Eagle eyed watchers

 For those of you who have been following our blog closely you may be wondering why we turned at Braunston and started to head back towards Fenny. The reason being, during Sid's pottering he has been keeping a close eye on our batteries and and their performance, bearing in mind the problems we had before setting off. He has not been completely at ease with them so wanted to test them further and would rather do that closer to base.

In the event we decided to return for an overnight in the Marina,  where Sid could do a thorough check. 

We planned to head towards Cropredy on Wednesday morning but woke to heavy rain so have stayed warm, dry and cosy on board until the rain stops.

Maybe Cropredy then!!

At last,we are off.

Thursday morning dawned bright and the forecast was for  fine weather for the next week or so.

We had hoped to get to the Ashby Canal but with the delays we had encountered we decided to just go for a bimble towards Braunston and see how things go. Sid is still a little concerned about batteries so we shall use this as a shake down cruise and just enjoy being on the water -  especially if the sun shines.

The water was very quiet and we had a pleasant chug along the Oxford Canal in glorious sunshine with a  gentle breeze. We descended the Napton flight in good time and moored  just down from the old Bridge Inn - now a private home. We enjoyed a delicious bbq in the evening sun and a few glasses of something chilled!

Bodged repairs on Marsden Dole Top Lock

After a long day on Thursday we planned a short trip down to one of our favourite moorings, just south of Braunston, on Friday. On the way we saw a couple of hares leaping across a field - a sight neither of us had seen before. Once again the moorings were very quiet, with only a handful of boats moored by the end of the day. Jenny had a good walk in the afternoon whilst Sid pottered. The  countryside around here is beautiful with rolling fields of sheep and and crops, spurting their spring shoots. Another lovely evening with the occasional squark of a pheasant in the fields.

Who are you looking at?

Majestic horse chestnut

Saturday 7th May - our 17th wedding anniversary

To  celebrate we took the short trip into Braunston to dispose of rubbish, empty our toilet cassette and fill with water! However, once these essential chores had been fulfilled we treated ourselves to a Gongoozelers breakfast. This brilliant cafe on a narrowboat is situated by the entrance to Braunston Marina and we found a table in the garden alongside and enjoyed our full English in the beautiful, warm sunshine. What better way to celebrate our anniversary!? A quiet afternoon was spent back on a mooring by bridge 100 and a chicken tikka masala with all the trimmings was enjoyed on board in the evening. A lovely day.

We felt very lazy on Sunday and since the sun was shining and the mooring quiet we decided to stay put. Some domestic chores were done by Jenny then an afternoon with a good book in the sunshine and Sid did  some more pottering.

We were ready to go boating again on Monday so made our way back towards Napton, once again in lovely sunshine. However, during the afternoon the wind picked up, the clouds gathered and we had a very breezy trip up the Napton Locks. When we emerged through Top Lock the wind was blowing straight down the cut and driving was not easy. Our plans for a bbq at that evenings mooring was shelved due to the wind and dreary skies - bangers and mash instead - a great alternative!

Napton Windmill

HS2 works - at work

HS2 works - resting!

Our plan is to make our way to Cropredy on Tuesday - however this might change.

The start of our 2022 season

 The Start of our 2022 season

Hello again. Here we are, back on board Hunters Moon hoping for a smooth cruising season.

However, despite Sid doing several trips up to Fenny Marina to do various bits of maintenance and fitting a further solar panel during the winter our season has not started quite as we had hoped.

We had a visit to Fenny during the last weekend of April to install a new, super dooper MPPT solar panel controller, which all went well and Sid was a very happy bunny. However, that very evening when turning on some cabin lights we found that none of the saloon or kitchen  lights were working! Much scratching of heads took place whilst Sid began to search for the cause of this electric failure. Fortunately, the lights in the bed cabin and heads were OK as was the rest of the 12 volt system. Very odd! A call through to good friend and narrowboat genius, Dave Staines, helped Sid with some possible solutions. Darkness was closing in so it was decided to sleep on it.

Further investigations took place on Sunday morning, wires traced, cupboards emptied, in order to take parts of the roof lining down to track wires, checking and re checking connectors. All to no avail.  The problem must be well hidden. We decided to go home and return with fresh minds and the right tools the following week. 

Romantic lighting on board

So, we return on the May Bank Holiday weekend to firstly, sort the lighting problem and then to get off cruising for a couple of weeks! We have a saying that 'our plans are what makes God laugh'. That is certainly the case here. Sid eventually located the area where the wiring fault was and luckily only had to take a small portion of ceiling down.

So, boat back in order, full lighting restored, a good nights sleep then off in the  morning. Well, that's what we hoped. Firstly, the heating should have come on at 7.30, which usually acts as our on board alarm clock but it didn't. Another problem. Breakfast first then the troubleshooting. Heating sorted then next start the engine. Guess what - flat starter battery, which was a bit surprising because it was only 17 years old! Battery replaced and engine starting OK now.

Hopefully all is now sorted and we can get cruising.

Tuesday 3rd May

Well, the saga goes on. Our plan to head out of the Marina on Tuesday morning was thwarted once again when we, yet again, failed to hear the heater kick in, which indicated a problem with our domestic batteries! This is all getting a bit tiresome. Sid spent the day trying to isolate the problem and investigating where we can get replacements, if necessary. So we still haven't moved.

However, the boat has been washed  - Hunters Moon must be on the birds flight path - Jenny has washed all the crochet work and we have had a reprovision at Waitrose.  So have been busy.

Tomorrow is another day.