Off the Ashby - finally

Beefur boat has finnaly been extracated from the ice of the Ashby Canal and we are on the move, 6 weeks later. I've rejoined Dave on the boat, as most of you know, dad died 2 weeks ago after a long illness and I've been at home with mum for the last few weeks while we all tried to come to terms with the loss of such a wonderful man. Thank you for all the visits, phone calls and cards in their hundreds. The messages contained therein have been very kind, helpful and supportive, thank you again.

We're currently moored near Brinklow where we've got a good tv picture for the weekend's rugby and winter olympics, so won't be moving for a couple of days. Came through Sutton Stop today - we've never seen so many boats moored up there. I think they've all got the same idea - don't move far from facilities, so as not to be caught out again & frozen in for weeks in the middle of nowhere - like we were! Very disappointed in the state of the place - especially the rubbish/recycling area. Rubbish stuffed into all the recyling bins, with the rubbish skips empty. Very fustrating when you've been carefully storing your recycling (not easy on a boat), ready to be disposed of responsibly. BW are trying - why can't us boaters try a bit harder. That's today's moan over, more tomorrow!

Water - lovely water

Thurs 21st: Made it - to the water point that is, at Snarestone the end of the Ashby Canal. Everything filled that needed to be filled, and everything emptied that needed to be emptied! Also got 2 containers of diesel, after a bloke in the pub asked if we needed anything ... well, yes actually .... Thanks Mick, very kind of you. We're going to try and get back to Stoke Golding, before it freezes over again! Friday 22nd: Didn't get very far, couldn't get past Shackerstone as the ice is still too thick. Rumour has it that a BW dredger had left Shackerstone bound for Market Bosworth/Stoke Golding, but there's no evidence of a "path" carved through the ice, dredger was here on the way up but he's not here now though, so it MUST be thinner & easier ahead. Ah well, we'll have another go tomorrow, well Dave will, I'm in Chirk for a few days visiting family.

The pub is in sight!

Yesterday (19th) we managed to move. We waited till 1pm, then made a break for it. After 3 hours we had managed to move one mile into Snarestone, the ice here hadn't melted as much as it had further down, and was still 3" thick, and we came to an abrupt stop. That'll do - we can see the pub from here. Both Dave and I have sore backs from carting water on trolly dolly the 1 1/2 miles from the pub, so we're now much closer. Again, thanks to the Landlord of the Globe for letting us use his water tap and elsan point. Unfortunately my hands are swollen and bruised from smashing the ice sheets at the bank with a steel stake, as Dave drove Beefur forward ramming the ice. Captain cat is not impressed with this mooring. Dog **** everywhere, you really have to watch where you put your feet. Is it the same everywhere after the snow? Dog owners have just been burying their dog poo under the snow, and are now surprised that there's so much of it about ?

Desperate Times!

Sorry, computer has been playing up a bit due to new "improved" update (now wont work properly) so i'm a bit behind ... My sister Rachel kindly volunteered (the previous week) to deliver some diesel to us at the weekend as we are still rather stuck, as well as shopping and water! Wed 13th: After dipping the diesel tanks (back for engine & front for heating) our fears were confirmed - we only had a couple of days diesel left, good job Rachel was coming to the rescue. We syphoned some from the front into the back to even it out a bit, so that would keep us going. Thurs 14th: Walk, & 4 buses later into Kenilworth to Rachel's, time for me to have a long hot shower and catch up on her news. Fri 15th: Rachel's car breaks down. We needed a Plan B. Dave contacted Ashby Boat Co. who agreed they would deliver 2 cans of diesel to Br57 for a large fee. Sat 16th: Diesel delivered by wheelbarrow to boat. Rachel's car out of action till at least next wed but she managed to hire a car from B'ham Airport - no other cars available any nearer, so off she went by bus and train to pick it up. Sun 17th: Rachel transports me, load of spare fuel filters, new toilet cassette (just in case), container of water, also stops on the way for a tesco shop, container of diesel from Hinkley. Fantastic - that's us sorted for another week!

Not Winter Cruising

It dawned on us a few days ago (after looking at the long term weather forecast) that this is the end of our winter cruising for this year. Our plans to go down the Oxford to Banbury area are now out of the question, we didn't get down there last winter so were looking forward to this winter round Napton etc etc. We had a lovely few months planned - ducking & diving the stoppages! We did take our time getting here tho (2 months). Judging from the thickness of ice up here at the top end of the Ashby, even if it starts thawing NOW, it'll still be a couple of weeks before the ice will be thin enough to plough through. Mind you, we couldn't have picked a more beautiful spot to be frozen in, and not that far away that we cant get water & empty the portaloo. Just worked it out - that's 20 days without a boat going past us, incredible. This compares to one day at random in September on our moorings on the Llangollen canal, we stopped counting at 86 boats and went to the pub. Never mind there's always next year. This, I feel, entitles me to post a few photos of previous cruises - of Dan the Dog on his holidays with us (sadly no longer with us), Beefur and Sans Souci (soon no longer to be with us)

Stuck Fast

Thanks for the emails and texts. We're doing OK - so far! We are iced in about a mile and a half out of Snarestone, and have been unable to move since 22nd Dec. We went to Chirk for christmas, so didn't have anything to worry about there! Dave is getting a container of water daily from the Globe pub, this involves strapping the container to trolly dolly & trundling up and down the towpath. Poor Dave, he has to visit the pub every day, what a trooper. The landlord is also kindly letting us use his elsan point (he has some caravans on his land). We've just put on a new gas bottle, so that (hopefully) should last 3+ weeks. As mentioned previously, we've been going into Atherstone on the cross country bus for supplies. The bus stop is 1 1/2 - 2 miles away but the bus driver kindly drops us off on the side of the road nearer the canal on the return journey, which means carting the shopping for only 1 mile. Our only concern now is diesel - again. We know Gosty Hill (coal/diesel boat) has been frozen in further down the canal, so we don't know how he's getting on with his route. Even if he is back on schedule, he won't be able to get to us by boat as the canal is just impassible, just hope he can deliver by van again. Water is extremely rationed. We just try and avoid doing anything that will bring on a sweat and walk around with our arms firmly by our sides. Just as well no one knows us up here. So thanks everyone for your concern, but we're not giving up yet .....

It's cold out there

This is the view of the INSIDE of the windows - ice. Theres alot of condensation on the windows in the evening, which tends to freeze overnight. Thanks to NB Gypsy Rover for their blog postings about "Stormguard". As mentioned in previous blog, we took an excursion to Atherstone & Dave then went on into Nuneaton in the hope of finding said "Stormguard Double Glazing Film". He managed to find some in Focus DIY. We have put it on the windows today, and boy, what a difference. No more ice on the windows at all in the morning. Its basically heavy clingfilm & double sided sellotape but its extremely effective.