Wednesday 29 August.

Shhhh. We woke up and it was pouring with rain, we stayed in bed with a cup of tea until it stopped. A quick trip to get provisions and we set sail (sic).  Today we went through three long tunnels and left the Bridgewater canal at Preston Brook tunnel onto the Trent and Mersey.  In the afternoon we had a terrific thunderstorm.  We carried on until we got to Anderton.  The Lift had closed for the day, so we had a walk walking through a country park to try and find the swimming pool.  When we found i,t it was closed but hey I was not going in when the tempreture was 18 degrees and it was out doors.  I think I will give this a miss.

Tuesday 28 August.

Shhsss we woke up and the sun was shining.  Not a cloud in the sky.  We hurriedly got going and headed towards Manchester. We passed Worsley  At one point I decided to walk so John stopped the boat onto a small jetty and when I looked up it was the back entrance to the Trafford Centre.  No I did not go in.  As I was walking a snappy Jack Russell snapped and nipped the back of my leg.  I have gone right off small dogs (sorry Rita)  I gave the owners a good piece of my mind.  We stopped off at Sale and was very impressed as to how the Canal was in the centre and that the area had a good feel to the area.  We carried on after a quick romp around Sale and ended up at Lymm.  We had been told by one of the Marine Owners that this would be a good place to stop.  He was right, the village enveloped the canal.  There are lots of lovely shops to brouse and several restuarants. It also had a heretage walk which we walked part of.  We met a couple who had moured opposite and they had hired a boat for a weeks holiday but had little instruction.  They were very impressed with John's reversing into our mooring.

Monday 27 August.

John had his breakfast in bed this morning.  We woke early and it was not raining.  So I decided that we should crack on.  Also it could also be payback time to the Party revellers who kept us awake last night when they cruised back from a local beer festival.  They probably were not happy with us running the engine and moving past them at just after 7.  Christine walked for a good part of the journey to Wigan.  The 6 locks to Wigan were not easy to manage.  The anti vandal equipment is used on all moving parts of the locks i.e. that meant you needed to use the key up to 6 times per lock.  Also most of the gates are very rotten and do not move well.

Once we reached Wigan Pier the heavens opened.  I had been looking forward to seeing the Pier at Wigan and I was not dissapointed.  (Well John was. Just two bent rails from the end of a tramway!) At one of the locks when it was raining heavily in the waiting spot for lock operation, a plastic boat had tied up leaving us no real room to park to operate the lock. 4 people stood in the cockpit of this lovely boat with steaming cups of beverages warming their hands.  At no point did they offer to move as they watched us navigate the weir to get into the lock.
I hope they enjoyed the experience of watching two experinced boat handlers move into the lock.

We did not stop in Wigan, well only to empty the loo, and we cruised on further through Leigh and then onto our mooring spot outside a pub in Astley Green.  Big disappointment as the Pub does not have WiFI.
I have to say at this point that the Northern ladies do general get overdressed.  In the pub on Saturday they were all dressed up and even the plainest of dressers had pearls all over her Jumper.  Well this morning as I was walking with my stout walking boots full wet weather gear I passed a young lady in full make up wearing gold sandels in the thick mud. Say no more.Today we did around 17 miles.

Sunday 26 August. Caught the train to Wigan. Quickly found the O2 Shop and the phone recovered once that battery was taken out and put back in. Now have a spare phone in case it happens again. Quick coffee and back to Parbold on the Train .  What an experinece. The train was full of Day Trippers going to Southport. Mostly women with lots of children. Sporting large and varied tattoos and changing nappies on the seats. Lovely.
Angela, who worked opposite Chris at work, met us off the train and we zoomed off in her Mini to her new home. It's just fabulous.  We had lunch and lots of chat then back to our boat for a cup of tea.

Saturday 25th August. Finally left Tarleton and headed south. Intention to get to Parbold to meet up with Angela McNeily. Notwithstanding the difficult locks, the fact that our anti-vandal key for the mechanisms did not fit, and waiting for a buddy through the locks, we made it about 6pm. (10 miles in 10 hours. All the (7) locks (Christine 6, John 1!) not only had this anti-vandal system, but they all had different operating systems. Christine was on the bank, and experienced a language difficulty with a local and his accent. Android phone went kaput! No nothing. Change of plan for tomorrow. In to Wigan. Tonight into the pub. Drinks only and left quickly as Chris felt she was not dressed properly! What rubbish - she had clothes on.

