning the boat and even cleaning the oven ((What do you want? A medal?)) and the windows as due to the muddy tow paths and the ropes which dangle on them in the process of mooring up, they are a mess.
We have possibly decided that we are going to tackle the outside of the boat and hang around on the Ashby canal for a while rather than turnabout and go back to the Birmingham canal in our plan to get to London. It could be a gamble which doesn’t pay off if they end up extending the opening of the part of the Oxford which is closed due to the landslip – as it stands opening on the 19th May.
There are various rust patches which need attention and now we are somewhere near with the inside of the boat and the weather is getting to the point we can rust treat and paint the outside, we figure why not use this time to get these jobs done. There are plenty of places to moor with either decent hard standing or towpath. We will see how we get on!
My good pal Karla visited today as we moored near a community centre so she could park and after showing her the boat and all the jobs we went into Market Bosworth for a little meander around the farmers markets before heading into the café for possibly some cake ((Cake for dinner??? I can feel a diet coming on Peachy)) I know. Everytime I watch my vlogs I think about editing out the double chin – must make an effort and eat less and do more! The nicer weather and lighter nights will help ((you hope))
After a catch up it was back to the boat for more vlogging action. I might possibly be up to date soon as if we stay on the Ashby canal as I won’t be filming so much cruising and just the DIY and I’m already a week ahead so that’s good. Time to have a Sunday dinner and watch Moto GP. The end of another week. How fast is this year going and when you read this it will be April! Week done. Until tomorrow/next week. x
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C.L. Peache 