9th – 22nd Sep – A visit home for work and moving on
The early part of the week was pretty much taken up with packing and organising. Paul went off on Tuesday to get the car ready for our trip home. The journey involved a taxi to Banbury, a train to Coventry where he changed to a train to Rugby and then a taxi to Brinklow.
The car hadn’t been used since early May and started 1st time! We leave it with a small solar panel trickle charging the battery and it seems to work very well. The whole trip only took around two and a half hours, so not too bad. He returned bearing lunch in the form of a sandwich from the Post Office/Store in Brinklow, which are tip top. Made by Pumpkins Deli, I think? They really are top-notch nosh. and would give Pret a run for their money!
We packed the car and left Cropredy mid afternoon for our journey down to Fareham. Traffic was pretty good, although we encountered some appalling weather on the way down. The rain was like bullets – you really need the sound up! But Fareham was bright and sunny, and so it remained for our entire stay.
Paul had 6 days of working at the Southampton Boat Show and I had no transport, so was not really looking forward to it. Usually when we’re home I catch up with friends, but having no transport really clipped my wings. And my bus pass needs renewing. Annoying! But it was lovely spending a lot of time with Chester, who has now fully entered the walking phase of his life!
We watch a programme call “Below Deck Sailing Yacht” (I know – utter trash – but entertaining nonetheless!) and Paul met Captain Glenn , who was attending the Boat Show as a VIP. He managed to get a photo with him. Nice chap.
The Saturday was Uncle D’s birthday (88!) and, as George wasn’t working, Paul was able to use George’s car, which meant I had transport, so I took Uncle D out for a drive, culminating in a birthday lunch at the very picturesque Red Lion in Chalton. He also came over for a family dinner on Sunday, so quire a busy birthday weekend for him.
I had a hair appointment in Wickham (at my beloved Wispers) on Tuesday and also met some old singing friends for lunch. Paul had run George to work before going on to the Boat Show, so I had a car again! And then it was time to go home. We were very sad to leave our nearest and dearest, but also looking forward to being back on board, cruising in this glorious weather.
We arrived home, unpacked and settled back into boat life and treated ourselves to dinner out at the nearby Brasenose Arms and were very glad we had done so. It was very busy, considering it was a Wednesday evening, so there was a bit of a wait for food. But it was well worth the wait. Mac & Cheese with bacon and fried onions for me, and a mahoosive burger with cheese and pulled brisket for Paul. Both delicious. We were out longer than planned but used the time well, laying down some plans for an event next year. More news on that to follow!
Paul left early to take the car back to Rugby and was back before I’d even begun to miss him! He was soon nose to the grindstone while I finished off the last few bits of unpacking and just generally caught up with myself. I had a message from Nigel and Sue Fenwick on NB Tethys (another serial hybrid boat) to say that they had arrived at the Marina. We immediately invited them over for sundowners after Paul had finished work and the groceries had been delivered.
It was a little on the chilly side but we enjoyed a couple of drinks and some nibbles and got to know each other a little better. It was a lovely evening but I hadn’t noticed how cold I had got until I went indoors! A sure sign that Autumn is beginning to bite – that and the flipping craneflies. I’m not a fan. They’d be fine if they didn’t try to fly in your face all the time! I don’t like to kill them though as they have such a short lifespan.
We left Cropredy just before 10 am on Friday, feeling quite sad to be leaving as it’s a nice spot. Rain was due late morning and we planned to get the first three locks out of the way and moor in our fave spot near Clattercote Bridge, if it was vacant. It was not a very pleasant day – kind of annoying after all that lovely weather when we could not be boating, but it couldn’t be helped.
The locks were all against us and we met another boat in the middle of the three, locking down. We saw the two Embden geese that patrol the stretch between Varney’s Lock and Bridge 149. They were on the bank until I made that “click click click” sound which is the universal language to alert birds and beasts to your presence. They know it means grub and took to the water with much loud clanking and screeching! We wondered how old they are – they’ve been there as long as we have had Old Nick, that’s for sure. It seems, though, that their lifespan is as much as 20-30 years. Long may they live. I love them.
We had a chat and decided that, if our spot was vacant, we’d pull over and if it wasn’t, we’d press on up the Claydon flight of 5 locks. Luckily, our spot was free and we pulled over and got tied up just before the skies opened. Phew! It was pretty early to be pulling over but heavy rain was promised and we had plenty of stuff to do. As it happens, the hard rains that were gonna fall never really got going after the first very sharp shower and there were a couple of times where we toyed with the idea of moving on, but we love it so at this spot, that we decided to stay put.
I must just mention our new lights – we’ve seen them on various boats and they seem like a good idea. They fit on the handrail magnetically and light up the side of the boat. We will use them mainly on unlit stretches to show the boat’s location on dark nights – handy for late night and winter dog-walking. They are, of course solar powered!
We were planning to meet friends for lunch at Fenny Compton Wharf. Are we mad after our experience a couple of weeks ago?? Well everyone deserves a 2nd chance, right? We’ll see. Anyway – we had an early start as we wanted to be sure of getting a mooring at the Wharf. As we were getting ready to set off, a couple of boats went by, so we knew we’d be a little slower than we’d like but it took a full 2 hours to do 5 single gauge locks.
It was a beautiful morning, though and we thoroughly enjoyed our passage to Fenny Compton. We stopped off at Fenny Marina to pick up some diesel, now that the solar is starting to tail off. Reasonably priced too! Under new management, with plans to re-open the chandlery to boot – we wish them every success.
We were lucky enough to get pole position at the pub and, just as we were mooring up, we got a very exciting phone call, the contents of which, I cannot reveal until after the 29th September! Feel free to speculate! We then left the boat to meet Dave & Roma Jessie from Perseverance at the pub. We had lots to catch up and chat about and had a lovely time.
And how was our experience at the Pub? Much better in terms of service but my ribs left much to be desired. Ribs are usually cooked so that the meat fairly falls off the bones, right? Not so these. They had clearly not been slow cooked for hours and were stringy and tough. You had to wrestle for every morsel and I reckon I got about a quarter of a pork chop’s worth of meat max, before I gave up. A bit disappointing, really – although Paul’s food was fine to be fair.
We bid Dave and Roma farewell and unhooked the boat, planning to stop somewhere a little more rural. We experienced a spot or two of rain (actually it poured, briefly!) as we went, but finally spotted just the ideal bit of bank – and then realised that we had moored here once before, a couple of years back. A nice quiet spot, where we’d stay until the next day.
The weather for the forthcoming week looked pretty horrendous – although I’m getting to the point where I’m treating weather forecasts with a bit of cynicism. We keep getting these warnings of dire weather which come to nothing. It seems more about covering their backs than accuracy. But we could see and hear the rain as we woke up. Decision made. We’d stay put today.
Next week we’ll be continuing our slow passage along the lovely Oxford Canal, back to the Marina of Dreams. We’ll also pop our noses into the Grand Union for an overnighter in Ventnor Marina, which is a new one for us.
| Period | Miles | Locks |
| 9th to 22nd Sept | 8 | 8 |
| Cumulative | 383 | 300 |