Little visitors from Sunflowers...

We had a lovely trip on our boat today with children from the preschool room at Sunflowers Nursery, Grafton. Their current topic that they are learning about is 'Houses' and they have created a model of a house boat. So that the children can experience life on a house boat themselves, they visited us this morning and we travelled up to Pewsey.

Charlotte loved having all her friends visit, and showed them how things worked, including the pump loos! It was quite an adventure for everyone - we had twelve children between the ages of three and four, and seven adults on the boat (including my Mum isn't a great fan of boats!). They enjoyed looking out of the windows, looking for wildlife and all the autumnal colours of the leaves. Snack was organised in rotation, and it all worked well. Unfortunately the weather was rather wet, poor Matthew had to take sheltered under an umbrella,whilst steering the boat. Once we reached Pewsey, we had another exercise of organisation, swapping slippers for wellies and raincoats again before Sunflowers disembarked.

We ate lunch while moored at Pewsey, and then returned back home again. Thank you Sunflowers, for sharing our boat with us, it was a real pleasure and we hope you enjoyed your adventure and learnt some more about life on a narrow boat.

There and Back Again; the Sansums' Tale.....

This weekend we needed to move our boat because we have been moored for two weeks which is the maximum length of time you can moor on non-permanent moorings before you have to move. We haven't moved far though, we travelled from Wootton Rivers down to Burbage Wharf and then back again, stopping one lock further down from where we were originally. It's been a lovely afternoon, a bit chilly, it made me want a log burner; but we have seen blue sky and sunshine.

Anthony and Charlotte were on lock duty again, which they enjoyed. We have stopped now and are spring cleaning a bit. Matthew's removing the sticky residue from the hire boat logo. He's also window cleaning, trying out our new mop. We have the TV up and running, although no TV signal, we will have to get travel sat installed. We can watch DVDs though, so I think we'll try that out tonight with a bowl of popcorn for company!

It was lovely arriving back on the boat, it felt like coming back home again. I just love being surrounded by all the countryside and really feeling part of it. I want to do another big trip!

Auction won!

On Wednesday we bid on the auction for some local permanent moorings, and we won! There weren't any other bids, so we got the lowest price which is good. It was quite strange, really, I was sitting in Waitrose coffee shop, enjoying lunch with Charlotte, whilst keeping an eye on the auction and ensuring that we weren't outbid. Now we  have some paper work to finalise before we can proceed with mooring our boat permanently.

It is all starting to fall into place, although there is still a lot of work to be done on the website and promotional leaflets. We need to gather all the information that we need for the application of our business licence. I'm currently compiling a list of the items we need for the boat, which we will then prioritise to work out what is essential and what we need to buy once we receive bookings. Watch this space for news when the website is live!

Exploration and decision making.......

We needed to make a decision this week about where we want to moor the boat permanently. We thought we had decided but when another permanent mooring became available, we found ourselves with a choice. We visited both sites on Friday and decided we preferred the moorings that we will have to bid for on Wednesday. It has better access for my wheelchair and unloading using the car. It is also closer to home, has water for us to refill the boat and rubbish/recycling disposal. It doesn't have electricity but we discovered from our short stay this weekend that we are able to generate sufficient amount of energy for the night simply by running the engine for a couple of hours. Our original choice of mooring does have electricity but it doesn't have any of the other features and access to the canal is rather long and bumpy.
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It was lovely to return to 'Little Abbey', (as we'll rename her when she is repainted), and to be able to take our time leisurely. We didn't travel anywhere on Saturday, we arrived late afternoon and enjoyed showing more friends around and settled in for a rather chilly night! On Sunday, after a yummy breakfast of pancakes, we made our way towards Honeystreet. We were going to go to there to check out the boat services, but we went at such a leisurely pace, meeting some friends for a pub lunch on the way, that we only made it to Pewsey! We loved pottering, enjoying the countryside without rushing. When we arrived at Pewsey, it felt like we were miles away from home, rather than just ten minutes by car! That's what I really love about being on a canal boat, you get transported to a different place that is so peaceful and so removed from everyday life. You can switch off and enjoy the more simple things in life.

