Battery fail

We moved from one side of Weedon Bec to the other on Monday after we got hit by 2 boats. The wind had picked up a bit and they just could not handle their boats. Neither of the boats where hire boats .The only amusing thing about it was that Carolyn was in the little girls room when the first one hit us. All i heard was an almighty scream .

                                                Our new mooring for a couple of days

On this part of the canal you are never far from the railway. Trains go past every 3 or 4 minutes and at night you get the freight trains going past but less frequently.

On Tuesday we had heavy rain and spent some time watching the sparks and steam coming off the overhead power lines which connected to the train.

                          Yes that is me with a bag of shopping. And it was pouring down.

With visitors coming at the weekend we needed somewhere safe for them to park the car so we moved the 3 miles to Bugbrooke

                                                Our mooring for the next few days

Bugbrooke is a small well kept village with pubs and a shop. We bought a paper and had a walk around the village.

From the time we bought Inca we knew the domestic batteries had nearly come to the end of their lives.We are having to run the engine for far longer periods of time. We have not bought new ones yet because at the end of next month we are having solar panels fitted and were advised to wait till then to get new batteries. On Thursday Carolyn said she could smell sulphur in the boat. I went down and checked the batteries and all seemed fine. We opened all the doors and windows and vented the boat throughout But as the day went on it got worse . In the evening It got so bad that i decided after Carolyn could not stay in the boat to go down and disconnect all the batteries. There are 4 in total and one of them was so hot you could not touch it. After disconnecting it this is what i found.

 The battery has 2 terminals on the positive and one of them had burnt through the plastic releasing gas into the engine ole and then into the boat. 2 hours after removing it you could still not touch it as it was so hot.

I have now linked out that battery and will see what happens with the other 3 batteries. But we may have to buy the new batteries sooner than we wanted to.

Happy days

Weedon Bec

On Saturday morning we walked into the village of Weedon bec and the first job was to buy a newspaper.

 In the village there is an old army barracks which was built to hide King George III if ever Napoleon managed to invade this country .

                             The now very run down barracks with a very old fire engine.

The canal had an arm that went straight into the barracks.The port cullis where the canal entered the barracks is still in place. It was used for transporting troops to where ever they were needed. There is now a housing estate being built over where the arm used to be.

                                              The canal can still be seen inside the barracks.

There are a few shops in the centre of the village and some very old house's. On the outskirt's there are a couple of takeaways and a garage .

      The glass on this window is so twisted and several panes of glass have started to crack.

After a good walk around the village we returned to Inca. Our mooring is next to a field that has a track cut into it. Before long we heard the sound of engines starting. It turned out it was a moto x track. As we both enjoy motor sport we set up our seat's and waited for it to start.

                                            With a ringside seat it was a great afternoon of moto x.

                                      Hamish was happy to sleep but Molly seemed to enjoy it.

                                                      We had motorbikes.

                                                       Quad bikes.

                                             And there was also a motorcycle and sidecar.

We had a very enjoyable afternoon and with the temperature in the twenties it was just the ticket. The only downside was the dust. There was enough soil on Inca to grow a crop of spud's . As soon as the bikes stopped it was out with the buckets and hose.

 With good weather forecast again tomorrow we plan to stay here and then decide on what to do on Tuesday.

 

Number 1 son's visit

We needed to get to somewhere convenient to meet Jamie and Danny so we left our mooring at Norton junction and headed down the Buckby flight with nb Tacet.

               Working well together we soon got down the flight and filled with diesel at Whilton marina.

         On the way down the flight we noticed this cannon in a garden (Guess they don't like boater's)

                                                                 Our mooring at Whilton 

Whilton is a very noisy place to moor. You have the M1 motorway on one side of you and the railway on the other side .And with trains going through every 4 or 5 minutes it does get on your nerves a bit. Funny thing though , after 2 or 3 glasses of wine the noise stops's.

Jamie arrived late on Thursday evening and soon crashed out after hitting bad traffic on the way up from Devon.

                                                    The bread is for the ducks Jamie .

                After a short time with us it was time for Jamie and Danny to head back down to Devon.

                                                 And don't you go driving too fast .

After saying goodbye to Jamie and Danny we took Molly and Hamish for a walk back up the locks. When we got to lock 11 we found that the gate's had been left open and the pound was nearly empty. Carolyn closed the gate's and left the pound slowly filling.

 We left Whilton and headed towards Weedon bec where we wanted to spend the weekend  (Carolyn on the tiller).

            This will do us for the long weekend. We are about half a mile from Weedon bec .

                                                                       The view from our side hatch on Saturday evening.Tomorrow we will walk into the village and do a bit of exploring .

On Thursday evening we went to The Boat house for a meal. We made sure we had a window seat so we could sit and look at Inca as we had our food.

How strange is that. Sat in a pub looking out the window at your home.

