It is the equinox today (though I thought that was the 21 March, tomorrow), so it is time to think about boating for 2017. We have just a few jobs to finish off on Leo including a second coat of paint on the floor of the gas locker. Last Tuesday I cleaned off the rust and painted a coat of Hammerite on the locker floor. The hatch to the locker is only 12½ inches x 13½ inches. My upper body now has some colourful bruises and I was unsure a couple of times whether I would ever get out again!
Here is Ian equipped with head torch to see what he is doing and a cunningly extended paintbrush to reach into distant dark corners of the gas locker.
Here is Ian equipped with head torch to see what he is doing and a cunningly extended paintbrush to reach into distant dark corners of the gas locker.
And here is a fairly undignified pose with Ian painting the second coat. In fact preparing the surface was the worst part as he had to get right in the locker to scrape the rust off. Still, a job worth doing.
So where are we going this year? As part of our ambition to cruise all the connected waterways, we aim to cover three bits we've missed so far. First is the Kyme Eau otherwise known as the Sleaford Navigation which leaves the River Witham between Lincoln and Boston. We tried this in June 2015 but we were unable to get more than 200 yards due to the growth of weed. Have a look at this post to see the problem:
So where are we going this year? As part of our ambition to cruise all the connected waterways, we aim to cover three bits we've missed so far. First is the Kyme Eau otherwise known as the Sleaford Navigation which leaves the River Witham between Lincoln and Boston. We tried this in June 2015 but we were unable to get more than 200 yards due to the growth of weed. Have a look at this post to see the problem:
We hope to visit this canal before the growth of weed gets too much.
The next target is the Aylesbury Arm of the Grand Union which was closed last time we passed its junction with the main line.
And finally, though we used to live nearby and have walked and cycled it many times, we've never taken Leo up the Basingstoke Canal. So that is also on our list for this year.
And after that, who knows where we'll go, though our aim is to move our winter mooring from near Skipton to somewhere in the North Midlands.
We aim to leave on Leo around the middle of April and you will be able to monitor our progress as always on this blog. We look forward to meeting some of our boating friends during the summer.