Tuesday 29 August 2017

Catch up

IMG_5775It’s been a bit of time since the last blog so I thought it was time we caught up a bit so here we go. We pulled ropes from rings at Sawley at the late cruising time of 09.30 and had the delight of seeing a green light on the lock which meant a Lockkeeper was on duty and we could enter the lock. With only four manual locks to do from here to the bottom of Nottingham Carolyn is more than happy.

IMG_5777Heading down towards Cranfleet cut and the river opens out and we can lower the engine revs as the flow carries us along.

IMG_5785Arriving at Cranfleet lock and it’s so good to see that locks and surrounding areas are being kept so well. Just a shame that it’s not like this all over the canal and river network.

IMG_5787When you have a lock on a river mooring you need a floating pontoon which goes up and down with the level of the river. You also have to walk down this wibbly wobbly bridge which Carolyn isn't very sure about.

IMG_5794Cruising towards Beeston and we passed this Lady . We gave her a wave and said hello.

IMG_5809After mooring just the other side of Beeston Lock we walked back and saw this bunch of Clowns guys all dressed up taking their hire boat through the lock. It turned out that they were a stag party on their way in to Nottingham for the weekend.

IMG_5803We had a walk around to the back of the weir at Beeston and with water levels very low you can see that there is still a lot of water weiring over. A good addition to this weir is the hydro electric plant on the far side . I just don't know why more use isn't made of all this free power.

IMG_5864From Beeston we carried along the Nottingham canal and booked in to the local marina for a few days . There were two reasons for this with the main one being that number one Granddaughter Curly was on her way up for a short stay and also our washing machine has broken down so we have to get a new one delivered somewhere with a postcode. At £12.50 a night and with electric and water thrown in this will do us for now. We ended up with the only spare berth they had which was next to their paint shed and it also meant that we had to reverse in and use the back stern on Inca to get on and off the boat which was not ideal.

IMG_5863One of the rare moments that Carolyn and Curly where on Inca as they seemed to rather enjoy the shopping experience in Nottingham where Curly got well and truly spoilt.

IMG_5852The day arrived when our new washing machine arrived and what a struggle it was to get it in to the boat and then in to position, it also seems that Curly was behind me taking photos of us struggling down the stairs and has told me if this one is not included on the blog then there would be trouble as she thinks all the blog readers would love a good laugh. We ended up having to use ropes to get it down the stairs but in the end got it in to its new home. It is only a half size machine and will only take 3kg of washing but for some strange reason it cost over double of what a full size machine cost.

IMG_5854All in position and ready to go except for the outlet pipe being a larger diameter than the old one. We will now have to try and get an adapter before we can use it . Why is it that this always happens to us and things are never simple and straight forward, or does it happen to others as well ?.

It’s nearly time to come out of Nottingham Castle Marina now and then we will pick up a mooring for a couple of nights outside Sainsbury's and stock up the food cupboard and wine cellar before dropping down on to The River Trent.


                                                                                                      Happy Days

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