Cosgrove

 

We moored at Wolverton to do a shop at Tesco after leaving Target turn. We have never spent a night here as we have heard several stories about the people in the flats falling out with boaters. Apparently some boats run their engines and generators late at night and the smoke from their boats fires goes into the flats. we have also been told of boats having items thrown onto their boats from the flats above including lit cigarette ends. With all the wood and coal on our roof a lit cigarette thrown onto it would be a disaster.

After leaving Tesco moorings we left Woolverton and headed towards Cosgrove where we will stay for a week or two. Its handy here for the station as Carolyn headed back down to Devon for a few days over Christmas while i stayed aboard Inca.

With Carolyn down in Devon it was good to have Stewart and Fran moored close by. We met up every day for walkies and coffee. I think Fran has got a few tips from Carolyn and is trying to find a final resting place for Stewart like Carolyn is for me.

This is something i do not understand. The first 160 meters below the lock at Cosgrove are designated winter moorings. The boaters pay over £100 extra a month on top of their licence fee to moor here for up to 5 months over the winter period. So with over 2000 miles of canals plus countless lakes and ponds in the area why do they have a fishing match right through the moorings. There is no hook up for the boats to get electric ,so they have to run their engines for several hours every day. Guess what happened when a boat started his engine to charge his batteries , that's right the Anglers start moaning. Its no wonder a lot of Anglers and boaters don't get on …

You may remember back in October that Mick Betts made us some fenders for the front of Inca to protect the bow and cratch cover. The fenders are such a success that we decided to ask Mick to make us some more to protect the stern. Yet again Mick did a brilliant job at a very good price , he can be contacted on 07816541868 .

With temperatures as low as minus three over several days it was no surprise that the canal froze over. Fortunately Jules on her coal boat with Richard and Ryan breaks through the ice to deliver coal and diesel. We filled with diesel and had a couple more bags of coal ,just to keep stocks up. The price of diesel is now down to 75 pence a litre which is a real bonus as we are running the engine for several hours every day.

This boat passed us at a fair old rate on their way to the water point and made Inca rock and roll , I'm sure i recognise this pair of misfits from somewhere.

With Carolyn now back from Devon we are going to spend a few days here and wait for the ice to melt. We could travel through the ice but we would face the risk of the blacking coming off and thus loosing our hull protection. After all the money we spent on the hull back in April with having the hull metalized and blacked with 2 pack we just wont take the risk. We have plenty of time to get through Braunston before the flight of locks are closed for maintenance work on the 12th of January.

                                                                                Happy Days