We pulled pins from Brownsover and after winding we were soon at the flight of three locks at Hillmorton where we had planned to meet up with NB Oakapple and NB Oakfield at the top. What a good crew member Curly is becoming as she now needs hardly any help in working Inca through a lock . The odd stiff gate or paddle sometimes causes a problem, but most oftentimes she is fine.
After a night at the top of Hillmorton locks and it’s time to pull pins and it looks like the crew of Oakapple had a lie in this morning !!! Just a note to say that it’s their stove chimney thats smoking and not their engine.
A few minutes later and we were on our way. It’s about a two and a half cruise to Braunston and with a message from NB Muleless that there’s plenty of moorings available there we slowly meander our way along the cut.
Not long after leaving we passed this hire boat who didn't have much of a clue. On a wide part of the canal for some reason he steered straight in to the trees when we past him. The poor lady in the front was not at all happy and shouted a few choice words to the steerer.
Another job for Canal and River Trust. With the roof on Inca full of coal there’s no room left for any wood which is a bit of a shame because it free heat.
Passing the Boat Shop at Hillmorton and we wondered if it was still open and trading. The last few times we have passed it always looks to be closed. We have used it several times in the past both for diesel and Chandlery items. If it is still open maybe some signage to indicate that for passing boaters would be a good idea.
Not the Moon , but the Sun tying to break through the clouds on a cold Winters day.
Passing Onley and the new Dunchurch super marina is now starting to take shape. We have heard from several local boaters that moor in the area at other marinas that as soon as it opens they will be moving there. I still think that more competition is a good thing for us boaters and it should keep the prices for marina berths low.
With the Weather getting colder Hamish the number one ships dog decided to put his coat on.
After filling with water Captain Curly steered us off and around the corner to our mooring allowing Ann and Keith on NB Oakfield to use the services. Not only is she good at locking but also she is becoming a competent steerer.
After mooring on our favourite mooring opposite the boathouse we had to untie and move back 100 meters to allow NB Oakapple to take our place. They couldn’t fit in anywhere being 65 feet long so we very kindly gave up our favourite mooring for them,the least we could do for friends. Anyway in the end we were OK where we ended up having good TV and Internet so all was fine.
We will now have a few days here and with plenty planned with all our friends it should be a good time ahead…..
Happy Days
At Marston Doles after a good night we woke up to a freezing morning on Inca. Well not exactly freezing inside but outside. The temperature at 08.00 outside was minus 5 while inside it was a balmy 21 degrees C . This is the view out of our cratch window looking South towards Fenny Compton.
As you can see the canal is frozen and we are not going anywhere.We never move through ice because of the damage that it can do to your boat,especially as we had our hull metalized and also had a very expensive 2 pack blacking coating applied.
You always get boats that are prepared for what ever reason to crash their way through the ice . The guy in the picture above was delivering the boat to a marina and didn’t care about the hull of the boat. As he passed us we could see that he had lost all his blacking (hull protection) from along the water line of the boat. The other problem with boats moving like this through ice is that they can also take the blacking off the moored boats that they pass. 
After a cold but enjoyable day with a couple of long walks with Hamish we enjoyed this Sunset . Daughter Chloe is on her way to pick up Curly and in the morning when they are winging their way back to Devon we will pull pins and try and complete the 6 hour cruise to Cropredy.
