A Quick Week

Well that was a quick week. Tonight we head back to the boat. It only seems as though we have been at home for two minutes. 

We have decided that we will have another quiet night in tonight. The evenings are starting to draw in so we are feeling less and less inclined to head anywhere on a Friday evening. So it is an evening with a film, a few beers and later on a nice homemade chilli with some rice and homemade garlic bread. 

Tomorrow we plan to head to Torksey for their annual charity event. It is usually a good day and we have been several times in recent years. Hopefully this year the weather is a little kinder then last year.

Weedy Witham Part 2

Another selection of pictures from the bank holiday weekend jaunt on the Witham.

Weedy Witham

The first of a batch of pictures from our bank holiday cruise on the weedy Witham. More to follow tomorrow.

A Bonus Day

Today Sydney and I have a bonus day on board Naughty-cal. Liam is away on a works team building day shooting lots of weapons.

So me and Syd are having an extra day on the boat.

Homeward

Today we are slowly plodding our way back up river towards the marina. We have no rush to get back we just need to be there tonight.

First stop has been Bardney for breakfast. The lock was being stubborn due to weed so took an age to empty before we could enter it!

It is almost time for the dog to have a charge around and then we will head to Lincoln for a few afternoon drinks.

Up River Again

We had a cracking night out in the Little Peacock in Boston yesterday. Now after a walk around the country park and the town centre we are back on board and heading back up river.

Today's destination is Kirkstead Bridge hopefully.

On the Move

Despite having the chance of a lie in this morning with no Modesto worry about, we were up and about fairly early. By 8am Sydney had had his morning walk and charge around. And by 9am we were through Bardney Lock onto the lower Witham and on our way to Boston.

Mind Made Up

So ploughing through weedwon the day. Or weekend more to the case.

We still didn't know when we set off in the car where we were heading.  The final decider was driving over Dunham Bridge and seeing just how low the Trent was.

We are now heading to Fiskerton Ten in the fading light.

Grounding or Weed?

Our initial plan for this coming long weekend had been to head out onto the Trent and onto West Stockwith. We had chosen West Stockwith as the run down there has less sunken hazards to avoid and with the continuing dry spell of weather water levels on the Trent are still very low. However with reports from several boaters running aground on the stretch from Torksey to West Stockwith we are starting to rethink our plans again.

Should we just head down the Witham instead?

It has been a while since we last had a few days just milling around with no destination intended. Coming and going as we please. But what about the weed?

The Witham is always weedy at this time of year and this year is no exception. In fact this year is one of the worst for a while due to the low river flows and the warm weather.

So the choice we are up against is running the risk of running aground on the Trent or battle with the weed on the Witham?

An Odd Run

Unusually for us we are not far from the start of an odd run of holidays for us. All of them will be boating holidays but the unusual part is that none of them will be on Naughty-Cal. We are almost at the start of a run of hire boat holidays.

First up in about six weeks time will be our first week away in Brittany on the Le Boat Capri TS. This 30ft boat is the smallest in their fleet but should still provide us with plenty of room compared to Naughty-Cal. Unfortunately we won't be taking Sydney on this holiday due to the 12 hour ferry crossing to St Malo. So he will be staying with friends whilst we are away.

Capri TS

The next boating break is then at Easter with a week in Belgium onboard Le Boat Cirrus B. This boat is slightly larger then the one we will hire in Brittany being a few foot longer and a good foot or so wider. It also has a fly bridge exterior helm leaving the majority of the downstairs level as accomodation. So should feel a much larger boat, ideal for two and a small dog. Yes Sydney will be coming on this holiday as we can cross the channel on the train and it is only a 35 minute crossing.

Cirrus B

Our third hire boat in this run is not while October next year. We would hope by that point in the year that our house will be sold and we will have moved on. So it is time, hopefully for a holiday. This time in the UK on the Norfolk Broads onboard Swan Ranger hired from the Richardsons yard. This will certainly be the most plush of the boats we are hiring and will be the most modern boat we have ever hired. Of course Syd will be coming along for this holiday.

Swan Ranger

We will of course still have another couple of weeks holiday to contend with for next year but what with hopefully moving house that two weeks will most probably be spent with the arduous task of packing, moving and unpacking again. But if for whatever reason we don't end up moving we have plenty of options for a summer break as well.

Unusual

Rather unusually for the Fossdyke, the EA seemed to be having trouble maintaining the river levels over the weekend.

In normal circumstances the river levels varies by only a few inches even during periods of dry weather and wet weather. During exceptional rainfall events it may rise a foot or so but this is very much an unusual event for the river.