 

Carolyn was so happy that i took her out for something to eat as it does not happen that often.

                             Oops just told her i had forgotten to bring any money......again .

Anyway the food was OK and it was back to Inca for an early night as we wanted to get up early in the morning to fill Inca with water and then wind ( turn ) in the entrance to Braunston marina and then head back out into the country for the weekend.

Gary with the polish out. ( With 58 feet of boat to do it takes several hours )

Our mooring for the weekend.

 

                           The view from our window. We had good fun watching the Hares all weekend. Don't they run fast.

 On Monday morning we got up at 06.00 and had left the mooring by 7 to get back into Braunston to get the new stove fitted.

After a late start Justin really cracked on with fitting the stove. I must admit it was more work than i expected and certainly could not have done it myself.

Due to the thickness of the roof on Inca we had to have a special and very expensive oak ring made by the joinery shop next door. Only the best for Inca.

Our new Morso squirrel stove...Are we pleased with it....YES WE ARE....Just need some cold weather to try it out . I will be happy if that is in October.

                       We now look like real live aboard boaters with a pallet and bag of coal on the roof. And a nice new shinny chimney.

We have now moved onto Norton junction and are on a 48 hour mooring. We think we will move on in the morning as we need to find a mooring for the weekend as number one son Jamie is coming up with his girlfriend Danny for a couple of days.

ps
A new world record was set at the weekend.......3 whole days of Carolyn not entering a shop.

 

Braunston

After the weekend we moved on to Calcutt where we spent a couple of days doing boatie stuff (what ever that is) .We also sorted out the push bikes we had bought. I have not had a push bike for nearly 40 years and Carolyn about the same so it should be a laugh.

This is Carolyn's .A folding bike with full suspension and gears . Ideal for the towpaths.

                                           Go for it Carolyn ,you never forget how to ride a bike

And this is mine .Not a folder but it does have the full suspension. It was OK to ride except for the saddle.Look how thin it is. It almost cuts you in two.....Something has to be done about that......

SOLUTION.............Its called  THE BIG FAT BUM SADDLE . It has gel inside it and springs underneath. It looks really stupid on the bike but i don't care. At my age it's comfort before looks.

So far we have had 4 punctures .The hedgerows along the towpaths are just full of thorn's and when they cut the hedges the thorn's end up in your tyre's. We have even had them go through our shoe's and into our feet.

On Wednesday we found a good spot to moor about a mile before Braunston. We have a few things to do in Braunston, so tomorrow we will try and get a mooring there. It can sometimes be difficult to stop there as it is such a popular place.

                                             Our mooring for the night.Bikes locked onto the roof

So it was an early start and guess what . We found a mooring outside of The boathouse pub. With a 2 for 1 deal on main meals i said i would treat Carolyn tonight. Unless i forget to take my money as usual.

                                      First thing today was to get some supplies from the village.

There was a sign but no baker's

 

 

                               The old mill next to the church which has now been converted into a house.

 

     We picked up some supplies in the post office/shop and bought some meat and home made pickle in the local butcher's.

     One thing we really need to do is sort out a multifuel stove for Inca as we have taken out the old diesel one. We had been told to go to the chandlers next to the lock. We found the stove we wanted and bought it there and then .We have also arranged to have it fitted on Monday so we will have to stay in the area for a few days

              Look what Carolyn found. The fudge boat. She was very good and did not buy anything.

                                              From the bridge looking into Braunston marina.

 The weather has been very good today with sun most of the day and the tempererature at about 17 deg. We have a good internet signal here but it is a bit noisey with the pub and a few industrial units next to it. I think we will probably move back out into the country for the weekend then come back in on Monday to get the fire fitted.

 

The visit

On Thursday we left our mooring just outside Leamington spa  and headed for Lower Itchinson to meet up with Chloe and Curly.

On the way we came across our first staircase lock. This is where there is not a stretch of water between the locks. The bottom gate on one lock is the top gate on the next.

 

 

The engine ole on a narrowboat is very small space and to do anything in there you need to be a contortionist. Good job Carolyn is so nimble . We now have a gleaming ole.

 

                                                   Our mooring for the weekend .

                                                       Molly and Curly back together .

                                           What a mess . They certainly do not travel light.

After arriving Carolyn and Chloe went off to do some shopping. They returned to Inca and brought a load of shopping down to the boat. The car was about 50 meters away. When they returned to the car 15 minutes later it had been broken into. A lot of gear was stolen and damage done to the car door....LESSON TO BE LEARNT...........  DO NOT LEAVE VALUABLES IN A CAR .....EVEN FOR A FEW MINUTES .....  The insurance will cover most of it but not all.

                                                 Curly our number one granddaughter .

                                                  The 3 stooges saying goodbye

Apart from the hassle with the car it was a very good weekend. It will only be 3 weeks and Curly will be back up to stay for a week.Without her mum....hooray........We will have some fun.................