Two hot, sunny days

Here we are still at the head of the Ashby Canal having enjoyed not only our first bbq this season bit also two beautiful sizzling days.

Yesterday we met up with our good friends Dave and Val, who always make the effort to come and see us on our travels.  We met them at The Globe, a great pub just a short walk from our mooring. Lunch was excellent as was the company.

We planned to travel today because we were expecting another hot day but decided to stay put and to lots of little chores around the boat. It has been a beautiful day with wall to wall sunshine but with a lovely breeze which has kept us feeling just right. This is such a quiet mooring with very few boat movements and very few passers by generally.

We were treated to the sight of haymaking the modern way in the field opposite us whilst we had our bbq. The farmer making the most of this glorious weather with the forecast if rain on the way.

We may visit the National Trail boat Festival in Moira tomorrow if the fancy takes us and if it doesn't rain!

Snarestone, Measham and Moira

Since our last visit to Snarestone the furthest navigable point on the Ashby at present another 250yds has been opened so we were interested to see this.  However we were unable to make our way to the end because the winding hole only accommodates a 53 footer. We could have reversed all the way but even with Sid's amazing boat handling thus was a distance too far!

We got the bikes out in the afternoon and enjoyed a pleasant ride to Measham, famous for their distinctive brown canal pottery, then on to Moira where the canal ends in a huge canal basin.  The last two miles is navigable and there us a lock through which pleasure trips are taken. This coming bank holiday weekend there is a trail boat festival in thr basin for which trail boats are already arriving.

The Canal Basin at Moira 

The ride mostly on the old course of the dismantled Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway took us through the Ashby Would Heritage Trail which is part of the National Forest. This cycle path is the suggested new course of the canal. We think however,  it will be many, many years before the ' lost eight miles' of canal will be reinstated. At £25 an inch an awful lot of funds need to be raised!

The Moira Furnace, a restored blast furnace, was one of our objectives but as in so many cases now it is only open weekends and school holidays due to lack of volunteers.

The Moira Furnace

Thank goodness for our trusty, electric bikes, which made this interesting trip possible. We could never have walked it!

Jenny has been listening out for a cuckoo to no avail until today whilst on our bike ride on the Ashby  Would Heritage Trail. A truly lovely sound !

The Ashby Canal

At last! Sunshine and warmth!  The rain stops and as we enter the Ashby the sun breaks through and the world looks a brighter place.  We fell in love with this stretch of 20 miles of lock free canal on our last visit in the autumn of 2015.

Once through the first hour of the journey along this beautiful canal the countryside and peace take over as we meander further and further into isolation. One problem with this remoteness is the poor mobile and Internet reception. It seems very strange in thus day and age of instant communication to be out of touch with the outside world most of the time.

During our travels as night sets in the countryside falls silent only to come alive again with the dawn chorus.  We have been woken in the early hours by birdsong,  diesel trains, the ŕumble of a motorway in the distance and the clatter of farm vehicles beginning their busy day but never have we been woken to the sound of a woodpecker! It was quite magical if a little irritating!
We have enjoyed a bit of history over the past few days whilst visiting the site of Richard III 's death on the Bosworth battle fields which bought about the end of the War of the Roses.
We also paid a visit to Market Bosworth, which is a charming, small market town where we met an assortment of very friendly shopkeepers, one of whom was most helpful when we learnt that the Post Office is now closed down. She estimated the weight of a small packet that we needed posting and put the guestimate amount of stamps on and pointed us in the direction of the postbox. Hope it gets to it's destination!

Another perfect mooring tonight brings us to the end of another warm day with the promise of more to come.  Summer at last me thinks!

Bimbling About

Since our last post ( bugles come to mind), we heard from the sign writer,  Jon Lee's on,  that he can't fit us in until 6th June, which is a lot later than he had first implyed and a lot later than we had hoped.  However, we have confidence in him and would like Hunters Moon to be finished before journeying too far so have decided to chill,  take it even slower than usual bimble about until then.  We can then continue with a slightly adapted cruise.

Hitching a lift

We have just returned to Hawkesbury Junction from a night down the Coventry Arm in the Coventry Basin, which is situated just a short walk from the centre of Coventry.

Statue of James Brindley, 

one of the great canal engineers,

in the Coventry Basin

Having visited the Cathedral and the Transport Museum on previous visits we turned right as we entered the city centre for a change.  We came across some fabulous old buildings which have survived the terrible bombing that Coventry suffered during WWII . Remarkable when you think the city was vertually flattened.  These building have been put to modern day use including offices and a beautiful wedding boutique.
We also came across a brilliant haberdashery,  unusual in this day and age and just what Jenny was looking for.   She needed buttons and some more knitting yarn having come away with insufficient to keep her occupied.

