A mild meander

With all the ice having finally melted we have returned to Plank Lane from Boothstown, calling at the  canal services at Butts Bridge on the way to fill with water and to empty all cassettes. We can last about ten days now without moving but, ever wary now since being frozen in, we probably won't wait that long. The much improved temperatures meant no hat or gloves were required today (no hair either - I paid an overdue visit to the barber yesterday!) and we seemed to make excellent time on the journey back.

Again, the clarity of the water was absolutely staggering, allowing me to see a monster carp at Astley heading in the opposite direction. It's just a shame that all of the garbage in the canal is visible too but I choose to look upon this as an improving situation, particularly since the plastic bag levy came into force.

The thaw and yesterday's slight rain certainly haven't helped the towpath in places and I want to admit to being wrong regarding Peel Holdings' towpath improvement scheme. Last year I was of the opinion that they should leave well alone, a little bit of mud in winter being no big thing, it would slow down cyclists, etc. But this,

I have to admit, is much better than this

so I hold my hands up and say well done Peel Holdings in this instance.

Living as we do with the entire outdoors as our garden is a great way to get to know the patterns of nature. Even if you don't wish to actively study your surroundings you can't help but absorb information. For example, we now know which is the last tree species ( in this area, at least) to shed its leaves and that is the oak. The trees lining the canal between Astley and Leigh are mostly oak and this recent freezing spell has led to an oak leaf avalanche.

Sadly for us, they don't always land on the towpath!

Frequent propeller clearing required!

Finally I'm pleased to report my massive foot improvement (who knew I had a massive foot, then 😉 ). I'm into my fifth week of toe trouble but another visit to the docs - and another £8.40 prescription - seems to have put me on the road to recovery. Back to the long walks soon, fingers crossed.

On the moorings at The Moorings

Well we made it down to Boothstown yesterday and just caught marina owner Dave before he left for the day. He filled us up - 67p, lovely jubbly - and we tied up outside the pub for the night. The trip down was OK if a little cold, though a timely bacon butty and hot coffee helped!
It was a grey day yesterday and we felt as if we were journeying through a landscape on hold with most trees denuded now and almost all canal weed gone. It's as if Mother Nature has gone all Schwarzenegger on us, promising "I'll be back" come springtime. Well, to be honest, we can wait!
I posted earlier in autumn about my hatred of early nights and me counting down the days to the winter solstice. Well, that hatred simply hasn't materialised to the same extent this year. I presume because I'm no longer going to work in the dark, getting home in the dark I'm just not as low as I usually get at this time of year. In fact, it isn't bothering me in the slightest!
Today we awoke to a beautiful, sunny day but with patchy ice on the canal. We could push through easily enough but why bother? Tomorrow is even colder so we will wait until Tuesday or maybe for Wednesday's balmy 12C before moving again.
Here are some pointless photographs totally unrelated to my post but able to break the monotony of a slab of text. I really want to capture just how crystal clear the water is but it's difficult to do with an iPhone. Time to invest in a swanky camera?

So popular with the motorists!

New Marina residents at Pennington Wharf

Much needed new housing in Leigh

Thaw? What thaw?

Having been icebound for a couple of days, today it was time to head to Boothstown's Bridgewater Marina for some desperately needed diesel. With temperatures at around 7C we'd be fine, right?

Wrong!

The canal looked "wet" if you know what I mean, so it was out with the pins and off we go but we didn't get far. Amazingly, the ice was still around half an inch thick but was disguised by a thin film of surface water. After a couple of attempts to push through (Elaine said the noise levels inside the boat were unbelievable!) I called it quits and returned - eventually - to our berth.

With Lottie not having a fuel gauge I always keep a log of date, litres of diesel purchased and hours of engine running because I have learned the hard way that despite the boat spec claiming we have a 245L diesel tank we actually run dry at 170. Also, these engines aren't self priming so running dry means bleeding the fuel system, a royal pain in the derrière.

A quick calculation based on previous info tells you how many litres/hr you use and a quick glance at the total engine hours (Lottie doesn't have an odometer either) gave me cause for concern that we were getting too low (who knows what sludge and water lies at the bottom of the tank!).

I phoned the marina and identified myself (the man from Lottie D!) and they were only too happy to lend me a 20L container so we headed down there by car and Lottie has now had a slight top up which will last us until we get there on Saturday.

So there you have it - a typical problem/drama for a liveaboard boater. We might not have to worry about roof tiles blowing off or conservatories leaking but we aren't exactly stress free!