Tuesday 4th March - Ventnor Marina to Braunston
We are having a mini cruise for a few days as there are stoppages on the route we want to take. So, for a few days we are going to Braunston. Dave took the boat out of the Marina and up to the locks for the first time, done beautifully!
Leaving Ventnor Marina and heading south towards Braunston we have three wide locks to do first. All very quiet with only one boat coming down the locks ahead of us.
In this photo the boat is exiting the lock whilst I am hovering in the background.
Rising up through the last of the three locks. We are experimenting with not having the cratch cover, it is in need of replacing but we are wondering if we actually need it. It makes getting in and out of the front of the boat very difficult, so we have rolled it up to see how we feel about not having it in the future.
Approaching Braunston where we have the option of turning right into Braunston itself or going left and heading up the North Oxford. As you can see it is brilliant blue sky and not a breath of wind.
We chose to go right as far as Braunston Marina, turn round and moor outside Boathouse where you can moor for 24hrs during the winter.
We went for a walk into the village and had a look around Braunston Church. It is known as The Cathedral of the Canals for its close links with the families that operated canal boats on the inland waterways. The church was central to the lives of boating families, and many were married, baptised, or buried here.
We then carried on to The Canal Shop here we collected our Buckby Can after Will had repainted it for us. Many thanks to Will for doing such a great job and we highly recommend his work to anyone wanting some canal art work doing.
We returned to the boat and had a quiet evening onboard. The gas ran out as we were cooking dinner so Dave changed it over to the spare and we will replace the empty container at the next opportunity.
7 miles, 3 locks, 3hrs 24mins
Wednesday 5th March - Braunston to Dunchurch Pools Marina
We had a very late start this morning enjoying the early morning sunshine flooding into the boat.
We eventually set off and headed for the North Oxford Canal, again beautiful blue skies and beginning to feel quite warm.
On the way we had a mid morning snack of fruit and coffee, I’m caught mid apple chew!
We turned into Dunchurch Marina and filled up with diesel and took the opportunity to replace the gas bottle. This is the same Marina I brought Dave to when he broke his leg and he was whisked off to Coventry in the ambulance.
We left the marina behind and returned the way we had come. We found a lovely little spot in full sunshine and moored up just beyond Bridge 87.
5 miles, 0 locks, 2hrs
Thursday 6th March - Bridge 87 to Bridge 103 - New Bridge
Our overnight mooring, very peaceful and quiet. Toby and Dave are out on their early morning walk.
We shared the space with a collection of geese, mostly Canada Geese and Grey Lag Geese. They were amusing to watch as they were in a ridge and furrow field and sometimes you could only see their heads bobbing up and down!
We returned to Braunston with a lovely view of the village with the church and the windmill on the skyline. As we passed the line of moored boats before the junction we were shouted at to slow down - honestly the engine was only just engaged and we couldn’t have made the boat go any slower unless we were in neutral when steering becomes compromised. Anyone else had this problem?
We moored up just past the green sheds and before Bridge 103. Dave walked down to this new stretch of mooring with piling and a tidy footpath. This was done to strengthen the canal side but does provide some pleasant moorings.
There is another section a little further on where the digger is removing the deep mud so it is safe to moor. This boat pulled over ahead of us this morning to allow us to go past, very kind of him.
4.25 miles, 0 locks, 1hr 30 mins
Friday 7th March - Bridge 103 to Ventnor Marina.
Cloudy start to the day but a very pleasant cruise back to the Marina.
We met nbEnigma, a solo boater, at the locks and worked our way down them with him.
We are staying in the Marina for a few days whilst we go and visit Lizzie to celebrate her birthday and then we shall set off again on Monday.
3 miles, 3 locks, 2hrs