Day 15

5 miles: 13 locks: 4 litres of Pimms remaining

We had a fairly leisurely start to the day, enjoying our last pancake breakfast on the boat. I did experience a little fire from getting a piece of kitchen towel too close to the hob. The moral of that is always take food to the plate when cooking with gas, never the other way around if it's flammable.

We carried on along the Kennet & Avon canal, travelling through Bedwyn and then arriving at Crofton. We were hoping to travel through the locks with help from another boat to make it easier, but we were all on our own. They all seemed to be travelling in the opposite direction!

It was lovely to travel along the part of canal that is local to us, it is pretty, and quite popular amongst walkers and cyclists. It gave us a different perspective about the area we live in. Charlotte dropped Hayley, her favourite toy, out of the hatch in the canal just before Crofton. It could have been a disaster because the bank was really overgrown so it wasn't good for mooring. Fortunately we were able to moor at a nearby lock. Matthew then went on a mission armed with a long pole. We watched using binoculars, poor Charlotte was rather upset, but Matthew rescued Hayley quite quickly and she was returned to Charlotte, dripping wet.

When we arrived at Crofton locks, it was lovely to see some of our friends and they all enjoyed helping with the locks and riding on the roof! It was a touching welcome home gathering and we really appreciate our sociable rest at Crofton Steam Engine, our first proper time off the boat. After a respite and Anthony and Charlotte had run around with their friends, we took our boat through a few more locks and moored it for the night at the top of Crofton locks. We decided to have dinner on the boat, it was easier than preparing a meal at home. I'm so glad we did, it took us three hours to pack the our belongings and get home. I never imagined it would take so long. However, it is good to be back home, our house felt like a mansion! Anthony and Charlotte both wanted to stay on the boat, and said they liked their beds but being on the boat was better. As you can imagine the washing mountain is massive, and there is lots to sort out but it has been worth it.

We haven't quite finished our journey, at the weekend we will stay another night on the boat and take it to our permanent moorings. This will be fun, there'll be no rush because it is in the Pewsey area, so it will be good just to appreciate our adventure boat.

So check back on Monday, to finish the rest of our first big journey on Little Abbey.

Day 14

14.5 miles: 19 locks: 4 + litres of Pimms remaining

We made really good progress today, which has lifted our spirits after yesterday- we  will make it home! We did intend on leaving Thatcham early, around 7:30am, but we all slept in! However, we travelled quickly to Newbury and then on through Kintbury and Hungerford. We were going to stop at Hungerford and go to the pub for dinner, but it was getting late, raining and we also found it difficult to find suitable moorings. In the end, we moored by a lock just before Froxfield. It is very peaceful and probably best to be away from Hungerford because it is the beer festival tonight. 

The canal along here is pretty, there are a few tricky locks, some swing bridges, but nothing really challenging. We did see some interesting boats - one was a horse drawn hire canal boat, and we also saw the Bruce Trust canal boat which is specially adapted for people with disabilities. We had some really heavy rain, which was not pleasant, and although I was rather wet at the beginning of the day, I was kept dry by a quick delivery of my Mum's waterproofs! We have decided we are going to leave some raincoats on the boat so that no-one gets caught out in the way we have. 

It has been lovely seeing my family over the last few days, Anthony and Charlotte have really enjoyed it too. It feels like we've been away so long, and that is one of the best things about coming home - seeing family and friends. We should be arriving at Crofton tomorrow lunchtime, which is great timing because Crofton is in steam. We have all loved our adventure, but it will be good to get home, sleep in our own beds and use a washing machine!

Day 13 

9 miles: 9 locks: 8 swing bridges: 5+ litres of Pimms remaining

We really didn't make much progress today. The engine wouldn't start after breakfast, so we called the breakdown company. They sent out an engineer who arrived fairly quickly and installed a new engine battery. This resolved our problem and we were on the move again. Unfortunately it took most of the morning, which we spent playing games together. This was good fun but really put us behind schedule.

From Theale, we went to Aldermaston and then on to Thatcham where we moored for the night, right by the train station to Anthony's delight. Our progress through the locks was very slow, mainly due to their speed of filling and this, combined with the breakdown, meant that we did not reach Newbury as intended and we are now another day behind schedule. Our estimated arrival is Monday lunchtime.  

