Secret weapon

 

Still stopped just before Linslade and its bizarre how we are moored out in the country with loads of good empty moorings around us yet boats moor right next to us. I think some boaters like mooring close to other boats so that there is safety in numbers, but we have a secret weapon if we don't like the look of them. Carolyn is still learning the Sax so the sound is a bit….well you know what I mean. Anyway they don’t hang around long once she starts.

It was good to have a quick chat with friends Stewart and Fran on nb The Boat as they passed on their way North. They had just had a run in with a couple of angry boaters passing through Leighton Bizzard. Why cant people on the cut just chill out and take it easy….Have a good trip and we may catch up with you later in the year.

The next morning and I was up at 06.00 taking Hamish for a walk. We were lucky enough to see these Swans land next to us. What you can’t see and hear is Hamish going mad on the towpath, he has a real dislike for Swans for some reason.

A little later this one came into land and yet again Hamish flipped out.

At 07.05 we pulled pins and headed towards Leighton Buzzard . We passed this boat with a rather large Spider on the roof.                                                                                                               

Yet again passing the Hire centre in Leighton Buzzard and its a bit tight passing them . I think I would be a bit annoyed if I was in a 12 foot wide beam boat trying to get through here.

At 08.00 we are on the Tesco moorings in Leighton Buzard and head off first to do a shop in Aldi which is just across the car park and then a wine shop in Tesco .Being next to the canal and with the ability to take our shopping trolley right out to Inca we normally do a big shop here.

The guy in the picture on the right is a Canal and River Trust Spotter/Data collector. He cycles up and down the towpath every 7 days in this area taking the numbers of the boats and then feeds the info into his computer. This keeps a record of where every boat on the system is and lets CRT know if we are travelling enough under the terms of our licence.A few months ago we had an e-mail from CRT saying that we were in breach of our licence by not travelling far enough. We had seen and spoke to a Spotter a couple of days before about 2 miles outside of Braunston ,but somehow it never got recorded and they had us down as overstaying and not moving enough. They say that as a guide we should move at least 20 miles in a year .We actually move over a thousand miles a year so as you can imagine I was a bit Pi**ed off. We did go into the Braunston office and we spoke to the local enforcement officer who was very good and apologetic,he said that the system wasn’t perfect and it did fail on occasions. It seems it didn't just happen to us ,but several of our friends have had similar experiences. At least I now have proof of him at Buzzard taking our Boat number.

Anyway, After shopping we passed this boat with a great name,although Carolyn said that if it was my boat it would be called STILLBLOODYWYNGYN ,  I don’t know what she means!.

We then moved on to the services and filled with water and got rid of waste before moving around the corner and picking up a mooring in front of the flats for the night. It was then up into the town for a bite to eat and a visit to the local street market !!

                                                                                                           Happy Days