Going south to go north????

Life is simple in a car.....you get in it and basically just head in the direction you wish to go and you'll get there......simple! On a narrow boat it's so different. We left Crick and had to go south to head north....for instance to get to Rugby by road from Crick is 9 mls but to get to Rugby by canal it is 19 mls including 16 locks and 2 tunnels (both over a mile long) by road it takes 15 mins to do the 9 mls. By canal it took us 4 days.......big difference eh?

Anyway.....we leave Crick after spending a pleasant evening with Kate owner of NB Priscilla and head south through Crick tunnel and head for Braunston (via the kinky tunnel) and then branch off the GU and up the Oxford north heading for Rugby where luckily there is a large Tesco 200 yds away from The Cut. We stay there overnight and meet up with a nasty man.....we do seem to attract them! Because we are new to this life we are cautious more often than not. We go real slow around other boaters, round blind bends and through bridges so when there are moored boats either side of The Cut I go real slow as chances are another boat will come along in the opposite direction.....sure enough along he comes...he stops to allow me through and then because I am so slow (the only reason I can think of) he decides to come through too smacking straight into the side of us!!!! "I thought you were letting me through" I say......"Nah, that's what happens when you've got a shiny new boat mate" he said laughingly. Now, we know our boat is new but we do understand that it will get "knocked about" and that's fine but me thinks he was in a bit of a rush and just barged his way through.....best bit was that Suzie heard the sound of breaking glass.....but not on our boat...hehe!

We get back out into the countryside which we both love and Suzie managed to capture this....

click on the picture and you'll see the little fellow!

Onwards in a kind of northerly direction we moor overnight in a place called Ansty....there is not a lot there but it does get mentioned in the doomsday book of 1086 and it's main land owner was once Lady Godiva.

We leave Ansty nice and early and head for Hawkesbury Junction where the Oxford and Coventry canals meet.

On the right is the Oxford canal and the left is the
Coventry canal

Hawkesbury pumping station built in 1821 and housed a steam engine
that was built in 1720. This was used to pump water from local coal mines
into the canal.

So up the Coventry we go past Bedford, Nuneaton and moor up at a village called Hartshill between Nuneaton and Atherstone.....erm.....not a lot to say apart from as the weather was glorious we stayed here for 4 nights just enjoying the sunshine and our freedom. We did speak to David and Karen owners of The Wessex Rose who are now on the K and A canal waiting for channel 4 to complete the filming.......Suzie emailed them a picture that Channel 4 might use......I think they will decline but we think it's a good one!

I felt it would be a better shot if Suzie was canal side
and not towpath side but she was too scared of
falling in! (it's gonna happen one day darling)

Whilst here a couple of things happened.......a couple came and knocked the door (sadly we didn't catch their names) they had just moored next to us and they own NB Cherry which was built by Milburn's 7 years ago.....they are so happy with their boat and we hope we will be as happy in 7 years time.
Shortly after that along came a boat and stopped along side.......It was Paul and Elaine from NB The Manly Ferry aka Caxton. If you have read the blog you will know that we met Paul's sister in Weedon back in April......we very quickly grabbed some cash, locked the boat and hopped aboard their home (including 2 dogs and 3 cats) and cruised down to the pub where we sampled the local beer for the evening. We also met Dave and Debbie who own NB Chuffed, lovely couple and we will sure to bump into them again as they are heading north.........we did however after a few beers have a 1.5 ml walk back but it was fine, albeit a little wobbly. Thank you guys for a great evening!
We were in a position where we needed a pumpout within the next few days and as we plan to stop at Polesworth there doesn't appear to be anything in between so we had no choice but to turn the boat around and travel back 2-3 mls to Springwood Haven Marina to do the pumpout and fill up with diesel at the same time.....faced with the choice of reversing the boat 200 yds or travel a mile up The Cut to the next winding hole we took the easy option and chose not to reverse! oo-er.....the winding hole was rather tight, on a bend and very shallow.......yep we got the boat stuck across the canal and it was funny watching Suzie try and lift our pole off the roof to try and push the boat off the mud.....NO CHANCE!
Eventually we get the boat unstuck and turned round which was quite stressful......luckily we met no other traffic in our hour of tribulation the only thing was it appeared the rudder had jumped out of it's location on the skeg and it's the same feeling you get whilst driving a car when a wheel bearing has gone.....we slowly make our way to Springwood Haven where they kindly sort the problem out for us....If you ever need diesel, gas, pumpout or chandlery items stop there.....they are lovely people and very very helpful. Cor blimey!!!.....how about this one then.....whilst there I go and chat to the owners (Mike and Heather) of NB Burlisa moored behind us. Very quickly Heather looks up and says....."I know you........your name is Robert and you have a brother called Graham"........stunned by Heather's statement I say "yes, but how do you know"? Heather and Mike were my neighbours where I lived up to the age of 17!!!! I am 55 now but apparently not changed much!!!

