Topping Up 27th February

Nantwich Embankment

Every morning we wake up and peek out of the porthole behind our bed to check on the water status. Despite being a bit chilly in bed last night the water was still very fluid around us. It must be that with little tree cover and bright sunshine the last few days that the canal warms up in the sunlight and holds it’s heat. Today however we woke to a snow shower, not very deep but enough to put Tilly off exploring until the sun had melted it.

After a cooked breakfast (photo for Mr Carley’s benefit today), we decided to head into town to top up on food supplies. Fresh things mainly. If the weather forecast for this week is correct we will be in for a few days of not wanting to venture off the boat. We also wanted to equip ourselves with some means of being able to carry water. No containers around town that we could fill and keep to top up the water tank, so we purchased a couple of cheap buckets instead. These at least will be useful for other things in future and will sit inside one another taking up little space. All we needed now was a funnel so as not to loose a drop whilst filling the tank. The chandlers came up trumps.

The diesel pump opposite was busy filling containers for much of the day and a handful of boats moved past bringing with them slushy flat icebergs. The canal was starting to freeze, just not alongside us.

During the afternoon I continued with my sock knitting and Mick debated whether to walk to the service block for a shower or to move the boat. Snow showers had come and gone all day bringing with them strong gusts of wind, not good to reverse in without a bow thruster. But the showers haven’t been cleaned for about a week and the floor in there is ever so muddy! In the end it seemed daft not to top up our water tank if we could move. Mick checked that the water point tap still worked, which it did, then when we had enough hot water on board we both had showers in the late afternoon.

Tilly obliged by being on board so we pushed off and reversed to the water point as the sun was starting to set. As we pulled along side the service block we could see that straight lines had started to form in the canal, very thin ice. Would we be the last boat to move before the canal froze? With the tank and two milk containers full of water (to rinse the yellow water tank out next time) we pushed back over to the moorings and settled down in front of the stove.

The evening got colder and colder outside. A draught across our knees puzzled us for a while until we realised that it was cold air coming in from a mushroom vent directly above us. Nothing much we can do about that as ventilation is very important in a boat. A blanket on our knees may well do the trick though.

Progress in Scarborough, we won’t know the place when next we visit! Poor traffic cones being made redundant after such long service.

0 locks, 0.14 miles, 1 reverse, 7 snow showers, 1 dusting, 1 full water tank, 1 almost sunk bottle of water, 1 freezer full, 1 fridge full, 1 fruit bowl nearly full, 2 buckets, 1 funnel, 1 clean shaven chin, 2 showers, 1 pair of Pip socks complete, 4 years of cones, 1 traffic island!