1 Year Today



Hi There

 

Well as in the title post, we are one year today. The 3rd October 2012 saw us spend our first night on Badger Sett that was the start of a planned six months timeout, that ran into a twelve months time out and looks like now being permanent. Whilst I'm sure our life and lifestyle wouldn't suit some, it certainly suits us and when we Skype family and friends they all seem to say that we look really well and happy. Not sure how to take this, does it mean that we didn't look really well and happy before ?

 

 

 

We've been on the Lancaster Canal since our last post and enjoying the 41 mile main length and largely rural lock free scenery. Lock free other than the Glasson Branch that has got six locks that we just did yesterday.

 

Nicky's got a bit of a fetish lately and unfortunately, one that I can write about without censorship. The first time it happened I thought she'd left me as she just stood up, put her coat and boots on, picked up her unable-to-be-without-phone and shot out the door. Just when the prospect of my new life started to dawn on me and all those locks and lift bridges I'd have to do by myself, she was back. Turned out she'd spotted a sunset she liked and a few more since then as well.

Not so much a sunset, but a moon up this next one.

Just after Lancaster is quite an impressive aqueduct that takes you over the River Lune, strangely enough it's called the Lune Aqueduct!

Looking down the river from the Aqueduct towards Lancaster Castle.

Dec's our youngest son and his girlfriend Stevie came to see us for a few days on their way back from holiday in Tenerife and Dec's took the opportunity of 'taking control'.

He did very well and was extremely calm and relaxed, until . . .

a boat came around the corner just in front.

We stopped with them at Hest Bank overlooking Morcambe Bay for a few days and it was great to see the sea. Coming from Jersey there isn't really a day that goes by when you wouldn't see it, especially when I worked at the harbour and our house had sea views. Okay, distant sea views, but it was still mentioned in the sales spiel when it went on the market. Took a walk down there as the boys, well Binks more so, loves the water.

Dec's and Stevie with Benji trying to work out how to get up there.

Now you can't go to Morcambe Bay without visiting the great Mr Morcambe himself, although as an option I suppose you aren't duty bound to make fools of yourselves, but hey, when in Rome.

And a final treat for the boys on the beach with Benji about as close to getting in the water as he gets.

and Binks waiting 

for someone to just hurry up and throw that stick that's being waved about

so he can go and rescue it

Came across this little fellow on one of our walks.

although the boys weren't too sure what to make of him.

The Lancaster Canal has been great and improves the further north you go. The navigation is unceremoniously cut off by the M6 although it used to continue on to Kendal and there are plans to maybe open it up in the years to come. It won't be cheap though with locks to fix, tunnels and aqueducts to be built under and over roads and that's just to reconnect it back to the canal. After that, there's about 15 miles of canal to make navigable, some of which is filled in. You can walk along what they call the 'Northern Reaches' although we only managed 5 of the 15 miles that starts bringing you into the foothills of the Lake District and what would be a lovely stretch if ever opened up.

 

Some of it is fairly clear, but

some of it isn't.

 

 And the M6 cutting it off in the background.

 

 

 

Looks like there is some attempt to keep the Northern Reaches clear and some of the views that await.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

We went for a walk to Warton Nature Reserve that's about two miles west of the canal and went up to the Crag. Trying to take a photo of the boys and Nicky proved tricky though as they were either
 

 

 

in the way 

looking the wrong way

or looking the wrong way and the wind was blowing

with this being about the best I could get in the end.
 

I on the other hand didn't have a hair issue, we just all looked the wrong way.

The boy's like to be warm and in the sun even if there is only a patch big enough for one at a time. Benji is in the hot seat for now, but don't move or . . .

to late you did and Binks is straight in there

 

 

 

 
That's it for now other than a quick close up photo to give you nightmares. Taken with Nicky's phone, as are a lot of the photo's in this post and puts my camera to shame.

 

 

 

And so in signing off,

Day 347 in the Badger Sett Narrowboat - 636 miles and 277 locks further on from when we started.

Note - For those eagled eyed of you who have noticed we're only on day 347, but have been going for a year, it's because we went home for Christmas and I didn't include those days in our log. Guess we'll have to be like the Queen and have two birthdays, one on the 3rd October and the other on the 365th day or subsequent multiples thereof in the years to come.



The Ribble Link

Hi There

 

August has been a gentle month for us of 26 cruising hours after July’s 55 when our son and his girlfriend were over. Allowed us some pretty lazy days, but the weathers been pretty good and we’ve managed to find some good walks as well. Spent about ten nights spread between the Appley Locks, Parbold and then outside of Burscough that are only about five miles apart. We then gave ourselves six days to travel the final six miles from the branch at Burscough up to Tarleton where our Ribble Link experience will start.