All sorted we say goodbye to mike and Heather and to the guys at Springwood and make our way to Polesworth where we are planning to meet up with some friends we haven't seen for over a year....
We come down the flight of 11 locks at Atherstone and carry on and moor up....Roger and Pat owners of NB The cats Whiskers arrive with Paul a friend of theirs they are taking to Coventry. We give them a tour of Swamp Frogs and decide to have a few beers in The Red Lion in the High Street, back to The Cats Whiskers for a good old sing song with Roger playing anything from "Somewhere over the rainbow" to "when I'm cleaning windows"

Great fun......with some lovely friends.

We have to say goodbye to Roger and Pat as they have to get to Coventry to drop Paul there. I am sure we'll meet up again sometime as Roger and pat are looking for a winter mooring down south as we are and who knows.......we could end up as neighbours????

Roger and Pat with Hmmmmm.......
....who else is that in the picture???

No sooner had Roger and Pat left Brian and Irene who own NB Rangitoto moored up wanting lunch. Rather than feed them I direct them to The Red Lion. We were chatting to Brian and Irene a few days ago and I'm sure we'll bump into them again as they, like us are heading north.

So.......onwards north....with a bit of south, east and west chucked in!

Since the last blog we've done 48 miles, 28 locks and 2 tunnels!
This gives a grand total of 120 miles 100 yards, 87 locks and 6 tunnels (tunnels over 1000yds only).

The REAL Journey begins.....

Since the last blog we moved slowly towards Crick for the boat show and arrived nice and early and found a half empty marina. Following a pump-out (you all must know by now that we carry our poo around in a tank and every 4 weeks get it "pumped-out") We moored in the spot allocated to Milburns and then gave the boat a bit of a clean. On Sunday Morning we were all excited as we were going back to Southampton to see family and friends. While waiting for the lovely Kelly Moksa to turn up look below at what we spotted........

This is what the fishermen are fishing for......
Big eh? I think it's a Carp??
oh, and that is a ginger biscuit it is nibbling on!

So, it's off to Southampton we go to see family and friends.....the journey in the car was not good as our life on the boat moves around 2 mph and in the car it changed to 50-70mph.....quite scary!
Anyways it was worth it to see most of the family again including my brother Graham who we couldn't get down to see with Swamp Frogs due to my bad back. Graham came with a bag of goodies for us all we need to do now is find homes for them......we have "homed" one at the moment and thank you Graham as it looks perfect on the top of Swamp Frogs.

Our frog we have named Graham

After spending 2 days wizzing around Southampton we got back home after doing a BIG shop as we had the use of a car and then set about getting our home ready for the show not that much needed doing......Steve and Andy both came to complete the very small snagging list whilst we cleaned the boat inside and out and we're now ready......
.....Sandie, Steve and the kiddies turned up late Thursday and found the camp-site closed until the morning so parked their caravan next to the crane for the night.....a couple of beers later all is ok and no problem!

Big surprise was on Sunday the phone rang.....
oooooh it's my Daughter Claire!
"Hi Dad", says Claire, "hows it going"?
"Yep, really well thanks, very busy but good. Hows you all"?
"Yeah we are all fine, what's the weather like at Crick"?
"The weather is lovely and warm with a clear blue sky"
"Great says Claire we are about 10mins away and didn't bring our coats"
So the day was made better as we got to see Claire, Jacob and Ellie May. No Dan though as he took the opportunity to do some more work on their house. (you work too hard Dan)

Over the course of our travels we are going to try and find boats with our Grandchildren's names
here is the first.....

We have seen a Kayliegh but didn't have the
camera to hand!

