We’re back onboard after a rather fabulous time in Port Zelande, Holland, celebrating the music of our favourite band-Marillion. Yes, that’s the prog rock group that formed in 1979. No, their singer isn’t called Fish, he left the band in the 80’s, the new lead singer (for the last 36 years) is Steve Hogarth. Out of the blue, Ian was called up on stage to take part in a quiz with his namesake, unfortunately drummer Ian Mosley wasn’t happy that this Ian is a bass guitarist!
Back in Staffordshire, we had a large grocery delivery before leaving Great Haywood Marina to start our big cruising adventure for this year. As we approached the first lock we were treated to the sight of a traditional working boat and I had to admire the panel work. Butty “Ethel” has an iron hull and no engine, she was manufactured in 1930 by Yarwoods and like many boats (including ours) has been renamed a few times: Fern, Elizabeth and Rat. She was originally built for The London, Midland & Scottish Railway Company (LMS). That, despite being primarily one of the “Big Four” railway companies of the early 20th Century, they also owned 543 miles of canal, 8,950 horses, 64 steamboats and 27 docks! Ethel was an LMS station butty, designed to be towed and pulled around a basin transfering cargo from the canal to the railway.
Ian has been busy keeping our boat running smoothly too; he’s upgraded the LED ceiling lights, renewed water filters and serviced the engine. We made a pit stop by a wood to restock with bags of kindling and logs. The temperatures are still getting low at night, around 0 degC (32 degF) but warming up to 13 degC (55 degF) in the daytime, so a glowing fire in the mornings and the evenings is still mandatory as far as I’m concerned!
We do check the weather forecast for sunny days. This is one huge advantage of being retired liveaboards, you can pick the fair-weather days to do your cruising. And as Spring has sprung, there are flowers smiling from the tow path and even the cherry blossom is in full bloom – it’s at least 4-6 weeks early. I can’t deny that I’m loving the warm sunshine, (although with some apprehension as this is being blamed on climate change). For me, all this sunshine feels like a huge release and a joy, I can see the colours of the countryside bouncing back at me instead of being greyed out by the winter sun.
We are on the same route that we followed last May when we took the boat to get blacked at Redhill Marina near to Long Eaton. This time we’re not in such a rush and plan to stop in Burton on Trent for a few days and that means we have to navigate a short section of the River Trent. We are making steady progress because, thankfully, the water levels are all looking normal, unlike last year when we had to wait for a flood to recede.
We do have some favourite views along this stretch. Colwich Lock is really pretty but nothing beats going down the 5 locks at Fradley Junction and pulling in at the Laughing Duck Café for an ice cream. We picked a weekday for Fradley as we know from past experience it can be a nightmare at the weekends especially as there are a few marinas in this area and when the sun shines, the leisure boaters tend to pop out for a long weekend and this junction with the Coventry Canal can be busy.
The freezer is full of home-cooked meals, the boat is ticking along nicely and we’ve already done 30 of the 150 lock/miles to our next destination. But where is that? Guesses in the comments 😀.
Love your blog and pics.so lovely to see the spring weather has arrived And cheering your days.
Good to see Fradley is open again and looking smart! Let us know if you get near Sawley, Shardlow, Long Eaton and we’ll look out for you. 🙂