We are a retired couple who after living abroad for 5 years are now living in Levin, New Zealand. From October 2006 we cruised the inland waterways of Britain. We sold Narrowboat Gypsy Rover in July 2010 and continued our travels around the UK in our new Motorhome. In August 2011 we returned to New Zealand ahead of our motorhome which arrived in October. Although now land based we will be continuing our travels throughout New Zealand when time allows.
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Monday, 9 March 2009
Sunday, 8 March 2009
Look what we found in the Bilge.
As the signs alongside the boat outside Trinity Marina state Overnight mooring £5 we decided we wouldn’t overstay our welcome and moved off. As we passed the entrance to the marina we spotted another sign stating “48 hour mooring free £5 per night there after. We will remember that in future.
The moorings at bridge 22 are good and it gives me the opportunity to get some work done on the boat. As we are having an ongoing saga of a leaky calorifier (hot water tank) and I have been meaning to cut an inspection hatch in the floor at the back of the boat today was going to be that day. 
As you can see in the photo there was about 10mm of water in the bilge which we pumped as much as possible out with our portable pump out gear. After that it was a case of cloth and bucket to soak up the remainder. After I had completed the hatch it was time for lunch. When I returned to the job in hand I found that the bilge had filled up again so out came the bucket and cloth again. We must have drained 10 – 15 litre’s of bilge water out of the boat on both occasions. This will probably be an ongoing job for some time as the ballast blocks in the bilge are probably retaining some of the water and it will take a while for it to all drain to the rear of the boat. Ho hum, joys of boating.
1588 locks, 3346 miles, 57 Tunnels, 44 swing bridges and 39 lift bridges since Nov 2006
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Back on the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal
Marston Junction where the Ashby Canal meets the Coventry Canal
Another lovely day to cruise up to Trinity Marina on the Ashby to meet up with John and Elizabeth on Nb Helen Louise, another NZ couple who we met last year. They moor up over winter and work locally then come spring time they are off out cruising again.
Along the way we stopped and spoke to Roy on Nb Gerald who is just in the process of going online with the help of his son. He bought a laptop in Coventry and his son is setting it all up for him.
Spotted on the Ashby Canal. Pedal boat built for two
With the weather improving there are more boats venturing out now. Contractors are busy hedge trimming all along the Ashby and doing a fine job. As we don’t have to be at Great Haywood for another 6 weeks we will spend a bit more time on the Ashby to see if there is anything we missed last time.
1588 locks, 3344 miles, 57 Tunnels, 44 swing bridges and 39 lift bridges since Nov 2006
Friday, 6 March 2009
Farewell Coventry
Our plan of an early start got away to a reasonable start with a visit to Sainsbury’s to restock the larder and fridge. On the way out of the basin we stopped and spoke to the crew of Ex Challenger boat Victorious who wanted to know where the nearest shop was and we invited them to tag along with us to Sainsbury’s which they did. It turned out that they reside in Watford and Kings Langley so Derek had a good old chin wag over this revelation as these are his birth place and old fishing haunt. We would have liked to chat some more but they were in a hurry to get away as they had to have the boat back to Napton by Saturday. Hopefully we will meet up with them again at some stage. They have got an end of garden mooring on the Grand Union canal and invited us to call in next time we are down that way.
Shopping aboard, we moved up to the pump out facilities which is where our plan for the day came unstuck. The pump out was dead, no power. We rang BW who arranged for an engineer who duly arrived an hour or so later. In the meantime we found that not only was the pump out facility insecure, half the padlock was missing but also the door to the main pump and electrical switch board was unlocked even though it was at the back of the Elsan room. The engineer was unable to fix the problem immediately so as we had a very full toilet tank we had no option but to do a self pump out into the Elsan.
Once this chore was completed we eventually got away just after 2pm. During our cruise we received several phone calls firstly from the engineer and then from an electrician who wanted to know if we were returning to the basin so that he could test the whole thing. As we were not returning we suggested that he speak to the owner of Nb Scallywag who we knew was also waiting to use the facilities. That was our second good deed for the day.
We would like to make a suggestion that BW put the post codes on their facility blocks as both the sub contracting engineer and electrician had no idea where to go and were relying on their Sat Nav’s to find the place. Of course when they rang us for this information we had no idea and had to go into the coffee shop to get their postcode. Where would this country be without postcodes, it’s the first thing anybody asks for but as continuous cruisers technically we don’t have one so how do you get on, in short you don’t, you have to borrow somebody else’s who is close by. We have had many occasions where we have had to ask a householder or business operator for their postcodes.
Daimler manufacturing marker on Coventry Canal
By the time we had filled the water tank at Hawkesbury junction and moved up to the 7 day moorings it was past 5pm and starting to get quite cold so it was time to call it a day.
1588 locks, 3366 miles, 57 Tunnels, 44 swing bridges and 39 lift bridges since Nov 2006
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Coventry Museums and Cathedrals
The new cathedral is built at right angles and adjoining the one destroyed by fire
The third and existing cathedral was consecrated in 1962Today has been another spring time day, sunny but cool. We headed off into the city centre to discover more of the city’s history. A visit to Coventry wouldn’t be complete without calling into the old Cathedral burnt out during WWII and its remains left standing as a memorial to the hundreds of people killed that terrible night. There were so many killed that they had to be buried in a common grave at what is now the London Road cemetery.
With the new cathedral next door and the city’s Museum and Art Gallery across the street we had plenty to see. It was interesting to discover that Coventry has a long history of manufacturing going back centuries. It all started with weaving until the French automated it with the Jacquard loom. Many weavers were forced to emigrate to Canada and Australia to start new lives. Then came clock and watch making followed by engineering, bicycle production and finally motor vehicles of all shapes and sizes. There were also several short video displays of life in and around the city over the decades and through WWII. All very educational and interesting.
After lunch it was back to the Transport Museum which is constantly updating their displays. We have been there before but we still found many new things of interest. At present they are working on a Dr Who display which will be opening shortly.
Derek stands by the Frank Whittle Arch in Coventry
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Fords Hospital Coventry
Named after William Ford in his will of 1509 Fords Hospital are historic almshouses found in the centre of Coventry. Badly damaged by an air raid in November 1940 they were rebuilt with original timbers between 1950 and 1953.