(Buddy coming through to the Leeds and Liverpool from the Rufforth Link.)

Friday 24th August.
Lazy morning cleaning the boat and waiting for John to arrive. John arrived just before lunch. We decided not to move on and went back into Southport and walked along the front.  A bit breezy.

Thursday 23 August.
I spent the day recovering from my journey yesterday and went into Southport on the Bus.

Tuesday 22nd. August. Christine went off swimming early and left me to take the boat down to the Ribble Link basin. Took me 6 hours, plus lunch. Chris had breakfast in Booth's and went shopping in Preston. Met up about 3.30 at the basin.

John left me to return to Wiltshire. leaving me in the basin awaiting the journey down the Link.  The locks were three steps of a staircase, and looked quite scarry. I decided to give the boat a big clean as the owners were due on board the nexct day (what a waste of time that was.) However it did stop me getting anxious about the man who sat on a bench 5 yards from my kitchen window he was drinking a bottle of beer and had 6 cans. He did unnerve me a little but I was hoping that the boat behind me was keeping an eye on things.  I was also hoping that it would rain again but it did not oblige.  I turned on the engine thinking that this would disturb his peace: no luck. He eventually left after drinking all of his cans leaving me in peace to have a peacful night alone on the boat.  However, at around 10.30pm two more boats arrived one of which banged into the boat with quite a bang. They then proceeded to have a party on board. Relaying their trip down  I was not very interested in this.

Wednesday 23rd  John woke me early as he said that the owner Chris and Stan would be arriving early.  I got up at 7 am. had breakfast a further tidy up. By 9.45 I was getting a little anxious as the other boats were getting ready to set sail and also British WaterWays were arriving and getting the locks set.  There was no way that I was going down the link on my own even with my Girl Guiding Boating Licence. I rang John who contacted Chris and stated that they were minutes from me.  It took them a further 25 minutes to reach me, Whoooo|

Setting off we  reversed into the lock not very easy as it was very windy but we manged without too many problems.  I received little confidence from Stan who was a little concerned that he had not used the boat for some time but he's a helecopter pilot so it will be just fine.  Well it nearly was until we went into the side near a weir going down the link to getting ready to start down the Ribble.  Chris and Stan brought their two sons: perhaps not the brightest idea of the day as they did get a little bored and Stan and Chris had their hands full sorting the locks and steering the boat.

 

Going down the river I decided that I needed to have a go at the helm (just so that I can say that I had done this.  Chris and Stan went inside and suddenly the boat started to make a funny noise.  I reduced the speed and the two men rushed up. We had lost all power. (If John had been there I would have been accused of doing something wrong.) Happily the two men rescued a cockle net from the propeller and we were able to start moving again.  It seemed to take an age to get down the river. The two boats behind were doing a dance around each other trying to keep behind us. We later found out that one boat had overheated. Without further mishap we turned into the River Douglas and we were soon back in safer waters.

Approach to Tewitfield basin. Us in the foreground.

The disused locks heading towards Kendal.

Awful weather on the way back.

Saturday 18 August.
Moved further north to Tewitsfield and the terminus of the current canel. It used to go on to Kendal, but the M6 put paid to that. However we were able to walk further north along the canal, past some abandoned locks. (There are plans afoot to restore the canal to Kendal by going under the M6.) No piccies today as I do not have the lead for the camera with me.

Sunday 19 August
Still do not have the lead for piccies, but in yet more foul weather we headed back south to Garstang. Christine decided to get off at one point and decided to walk for an hour. Just right to arrive at the only swing bridge in the whole system. In the mean time I managed to ground the boat, and retrieve it alone. Mum and baby ducks came calling for tea.

Monday 20 August.
A lazy day! Finally the sun came out, but I was on board checking over the last few details before we hit the Ribble Link, and the tidal rivers leading to the Leeds and Liverpool, Rufforth Link. Found the isolating valve for the leaking kerosene stove, and turned it off. Attempted to fix the Bilge pump, with no success. (Although I knew that I had to open it.) Called a mobile engineer, who quickly identified the bilge pump problem, and did what I had failed to do, (break the system off from its base and open it up!) Now fixed. Then checked out the bow Thruster. 2 fuses blown, one which was obvious, and the second that is not visible, but because the engineer had been on the boat before, he knew where to find it. Also gave free advice on the keresene stove as there are no instructions.
Chris went to the local pool for an hour's constitutional. £4.80 and only one life-guard.

