Rugeley breakin

Thanks to Chris off 'Belle' who tipped me off about the break ins on 12 boats at the Ash Tree club moorings which are just the other side of the bridge from my moorings.  We went down to the boat to check all is well and it is - so far so good.

I hope having raided so many that they will now move on or lie low for another 12 months or so.  Sounds like it is a regular occurance around here.

Oh goody.

View from a train

On Saturday I was supposed to meet himself and the duCATi at our mooring and he was going to give me a lift back to boat and on Sunday ride out to a bit of a Ducati do on the Sunday.  However he rang me when I was nearly at the mooring to say oops should have checked but the battery was back down to 3v.

I walked to the train station caught the train and saw the canal from the window.  Recognising lots of places.

At Rugby I asked kind lady in the corner shop best way to the canal and as she had an enormous Alsation which she walks regularly down there she was able to show me a quicker route to Hilmorton.  Still I was dressed for being cold and wet on the back of a bike in the rain and of course the weather was contrary in a good way so once on the canal towpath I had to basically strip down to my underwear!  Okay not really but leggings and vest which if I had been in the OLDEN DAYS would have been red flannelette.  And wear my shirt on my head.

I looked a sight.

At my age you are entitled.

Having got through the locks and watered up on Saturday I headed off for all points north on the Sunday.

The battery on the bike was charged enough for Rob to get to his bit of a do and also to visit me for a late lunch just north of Rose Narrowboats although the 2 hour break with the lads had entailed him needing another jump start (he had brought the leads just in case) I think today he is mostly ordering a new battery.

Today I made it to Atherstone and will be meeting my Aunt here later.

Cat has been and done her thang and will no doubt go out later and do it again.  Last night she was out in the pouring rain (presumably visiting local farmyards again) and didn't deign to come back until about 3am.  One very wet smelly moggy.  Serve her right.

pulled pins

A long day today left boat at 7.45 to go to work.  The boat was sprung with two pins each front and back.  When I got back at 6.30 they had obviously all been pulled out by passing boats but at least one kind person had re pinned one each front and back.  Luckily the other two were still attached to the ropes and dangling uselessly in the water.  I hope the cat hadn't been too frightened by her experience.

Based on the obvious shortcomings of my current mooring spot I decided to move a bit further up onto the pilings but when I got through the bridge I realised that that was the start of the long term moorings so I reversed back through the bridge hole.  I am a good girl I am.

In the meantime whilst reversing cat abandoned ship.

After much cajoling she briefly came under the bridge so she could at least see new location of boat but she then got distracted by smells and then of course some runners arrived and scared her off back into the hedgerow on the wrong side of the bridge.

Idiot cat is currently stuck up in the branches of a hawthorn bush.

I will go back when it is quieter and dark and see if she deigns to leave her thorny roost.

boat, bike, car, bike, boat shuffle

Appears to be working to plan.  Apart from slight hiccup at the beginning - I was hoping to cut across from Priors Hardwick down to where the car was parked via the road but was foiled by being unable to reach road from canal so had to do the wiggly bit of the summit pound by bike.  So not funny.

The towpath is so far out in the country that it is rarely walked and hence the brambles come right over it.  As it was a sunny day I was in short sleeves and now look like I am a 'cutter' with scars all down my right arm.

Having finally reached the car after 6/7 miles of sheer Hell I drove for a lovely 20 mins parked up and then cycled back about 3/4 miles to the boat.  Initially the towpath was much better and then disaster.

The canal encroached onto the towpath with corresponding bush hanging right across it.  I thought I would close my eyes and push through realising at the last minute that this was a blackberry bush so slammed the anchors on and fell into it.  As I was so close to the canal I couldn't extricate myself without the possibility of ending up in it so I chose to lie down completely in said bush and contemplate life in general.

Next day was luckily a shorter hop as I only had to cycle one mile back to car at which point I discovered I now had a flat tyre and no pump (we had stripped everything off bike when using it as a packhorse at the festival) I contemplated the nearer option for leaving the car but on looking at the map realised that the very furthest option was actually very close road wise to the nearest even though the canal twists and turns.

Furthest one it was.  Luckily for me (not being a rain fetishist like Bones) I was still in the car when the heavens opened.  I stayed in it until they had closed again and had a lovely ride on the road back to Shuckburgh where I had to join the dreaded towpath again as I didn't fancy going up hill with a flat tyre.

Last mile I had to walk as going over a bump the last of the air shot out of the tyre in one hit.  Whoosh.

Not too bad back at the boat I changed the inner tube and the third day was a doddle I moored the boat right next to the car took it on it's next hop and only had a four mile cycle ride on much improved towpath back to the boat.

Now just have to reunite boat and car in readiness for going to work tomorrow.

I might even go shopping in the car later today and restock much depleted larder.

Cropredy Festival

Firstly a huge thankyou to Bones for rescueing us.  The alarm on the bike had flattened the battery and she was able to provide the charger, multimeter and extension cable to charge it all up again.

