Marston Doles to Napton on the Hill

Marston Doles to Napton on the Hill : 2 miles, 8 locks
To date : 566 miles, 325 locks

What a lovely mooring it was at the top of the Marston Doles locks.  We had a wide flat grassy stretch beside us and as it turned out we were the only ones.  There was one other boat but it was empty.  At 9pm a pair of working boats chugged by.  It was a lovely sound in the evening quiet.  We did have a horse on the other side of the hedge.  We couldn't see it but we could hear it now and then.  Lovely.

I was wide awake at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep.  The early morning light hasn't bothered us much lately but this morning it woke me up.  I read my book in bed for a while but eventually decided I might as well get up.  Mick woke too so we ended up making an early start.

Not quite as early as the couple of hire boats that passed before we moved off.   We had 9 locks to do and we only passed 2 or 3 boats coming the other way so there were only a couple of locks in our favour.  With the hire boat in front only bothering to close the gates behind them when they felt like it, and the boat behind us sitting on their boat to wait until we'd finished each lock before walking to the lock, it was a slow process.  We didn't mind at all as it was the most stunning countryside.  Just glorious.  We've seen all sorts of animals and their young along the way but today we saw buffalo!

As we were pulling into the bank to wait for one of the locks a boat came out of the lock.  It was called Kotuku and I thought perhaps it sounded like a Kiwi name.  It wasn’t until they were actually past us that the fellow called out something and pointed to the back of our boat but down near the waterline and gave us the “thumbs up”.  I had no idea what he’d said and it took us a minute to work out that he had pointed to the crown on our hull.  I looked up the name when I had brief internet access… very intermittent at the moment… and we were right.  It was another Crown Narrowboat. 

As we came down into Napton it felt a bit strange.  We've been here several times before by car but here we were approaching from the bottom lock in our boat.  We found a very nice mooring beneath a tree just around the bend from The Folly Inn.  We'll look forward to exploring.

The boat moored two in front of us has three cats.  They happily wander the towpath and seem totally oblivious of passing dogs.  I had to giggle when I saw this couple walk by with six... yes SIX... dogs.  The dogs were rather curious but as the cat just continued ambling along they weren't making any attempt to chase it.

Fenny Compton to Marston Doles

Fenny Compton to Marston Doles : 8 miles, 0 locks
To date : 564 miles, 317 locks

This morning was muggy and overcast after the overnight rain. We wavered back and forth about whether to move on or not... it looked like there would be more rain but the cruise ahead was, at least, lock free.   Even nb Winton's Folly were gone before us, but they had no choice.  Their daughter's car was back at Cropredy and she had to go home today.  The sky in the direction they were headed looked ominous but Barry was still smiling.

Eventually we decided to go and get water but with boats breasted up at the water point we waited some more. When we did get up there the reason for the build up was apparent. There was a boat moored and locked up at the water point. A hire boat came soon after we got there and they filled their tank while hovering in the bridge hole.

They had to turn and head back the way they came and were nervous of doing so. It's made a bit difficult by the water point opposite the winding hole and a boat moored there too. They'd only been 3 days on the boat so we gave them some advice and headed off so we would be out of their way for the procedure. I think they were glad to not have an audience!  It was lunchtime by the time we were leaving.... unheard of for us.

What glorious countryside we cruised through today. There were green fields with grazing sheep, cattle and a horse.  Shame it wasn't a good day for photos with the overcast conditions.  It was narrow in places and we had some close encounters passing oncoming boats.  The canal snaked back and forth and at times we would see a boat across a field. How odd that looked.  The oncoming boat is just a speck in the first photo below.

 
I shared the steering today.  At last I feel that I can deal with whatever comes towards us.  It's taken a while!  Mick had caused chaos the last few days with cleaning up the window surrounds so he was determined to Hoover the floors.... it's one of his favourite jobs!

The weather was kind to us and we had no further rain.  It was lightly overcast for the most part and that suits us fine.  When the sun did come out it felt increasingly humid.  The golf umbrella came into good use.

We saw a long stretch of armcote before we reached the Marston Doles locks and wondered if we should stop there.  It's difficult when you have no idea how long the mooring stretch is.  Our guide shows moorings but we have no idea if there's 3 spaces or 15 spaces.  We pushed on ahead and when the moorings came into view we could see there was just 3 before the water point and one boat was dead in the middle of the first 2 spaces.  We came to a stop on the canal in front of the obviously too short space left between him and the next boat and decided I'd get off the boat and ask him to move along.  The wind had really picked up and it was a bit awkward trying not to be pushed into the other moored boat.  After a bit of too-ing and fro-ing the fellow came out of his boat and called out that they were leaving.  We gratefully pulled our boat back to the very edge of the moorings, leaving a vacant space in front of us.  A couple of hours later the hire boat from the water point back at Fenny Compton came by and Mick went to help them through the first couple of locks.  He wasn't too impressed to find himself helping the next boat as well... it was the one that had been moored on the water point.