Day 12

12 miles: 9 locks: 1 swing bridges: 6+ litres of Pimms

We had a beautiful start to the morning at Maple Durham, there were many Canada Geese gathering on the water, I think they were hopeful for some breakfast! 

We travelled along the River Thames to Reading, where we saw the massive camp sites for the Reading Festival. We could believe how many tents there were already and how large the site was. The organisers had even built a temporary bridge from the camp site to the arenas. 

We passed through Reading shopping centre, it felt strange to be going past modern shops after all the rural settings we have been through. We were then on the River Kennet, which entailed using a one-way traffic light system for boats because the river was too narrow. We had twelve minutes to make it through! It did feel good to be back with traditional locks again, although Matthew says it feels like we're sailing through soup!

We carried on towards Theale which is where we stopped for the night. We are getting closer to home, but it still feels quite a way in a canal boat!

Day 11

25 miles: 8 locks: 7 litres of Pimms remaining

It's a beautiful summer's evening, I'm sitting on the deck of our boat with a glass of Pimms, birds tweeting as they settle for the night, church bells ringing (now in tune) and swans asking for food. It's perfect. 

Today we continued our journey along the River Thames. It is much easier and faster, we were assisted at nearly all the locks (electronic) by a lock keeper and there weren't that many or much time to wait when we were there. Anthony was frustrated because he wanted to operate the locks, and couldn't understand why the lock keeper did it. I think he prefers canals to rivers. I think for interesting features, I prefer the canals, but I can appreciate why Matthew prefers travelling on the river. It's much more relaxing for him because it is wider and deeper. 

We did moor after lunch so Matthew could have a rest, it's been a long, hard week and a half. Anthony, Charlotte and I sat on the deck, play Uno, fed the ducks and did some bird spotting with the binoculars. We've spotted lots of wildlife today, coots, Canadian geese, swans, mallard ducks and drakes, herons, some other ducks that weren't in our wildlife book and I saw a yellow-green frog hopping alongside one of the locks. 

This afternoon, I had a go at steering the boat - I think I understand how it works a bit more but I'm really not very good. We were zig zagging all over the Thames, and Matthew said that I kept veering left, which is a problem when you are meant to travel on the right! My problem is I simply can't see far enough, so I can't see where the boat is meant to be going. I soon gave the tiller bar back to Matthew, but Anthony asked if I was going to have another driving lesson! 

We are moored at Maple Durham, we need to wait for the lock keeper in the morning so we decided to stop here. It has been interesting travelling along the Thames, it is so different to the canals, it is used much more for recreational use, often by people hiring boats/canoes etc for the day. We helped a family today who had hired a Canadian canoe, but their son had a nose bleed so we gave them some tissues. They were really interested about our boat and our journey on it. I love the way that being on the water is so sociable, you stop and talk to people more, and it's really interesting hearing everyone's stories of why they are on the water. 

Tomorrow we will be arriving at Reading and then travelling on from there to Thatcham. We're nearly home, our estimated day of arrival is probably Sunday lunchtime, assuming we don't get caught up in the Reading festival attendees! 

Day 10

20 miles: 13 locks: 1+ bottles of Brasso remaining: 7+ litres of Pimms

It feels like we have made more progress today but that is probably because we made it to Oxford in the late afternoon, and started travelling along the River Thames. It is much wider here, and faster, so it feels like we are making headway and on our way home. 

Earlier in the day, it was still rather busy along the Oxford Canal, we had to travel very slowly past the houses in Oxford, mainly because it was narrow and over grown and there were a lot of boats moored up. Most of the boats looked like they were used as a permanent residence, it is fascinating to look at how people have personalised them. We saw a 'Jolly Roger' black boat, complete with a pirate flag, one which had an army style, lots with many planters on their roofs.We even saw one which had what looked like a lady's bottom sticking out of the roof! Most boats are traditional colours like green, red, blue, cream, but I have been spotting quite a few purple ones (my favourite colour). 

We did complete a few locks, including a Weir lock which is an oval shape - it feels a bit like being in a swimming pool rather than a lock. It's quite disorientating. There was one guy that we passed who was travelling along the canal backwards! It was a bit strange. 

