April10th- Souldern to Thrupp

Woken at 6.30am by a boat going by - then forced to get up rapidly as another boat went by too fast and ripped us from our moorings. Grrrrrr!  Duck eggs for breakfast bought from a farm we passed yesterday.
Gorgeous T shirt weather all day, except for a short April shower.  Moored right outside 'The Boat' pub in Thrupp.  After tea we walked up and found Sean & Debs from Blue Wolf and chatted to them for most of the evening.

 Creative use of old lock timbers

 Turn off a river section back onto the canal

A pic for Claire x

April 9th - Banbury to Souldern Bridge

Set off 9.45am for the short hop to Morrisons at Banbury where we did our weekly shop.  Topped up with water and got talking to the crew of Nb. Blue Wolf who have just bought their boat. Stopped out in the country to make the most of a drop-dead gorgeous view near the village of Souldern.  Spotted a barn owl hunting in the field next to us and it was still only late afternoon.  I took Peggy for a mega-walk to the village and back (around 4 miles). Returned to the boat to find Annie exchanging life stories with an elderly lady from a boat which had moored next to us.

 Old bridge and new bridge (M40)

 The wind got up a bit - and blew Annie's hat in!

 Causeway over the weir at Aynho

 Two little playmates Peggy found on her walk

 Arty picture through the centre of the railway viaduct

Annie chatting to Sean & Debs, the crew of Nb. Blue Wolf

April 8th - stayed at Banbury

Annie got up early and went for a swim at the pool. After breakfast she went to the launderette while I worked on the alternator.  Visited Banbury museum in the afternoon but didn't find it great. Window shopping in the afternoon followed by evening meal in the Reindeer - arrived an hour before they started serving food but managed to amuse ourselves with the Old Hooky till they were ready! 

The Reindeer pre-dates the civil war when most buildings in the town got flattened.  Below my pic, taken from same spot as one I snaffled from the museum taken in 1885.

April 7th - we're off!

We left the marina last night,  filling with water at the Wharf pub, turned the boat to face south.... and bumped into Pete and Wendy on Forget-me-not one last time. Annie dived aboard and cut Pete's hair while I held the two boats together in the middle of the canal. Moored outside the marina for the night.

Set off at 9.30am and had a quick uneventful transit to Banbury, arriving at 2pm. The weather got better and better and we arrived in warm sunshine.

Easter weekend 3rd-6th April - Shakedown cruise

With our new cratch board and cover fitted, various painting jobs done and the engine given a once over - it was time to check the boat out.  Saturday we headed north to Napton and Sunday south towards Cropredy.  Ceilidh was joined by Mark & Abi, Claire and Rob. Rob and the girls had a great go at 'driving' and all did very well - Mark already has his CCBM qualy.  Weather which had started cold became glorious and the weekend culminated in a joint BBQ with the crew of NB Forget-me-not.

March 27th - working on the boat

Yesterday Annie got rid of anything we don't need on the boat while I serviced the batteries. Today we went into Banbury to raid B&Q's and get essential food supplies. Called in on nb. Forget Me Not to see Wendy and Pete.
Returning to the boat we started on replacing the cratch board. In the morning a van drew up and unloaded a nice shiny new cratch to install on the boat next to us. Made from Sapele hardwood and inlaid with veneer it cost them £450. I whittled ours from old pallets! Anyway now to fit it....

March 25th - and so to the 2015 season

Slightly underestimated the time needed to pack for 8 months away er.... by a day and a half. Arrived at Ceilidh this evening to load her and get her ready for this year's adventures.  Passed 3 helicopters and 2 lifeboats on low loaders - somebody has heard we are heading to the boat.
Loaded, put away, pumped bilge and cracked a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Bilge water and champagne - a heady combination!