The Welland Canal

I had to get a boaty post for the blog the above picture is of a boat entering a lock on the Welland Canal. The picture was taken from a coach as we crossed the canal- my excuse for the slight out of focus.

The Welland Canal started in 1829 connects Lake Ontario with Lake Erie which is 327ft higher. It was built to avoid Niagara Falls and to allow large ships to open up the interior of Canada. Its 26 miles long and 27ft deep with 7 locks averaging 47ft deep.


Not the canal but the Maid of the Mist approaching the Horseshoe Falls which are the ones on the Canadian side. With the spray from the waterfall its just like a very wet/windy day on BB except that there are 150 other people on board with you -it was brilliant.

An empty canal lock.

A view of Horseshoe Falls with the mist rising above them- you can see why they needed to build the Welland Canal.

A dumb barge that had lost its moorings a few years back that is left to rust away above the falls.

Nothing to do with canals- but something I saw in Jasper. The ideal gift for somebody who has everything. A John Dere moving hose sprinkler

Our spring/summer cruise to Canada

The above picture of a hump back whale diving in the waters off Juneau Alaska- its just magical to watch these huge creatures in their environment and sums up how exciting Canada is to visit.

No we have not taken BB to Canada this year our trip has been a bit further afield.We left the UK in mid May for Las Vegas (an adult Disney World) and the Grand Canyon.Then onto Vancouver for a cruise up the Inside Passage to Alaska with stops in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchichan. The cruise returned us to Vancouver for a few days and then we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer-Gold leaf for a two day trip to Jasper.A few days to enjoy Jasper before we collected a car for a drive down the Icefields Parkway-described as the most beautiful road passing through exceptional awesome scenery to Banff and Calgary. We passed through/by Columbia Icefields,Lake Louise, Emerald Lake, Bow Lake and the mountains. The final part was a flight to Toronto so that we could see Niagara Falls and the Maid of the Mist trip.

The trip was fantastic,the scenery awesomeeeee and the highlights are many but include whale watching, listening to glaciers calving in Glacier Bay, flying over Misty Fjords in a sea plane, Vegas just to have seen it and the Grand Canyon,driving down the Icefields Parkway and The Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island. The Rocky Mountaineer - the whole experience especially the group of people in our section of the observation car. Special mention must be made of the two Aussie couples Graeme (who wants to do a narrow boat trip) and Tricia and Peter and Claudia all from Sydney.

A few pictures now to show what we have experienced.


Another picture of hump back whales in the vastness of Alaska.


A frozen Bow Lake we passed on the way to Lake Louise.

A view of Castle Mountain between Lake Louise and Banff.

Looking down the lake formed by a glacier to the Fairmount Chateau Lake Louise. A hotel built by The Canadian Pacific Railway to encourage tourists to visit the West of Canada in the early 1900s.

A view along the Icefields Parkway

A mountain reflection from the train on the way into Jasper.

A view of a train making its way back to Skagway on the White Pass Railway

10 day trip in sunshine

We have various commitments coming up over the next few months so decided that we needed a BB session so decided that a trip out on the boat over Easter was required especially with the forecast of wall to wall sunshine. We knew that this would be a busy time but we had a plan to avoid the traffic! We set off from the marina on Wednesday 20 April as we had an appointment with an engineer to refit our Eberspacher boiler in Braunston first thing on Thursday. We had decided on a trip up the Leicester Arm so left Braunston at 09.30 and went up the flight with an efficient Canal Time Boat. Through the tunnel and only meet 5 boats coming the other way. We arrived at Watford flight at 11.30 with 2 boats in front. Only a short wait and up we went, why don't the crews of waiting boats help those coming through- it seems to be the thing to wait until its your turn to go up or down before coming to help!!. Part of boating is meeting fellow boaters when going through locks.

We stopped for the day a mile after the M1 bridge by Bridge 9- to the sound of lambs,green woodpeckers, slight railway sounds and the distant rumble of the M1- bliss.

Many boats about but we watched the world go by for the rest of the day. On Good Friday morning I walked to Watford flight to get rid of the rubbish and at 08.15 there were 16 boats waiting to go down. When we came back the following Wednesday the volunteer lock keeper said that 57 boats had used the locks on Good Friday- an average wait of 6 hours.

A few pictures of the trip.

Two buttys(unpowered boats) moored by Braunston Turn.




Just as I took this photo one cow stood up- you don't often see a complete herd sitting down- its supposed to be a sign of rain isn't it.


The lock keepers cottage at the bottom of the Watford Locks is being refurbished- looks very nice- but it is very close to the M1 which the picture doesn't show.

The trip between Braunston and Napton has Fields upon fields of rape which smell very strongly- alright for a quick stop but not for overnight.

We wondered why there were no boats when we came back through Braunston tunnel- the reason being that this stealth wide beam had just gone through in front of us. It really does look out of proportion- flat and wide.

Couldn't resist a picture of this old working boat panel in the boat yard by Braunston Bottom Lock

An old iron plate that protected the bridge brickwork from the tow ropes from butty's over the years.

Why do animals always want to eat that extra bit that always requires that little bit of extra stretch.

A motorised butty going through bridge 9. It has an engine in the hold with hydraulic drive to a prop mounted on the rudder. It didn't have a name but the boat is 100 years old.

Another picture late afternoon of bridge 9 in the round.

Looking back to our mooring at bridge 9 a mile from the M1.

A great looking BCN tug

The weather was excellent the canal was busy but we had a lovely trip up the GU Leicester Arm to Welford- and watched a lot of boats go by from the tow path on which we had our earliest BBQs with meat from the butchers in Braunston- cooking doesn't get better than this!!!!!

