Top of Foxton Locks to Rainbow Bridge.

We are now moored at the bottom of Foxton Locks near Rainbow Bridge 62, having descended the locks this morning. We had a very heavy over night frost, but it meant we had a stunning sunrise. There was no one else around, so we had the flight to ourselves. After leaving the locks we cruised down to Debdale, on doing so we passed NB Wilver. Bill stuck his head out of the side door's and said good morning to us. We had a quick chat and headed to the winding hole at Debdale, where we turned the boat around. We then returned to the bottom of Foxton Locks where we will be for a few days as we have people coming to see us. After mooring up, we shut the boat up and headed to bridge 61 for a coffee and a chat with Tony Matts. Jo then decided to use the laundrette, so that she could do all of the washing at once. It was well worth the £3 for the wash, as it got everything done at once.
Mo and Nessa on NB Balmaha are now moored behind us, so we will catch up with them tomorrow. It will be wonderful to catch up on all their news.
The day is now drawing to a close as the light is fading fast and the temperature is dropping rapidly, so we will be staying inside tonight.

Market Harborough to Foxton.

Hi Friends.

We have set off from Market Harborough for the "Village at War" weekend at Stoke Bruerne, but are stopping overnight near Foxton Junction for tonight, 5.15 miles 2hrs 25mins. A long the route this morning we dropped off coal to a couple of our customers and look forward to seeing them when we come back. It was a pleasant morning in the sunshine.

Foxton to Crick.

Hi Folks.

Brrrrrrrr it has been more like Autumn today than Summer. Both Keith and I had to don our donkey jackets to keep out the chilly Northerly breeze. The sun did put in an appearance, but was not warm enough to make us take our jackets off.

Some of the views across the countryside along this 20 mile pound are stunning. We enjoyed 17 miles of scenery today and loved every moment of it.

We met Ben on NB Primrose Time on moorings above Foxton Locks, he was heading back to Market Harborough and his mooring. We met our first boat of the day NB Sarah D at 9.30 am and after that there was a steady stream of boats coming out of Yelvetoft and Crick Marina's for the weekend. There were plenty of stationary boats, some not holding up-to-date licences I hasten to add. We cruised past the home and stables of Piggy French. She has a beautiful property, but until today we did not know it was her place.

We were just about to cruise past Kilworth Marina, and saw that they were just about to let the Dayboat out. Luckily they waited until we passed them by.

After Bridge 33, we met in passing NB Margin, who told us that he reads our blog. It is always lovely to meet up with people, who take time out to come in and read about our life and adventures. So hello to the gentleman on NB Margin, hopefully the next time we meet, we may get to exchange names and a few words.

I could not resist taking this photo of a floating garden in progress, or is it purely a weed hatch-er?? Heading towards Crick we passed the new Yelvetoft Marina, who is selling diesel for £1.19 a litre any advance on £1.19? The Marina looked pretty empty. Either the boats are out, or they are still trying to fill it. It is in a lovely area and has all the facilities. Having met every man, woman and their dog moving, it was nice to arrive at Crick and find a mooring. We will be staying here till Monday.

Up, Up and moor up.

Hi folks.

Is now at the top of Foxton locks, 1 miles, 10 locks, 1hr 30mins.

Having been awake since 6am, Keith and I enjoyed an early cuppa in bed, before getting up and preparing Hadar for the off. The plan was to get up the locks early, which also seemed to be the plan of others, because as we arrived at the lock, there was a boat already going into the bottom lock. So having sat Hadar on the gates, I walked up to find the lock keeper. He informed me that we were 4th in the queue, which was a surprize to me because there was no one waiting at the bottom. Apparently I was passed by a gentleman running up the towpath, who was going up the flight third, if he was quick enough to get rid of his rubbish. Flippin cheek.
As it actually turned out, the boat in second place, said that we should go before them, as it would be easier. Which was really very nice of them. So thank you to the crew of Mutley. They very kindly helped me do the first few locks, which gave us a chance to have a nice chat. It turned out that they are good friends of Jo and John on Acen, who we also have go to know, since being in Market Harborough Basin. So we had a nice quiet run up through Foxton locks. Once above the locks Keith moved some more coal around in the hold to get the bow up a bit, he also restacked all the toilet blue and kindling. Hold looks all neat and tidy now. I mopped out the front locker, the gates at Foxton are leaking lots, and with such force it bounced off the fore deck and up under the hatch. There was a good inch of water in the locker. I have got most of it out, but as I am trying not to overdo it with my shoulder, I did not get it completely dry.
We have enjoyed a chat with other boaters moored near us and had our lunch. We are now watching the Germany v Serbia World Cup match on a digital signal, so all is good with our world today.