Saturday morning we headed from our mooring way out in the wilds into Cropredy itself for water, to wind and also to unload the bike at the wharf.  On the way back there was a lovely Bobcat space in town. 

Rob had specifically asked if a BW key would open the gate and was assured it would.

It doesn't

and no these kind gentlemen were not bearing down on Rob to arrest him for loitering with intent.

but to assist in the 'cunning plan' I came up with to solve the problem.

I knew we were carrying around those ramps for a reason.

and a further thankyou to Bones' extended family for also providing a garage in Cropredy to store the bike overnight and carry on charging the battery.

It is not what you know but who you know.

Thanks Bones.

One of the highlights of the event were the Easy Star All Stars and when I'm 64.

Another was

this gentleman gaily travelling down the street tinkling his ivory's and followed by the 'shit wagon'

And this morning having my aching feet nibbled by fish.

Utter Bliss.

So today we fetched the bike from it's luxury garage, had bison icecream, motorbiked to Atherstone to pick up my car. Rob carried on to home and work on Monday while I drove back abandoning the car along the way and walking back along the towpath to the boat. 

Tomorrow I start the whole boat, bike, car shuffle fandango again.

I am very pleased with myself I didn't squeak once on the Hypermotard.

I think I might now be a biker chick.

Finally

we have the bike on board and I have a replacement battery for the camera.



The bike went on with lots of swearing and I was told to go away and not 'help'.

Some of the fixed tie points are in the wrong position and at the moment we are unable to make use of the others as the straps couldn't connect.  I need to get some more of those d connector thingys.  So the bike grab is temporarily the wrong way round.  Now we know what we need next time should be a breeze.

The camera seems to work now which is good but perhaps I should charge the battery fully before expecting huge things of this new battery.

We got to somewhere near Cropredy in good time due to someone loudly revving their engine on passing us at Napton at the ungodly hour of 5.30am.  We decided to make use of the lock now set for us and just kept going.

Cat likes the situation so can frolic to her hearts content.

Hope she is not going to be very cross when she is outside all alone while we are at the festival.

So I am off to be a festival chick.

Getting there slowly

Having got to Atherstone and done locks 11 to 8 I left the boat to go back to work.  Ach Phooey.

Rob came and picked me up Wednesday after work, I had the boat nearly ready to leave but kept some of the fuses on like the water etc and of course in the rush to get off and meet him I blithely switched them all off including the fridge.  I was therefore surprised when I got back on board to have the batteries at 100percent capacity until I opened the fridge and the light didn't come on.  Luckily not much in there and what was in there is still okay.  Even the lurpak was still solid.

I had to move the boat throught the next two locks to get nearer my car because I went around and around Atherstone trying to find the road Rob had picked me up from to no avail.  I think what was confusing me was the A5 crosses the canal and the bit I wanted was therefore on the 'wrong' side.  Nevermind meant I crossed off another two locks.  I asked a local for somewhere to leave the car and ended up leaving it somewhere completely different.  Hope it is okay.

Cat has settled back in no problem.

Today managed to do the last 5 locks and meet my sister in Bedworth.  All in all a successful day even if I didn't manage to get to Sutton Stop.  Tomorrow I need to fill up with diesel.  I would have done it today but was 'rushing' to make the rendevous with sister. I know I know rushing and canals don't mix.  Hope the next boatyard is not one of them that shuts on a Monday.

I have ordered a battery for the camera - hope that solves the problem and that I don't need to buy a new camera.

Going, going gone

Today whilst filling my water tank at Fradley Junction I watched a woman slowly and gently fall in!  Made my day as it is my first sighting of this rare event.  Luckily for her neither myself nor any member of her family had a camera to hand.  It was in the style of - hands on boat feet on land - gradually getting further and further apart ending with a hanging just by the hands from the boat.  Quite elegant really - although the getting back onto land was less dignified.

She was very good humoured about it.  Her husband having failed miserably to let her get back on after the swing bridge then seemed to forget to let her back on at all.  I offered my front deck as a crossing point but he decided he would rather she walked further down the canal rather than come close to my boat. 

When we got to the boat on Saturday the smart guage was reading C14 Oooops.  Started the engine immediately and after Rob had fitted one of the cleats we then set off to Rugeley to turn around, cooked baked potatoes on the move and then he fitted the other one. 

Sunday I tootled to Fradley Junction after cleaning and tidying the inside of the boat so not an early start.  Decided to moor above Shadehouse Lock behind the sunken boat, no need for my fenders as I was no where near the edge!  Chris off Belle came to have a look around and give me some advice on the battery situation.  By now it was reading C72 from the morning reading of C47. 

Basically the upshot of that was that he suggested I travel for long enough to hopefully get it back to C100 - I am pleased to say that particular Nirvana was reached at 2pm.  So I was able to stop, have lunch and do wages as well as clean the outside of the boat.  Yes you read that right I have given the boat a bit of a wipe down.  It won't win any prizes for best turned out in class but at least it looks better than a pig in mud which was it's previous condition.

No photos as despite having the battery on charge for ages there is no life in the camera.  I think it is broke.