A useful newsagents came next then on a little further on guess what we encountered? Ikea! We just had to go in and wander through the joys of this enormous store. And needless to say we didn't come out empty handed!

A visit to the enormous indoor covered market followed then to crown off this little trip we visited Wilko. We know how to have a good time and find the high spots of a city. Oh! I nearly forget on our way back to the basin we popped into Machine Mart!
We have moored in the basin on a number of ocassions but never at a weekend or Friday night. We definitely won't moor there on a Friday again. The loud youths kept us awake until 2.30am. First one group who were moved along then they either returned or another group turned up. They were not a nuisance other than being very noisy and in an area with high buildings around it the sound carried.

Heigh ho, Hawkesbury will be very quiet tonight! Hopefully!
Heading up the Ashby Canal tomorrow,  twenty lock free miles through beautiful countryside. We just need the rain to stop and it would be lovely if it warmed up a bit!

Our journey out of Coventry was a tad eventful it involved a mermaid (mermaid maybe), some pirates, a hire boat, a strip of carpet wrapped around the prop together with lots of other debris and heavy showers!

Travelling at last

After a day of continuous rain yesterday I t was delight to wake up to sunshine and blue skies even if it was a tad cool.

After admiring Hunters Moon yet again we left our mooring and headed towards Hawkesbury Junction.  It was such a pleasure to be moving again on a perfect cruising day. We reached Hawkesbury Junction  in the early afternoon after a brief stop in Nuneaton to visit Lidl for a few provisions together with a Welders Magnet that Sid couldn't live without!!!! We also came across a charming little crystals and fairy shop, which we just had to browse.  We came away with a sun catcher Crystal and two little crystals to finish off the bottom of Jenny's latest cabin lace. 5hey say crystals find you rather than vice versa.

We are now enjoying a very pleasant pint at the Greyhound, which we felt we thoroughly deserved after all our hard work over the past few weeks.

Day 19 - Finished

We did it!  19 days instead of 14 but all the sanding, preparing, anti-rusting, priming, masking and eventually painting has given us a result that we are very, very proud of.  Sid has done such a remarkable job with Jenny as support.

The new Hunters Moon - minus signwriting -

in the rain

The last few days were filled with finishing lots of little bits and pieces as well as a few bigger jobs that have really made all the difference to the finished makeover.  The gunwhale blacking was one of the finishing touches and the rubber trim on the windows was a tedious, slow task but made the windows look so much better.  The gas locker was also cleaned, rustproofed and treated with bilge paint.

Gunwhales blacked and curtains and cabin lace back inside

Window rubber trim in place

Gas locker cleaning by the smallest person!

The cratch cover was given a much needed good scrub, both inside and out and all the brass fittings were cleaned and replaced and the gangplank, pole and boat hook all fresshened up with a coat of paint ( Jenny was allowed to paint those!).  It is surprising how long all these little jobs take but it is all very satisfying when we saw the end result.

The garden looks good now it is positioned on the roof and on the bow.  The tomato plant has thrived in the polytunnel environment!

The whole project, although daunting at the outset, has been a huge learning curve and, it may sound strange but it was enjoyable.  It was tiring and the heat in the tunnel took it's toll at times but our spirits stayed up most of the time.

The support and friendship that we received from everyone at Springwood Haven was invaluable.  From our first day when we were viewed as a couple of pensioners who were going to paint their boat in two weeks - Ha! Ha! their respect grew as it was realised that the research had been done, the right tools were being used and we were not afraid to ask for help or to put in the work required to produce a very good result.  Sid was even offered a job!!  He declined!

New Buckby Can

Roof Garden in place

All the above said we can say catagorically that we will not be painting another boat - for a while!!

Out of the polytunel now and out of the marina and it is raining!!  poor Hunters Moon is getting wet.  we will be bimbling around the area for a couple of weeks now until John Leeson, the signwriter can give Hunters Moon her name back.

Day 16 - The work continues

We arrived back from our trip home and were soon at work.  By close of play the coach  lines were all masked ( it took close on 5 hours and yards and yards of masking tape), all the windows are in place and one of the portholes is completely finished with it's black rubber trim in place. Some of the windows still need finishing but at least the plastic sheeting  over the openings can come down so we feel much more at home inside Hunters Moon now.

Finished Porthole 

Coach lines masked and windows in

Still a boat with no name, awaiting signwriting

Whilst we were working this afternoon a fellow boater, Charlie, from the marina popped in to have a chat.  He has fitted out his own boat and has been filled with trepidation about finishing the outside.  Whether to spray or to paint!!  He was so impressed with the transformation of Hunters Moon, having seen it from the start of this project, he just wanted to commend Sid on his brilliant workmanship and also pick his brains and get some tips.  Sid was 'well made up' as he should be!
And, Charlie went away with the confidence to have a go!