Just need to quickly say that in the event of me mysteriously disappearing from blogging life, please forward the following evidence to the police for me. 

 

 

Taking the boys for a walk and trying, with difficulty, to get Binks to go through the gate.

 

Here's me doing my cameo appearance as Maximus Decimus Meridius from the Gladiator film.

 

 

And Nicky trying to get a picture with the boys who are otherwise interested.

 

 

Now onto our Ribble Link experience . . . . . .

 

 

Tarleton Lock and as you can see, we're not going anywhere yet as the tide hasn't come in.

 

Looking down from Tarleton Lock.

 

 

Five narrow boats doing today's trip and we're in fifth place. It's a double lock so we'll be the third lock to go that'll cost us a bit further into our journey.

 

 

And we're off and looking back at the lock. Quite a flow here as it's quite narrow for a mile.

 

 

Starting to open out a bit now and making better headway.

 

 

The narrow boat in front was in the first lock so we've made up about thirty minutes on him in the first couple of miles. The boat that's just overtaken us was in the lock behind and going fishing for the day.

 

 

The narrow boat in the right of the picture has gone round the Asland Lamp that's the marker we need to keep to the left of so we don't find ourselves dry on a sandbank. It's off to the left and out of sight in this picture that'll give you an idea of the detour that you need to make before you can head right towards Savick Brook that'll take us onto the Lancaster Canal.

 

 

 

Not very clear, but you might be able to make out the Asland Lamp in the distance almost in line with the starboard side of our boat. The sailing boat in the right of this picture is the one that is in the left of the picture above that puts the detour we need to make a bit more into context.

 

 

Just coming up on the Asland Lamp and need to remember to turn right here or we're off out to sea and heading towards America. Oops that'll be a problem as we haven't got a visa . . . .

 

 

A couple of fishing boats that have come from Preston Docks and in the distance, the two narrowboats that were in the lock before us.

 

 

Getting towards the end of the journey, the turning into Savick Brook is about a mile on the left, BUT . . .

 

 

We're not going there today as we'd received a call telling us that there won't be enough water so it's onto Preston Docks for us for an unscheduled night stop.

 

 

Waiting for the lock to open so we can get into the marina, lucky for Nicky that it's not windlass operated !

  

 

It's Nicky's lucky day, the swing bridge isn't windlass operated either. . . .

 

 

 

And here we are moored up for the night.

 

Every cloud has a silver lining and all that though. The bonus of the detour turned out to be a Morrisons Supermarket about five minutes walk away as we needed to do a shop, an Elsan point,  water point and washing machines and tumble dryers at the marina. And the bonuses didn't stop there either. We popped into a motorhome shop that was close by as we've decided to get a low voltage twin tub washing machine that we were expecting to pay about £100 for and found that they were less than £60. So that's on order and we'll be picking it up when we come back to do the return trip on the link in October.

 

 

So this is sort of the morning after the night before (but without the drink) and heading out of Preston Docks and back towards Savick Brook to finish our journey we started 24 hours ago. The boat in front is the one we'd past yesterday who spent the night with us in the dock.

 

 

And quite a nice day for it to.

 

 

Just starting our turn into Savick Brook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And coming up to the sea lock.

 

 

Where we met up with three other boats that were doing The Ribble Link today.

 

 

We thought The Ribble Link experience stopped as we'd crossed the tidal part, but as it turned out, the Savick Brook is a whole experience by itself and mostly very narrow.










 

You might just be able to make out the canal going off to the right in front before turning left again a little further ahead where you can see the narrow boat that's in front.
 

 

Waiting at the first lock, where . . . . .

 

 

a couple of clunks and a head down the weed hatch later I retrieved a chunk of wood from the propeller. All fine though and after the problems we've had with bent prop shafts and propellers falling off we were mighty relieved that this was all it was.  

 
 

And on we continue, only seven more locks to go !

 

Getting there now, the final leg, a staircase that you need to reverse into. 

 

In we go and for once the boat did what I wanted it to do, was it skill, probably not, just no wind, no flow and luck.

 

The staircase from the middle lock.

 

And then the top lock and nearly done.

 

Reversing out now and finally on the Lancaster Canal, thirty hours after leaving the Leeds and Liverpool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moored up and in need of a rest now, so this will be home for the next few days. Glad we got round to making a gangplank as we'll be needing it here as the canal is apparently very shallow at the sides.

 

And so in signing off,

 

Day 322 in the Badger Sett Narrowboat - 571 miles and 271 locks further on from when we started.