Buckby Top Lock......Still.

As nights go, last night was pretty wild!!

The pub was giving away free beer, the disco was blaring and just when things were warming up nicely................................I woke up!!

The real wild night had a lot to offer though, but thanks to a few more ropes and plenty of fenders we were quite comfortable. A short debate this morning about whether to move on or not depended on the weather (Did you see what I did there?.... I don't just throw this stuff together you know!) It was bad so no moving for us.

Here are a few pictures from our excursion into Wales that we took much earlier in the year.

Its "that" aqueduct again, at the moment it has been drained for cleaning and repairs. A lucky school boy got the chance to "Pull the Plug" and send the water gushing into the river below.






Looking at this picture I can still smell the red hot shoes being burnt onto his hoofs/hooves.



Yesterday found a man tapping on the roof of Ubique to tell us he is a very old friend of the previous owner and has been aboard many times in the past.
He also knew (strangely at the time) that we have been having oil problems, it turns out that the ex owner is following the Blog.
So to Ubique's past owner (I wont mention names on here without permission) our Email address is on its way to you via your friend and we look very much forward to hearing from you and possibly all the history of the boat you can muster.


Until next time.................................

Buckby Top Lock.






So very quiet here at the moment.

We have spent the day doing the odd necessary thing, and a lot of chainsawing!!!

It is amazing how much wood you can find lying around when you look for it, we only came up six locks yesterday but D managed to fill the roof with wood. As there are so many livaboards around here you would think every last stick would have gone by now.

Tomorrow we should be meeting the Tesco man (or woman) again for a well needed top up before we carry on. I am strangely looking forward to returning to Whilton, maybe its because its the completion of a circle for us.
Whatever it is, there is a good chandlers to have a nose around in.


Until next time.......................

Braunston to Buckby Top Lock. 6 Locks and 1 Tunnel.

A fairly late and quite cold start to today.

The coldness was due to not being able to light the fire as we were going to pass through the Braunston Tunnel. That sort of thing is a definite no no, plumes of smoke filling the tunnel are frowned upon.

A short five minute trip and we were soon climbing our way up out and away from the hubbub that is Braunston itself.

Another silent autumnal morning that just made everything slow down.

We (and when I say "we" I mean D) only worked from one side of each of these wide locks today as there was no hurry, and frankly any form of rushing on a day like this would just be a waste.

Tranquility at its best.






One more step up the ladder completed, the gate has been left open for an approaching boat, one of only four we would meet today.

Closing in on the tunnel turned into a bit of an obstacle course, this pile of rocky man made something or other is directly opposite a row of very large half submerged stakes.



Then you reach the entrance,




which is all but obscured by this land slip.

This is the reason the tunnel is going to be closed for a good two months or more over the winter while they clear it away. We will be making sure we are back on this side before they close it off as they are also closing the Buckby Flight again this year.
This leaves very few options to move around should you become trapped on the other side.

Twenty minutes later we emerged into this tree lined avenue.
Although it was back to the out of gear/shaking the tiller routine to remove the leaves from prop and rudder at regular intervals, the day could not be spoilt.
Neither of us could remember this bit at all, even though it was only eight months ago since we passed this way after the Buckby Flight reopened and our adventure began in earnest.




Until next time.....................