The show itself was very busy and although we didn't win best boat in show Swamp Frogs was very busy with a constant flow of people all three days...John, Patsy, Andy, Emma and Pete, you guys worked so hard and deserve success from the show. We know you have 1 confirmed order and we hope you get many more!

I'm not sure what Suzie is saying to the Milburn's but
they are all listening!

ok, Reece......you win....very scary!

How Suzie and Sandie got right into
the spirit of the show and greeted
potential customers.

Jacob......looking very scary and Terminator like!!! 

All the fun of the FREE funfair!

Far too many rides were had.....they can't stand up!!!

Just such a lovely picture!

OK.......The show is over and it's time to move on. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Crick and met some lovely people and made many new friends.....Adam and Adrian owners of NB Briar Rose, great hospitality, thank you.....Paul and Elaine who own NB The Manly Ferry aka Caxton we got to meet at last.....Stuart and Tracey NB Midnight Trace, who were our neighbours throughout the show, Kate, owner of NB Priscilla (you'll love it Kate, we hope you got home safe and sound) and Dennis and Ann owner of NB Emily (very worthy winners of best boat in show. We looking forward to our drink in The Romping Donkey next month. Oh and Dennis, have you changed those screws yet?)

We delayed our departure from Crick as the weather change but from here on our lives change again. Since moving onto Swamp Frogs on March 5th we have had some sort of plan.....up until now!
Our time now is our own with no real plan apart from going north to see my Dad and Stepmum but when we get there we don't know.....so it's time to sit back and relax and enjoy what we have.

We both know how lucky we are to be able to eat when we are hungry, drink when we are thirsty, sleep whenever we are tired and get up whenever we want to!
We get to see Mother Nature at her glorious best as the seasons change, we get to see an abundance of wildlife and see animals that some people didn't know existed here in England.
The stunning scenery from our windows change daily......
............THIS TRULY IS THE LIFE!

So, it's up north we go.........

Since the last blog we've done 23 miles, 13 locks and 1 tunnel!
This gives a grand total of 72 miles 100 yards, 59 locks and 4 tunnels (tunnels over 1000yds only).

Wave goodbye.......Say hello

STOP PRESS......PAULA, DON'T READ IT......IT'S DRIVEL!
THIS IS OUR DIARY FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO READ AND LAUGH AT!

Me thinks we should dedicated this blog to David and Karen as they've given us tremendous support over the last couple of months and now they are off to the Kennet and Avon Canal. Thank you both as you have been to us like a comfort blanket is to a baby (i don't mean a dirty old rag that the baby cries for every time you wash it) you have been there for us when needed.
My back has now improved and we can now move about on the Canal so what do we do? we head back to Stockton Marina where our Swamp Frogs was launched back in March. We left Napton and took a couple of days to get round to Stockton. We are getting quite used to people commenting on our boat and it's colour when a passing boater shouts "lovely colour, what is it"? to which Suzie shouts back "green"! leaving a boater going the other way really perplexed, poor bloke!
When we got to the Marina we were greeted with...."How are you both"? "was anybody hurt"? "how long were you stuck for"? "how much damage was done"? "were you scared"? Initially we did not have a clue as to what they were on about but then it dawned on us......Now, those that know Suzie will know she likes to tell the odd story so when we met a resident of Stockton Marina a few weeks ago and he politely asked how's it all going? Suzie told him this big story about us crashing in Braunston Tunnel being hit by 2 boats from the bow and the stern......the Tunnel was shut for hours while they dragged us out, lots of damage.....boat taking on water, worst crash for over 100 years....I'm sure you get the picture. Well, John (not his real name, I'm saying it to protect Colin 1st boat on the left as you enter the Marina) fell for the story and then ran round the Marina telling anybody who'd listen.....hence the comments when we arrived....hehe
Why were we back at the Marina?.......It was the Launch of The Wessex Rose Hotel Boat It was lovely to be there for David and Karen who over the last couple of months have become good friends so it was great to be there for them and so that Suzie could be in the odd picture or 2, not to mention the TV as The Wessex Rose has been filmed throughout it's build for the TV programme George Clarke's amazing spaces which will be shown in the autumn on Channel 4

Can you imagine the hold up on the roads.....no? 