Once we reached the River Thames, we had to buy our visitors licence from the Lock Keeper, The Thames is run by the Environment Agency not the Canal and River Trust. All the locks are now electronic which seems very modern compared to our last ten days. It is easier but doesn't have the charm of the canals. The Lock Keeper did tell us that it is Reading Festival this weekend - not good planning because we have to travel through there. Let's hope that there aren't many festival goers arriving by boat! 

We saw the Oxford Rowing Club facilities, and various different water vehicles, including canoes, motor cruisers, rowing boats, and a couple of people standing up in a canoe like boat and paddling. We have never seen that before. We passed through some towns south of Oxford including Abingdon which was very picturesque. We are moored for the night on the outskirts of Abingdon.

Day 9

20 miles: 12 locks: Another extra crew member (Mollie the black dog) 1.5 bottles Brasso remaining: 7+ litres of Pimms

Tonight we are moored along a very pretty part of the Oxford Canal, we had the doors open while Matthew and I ate dinner, after finishing for the day. It is really tranquil. There is a quaint cafe by the water, it had lots of little tables and few odd items in a barn, including an old fashioned pram and lots of cushions and bedding. There were also several caravans and tents, so we're not quite sure what it was! 

It has been another slow day, the Oxford Canal is so busy. We spent ages waiting for fuel and to go through some of the locks. We spent most of the day trying to catch up with yesterday's schedule. We are probably about a day behind where we should be. However, despite that, we have had lovely weather, and the scenery is lovely. 

I made some lemon curd this morning to go with our pancakes, I had some lemons that we needed to use.. It tasted really good, and was easy, even on gas. I do find it harder judging cooking, with gas it seems to be more guesswork than electric. However, I'm managing okay, and I'm used to the confined space. We had an extra crew member again shortly after breakfast, Mollie the black dog! She hopped on the deck and had a bit of a sniff around but didn't make it inside like Maisie. She then tried again a short while later around the hatch in our bedroom while I was polishing the brass vents! I did do a lot of cleaning today, it's all looking really good. 

Anthony and Charlotte enjoyed pushing open the lock gates - working together they are quite strong, but some were a bit too heavy. They also love foraging for blackberries, sometimes they'll hop off the boat and instead of helping Matthew, they'll be amongst the hedgerows, hunting out fruit. They really are having a great time, I thought they might be a bit bored by now, but they are still having fun. We did bring lots of creative things to make, games to play etc. So they always have something they can do, if they don't want to sit on the roof or help out.

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So, tomorrow will hopefully bring us to Oxford, and possibly the beginning of our travels on the River Thames. It feels like we are getting closer to home but there's still quite a lot of travelling left to do. 

Day 8

13 miles: 10 locks: 3 grazed knees (Matthew, Anthony & Charlotte), 7+ litres of Pimms

We woke up this morning to discover that we were blocking the canal, our mooring had loosened because the bank was softer than we thought and we had drifted! Another boat owner pulled us back,to allow the boats to pass and we secured ourselves again.

It has felt like we haven't travelled very far today, it's just been so congested along the Oxford Canal, and in parts where it was quieter it was rather shallow, so we had to slow down. We just sailed through the Oxfordshire countryside, which is peaceful. 

We completed the locks this afternoon although only half the number we planned to do, Anthony and Charlotte loved helping. Unfortunately Matthew hurt his knee climbing off the boat and Anthony and Charlotte fell over at the same time! We did take a photo of everyone's knees but I won't post it because you may be squeamish. 

Here are some photos we took tonight - one of me because Matthew commented there aren't many of me, and one of Matthew, Anthony and Charlotte.  Matthew's laughing because Anthony said 'stay as still as a dead cat' whileI took the photo. It was funny, but we've no idea why he said it!

We were hoping to be past Banbury tonight but the canal is so busy that we've made the decision to moor early (6pm) a few hours from Banbury. We've been told that one of the sluices on one lock isn't working which is making everything really slow. We didn't really want to moor in Banbury so made the decision that it was best to stay here tonight and then leave early tomorrow morning. It does mean that we are quite a bit further behind than we should be and we have no idea how long it'll take to get through Banbury tomorrow. We have to go to the supermarket though - we have runout of bread, milk, and some other food. We were going to go today but just haven't progressed as far as we hoped. Still, no bread or milk means we will have pancakes for breakfast (made with water) yum yum!

