The final stretch

Wow! What a day.

We set off in cold mist and finished off the Oxford Canal. The last bit is one of my least favourite stretches of canals. It is lined by bad tempered people who complain every time a boat goes past - ok, not all of them are bad tempered.

And then we got on to the Thames. The sun came out, the river opened up and it was wonderful. I love the Thames when she's like this, gently flowing, clear and lazy. This is the first moment of Relativity making waves on the Thames

We've made amazing progress and are in danger of getting to Reading tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon instead of Wednesday! We managed 26 miles, 12 locks and 6 swing bridges today.

We've entertained a couple of guests today, one stayed for lunch in Oxford (how civilised) and the other came for tea in Shillingford. I love the idea that Relativity is beginning to relax into her new life - hospitality - if you come to visit at a meal time, expect to be fed. Not necessarily very well, I'm still learning not to include tomato ketchup with everything ;-) but the kitchen is slowly becoming better stocked. We even have salt and pepper now!

A name on her bow

I've had a fabulous weekend away and came back to find that dad and more visitors had moved Relativity a few more miles towards home. We're now in Thrupp, just north of Oxford.

Also, in the post, arrived the wherewithal to put her name on her bow. It looks amazing in mirror finish chrome. The photos just don't do it justice. You'll have to come and see her for yourself.
Tomorrow Oxford and the Thames. Should be home by Wednesday afternoon. I am so excited.

Dad has made such progress on the various non-sexy things like gas lines and such that are necessary for the Boat Safety Scheme certificate. Thanks pops.

A short day

I knew today was going to be minimal miles and all we managed to do was from Somerton to Heyford Wharf - a grand total of 3.3 miles, 1 swing bridge and 2 locks!

I decided to try and have a bit of a sleep in after getting to bed at 5am (sorry dad, tried not to wake you) but woke at 7:30 and couldn't get back to sleep!

Anyway, I'm now away for the weekend having a very restful time at Emmaus House in Bristol so this will be the last blog entry until Sunday evening.

Real progress

Today we entertained another guest and all three boys so a significant party of crew (not a lot of help though)

The engine repairs worked perfectly and we've had no problems at all today. Phew.

This part of the Oxford canal actually goes through the Oxfordshire countryside and it is beautiful. We've seen lots of wildlife and rolling hills etc.

Banbury has a wonderful approach to the canal in the centre of town, they encourage boats to moor and there is quite a community unlike the Oracle in Reading where the canal is there to be seen but not interacted with and boats cannot moor which is a real shame.

We travelled through Somerton Deep Lock a few minutes ago which has a drop of 12 feet. You get a real feeling of it from this picture.
Tomorrow the boys and I are going to go and do "holiday" type things so there won't be any miles chugged.

Today we managed 16 miles, 13 locks and 14 swing bridges (although most of the swing bridges were open so didn't really take any time).

'Till Friday.

On the move again!

The boys and I pulled Relativity for half a mile which was incredibly tough. Oh for a good strong Shire horse. Then a lovely couple took pity on us and towed us to the boat yard a mile further down the canal. There the experts at "Taylor's of Fenny" (01295 770934) were able to fix the problem of £4 of parts which was massively less than we had feared.

I took the opportunity to do some shopping which is good because now we won't starve but we are a bit further behind schedule. I doubt we'll make Reading until the middle of next week now.

Not a great day

Well, the weather was lovely but the engine died three times and is
now completely dead. We think that the fuel injector pump has died. At
least tomorrow isn't a bank holiday so the boat yard that is a mile
and a half down the canal should be open. Pray that they have the
parts we need and an engineer that knows how to fit them!

We did manage to chug 10 miles and do 9 locks today whilst
entertaining more guests and two of my boys. We had a wonderfully
sociable time whist drifting helplessly across the canal and causing
all sorts of traffic chaos.

And finally, whilst I was riding to get the car so that I could drive
my guests back to their car, I got a puncture and had to walk for
miles. My broken toe hurts like mad now :-(

There may be more tomorrow if the batteries hold out but until we can
get the engine running we've no more power!

That's all for now.

Out into the countryside

Today was gentler. After a decent sleep with nothing but the owls for
company we headed out into the Warwickshire countryside. It makes such
a difference gliding past trees and fields instead of derelict
warehouses!

