Terribly sorry...latest blog

Terribly sorry for not blogging earlier...but the last week has been a little hard going....we left the comforts of the Calder valley, and made the climb up the Pennines..to the summit and we're now half way down the other side, on the way to Manchester. Water is extremely short on the Pennine route, and this is a pic of our boat this morning when we awoke, on the summit, waiting for our passage through to the other side..(prior to commencing descent again).

Changed our minds..no Skipton:)

Yep...being a Continuous Cruiser is a strange life. One minute you want to go left, then you decide to go right. Maybe you want to go north, and suddendly decide you'd rather go south. This is what's happened to me. Looking at the calendar, and knowing that October is approaching fast, and canals begin to ice up, I've decided to make the best of the next 3 months, by undertaking an 80day excursion. It began today...leaving Leeds, after spending some time at the Leeds Dragon Boat Races over the weekend. With an inner drive to leave the whole Castleford, Leeds area, I kept chugging all the way to Stanley Ferry......day 1 of 80...with a master plan to keep on going all the way to Oxford, via the Todmorden/Rochdale route...8 tunnels....should be lots of great fun....and better blogging. The sun is really hot now...suncream applied daily. Went for an evening meal with the family at the Stanley Ferry pub...a perfect end to a perfect day.......except we've just discovered the ducks are nibbling at the growth under our boat...thought it was beginning to hail...funny, but how are we going to sleep :)

We're passing through Leeds again, but this time on the way to Skipton

Yep...Leeds again....:) This time it's not a destination, but on the way, to Skipton...a market town near the Yorkshire Dales. Here's a pic of our boat moored in Leeds tonight.

You can see our album at Photobucket showing more pics of Leeds here - Leeds Album

Some recent pics and more

It's been a great few days travelling. We left Doncaster and headed for Thorne marina to fetch much needed diesel. 169litres. £188. Ouch. Hopefully it will last us a long time. Thought I'd put up some pics . The first is a pic of our boat cat, Rocky :) The second is me doing some artwork on the side of the boat. Quite nerve wracking.

These next 3 are various ones where we moored for the night.

2 pirates having fun in the sun.

This one was a bit of an eyesore we passed :)

Rain, fuel, and other ramblings.

We're moored in Doncaster at the moment...and have been for 2days. Decided to put the new alternator in again (for the 2nd time), because the first time I wired it in wrong. Glad to say it's now in and WORKING :) I ran the engine for 1,5hrs earlier, and it's made a difference. When we arrived, the moorings were mostly full, but I managed to get the bow against the moorings, with the rest of the boat stuck out at sea. Have to keep reminding myself not to jump out the back engine hatch or I'll be in the drink. The cat tried it. Close call:)

It rained all day today. Very peaceful though. Kids took off to the Frenchgate shopping mall down the road. They like the Apple store. Being a Sunday we visited a church, about a 30min walk away...my legs are still burning. It's become an interesting phenomena, visiting different churches as we travel...but a neccessary one. We arrived in one place, and our teenager visited a local youthgroup, who he discovered were leaving on a weekend camp..so we got a call to say he wanted to go with...and off he went. You have to be ready for almost anything living on a boat, with kids.

Fuel is the lates struggle. Cant find anyone selling the stuff....on the canals that is.....

On the water again.

Quick post. We left Sheffield and came down the Tinsley flight this morning. Made the lock keeper mad because I was 15mins late. We gave him a bag of chocolates to say sorry, but don't think it improved matters much. The real reason for being late was having to slow down for sooo many fisherman ;-)

We arrived at a BW moorings "somewhere" past Rotherham, and thought it was a boring spot, until I checked on Google maps and found an entire shopping complex just over the rail lines. Note to self.....use Google Maps more often...it's always a great feeling to zoom in and see the tops of 500 cars...lol.

More later.

5 day count down

This is it! 5 days preparation, a weekend at friends, and we leave next Monday....( must remember to book the Tinsley locks ). I cant wait. I dont mind the hardships of daily boat life, as long as I can keep moving. It's a strange thing that...as long as I'm moving, I feel a happier person..cant explain it...narrowboats are strangely solid at night...you wouldnt think we're floating on water right now...except perhaps the fact that one side of the bed is higher than the other ....since we filled up one of the extra water tanks higher than the other perhaps. This week will be one of preparation...check/buy gas, diesel, recharge batteries. Fix a leak in the shower nozzle. Build a better battery box cover. Re-organise the roof storage. Buy a small tv for the kids. Connect up the aerial..by running 20metres of cable along the boat roof somehow...not recommended...but simpler:) I gave the engine room a paint last week, and our back cabin walls a recoat yesterday...They were getting scratched. My youngest bought a pirates toothbrush today....so the boat life seems to have taken his fancy. Painted the shower base today...my last spray job started flaking. This latest attempt should last longer and a recoat will be simple anyway. Kids have been warned. 1 week left of PCs. Next week, they'll be back to life on a boat...not life on a boat connected to land :)