Friday 17 August. Weather forecast is awful! Amber warning for thunderstorms and torrential rain this afternoon. So decided to catch the bus to Kendal. Missed it by 10 seconds. So headed to Morecambe. Then train to Lancaster for a bus to Kendal. Decided to take the train to Windermere instead. Rain. More rain. No buses at first because of a bus fire at Windermere station and traffic chaos.Had a coffee, then bus to Bowness. Returned to Windermere for a bus to Kendal. (Forgot to mention window shopping and spending in all towns.) The caught the return bus ( to the one we missed at the start) to return to Hest Bank and the boat. Tried the local pub for WiFi.None, so relying on tethering for all communications. Trouble is I cannot get the pc to send anything from Outlook Express, but can from Lineone (Talk Talk). Now pouring with rain and forecast is that we did not get the weather that was forecast. It's coming now!

16 August. We google Mapped the Ribble Link last night and found a different way to approach the basin. So set out, by car, at 8 this morning to search out the route. Took just half an hour to find. Parking about 20yds from the basin, and it is in a pleasant area. So no problems for the 22nd and the trip down with the owners.
By 10 we were on our way north by boat, heading for Lancaster. Well, made Lancaster so quickly that we headed on and are now stopped at Hest Bank between bridges 116 and 117. (About 2 miles north of Morecombe. We had a wander down to the beach(!), well miles and miles of open expanses of sand banks. Nice ice cream on the way down, only to find an Old Codgers cafe right on the edge of the foreshore. Have attached some piccies of the journey up. The second photo shows a CaraBoat. (It looks like a caravan superimposed on a barge.) You might notice some rain-drops on the lens. Chris decided that when it rains her place is in the covered front of the boat making sure that we don't hit anything. (Well that's her story.) I just put on the full wet weather gear and carried on. Time for dinner.

Arrived at Garstang

13 August 1500. Arrived at Garstang Marina for the canal boat Martini. Well for a boat that had not seen a clean and polish for some 9 months, it was not bad. But, on examination, there was a lot of cleaning required, and the diching of mouldy carpets. Something, (not the carpets), that we are used to with the Bruce Trust. But we set too. Chris doing most of the internal and me doing the outside, and the mucky jobs! We eat out tonight at the Bell Haven. A Marston's pub. Very good it was too.

14 August and we are still at it, but the end is in sight, and Chris is content with the finished product. The inside is clean and tidy and the outside looks fine with a polished finish. The fuel has been orderd for delivery, (157 litres), and the gas cylinders replaced with full ones. The neighbours next to us have been very helpful with the gift of a windlass. (The boat had none because there are no locks on the Lancaster canal!) We will have to buy another before we venture too far south. We have also been given a special key for using on the Leeds and Liverpool. It is apparently needed to open the vandal-proof system on the locks, otherwise the locals tend to empty the pounds for a bit of fun.

15 August and the boat can have its photo taken. We have decided to buy a towbar bike rack to carry our two bikes on the stern of the boat. (It has a towball already fitted.) This will make the carriage of the bikes so much easier, and prevent us from scratching the roof surface that was our only alternative.
The weather forecast is for heavy rain and strong winds. Have decided not to boat up to Lancaster today to collect the bike rack from Halfords, but to car up and spend the day there. A great place with a large pedestrian area with both large and small shops. Arcades and stalls spread through the streets. We bought our final restocking items for the boat. All should be finally finished now.
So we headed south, by car, to check on the Ribble Link. What a disaster. Could not approach it by car. Might have to rethink meeting up with the owners on the 22nd when we start the traverse of the Ribble and Douglas as we head for Tarleton on the Rufforth Link of the Leeds and Liverpool. They are due to bring an anchor, rope and lifejackets for our traverse and the approach is all by foot. We headed back and into the downpour of rain the was forecast for this morning. Headed for a Garden Centre for tea and cakes. Far too expensive, so headed to Booths in Garstang. Still too expensive for  a small slice of cake at £2.75. Especially when Chris has her boiled fruit cake on the boat.

Just one day to go before we head up north, Garstang Marina on the Lancaster Canal, to collect the boat for a shakedown, before heading south for Foxhangers Marina on the Kennett & Avon. No piccies yet as we have yet to see the boat.