LCL - The Liverpool Canal Link

Not a BB boating trip but a visit to Liverpool Docks which is now on the list of must do trips for next year. We had to go to a 60th wedding anniversary at Wrexham in March and decided to have a few days in Liverpool. A city we have always wanted to visit and our time in the city was excellent with glorious sunshine and warm to boot- a real bonus in March. A few pictures of the dock area associated with the Liverpool Link Canal (LCL) Looking at the converted warehouses around Salthouse Docks with the new pontoons put in for a boat show in May which has now been cancelled. Part of the new Liverpool Link Canal which runs under the new Museum of Liverpool and through Mann Island Lock into Canning Dock.

A view of Salthouse Dock with the BW moorings which have water and electricity with the Liverpool Wheel in the background.

A view of Salthouse Dock from the wheel.

My new camera has a panoramic facility which shows a view of the buildings around Salthouse Docks.

A view of the Liverpool waterfront from the ferry on the Mersey.

The 3 Graces from the Mersey - they are The Royal Liver Building, The Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building. The building that looks like an open mouth is the new terminal for the Mersey Ferry.

BW have an excellent Skipper's Guide on their website and you have to book a passage to the docks starting at Aintree through the Wigan office on 01942 405700.

Managed to get out

BB survived the coldest winter with only a split water pump filter and no sound out of the hifi. Both have now been fixed, the hifi was a dry joint presumably caused by the large range of temperature within the boat.We managed a trip to the boat last week and although the weather was grey and a bit chilly we cast off and left the marina for an overnight trip to Braunston and back. We last went that way in March last year and there have been a few changes.

A few pictures of the trip and my winter project.

Canal junctions are always special, one of my favourites is Braunston Turn- port for the north-starboard for the south. The majesty of the iron bridges against the stark winter trees just make it stand out even more.

As you come into Braunston from the Napton direction you go across Puddlebank which is lined with stone slabs

They have been building a new house near bridge 99 for the last 2 years. It has a timber timber frame of oak and since we last passed has been thatched-a house of real character.

Bridge 100 has over the years been slowly falling down with the brickwork in a very poor state. The problem has now been solved by a quick fix- its all about cost I assume now as its lost its appeal as a brick built bridge.

BW contractors have been working hard with lots of tree clearing so improving the M25 effect on this bit of the Oxford/Grand Union canal, but the satellite TV reception is now much improved. Our mooring near Br100 is now very open and wide.

My winter project has been the building of a Dorset Kit model of the Welshpool & Lanfair 0-6-0 loco in 7mm narrow gauge.One thing I have now found with my right eye is that I have lost the 3D effect which makes it very hard to line things up-especially when very small. I eventually managed to finish it with some help in building the chassis. It just needs painting now.

Boats are like children

Hope you have had an excellent Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year.

Children are fantastic to have around and can be very exciting and brilliant etc but they do give you concerns especially when they are away and you don't see them for awhile - just like narrowboats especially in bad weather.

What with my eye operation and the weather over the last 5 weeks we have been unable to visit the boat and hopefully the engineer in Wigrams was able to give her the once over which may save us some concerns-time will tell.

We did have a great trip to London over the weekend of the 11 December with our son and girlfriend. They treated us to tickets for Faithless at the O2 they were great. We stayed in a B&B in Greenwich, the weather was very cold and bright. On the Sunday we managed a boat trip from Greenwich to Charing Cross pier past Limehouse- so we have been along part of the Thames that we must do in BB- it doesn't seem as bad as I thought- time will tell.

Walking back to London Bridge station there was a lovely sunset behind Cannon Street Station.

A view of the lock entrance to Limehouse Basin.

A view locking from Greenwich Park towards Greenwich College and Canary Wharf.

A bit of culture, during the summer there was an Antony Gormley exhibition at The De la Warr Pavilion in Bexhill called Critical Mass. It involved 60 lifesize body casts all based on the artist himself. It was very disturbing it felt as if they had fallen from space and just been frozen in time.

I decided not to put any pictures of snow on the blog as I have had enough at the moment and I expect so have you- so one of a nice sunny day.

Things work against cruising

Since the return from our trip in June we have had a very difficult time. Anne's father had been in an assisted living home and during our trip Anne had returned back to Fleet a few times as he was not very well at all. On our return he deteriorated further and we had to move him into a nursing home. He became very weak and passed away peacefully at the beginning of September. We have been dealing with his estate which hopefully is now nearly completed.

We have only managed one quick trip to the boat in October to check her out and do a few jobs to get her ready for winter. Although when we were their we had one nice day so we did a quick cruise to The Bridge Inn and back.

I started to suffer from another trigger finger whilst we were out which has gradually got worse and resulted in a small operation in October which has taken 6 weeks to heal. A small cut but very painful in the middle of your palm.

When I had the detached retina last year there was a high probability of a cataract. Well one has developed and I am due to have an operation this Friday. Hopefully that will be the end of it for a while. Mind you everything that goes wrong now seems to be put down to old age!!!!!- something that really p...s me off.

I include a few pictures covering the last few months which included a trip to North Somerset.

Our lunch stop mooring near The Bridge Inn on a lovely October afternoon.

We passed this Kestrel on a post as we left the marina.

When we were in North Somerset I went to look at Watchet Station on the West Somerset Railway.On coming out I saw this lovely restored 1950's Jaguar S class.

A Green Woodpecker making big/deep holes in the lawn.

We went to Topsham on the River Exe which has a sunken boat just like they do on canals!!!