Well, here it is, made the news too on  both local
and national Radio and TV

2 cranes required to lift 50 Tonnes of Hotel

Look at how close the truck is to the water

And in she goes.....

Andy managed to get hold of the tiller before
Milburn's Launch Co-ordinator could!

David and Karen with part of the team that built
The Wessex Rose

Oh yes, on top of the boat.....Milburn's very own
Launch Co-ordinator and it ain't you Steve!

We stayed at Stockton for a couple of days to give David and Karen a hand and then we had to leave much to Suzie's dismay as we had walked down the cut to Long Itchington which is a lovely place AND they had a beer festival over the bank holiday w/end but nope, I had other plans and wasn't going to share them with Suzie...... We're going back to Weedon I say to her on the day we leave...,,WHAT!....AGAIN!.... WHY?.... NOOOOO.....she screams at me. It was very difficult not to tell her the surprise I had planned for her REAL birthday. We get to Buckby Top Lock and moor up and wait.......For Sandie, Steve, Reece and Kayleigh to turn up. funnily (tho not for them) while moored at Buckby we had blue sky and the 2 mins it took them to walk down the towpath the heavens opened and they came aboard like 4 drowned rats, sorry but it was kinda funny as the sun came back out straight away. My plan was for them to cruise with us down to the good old Heart of England where they are booked in for the night. Great fun was had by all, although I was a bit nervous when Sandie looked up and said...."can I have a go"?.....why was I worried? she did brilliantly......my turn, my turn says Steve who did equally as well. I have to say that both Reece and Kayleigh behaved themselves impeccably as although it's new and exciting being around locks can be a dangerous place.
They left early Sunday afternoon but it was a headache worth having seeing Suzie's face when they turned up and all the s**t I got for leaving the beer festival behind...hehe loves you my dear!
We stayed at Weedon the next week and on Suzie's "official" birthday we had breakie with Michelle in the pub who did Suzie a rather special breakfast.

How many people have a candle in their eggs eh?

We left Michelle and took a short taxi ride to Napton Junction where we met up with the now cruising Wessex Rose hopped aboard and helped them cruise down through the locks to Weedon. What a lovely day we had, the sun shone and we stopped and had some lunch on the deck.

"Karen, do you think anybody has noticed us"....
......says David

The girls hold the boat while I stand in the shade....
....it was hot and I needed to cool down!

We got down to Weedon and moored the Wessex Rose just behind us where they would stay for a few days and the next night David and Karen treated Suzie to a birthday party.....I mean a launch party where those that helped build the Wessex Rose came for drinks and nibbles.....needless to say we gate crashed and had a great night. 18 people comfortably stood  about drinking and chatting. We could get 18 people on our boat but wouldn't be much fun all stood in a line!
On Thursday David treated us to a dinner aboard to sample what their guests would be having....what to say, it was beautifully prepared and tasted wonderful. Their guests are in for a treat.....Roasted butter-nut squash soup with croutons, Braised stake in ale, followed by Crème Brulèe all home made by David.....MMMMmmmmm.
The next couple of days we spent painting our personalised "fender holders" that Milburns made for us and I also washed half the boat hence all the rain since!
Now for the good bit......We now have to make our way to Crick as we've said previously our boat is being shown. Prior to the show Canal Boat magazine did a feature on us and this came out this week. This "Boat test" could make or break our enjoyment at Crick as quite easily they could've said....."what a pair of nutters" or "the worst laid out boat we've seen" but they didn't......to use the word's of Adam Porter...."In short, it's one of the cleverest boats we've looked at in a long time - the results of a good combination: owners who have thought carefully about what they want, and a builder who knows how to bring it to reality"......How proud are we!..so it's on to Crick to enjoy the festival.

The front cover no less

Go and buy the magazine to read the full story!

So like the Title says......we've waved goodbye to 2 very lovely people and now it's time to say hello to new folks as we now move on to pastures new......

Since the blog before last (as Suzie has no interest is how far we've come or how many locks or tunnels) we've done 29 miles, 23 locks and Braunston tunnel yet again!
This gives a grand total of 49 miles 100 yards, 46 locks and kinky Braunston tunnel 3 times.

(we've also caused a bit of a stir on the Living on a Narrowboat website but more on that in the next enthralling episode of.......FROGS ON TOUR!)