Day 14 - Thank goodness we extended our stay

Originally we were supposed to be out of the tunnel today but it was clear to us that we would need some more time particularly as we lost so many days because of the heat.  However we have had two good days of painting and now have two good coats on both the red and the green and the back panel, which we are going to have signwritten, has had three coats.  Hunters Moon is beginning to come back to life and definitely is looking shiney!

We are heading home for a couple of days to catch up with all the grandchildren and to attend Richard's homecoming event.  We will be back on Staurday when the final push will be on.  The coachlines need to be done, all the windows fitted, the gunwhale to paint and all the fittings to be put back on.

And, as an added finishing touch she will have her roof garden put in place.  Some of the plants have been enjoying a bit of a start under the polytunnel and the tomatoes are flourishing.

Day 12 - Jenny and Sid's 12th wedding Anniversary

An interesting way to spend our special day!

A really good day 11 when it was dull and overcast all day and positively chilly in our tunnel saw all the green first coat painting done.  And it looked great.  It seemed to take forever but we were overjoyed to see the results of all the sanding and preparing we had done.  At last some progress

Green first coat

Spooky!

Looking Good Sid!

We had an early start on day 12 whilst it was cool in order to get the red panels painted. Unfortunately, the sun broke through sooner than expected so the last panel was painted on metal that was getting far too hot but we were determined to get this first coat finished.  This done we went out for a celebratory lunch not only for the fact that, at last the whole boat had a protective layer of paint on it but because it was our anniversary.

At last some red - very red! Manchester Red!

Bootiful!

Clever Sid!

The afternoon got hotter and hotter so any work in the tunnel was out of the question so we had a lazy afternoon sitting in the sun. 

As the temperature started to drop we felt able to get going again.  Another window got sprayed and we sanded down all our beautiful shiney paintwork ready for a second coat tomorrow.

As stated at the start of the post an interesting way to spend our special day!!

Day 10 - Too much sun!

Two days of sunshine would normally be a delight on the water, however in the polytunnel with temperatures reaching 30 degrees centigrade it is definitely not right for painting!

Beautiful view from the polytunnel

With the boat rubbed down and masking in place Hunters Moon was a bit like the thwarted female who is all dressed up with nowhere to go.  Before the heat built too much Sid was able to have another paint practice on the front and back and the hatch doors.  This proved useful but as the steel hotted up painting had to cease so we decided to go out to lunch at Dobbies Garden World, which is just a short drive from the marina.  A good lunch and a wander around this fascinating garden centre whiled away a few hours and then a trip to get yet more masking tape and other necessary painting related items did us the world of good if a little frustrated.  We returned to the marina and found the tunnel even hotter than earlier which is interesting with there being such a chilly brisk wind blowing through the tunnel.  The bright sun is the problem.

A yellow countryside

We decided to eat early and as the late afternoon cooled down so ddi the boat so Sid managed to get a good evenings painting done which resulted in the green on the roof on the starboard side finished before the light began to fade.  The finish he achieved was brilliant.

For Sid,  Day 10 started very early, 5.30am!!  With another sunny day forecast we decided to get a few hours in before things hotted up.  Alarms were set for 7.00am but Sid woke early so decided to start.  He got the roof green finished and final coats on the front and back so they are now finished and whilst painting had to stop we were able to get some of the stuff we had to get off the boat back on and Hunters Moon now looks much more like her old self in the bow and at the stern but much, much shinier!  we are delighted with the results and we have had several appreciative remarks from folk around the marina!

Who's a clever boy?

Saturday is forecast to be cloudy so we may make more progress!

Day 8 - Painting practice

Yesterday - day 7 was a day of sanding, sanding and more sanding, then washing down, cleaning off and masking. The tunnel at some points of the day was thick with a haze of dust and it was very, very warm.  The end result was a lovely smooth finish on which to start painting.

Masked and ready for painting

Sid also had his first practice of painting on the stern and in the bow, both places that are not too visible.  However, the results were very impressive and we were both a little teary.

Reflections!

The plan was to start Day 8 with masking the roof, Jenny had masked both sides during the late afternoon of the previous day but ran out of steam so was determined to get finish as soon as possible in the morning. it was a much longer job than either of us thought and it wasn't finished until lunchtime.  Whilst she was masking Sid was rubbing down his previous nights painting in order to give it a second coat and practice further.  It is certainly a learning process and he is getting lots of hints from the lads who work at the marina.  Steve in particular, who although a carpenter by trade, is the chap who does any boat painting jobs in the workshop.  He and Sid have lengthy chats about which rollers to use, which size brush size is best to lay off with and general painting issues, temperature being of prime importance!  The second coat, which Sid trialed different 4 inch rollers with, had mixed results, some very good and others not so good.

Temperature permitting he is hoping to get the rest of the roof and some of the sides started.  Let's hope it is not too sunny.