So here we are at Marston Doles.  We have the shade of a tree to sit under, the batteries are at 100%, the water tank if full, we have the channel on tv showing Australian Masterchef, the floors are clean, I have internet access.  It doesn't take an awful lot to make us happy these days.

 

A day in port - Fenny Compton

A peaceful night at Fenny Compton with not a spare mooring space in sight.  The hire boats were off early, with one of them giving us a whollop.  A lady walking down the towpath who we've chatted to a week or so ago was complaining bitterly about a hire boat hitting them hard as they came into Fenny this morning.  Sounds like the same one.

Our groceries arrived bang on 9am.  It's a very convenient spot for a morning delivery as we could walk across the pub beer garden to their carpark.  The Ocado driver actually came and knocked on our window.  I think some of them find it a bit of a novelty to deliver to a boat.  We were down to not much left so the groceries are welcome.  I did have one small bag of new potatoes with use by date being tomorrow but they've all turned into a mushy mess already.  This seems to happen often and makes it a bit difficult when we aren't coming across supermarkets as often.

With a shorter boat gone from behind us and about three boats gone from ahead of us we ended up with a boat mooring up ahead and leaving a space between that was good for nothing.  I heard voices outside while Mick was out and the folk on the passing boat were discussing whether to ask us to move and let them in.  I went forward to look out the cratch and talk to them but they were moving so fast that I missed them and they were gone. 

Not long after another boat arrived looking for mooring and by then the only available space was the short one behind us.  This time the voice was Barry's.  They were lucky to get a mooring at all.  The Wharf Inn have a nice shady beer garden so they all traipsed off down the towpath.

Mick had walked down the road to Lee Sanitation to get some spare parts for the loo.  He wanted to replace the carbon filter on the loo tank.  We were glad to have that job sorted as when he removed the old one it all but disintegrated.

The day was hot and sunny.  It wasn't pleasant to be sitting at the dinette and working but I had work to do.  The forecast is predicting rain and thunder storms so we'll soon be complaining about the rain!  We've had two little families visiting throughout the day.  Firstly a mother duck with about 8 ducklings.  We've also had a swan family with four youngsters. 

This evening it started.  The first drops of rain arrived and we've heard thunder for the first time since arriving in the UK.

Today :
1. A quacky family
2. This one stands out from the crowd
3. Off to the pub to play
4. Look to the left
5. An hour later to the right

Cropredy to Fenny Compton

Cropredy to Fenny Compton : 6 miles, 9 locks
To date : 556 miles, 317 locks

We were in need of water and a load of washing.  Our goal for the day was Fenny Compton and it appeared in our guide that the water point was beyond the visitor moorings.  We decided we'd reverse early in the morning back to the water point at Cropredy so we'd have water to spend a couple of days at Fenny.  That would involve getting past nb Winton's Folly, through a narrowing, between two moored boats and under a bridge.  We set off about 7.15am... first having to untie the bow of nb Winton's Folly as they were sharing our mooring ring and only starting the engine once we'd pushed the boat into the centre of the canal.  We gently and slowly edged our way back, trying to be as quiet as possible.  When we got back to the mooring for breakfast at 7.45, Carol popped her head out their bow door asking if we were going to get water! 

In honour of the expected arrival of two little grand-daughters today for a visit, Barry had given me permission to return the dastardly parrot to it's rightful owner.  I strung him up with a noose in their cratch.  An hour or so lately we had Carol excitedly playing parrot outside our galley window. 

We moved on just after 9am with nine locks ahead of us today.  Barry came up to assist us through the lock and we were on our way.  Passing the Cropredy Marina we could see the water level had risen since our walk the other day.  I think they must have only just started the water filling when we were there.  Now there was a shallow level of water in the entire basin. 

There were some lovely moorings above and below the 5 locks at Claydon.  We'd been told while we were at the water point that the pound between the second and third of these locks was completely dry early this morning.  There was water in it when we passed but it was low, and so were the others.  We saw a property for sale at the top lock.  We had a chat with the owner, bought some eggs fresh from the chicken and some veg.  The property was old workshops, one of which has been converted into a residence.  It had a nice little garden with a good vegie patch.

 

 

After the locks comes what used to be the Fenny Compton Tunnel.  The top was removed in the 1800's and now it's just a very narrow mile or so.  It was a bit strange cruising through such a narrow stretch.  We did pass one boat but it was, thankfully, at a spot that had a little space to move to the side.  Just.  The water was lower than usual as you could see where the water line had been.  I wonder what happened with that lock pound? 

On reaching Fenny Compton it appeared we might be in a spot of bother with mooring.  There was half a space before and after a boat we'd seen back at Cropredy.  There was nobody on the boat.  Just as we lurked there in the middle of the canal deciding what to do, some people came walking down the towpath.  What luck that it was the owners of that boat who gladly moved it back so we could fit in.

I immediately put in a grocery order with Ocado for tomorrow morning.  We're down to almost nothing in the fridge.  We had lunch at The Wharf Inn beside the canal so the few leftovers in the fridge will do our tea.