Here is the view from our window, now, it's so calm on the canal and a complete different way of life. . 

Day 7

13.5 mes: 33 locks!: 1 hitchhiker: 7+ litres of Pimms

We are all locked out tonight, we have passed through so many in the last 48 hours. We travelled along the Grand Union Canal and completed the Napton Locks with a couple in a boat which made it easier. Their little dog, Maisie, decided she liked the look of our boat and jumped on board to explore! That livened up breakfast. 

We carried on together to complete the Stockton lock flight. Anthony was very strong  and helped open and close the gates, he would make a great lock keeper! It was lovely to meet Emily, Anna and Adam there and to see familiar faces. 

After lunch we turned onto the Oxford Canal with more locks in the evening and then we moored up amongst some farmland. We are heading south towards Oxford now, enjoying the Oxfordshire countryside.  

Day 6

15 miles: 42 locks(!): 1 draw bridge: 1 exploding bottle of lemonade= 7+ litres of Pimms!

We have had a very packed day full of locks -  we very nearly completed everything we should have done today. We went through another draw bridge today which was fairly straight forward, but still a bit daunting with regards to my steering. The first flight of locks at Lapworth were made easier by a kind Canal and River Trust volunteer who helped us through the flight. Then after lunch we proceeded through the Hatton Locks. These were huge in comparison to any we've been through, and rather daunting, it felt like I had moved from the learner swimming pool to the adult pool. You could fit two boats in the locks but it meant that it is harder to line up and keep in position. The wind was really strong, especially in the locks at the top of the flight which meant that the boat was pushed around all over the place. It did get better though as we went down the flight, and then another boat joined us in the lock which made it a lot easier because there were more people to help Matthew open and close the gates.

After dinner we travelled though Warwick and Leamington Spa, where there was more graffiti but it was nicer language than Birmingham area - they were telling us to 'go vegan' and 'have a nice day' which is far better than being sworn at. We did meet some boys who started throwing stones at the boat, and the building on the far side of the canal, which wasn't a highlight of our day. However, we did point a handy passing policeman in their direction. Now though, we are moored with other boats, surrounded by pleasant farmland. 

While I was retrieving some food supplies from the storage under the sofas, the lemonade bottle started going crazy inside the sofa. At first I thought a water pipe had been knocked and I was really concerned but then I realised that it was the lemonade! I lifted it out, fizzing and spraying me and gave it to Matthew outside. I discovered that the panel of wood in the storage has some nails sticking out which punctured several holes in the lemonade. Also, it has been shaken around with the vibrations of the boat which didn't help matters. However, the positive result is that although we lost quite a lot of lemonade, I'm sitting here with a glass of Pimms by my side and it does taste good. Perfect end to the day! 

Day 5

25 miles: 5 locks: 2 drawbridges: 1 guillotine lock - but no beheadings!: 1 bottle of Brasso used, 2 more purchased: 8 litres of Pimms

We started off early from Wolverhampton, after waking up to the sound of trains passing overhead (which delighted Anthony!) Matthew took us through the locks we should have completed yesterday, over breakfast, and then I helped with the next two. 

I felt sad passing through Wolverhampton and the Birmingham area, there was just so much rubbish in the canal and lots of graffitti, it was sad to think that so many people just don't care about what they do with their environment. There was very little wildlife to be seen, very few ducks etc, we did a dead fish and a shopping trolley though.

We travelled through the centre of Birmingham which was bustling, lots of canalside cafes and pubs. It felt strange being in an urban setting after so much countryside, I was glad to leave once we had filled up with water, to be back amongst peacefulness. 

Following the Birmingham Canal we went onto the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and then onto the Stratford Canal. They are all very narrow and windy, which makes them pretty to look at but not much fun navigating in a 55ft canal boat. Matthew's looking forward to travelling on the Thames! The Stratford Canal is pretty and  though and made a nicer end to the day after all the uncared for canal earlier on.

I continued the brass rubbing - see this photo of my work! A lot of the fixtures really are sparkling but there's still lots more to do and Matthew bought two more bottles ofBrasso for me today because I've finished my first one already. 

