‘Three Amigos’ re-named.

This is ‘Gongoozlers Rest’ the little floating cafe that cooks your food in their tiny kitchen at the back. Last year the boat underwent an overhaul and it will also be closed for all of January while the work is finished off.

 

Our three boats, Piston Broke, Tranquility and Oakfield were all moored pointing in the direction of Braunston Junction. One by one we have cruised our way ‘daan saath’ and are now moored all in a row by Foxes Gate a nice peaceful spot surrounded by beautiful countryside. The views are amazing, even the old cement factory in Rugby looks good from here!

We were the last to leave this morning as we had waited for ‘Gosty Hill’ to come with coal and diesel yesterday. We made our way along to Braunston Marina for a pump out £12 for 8½ minutes, got rid of our old oil in their re-cycling tank, also deposited our rubbish and recycled our glass.

While we waited for our water tank to fill outside the Stop House we ordered bacon sandwiches from ‘Gongoozlers Rest’. These came  piping hot accompanied by their speciality mini chips all wrapped in tinfoil, yum! A welcome winter warmer with a cup of tea which we finished just before our tank was full.

Although our cruise down was sunny, the icy wind was pretty chilling, good job we were prepared by adding several extra layers of clothes. We saw Kestrels hovering and Fieldfares gorging on berries.  On arrival our friends gave us a wave and we were invited round for tea and freshly baked Apple Cake, Betty’s bi-annual treat!  Now that Graham is also sporting a beard and moustache, I think we should be re-named, ‘The Three Greybeards!’

Narrow boat Lucy.

Here we can see either side of Lucy’s back cabin which still retains some of the paintwork.

 

 

As I had found some pictures of nb Lucy during her working days in an old magazine I took it to the yard. They were pleased to accept the item as it would all help with information and details of who had worked and lived on her. Today they were preparing to winch her over to the other side of the yard to make space for nb Clent to be brought out onto the bank for work to be carried out.

 

Here you can see Lucy’s front end as she is being prepared for the gentle move across. Nb Clent is in the foreground wearing a “nappy” in order to stop water ingress.

 

Lucy sank on the Puddle Banks nearby and was bought and rescued in 2009 by Peter Boyce of Phobox. The holes in her hull were all blocked up and then they were able pump her out and float her up to Braunston Marina. She was then craned out and taken by road to the London Road yard where restoration is taking place.

For more information look at www.phobox.com/lucy/

Friends and Family.

We got our tiny Christmas tree out and put the twinkly lights up all around the boat, so we now we are prepared for the silly season. Our daughter and grandson came for the day on Friday to help Bottle celebrate his birthday. We spent the whole day onboard playing, reading stories and chatting. Of course every time a boat passed by a call of, ’Grampy, boat’ would be heard, so Grampy had to lift the little person up to see it and to wave. I made a tasty Shepherds Pie with vegetables for lunch and Boat Cake for our tea. The day went quickly as we were all enjoying ourselves so much, it was lovely to see them again.

 

As it was also our friends birthday on the same day we had arranged to meet up for an evening meal at The Boathouse. So with the crews of nb Piston Broke, nb Tranquility, nb Ellen there were eight of us altogether. We had only ever passed within shouting distance of John and Angela on nb Ellen, so it was nice to get to chat to them at last. The meals were from the two-for–one menu and none of us could resist having pudding either. The bill was very reasonable and we spent a really lovely evening together. We came out to a sharp frost and walking back along the canal towpath we could see that the water was icing over. However it melted away during the next day. Our friends came around for afternoon tea today as they had smelt the boat cake cooking the previous day!

Winter’s here.

    

As we have had a few frosty mornings I’ve got the Porridge in. These Jumbo oats are lovely, but I like them chewy and undercooked. Then I add a ‘gert’ spoonful of Honey that I bought while passing through the top lock at Tyreley, mmm nice. I may even use some of the oats for making flapjacks.

Working on the Waterways.

The fuel boat Gosty Hill gently pulled alongside in the sunshine on Wednesday morning to inject our tank with diesel.

    

Caleb and Bosun were keeping watch as usual from the ‘catwalk’ on the top of their boat. Alison had gone shopping so we chatted to Iain for sometime. Their lovely old working boat, along with the business that they have built up over several years, is up for sale. Iain said he has already had an offer, as long as Alison was included, ha,ha,ha !

They travel during the winter months selling diesel and coal to a great number of customers on the Oxford Canal between Claydon and Atherstone, including the Ashby Canal Arm. This is such a vital and much appreciated service to the permanent moorers and continuous cruisers all along this route. We shall miss their courteous, friendly approach, but whoever takes over from them will naturally acquire all their loyal customers. 

  

Although we shall miss them we will look forward to seeing them as we continue to cruise around the canal system. So, if you are looking for an interesting, profitable job with accommodation included there is a great opportunity here. Have a look at http://rugbyboats.co.uk/narrowboats-for-sale.php  if you are interested.

Two years ago in the ice, having just descended Hillmorton Locks.