Rainbows and Visitors

Hi Friends.

I dare say like us, you had all sorts of weather thrown at you. We have had three thunderstorms in three days, giving us an excellent light show on the first night.
Once the rain had cleared, the water in the basin was just like glass, giving us a fantastic mirror image across the basin.

After the thunderstorm, the sun would come out and we would be honoured with a Rainbow.

Whilst we all like dry sunny weather, this rain has been welcomed across the country and is very much needed in the reservoirs, otherwise we will be seeing restrictions across the network.

Today we had the pleasure of seeing NB. Inglewood coming into the basin with her crew of Christine and Alan and their friends onboard. With them moored up on of the pontoons, we joined them for a coffee, before going down to Joules for a lovely lunch. It was great to see Christine and Alan again. The last time we met up was at the Little Venice Cavalcade 13 months ago. So there was plenty to chat about. The above photograph was taken as they left the basin, heading back to Foxton.

Foxton to Marktet Harborough.

Hadar set off on an epic journey yesterday morning, to get to Market Harborough to deliver coal to boaters. The 5.5 miles would on a normal day take in the region of 1 hour 50 minutes, but this was not a normal day.
The canal was well and truly frozen with a dusting of snow topping it off. We set off breaking ice as we made our way to Foxton Swing Bridge, which was an absolute pig to move. We had to use the boat to open and close the bridge, because man power was never going to shift the thing. I am no weakling, but I could not move the darn thing. Keith used ropes to make the job easier. We have reported the problem to British Waterways, as it is now a real issue for anyone trying to get to and from Market Harborough. It was playing up before the freeze and now the ice has compounded the problem.
Once we cleared the swing bridge, we were breaking ice up to 2 inches thick, which meant it was slow going in places.Hadar did us proud and we eventually arrived at Market Harborough some 6 hours and 40 minutes later. It was the most incredible days cruising. We became a source of entertainment as people walking their dogs, or just walking took out their phone camera's to take photos of us breaking ice. I don't suppose it is something they see everyday. Having arrived at the Market Harborough moorings, we cleared the ice between the mooring and the boat, so that we could get Hadar in to the bank. By the time we had tied up it was well and truly dark and we were both feeling shattered. This will now be our home until after Christmas, as we cannot turn around as the basin is frozen and we are having our Christmas dinner out this year.
Keith and I would like to thank everyone for reading our blog.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a Very Happy New Year. We look forward to 2010.

Foxton.

We have spent the weekend at Foxton and it has been absolutely lovely. The weather has really helped because Saturday we had wall to wall sunshine, which bought the gongoozlers out to play. With all our boat jobs done, we took a stroll up to the Museum to have a look around, it is well worth a visit for £2.50 an adult and £1.50 for concessions. We then had a nice cup of coffee at the cafe by the bottom lock, which was very busy. As we sat drinking our coffee it really did amaze me how little parents take notice of what their children are doing. There were lots of very small children wandering about, and some were walking very close to the edge of the canal. It would not have taken much for one of them to have fallen in, either by slipping or being pushed in by a roving dog or another child. Parents really should keep a better eye on their children.The Foxton Locks Inn was also really busy. It is still undergoing work and at the moment they are having a function room built on.Even though we had come down the Foxton Flight it was still nice to walk to the top to enjoy another coffee at the cafe at the top lock and then have a walk around the Foxton Inclined Plane and the boat lift. The Foxton Inclined Plane Trust is working hard to raise the money to restore the lift. They hope to restore it to full working order, but it all takes money. In 2008 the Foxton Locks Partnership completed a £3m lottery funded project which has resulted in the lift site being removed from the 'Monuments at risk' register.Sundays weather has been a little chillier, with a strong breeze blowing and no sign of the sunshine until late in the afternoon. We did have another walk around the locks. Mainly because it was actually too nice to sit on the boat. But like with all good things they must come to an end and back at the boat we then made an attempt on the brass work, which has not been cleaned for a while. It took quite a lot of elbow grease to make a dent in the grime, but I dare say after a few goes it will be nice and shiny again. The next task will be the paintwork, which is in need of some attention before we go into dry dock in April.