Anthony and Charlotte enjoyed time on the roof of the boat, watching the trains, calling out for the echoes under bridges and generally enjoying being out in the open. They had a good night sleep thank goodness - our first with no wake ups, so everyone was feeling a bit more human. 

We did go through two drawbridges today which were a new experience - it was quite bizarre to be washing up and watch a road with cars facing me while we sailed by! On the second drawbridge tonight, Matthew had to get the boat ready right in front of the bridge, open it, then leap back on from the opposite side to the tow path in Indiana Jones style. It was impressive and he didn't fall in! Then he steered the boat through before leaping off again to close it. I find these moments rather daunting, I'm used to the throttle in general but I've very little idea about steering the boat and my sight just isn't good enough for seeing the difference between greenery and judging space. So if I'm left on the boat without Matthew, I get a little nervous. 

We also passed a guillotine lock which was amazing - we didn't have to do anything, just sail underneath, but it was like a massive real guillotine over our head. As Matthew said, let's hope it doesn't fall!

Unfortunately we ran out of time to do the flight of locks on the Stratford Canal. They will have to wait until tomorrow morning, just round the corner from where we are moored. In total, we have about forty locks to go through tomorrow which sounds like a huge number. I don't know if we'll get through them all, but if we do we probably won't want to see another one again!

Day 4 

20 miles: 20 locks: 1 engine problem: 1/2 bottle of Brasso used: Still 8 litres of Pimms!

Tonight we are moored up in Wolverhampton, with the atmospheric backdrop of neon lights, a train line running right by us, lots of graffiti and rubbish in the canal - quite a change from last night's mooring on the Shropshire Union Canal, it was so pretty being surrounded by the leafy trees. On the plus side, the phone signal is excellent and I can publish this post at the correct time! We finished our journey along the Shropshire Union Canal, and went on to the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal. We are now on the Birmingham Canal/general rubbish disposal. We did have a problem with the engine at lunchtime, it was fine when we stopped for lunch but then didn't start. Matthew checked a few bits, tweaked it and tried again and it worked!

I did a really good spring clean with Anthony and Charlotte, using a Milton wash and we also started cleaning all the brass fittings with Brasso. It is amazing, everything is looking so clean and sparkling, we completed cleaning in Anthony and Charlotte's room, the bathroom and corridor. It takes a long time but is very rewarding and takes me back to my Brownie days when we did brass rubbing. I never thought I'd be doing it again, and enjoying it! 

We went though a lot of locks tonight, and I'm really getting the hang of the throttle and how to gauge the movement of the boat - it's a layed reaction to moving the throttle. I can fully appreciate how hard it was to move the Titanic to try to avoid the iceberg!

We are a bit behind schedule, due to the slow progress through the locks yesterday and then the engine problem today; but we should be travelling through Birmingham tomorrow. We will probably be around Banbury on Monday. We hope you are enjoying our news, it"s a great adventure and it"s exciting because we"re travelling to unexplored places. 

Day 3

16 miles: 25 locks: 8 litres of Pimms remaining

As I write this we are travelling through a lot more locks again. We've just passed a little stall at the wharf where they were selling clotted cream for £1.50 - that seemed like a bargain but we didn't stop any. It's lovely seeing all the cottage industries, either for sale on canal boats or by the bank of the canal. It's a completely different way of life and I can understand why people choose to live on a boat. It's lovely being able to take your home with you while you travel. 

It has been hard work today - for Matthew, he has had over 20 locks to navigate and I have done my first load of hand washing. It took me about an hour, and it made me really appreciate our washing machine! I think next time, we might use the laundrette because it's very hard to getting dry. 

Anthony, Charlotte and I made rice crispie bars this morning, which was very successful and we also completed some work in their activity books. Inbetween that, they helped me with some spring cleaning.

While Matthew collected some groceries,we fed the swans from the side doors in our bedroom. Unfortunately Charlotte was too hesitant with her bread and got bitten by the mother swan, she wasn't too happy! They were very forward. 

We didn't make as much progress as we wanted so will have to try to catch up tomorrow. We stopped at about 9:30pm - we were trying to find deeper water for mooring. 

