the marina water source was frozen. The north Oxford Canal, into which we turned from the Grand Union, was a mix of free flowing water and slower sections filled with icebergs. Smaller than the Atlantic version the Titanic kissed, but large enough for us. We made it in excellent time though, probably because few boats were moored on the open canal and few boats were travelling. It was so cold that we gave each other only about 20 minutes each on the 'Bridge' while the other went inside to 
warm up. It was also very windy, making the travelling alternatively a little tricky and a whole lot of FUN! Going around corners being pushed by the wind is an exhilarating feeling, as is the whole experience of using the wind in our favour, rather than fighting it.By the time we got to the entrance of Blue Haven, we could hear ice being broken and as we made the turn, we found our neighbour, boat pole in hand, making cracks in the ice. He had managed to create a space for us and we were moored up in minutes, Bella making the final break for the mooring. From there, we spent the next hour helping with our poles and boat hook, doing what we all called de-icing the marina. As our neighbour said, who ever thought boating was boring? We had a
hoot moving great ice plates out to the open canal in order to move boats around the marina, particularly so that our friend could move to home mooring rather than the temporary (and only) place he found a few days ago. We smiled to ourselves as we thought of what travellers would think, making it relatively safely north or south to this point, then finding plates of ice overlapping each other!!
