Hi all. First off, let me apologise for not updating this log for 6 or 7 weeks. I’ve been pretty busy, what with the refit of the galley and dinette, pretty intensive training for the Manchester 10K, not being able to get an internet signal a few times…….. The excuses are getting a bit thin, now, aren’t they.
Anyway, you’ll be pleased to hear we’ve not been abducted by aliens, got stuck irretrievably in a lock, or sailed off the end of the map.
And here’s what we’ve been up to.
We went down to Orchard Marina as planned on Monday, only to find they weren’t ready for us. So we did the “essential services” and moved back down to the flashes till Wednesday. On our return, we were still not able to get into the dry dock for bottom painting, but we were allocated a berth with power, so I could start on the galley and dinette refit.
The boat finally went in to the dry dock on Tuesday May 1st, so we used a hire car to go back up to Ingleton, and stopped the night with George and Christine. Took the opportunity to catch up with a few friends, but had to dash back to Northwich to get the car back Wednesday lunchtime.
Before we left the marina we had the engine and gearbox serviced, then came away finally on Saturday and went back up to the flashes for the weekend.
Billinge Greene Flash
Ducklings….
And cygnets
We set off north up the T&M on Monday 7th, spent a couple of days near Marbury country park near Anderton, and then took a steady 3 days up to Castlefield at the top of the Bridgewater Canal, arriving on the Saturday 12th, and stopped overnight to check it out. Pleased with the mooring and security, even in the middle of Manchester. Castlefield is only about 10 minutes walk away from the start of the Manchester 10K, so is an ideal stop-over for the race.
We toddled off back down to Marbury, as a BW licence only allows 7 consecutive days on the Bridgewater, spent a couple of days, and then cruised back up, leaving on the 17th to arrive on Saturday 19th, to find the basin packed with Lymm boat club members on a weekend away. We managed to squeeze on the end of the mooring, though.
All in all – Locks 3 (the same one 3 times!), miles 99.
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