Day 2

18 miles: 21 locks: 4 swing bridges: 1 cut finger (mine again!) and 8 litres of Pimms remaining.

Today has seen us travel through out first locks, and there were a lot! It was a new experience having a shower whilst travelling down in locks. Anthony and Charlotte loved assisting Matthew, and even I had a go at using the throttle when we were in the locks. It's quite scary - we've got this massive boat to control, and the locks are rather narrow. However, it's a huge sense of achievement and great fun. 

Anthony fell out of bed twice last night, so we had another disturbed night. Hopefully tonight will be better.

We finished our journey north along the Llangothllen Canal and have started travelling south along the Shropshire Union Canal. We should reach Birmingham in about two days, if all goes to plan. It was lovely travelling along the Shropshire Union last night, once I'd tucked the children up in bed. It was so peaceful and quiet, the jersey cows were busy munching along the bank of the canal and it was a tranquil sky. All the ducks were splashing around, starting to settle down for the night. It felt like being back in Kenya - where we went for our honeymoon, just without the wariness of watching out for lions! 

Day 1

0 Locks: 4 Swing Bridges: 13 Miles : 1 Broken Glass: 1 Cut finger (Mine): 8 litres of Pimms remaining

Yesterday, Day 0 was productive because we were able to get ourselves sorted on the boat. It was quite incredible the amount of belongings we have, it felt we were moving home which I guess we were! Unfortunately we discovered that 12 volt items don't really work on the boat, so the vacuum cleaner and TV are redundant. We bought a 12 volt power supply for the laptops instead of the usual 240 volt, so now we cannot use our laptops, hoover or watch any DVDs. However, we haven't missed any of these today and have had a great time. We didn't need to operate the swing bridges because we followed a couple of hotel canal boats (something I'd never heard of before!) and they raised and lowered them for us.

It is relaxing watching the world go by, admiring all the different canal boats and getting inspiration for our own. We've had another thought for the name - 'Little Abbey', which was Matthew's idea. What do you think? 

Anthony and Charlotte had a bad night sleeping, they were chatting until 9:30pm and then Anthony was up turning on the lights at 2am, and they both got up and played at 4am!! Then they were up at 6 am and playing on their Mobigos! So they were more than happy cuddling their toys sitting by the tiller bar for most of the day, observing wildlife such sheep, horses, swans and ducks.

Tomorrow will see us navigating our way through out first set of locks (which we are moored at the top of tonight) but these do have a lock keeper which makes it quicker and easier. Please do some sun dances for the next two weeks - we forgot our rain gear, despite having them on our list.

Our adventure begins....

We are travelling to visit our boat today, after some repairs which ran over schedule and an unexpected delay with the payment for it. We will be spending tonight on the boat and will hopefully set sail on Monday morning. It will be good to have some time on the boat to hoover and clean before we leave.

Anthony is looking forward to it all, Charlotte was concerned tonight about the bath being on the ceiling 'because I only like baths on the floor'! I did reassure her that the bath is definitely on the floor!

We have decided to call our boat 'The Abbey'. We did have an entertaining time on Google looking up funny boat names, Matthew's favourite was 'Knot so fast'! However, The Abbey has real meaning for us, it is the name of our house, which was named by one of the builders after his dog.

Organisation is the key

It feels less daunting now, and as though everything is starting to come together. I've spent a lot of hours this week sorting out insurance, finding out about boat licences and ordering all the belongings we will need on the boat. Every time I think I've ordered everything, I think of something else!! I'm sure that we will forget something, but hopefully nothing vital. We're going to keep the Post Office in business next week.

Our insurance is just about complete, we just need to send in the second form, once the first one has been confirmed and then we can apply for the personal boat licence. Anthony and Charlotte are starting to get excited, Anthony's been studying our multiple page journey planner, decoding all the symbols for pipe bridges, swing brings, locks etc. He's going to be a great map reader.

We also had another thought for the boat name, we don't want to keep the name 'Dalton Dame', Matthew suggested 'Reggie & Hayley' after Anthony and Charlotte's favourite toys.  We will still be called The Abbey Canal Boat Company, licensed under Sansum & Co Ltd. I think it's a lovely idea, what do you think?

