Braunston Top Lock

Here I am Rune

Distance 1.4 miles

Total 1661 Locks 80 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2300.3 miles

And so here we are at the end of 2015 which has been quite a busy year for us. Having looked back through the blogs we have covered 1112 miles and passed through 872 locks so we must be quite a bit fitter than when we started at the beginning of the year! In terms of places visited we have seen Birmingham, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Runcorn, Wigan, Liverpool, Skipton, Bingley, Leeds, Goole, Rotherham, Sheffield, Chesterfield, Lincoln, Nottingham, Newark, Leicester and a whole host of smaller villages. The highlights for me have been the trip down the Anderton Boat lift, the stay in Salthouse Dock in Liverpool and seeing the last trips of the oil tanker, Humber Princess, on the Sheffield and South Yorkshire.

For the coming year, the plans are to go up the Thames to Lechlade and then back through, by whatever route, to go up the Lee and Stort navigation, hopefully with a trip down the Wey and Basingstoke Canal. We’ll see how things pan out. Happy New Year!

Braunston

Here I am Rune

Distance 3 miles

Total 1655 Locks 80 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2298.9 miles

Well that is another Christmas over, not too much done to excess so I won’t need to be dieting or ‘drying out’ in the New Year. Just a very pleasant break catching up with family.

We arrived here in Braunston on 16^th December and our 14 days are up tomorrow so we will need to move on a bit. Looking at the weather forecast and the approach of Storm Frank, I have this feeling that we won’t be moving too far (at least until the wind drops). We’ll go to the water point and elsan tomorrow then see if there is any available mooring just beyond Braunston Marina.

Flecknoe

Here I am Rune

Distance 5.1 miles

Total 1655 Locks 80 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2295.9 miles

The main purpose of today’s short cruise was to refuel the boat at Calcutt Boats to ensure we have sufficient diesel to cover us for the Christmas/New Year period (I don’t want to be hunting for fuel when all the boatyards are closed and on holiday). To that end we have put 75 litres in so we should now be safe until the middle of January at the very least.

We are now moored up comfortably in the middle of nowhere (nearest town being Flecknoe)

Napton

Here I am Rune

Distance 9.7 miles

Total 1653 Locks 80 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2290.8 miles

After a 5 day stopover at Fenny Compton we are now back on the move heading in the general direction of Braunston. A reasonable day’s work today, just short of 10 miles and 9 locks, particularly given how short the daylight hours are now. If the weather isn’t too bad we’ll go to Calcutt tomorrow to refuel and then on to about halfway to Braunston for the night. The plan will be to arrive in Braunston before lunch on Wednesday, restock with coal and then try to find a suitable mooring.

Fenny Compton (2)

Here I am Rune

Distance 0 miles

Total 1644 Locks 80 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2281.1 miles

Still here at Fenny Compton and we probably will be here until Monday taking advantage of Saturday evening meal and Sunday lunch at the Wharf pub nearby. The only significant activity today was to shuffle along to the water point to refill the water tank and then to reverse back onto the mooring. Have now found that reversing with a bucket thrown off the front of the boat on a length of rope is quite a bit more successful than most other methods, the boat will then actually steer and keep in a reasonably straight line, must use this method in future.

Fenny Compton

Here I am Rune

Distance 3.1 miles

Total 1644 Locks 80 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2281.1 miles

Well plans change, we have moved on but not as far as Marston Doles. We reached Fenny Compton where we needed to get some milk and discovered that both the internet and phone signal here is brilliant so have now decided to stay for a few days, probably until Monday. With a good internet signal we can start to book a holiday for some winter sun, and this year we’ve decided it will be to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. Flight is now booked and over the next few days we’ll book the rest of it, it’ll be nice to get away from these short daylight hours for a bit.