Monday, April 7, 2014

They Think Its All Over.......

Well it is now ...

Today was our last day cruising on the good ship.  We were up at 07.00 and after saying our farewells to Dot, Gordon, Ray and Duane we were off.

To be factual, I was off!  Elaine stayed on the towpath to take pics up me leaving, plus walk the doggies along the towpath for a while.


Off we go ...


Farewell dear friends xx


Elaine had the camera with her and got some great pics of a lamb that had just been born.  I am not a veg head myself, but I can't do lamb or veal, it just doesn't seem right.







The boys pulled her through the mud ...



These will be our new friends in a couple of weeks when we go Pikey!


Into the first lock ...


Then the second ...

Woohoo ...

I have always loved this house at Weston, mainly because of its superb conservatory ...


Finally, the last lock after just over two years aboard the good ship Caxton ...


Sammie checking we are lined up OK ...


OK, hit reverse you muppet ...


And up she comes ...



All safe and sound ...


The crew were happy ...

Someone who I can't remember told me about this little trick a while ago ...
When you are coming out of a lock single handed, just as you pass the lock gates put the boat into reverse on idle speed then go back and shut the gate - by the time you have done that your boat is reversing back into the lock to pick you up.  Jump on, put in forward and away you go.  It is a bit disconcerting when the boat leaves the lock without you, but never fear she will always come back!


Bombo having his last sniff of country air ...


He was on lookout this time.....Dont bloody scratch it now!! 


Ya gunna hit the wall ...


No chance - all back safe and sound...

So that's it our mini cruise was over, the boat behaved impeccably as always.

We have a GPS onboard connected to waterways explorer.  I have never done a daily mileage, locks etc. but the total is 1614.55 miles 1033 locks and an awful lot of swing bridges. 

Once we were connected to the electric Elaine carried on packing whilst I got the hose out and cleaned the mud off the boat.

We then jumped into the little Citroen and headed off to Macclesfield as I have a blood test in the morning.

Whilst we were in Macc Elaine's brother Trevor returned my Laptop.....

BIG BERTHA LIVES AGAIN!!!!

18 comments:

  1. Good one Paul & Elaine, now on to the next phase.

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  2. You've had an amazing adventure on the boat, now it's on to the next chapter. Enjoy every magical moment ;-)

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  3. Jill, Matilda RoseApril 7, 2014 at 10:18 PM

    See you in Europe then guys - we'll be there before you x

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  4. It's been great reading your blog as we planned our own boat. Have fun on your new adventures and maybe see you back on the waterways one day

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  5. Good luck, enjoy yourselves and keep well!
    Debby and Dave
    xx

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  6. Are you still coming down to the Tardibigge Flight wheel locking for another boat?

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    1. We hope to be there 20th April x

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    2. We’ll give you a call closer to that date to arrange something shall we?

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  7. Good luck, enjoy Europe, Keep well and keep blogging.

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  8. Good luck to you both. Well you certainly enjoyed our waterways that is for sure.

    Enjoy Europe, it seems it's a trendy thing to do by the bloggers right now!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Sue, we need to catch up before we head off, we owe you!

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