Hooray, we're definitely buying a boat!

We spoke to the surveyor yesterday evening, he carried out the full survey. There were lots of minor parts on the boat which need fixing before we can use it, and there were also a few jobs for us to consider having carried out when we next have the hull blacked in a few years time. Other than that though, there are  no surprises which is excellent news.

We phoned the marina this morning and said that we were happy for them to proceed with blacking the hull. This will take about four days. They had already started servicing the engine, fixing things, and also varnishing the new roof panel which was water damaged. It's all sounding really promising, but it's also very scary - we just made a massive decision!

Offer Accepted!

Our first offer was rejected, which we fully expected and the marina told us the minimum offer that they would accept. I was prepared to accept this but Matthew said to offer £1000 less than that. It was a good decision because they accepted it! We received some surveyor details from the marina along with the paperwork for purchasing the.boat. I spoke to four surveyors in total and decided which one we would instruct to carry out the survey. It is booked for Wednesday 31st July, only three days away. It is a bit nerve wreaking - we don't think there are any big problems but you never know.

Assuming that the survey doesn't reveal major problems, we will get the hull blacked straight away which will take four days. Then we will be ready to set sail! We will make one more journey to see the boat in a week and a half, just to take some furnishings for the boat and to make sure everything is on it. We plan to start our adventures on the boat on Saturday 10th August, less than two weeks time.

Before then we need to purchase all the furnishing for the boat, mainly kitchenware, and life jackets and an alarm for the door so that we know if Anthony or Charlotte go out onto the deck. There is lots to plan and buy and not a lot of time!

The Waiting Game

We received confirmation last week that our Operating Proposal was approved, pending written confirmation from our moorings site and the boat services. So we immediately placed an offer for the Dalton Dame! We have continued writing our documentation and now we are just waiting for a response to our offer, which was below the asking price. 

This is like buying a house, and just as nerve wrecking!

There and back again - Shropshire Tales

Matthew and I travelled up to Shropshire, to the Blackwater Marina, a week ago to look at our preferred boat, the Dalton Dame. We spent about an hour and half looking through the boat thoroughly and overall we liked it. It was a bit of a shock for me though, when we first boarded the boat, I made the decision that we would start at the stern (the front) of the boat and work backwards. However, when we made our way down to the double bedroom, I felt rather claustrophobic and was then left wondering how I would survive for about two weeks on the boat!!! However, to try and over come these feelings I went back to the back of the boat where it is more airy and the entrance is situated. This made me feel a lot better and I was soon moving happily all around the boat, claustrophobia overcome. 

We will have to do some vanishing and polishing/repairing of fixtures and fittings but nothing that we can't do. There was some water damage around the air vent in the double bedroom and the galley area. This was concerning because it was dripping into the light fitting and had damaged the wood. However, when we raised it with the marina manager he said that it would be repaired, should we buy the boat. We had a good chat to the marina manager and we left feeling that it could be a good boat for us. We will need to get it painted, it is going a bit rusty on the roof, and it would need blacking after the full survey.

Now we have to complete our Operating Proposal and send it to the Canal and River Trust to see if it will be approved before we can place an offer on the boat. We do need to speak to the moorings site, and the place where we will use boat services such as refuelling and pumping out waste, to make sure that they are happy for us to use them because the boat is hired out some of the time. Lots to do and organise. 

Planning Stage....

We have made the decision that we would like to buy a canal boat and hire it out to help offset the cost of it. It will also be a fun business venture (hopefully!). We looked around for the type of boat we would like - a 6 berth to accommodate families with three or more children. We also prefer the reverse layout with the living/dining quarters at the back of the boat. This means that while someone is driving the boat, they can still chat to everyone else on board.

We have found one boat called the Dalton Dame at the Blackwater Marina in Shropshire. We have made an appointment to visit it on Tuesday! This will enable to decide whether we want to proceed with buying it, and we can then start booking the survey and blacking of the hull of the boat. It's quite a long journey, three hours away, but we need to look at it.

While we wait to see the boat, we are writing all the documentation that we need to give to the Canal & River Trust for our application for a business license. This includes terms and conditions, booking form, handover checklist etc. There's lots to think about but it's all very exciting!