More visitors today who brought with them food treats - they can come
again ;-) The only down side of having guests is that we tend to cover
less ground when entertaining but that is a small price to pay for the
joy of watching small children ride their first lock - actually the
real fun comes from watching their parents' faces as they run down the
roof and almost forget to stop at the end. Falling in the Grand Union
Canal is not to be recommended judging by the number of dead fish,
birds and even sheep we've seen floating by.

Today we have covered 9 miles and 22 locks. In total we've done 58
miles and 83 locks. That's a about 45% of the total trip.

Tomorrow will be a very slow day as I have to drive to Reading and
pick up two of my sons who are coming to stay for the rest of the
week. I'm so looking forward to having them with us. The third will
arrive on Wednesday after he gets back from a few days at Spring
Harvest.

So much better weather

Today, as I said this morning, was going to be a bit of a marathon. We have completed almost 16 miles and 23 locks. The Hatton flight is a bit of a monster but we managed it in 3 hours and 40 minutes including stopping for soup part of the way down. Well, it was lunch time and we were hungry. Oh, and we were catching up on the people in front of us who had loads of help but were still horribly slow!

But before Hatton was Shrewley Tunnel. 396m of dark, wetness. Ian managed to get the tunnel light working a few minutes before we arrived and we didn't meet any hire boats coming the other way so we got through without any damage :-)

Also, during the less manic bits of the day we managed (ok, mainly Ian managed) to get the stove finally fitted and screwed to the floor so it can't fall over spilling hot coals everywhere. This evening we lit it for the first time. It is soooooooo nice to have warmth and flickering flames in the corner of the room.

As usual I'm having trouble uploading pictures to the blog in the evening but for some reason they've gone up to my Facebook album without any problem so have a look here and here if you can't wait until the morning.

Tomorrow we're heading for Napton-on-the-hill.

A decent night's sleep

Last night we moored next to the "Heron's Nest" pub just south of Knowle on the A4141 and entertained our first guests! The presence of the pub meant that we sat in front of the open fire in the pub and drank our drinks rather than shivering on Relativity ;-)

Out in the countryside with no traffic or loud music we slept very well. The weather was kinder as well without the high winds and rain of previous nights. We're hoping for some sunshine today.

The aim for today is to get to Warwick and Leamington Spa. This means going down the Hatton Lock Flight which is 21 locks in quick succession. We're not going to be covering many miles today!

Day 2 of the journey home

The rain was worse than yesterday. The cold was worse than yesterday.

But we made it through Birmingham and are now moored next to a nice pub just south of Knowle. Time for a couple of drinks in front of an open fire I think :-)

I forgot to say that yesterday we also had to change the fan belt. That means that the batteries are charging much better. Today's little setbacks included having to stop 3 times to untangle plastic bags and other detritus from the propeller and the rudder coming out of its skeg cup (don't ask me). Fortunately the rudder is easily fixed (if a little heavy) and wasn't a big problem. The plastic bags wrap around the prop and become very difficult to cope with because the make the steering all funny and the engine labours trying to push us forward whilst shredding plastic into little bits!

On the plus side we have the fridge working and lots of tidying up done so one can actually move around without falling over stuff! Oh, and somehow we've managed to eat three cooked meals on both days

For the incurable romantics amongst you who have travelled up the M6 and, whilst passing through Spaghetti Junction, thought "I wonder what this looks like from below?" here is your answer:
The totals for today were: 19 miles and 29 locks which gives makes total progress so far about 23%

Time for the pub.

'till tomorrow.

How far?

Ah yes, forgot to say...

Today we travelled a grand total of 15 miles and 9 locks.

It was this big

Somewhat tired

After chugging through some fabulous British bank holiday weather we've made it to Perry Bar which is exactly where I was aiming for on day one. We've had to contend with huge pieces of plastic wrapped around the prop which really don't help with things at all. It took me 45 minutes to get this thing untangled with my arms in freezing cold canal water up to my shoulders. I really couldn't feel my fingers by the time I'd finished!

A little while further on, whilst trying to leave a lock, I suddenly realised that Relativity would only go backwards! The gear change cable had broken so we had to pull over and make repairs. Another 90 minutes by the canal side and we now have a very fetching looking broom handle to change gear with. Try that by the side of the M4!

Off to bed now. Will add photos in the morning.