10 year Bellaversary

Wow. 10 years ago, this very night, was our first night sleeping aboard Bella. Who knew? Halloween is our Bellaversary. Our first night, we had exhaustingly finished all the packing of a Victorian 4 story town house into a 69ft narrowboat. Bella was still under cover in sheds as the paint was, quite literally, drying. We slept in our new narrow double bed for the first time. Our dear Josie dog was panicking for all sorts of reasons. We were so tired we could hardly be excited, but excited we were. A quick glance at Bella's log from the time shows that it was a Wednesday night.

We have never regretted the move. It has been a very big learning curve, many things we're glad we didn't know ahead of time, and many decisions have been prophetically good without our knowing. 10 years in. Life is good.

Autumn morning & return to home-home

We moored south abouts again after we came back from Braunston on Saturday.  We had the edge of storm Brian on the journey and though we had no rain, we certainly had the wind with us. We did the locks, travelled the tunnel, then the wind carried us on a lovely cruise to Norton Junction. Tiller man P brought us around the corner amazingly smoothly.

We stopped at the maintenance point first, to turn around and to take on fuel. Brian made it difficult to turn in, but we made it. We were shocked to realise that it had been two years since we took on diesel!! The fuel cap was a job to remove, rusted well in place. We knew we hadn't travelled much in the last few years, but. Two years between fill ups??? Must rectify.

We reversed back into the cut and Brian brought us so neatly into our mooring, we were amazed. A few days in, the sky has cleared, and here is our morning view.

Mr Well enjoys new towpaths

We're clearly in Braunston for the week. Each new hatch opening brings new aromas for dear Maxwell. Here he is, late on a Friday night, sniffing in the walkers around us.

Alternative light

We have been in marina so long, we lost oversight of our alternative power sources.  The second week of cruising off shore power, we have come to realise that our domestic batteries are close to expired, dead, shuttled off their mortal coil, ceasing to live. We wondered on our last outing, but on this trip with the fridge warning light blinking each morning and the lights flickering each time the water pump is on, we now know. Call Simon the Sparky. New batteries soon come. These have lasted well beyond their specified life, so we simply say thank you, good and faithful servants. 

Out again, dear Bronny welcomes again

We've done it. As we vowed. This is the second of Pete's rest days, so we set out late morning. The day was gorgeous, unseasonably warm, beautifully bright, and seasonably colourful.

It was a bit tricky moving off the mud which had built up under the stern end when the last four years it was the bow end.  Then Bella moved up over the sand bar which had likewise been built up over the years. Interesting lean! To explain. The canal is so shallow (they all are), that every time a boat goes by, a bit more ground mud is loosed up from the bottom, swirls around, then gets pushed to the sides. This settles in set patterns and if a moored boat seldom moves, the base of the canal builds up in interesting peaks and troughs. Bella had quite a hill under the bow which, when we last moored, we backed into, boring into it with the propeller.  That's why it was quite tricky to get out! More trips will work wonders.

Anyway, we're here. For a few days. The trip was lovely.

Gorgeousness of early autumn

We continue to like our home mooring enormously. This is a glance to the north from the port hatch.

The boring bits

We have to do the boring bits. Not because we want to, but because they need done and we've still not been able to find someone to contract to do it. There is no boat wash to drive into and there is no ex boat garage now turned into hand boat wash. If anyone knows anyone who wants to wash boats, please tell us!!!! We'll pay!  In the meantime, here's P with Lance, the pressure washer.