Over the weekend they had quite the opposite problem and the water levels were at one point down a good foot on what we would usually expect. Now the Fossdyke isn't the deepest in places anyway so this did mean that the deeper drafted boats were having problems getting alongside at a few of the moorings.

By yesterday the water levels were once again rising slowly so whatever the problem was must have been sorted. My best guess would be that a sluice somewhere had become stuck open allowing the water to drain away. But that is only a best guess.

Looking at the EA website this morning the water levels are still not quite at the "normal" level but they are heading in the right direction again.

A Messy Weekend

Yesterday was very much a quieter day then Saturday, and thank goodness it was. I was suffering.

We got the boat back to the marina nice and early and set about a few odd jobs before we set out in the maiden voyage of a new boat at the marina with her new crew. They were very nervous about taking her out so we had offered to go with them for their first time. After a run down to Brayford Pool and a few practice manouvres we headed back to the marina to practice mooring up.

With them back safe on their own mooring we headed back to Naughty-Cal to get her cleaned up and ready for the long weekend ahead. The plan so far is to head to West Stockwith. But you know how our plans keep changing.

Here are a few pictures taken from the weekend.

The cathedral in all its glory.

Lovely old buildings around the cathedral

Sydney found the slipway.

And a new friend in Riley.

Best of buddies

It all got a bit messy from this point onwards!

One exhausted doggy.

Recuperation

We were not intending to have a heavy session yesterday but it turned into one none the less!

Today is a day for recuperation.

Staying on Plan

So far today we have stuck with the plan.

We had a quiet night in last night, a lazy morning this morning and filled up with diesel on our way out of the marina.

We have just squeezed into the last CRT visitor mooring in Lincoln. And by just I mean it fits where it touches!

Now time for a lazy day.

A Change of Plan

We have changed our minds already about what we fancy doing this weekend. We still plan to have a night in tonight with a film and the chilli, but when it came down to it neither of us could actually be bothered to head to Fiskerton Fen on second thoughts.

So instead we think we will have a lazy morning having breakfast in the marina and when the marina office opens we will head across and get some diesel in readiness for next weekends run down the Trent to West Stockwith.

With the tank full we will then have the very lazy run into Lincoln where we plan to spend Saturday just milling around, maybe have a few beers and just spend the day doing as little as possible.

This could all change again of course by tomorrow!

With a Little Bit of Luck

On a rather dull and dreary, damp Thursday morning in Sheffield our attention has turned to where we might venture this weekend.

Being the last weekend before the bank holiday weekend we know that at some point we will have to put a splash of diesel in the tank if we are to make it to our intended long weekend destination. But we can do that on our way back into the marina on Sunday.

So where to go?

We don't fancy venturing too far. In fact we are quite looking forward to heading nowhere on Friday evening and having a quiet night in with a film and and a nice chilli that I rustled up earlier in the week which is now sat in the freezer waiting to be reheated.

But where to head on Saturday?

The weather looks set to be dry if a little over cast and not overly warm. So with this in mind we think we will head down on to the Witham and with a bit of luck grab a mooring at Fiskerton Fen. 

Fingers crossed we can get a mooring as with so many other navigations struggling with water levels this year the Fossdyke and Witham have seen a huge increase in the numbers of visiting boats. Great for the local economy and waterside pubs of course, but a real impact on the availability of the already limited visitor moorings. 

The pontoon at Fiskerton is not the longest to start with. Three narrowboats and it is full. But we can live in hope I suppose.

Four Months On

It is now four months, almost to the day, that little Sydney worked his way into our lives. At that point we were not even sure if we could have a dog with work commitments and lack of time.

But somehow he wormed his way in and with a few changes to our lifestyle we have managed to work a way around being custodians of this happy little chappy.

The legacy of ailments he has suffered due to his previous ill treatment are almost behind him. It is hard to believe that he is the same dog we took custody of just four months ago. He has flourished with some care and nurturing and some much needed training and attention.

But there is still one little niggling medical problem which is refusing to go away. A persistent nail bed infection in one of his dew claws. We are fairly certain that this has been an ongoing problem with him for some time before we took over his care, mainly due to what appears to be scar tissue in the area. Antibiotics do help with the infection but after a shore time off of them it just reappears again.

The vets have been excellent with him and really want to avoid what will be another operation and putting him under yet again. But this time really is the last chance for this claw. Last night we decided with the vet that this will be the last course of antibiotics and then it is time try another tactic. So after the next 21 days if it has not cleared up it is time for something more drastic!