Mind Like Water sold again

Nice to see that Mind Like Water has new owners. Hope they have as much fun with her as we did!

Mind Like Water For Sale again!

She's been repainted and is on sale again!

The interior looks the same.

End of an era...

MLW has now officially gone up for sale at Venetian Marina...

She was such a good boat for us so here's hoping she finds a new owner who will love her as much as we did. Hard to believe that we had her for over 7 years!

She was a great haven during some difficult times and taught us a lot about owning a boat.

We are delighted with our new boat (Vegvisir) but it's still a wrench to say goodbye to Mind Like Water

Shropshire Union: Nantwich -> Cholmondeston 31/8-1/9/2021

Start: Nantwich Canal Centre

End: Venetian Marina

Miles: 4.5

Locks: 1

Lock miles: 5.5

Engine hours: 662.9 start / 667.2 end

Final trip in Mind Like Water to transfer over to our new boat Vegvisir. Andrew remained at home waiting for confirmation of BSS certificate from Venetian so he could then licence Vegvisir.

Alison already had Mind Like Water's roofbox etc loaded in her car so went ahead to get everything aboard. She eventually ended up moving MLW single handed round to Venetian Marina (such a contrast to couples where the wife can't or won't touch the tiller!).

Andrew managed to get the CRT licence sorted by midday and headed off to meet Alison at Venetian Marina.

We managed to get most of our stuff transferred by the end of Tuesday. Finished off on Weds 1st and then handed the keys over to Venetian. A bitter-sweet moment as Mind Like Water has been such a great boat and has taught us so much about being owners. 

However she was under offer again within a week of going on sale so hopefully she will continue to give enjoyment to her new owner!

And of course we are very excited about getting to grips with our new boat which will take us to all sorts of places we haven't managed to get to yet! Logs for Vegvisir will be on a new blog at https://nbvegvisir.blogspot.com/.

Luckily Nantwich Canal Centre had a longer mooring become available at the start of September so we can stay here. We love the location which is only about 10 minutes walk from Nantwich town centre.

Weaver: Middlewich -> Nantwich (via IWA lock wind at Cholmondeston) 5-8/8/2021

Start: Middlewich

End: Nantwich via IWA lockwind

Miles: 13

Locks: 3

Lock miles: 16

Engine hours: 652.1 start / 660ish end

Fairly leisurely start on Thursday morning as we only needed to get to the Cholmondeston visitor moorings near Venetian Marina where we were due to help with a lock wind for our Inland Waterways Association (IWA) branch. It's an annual fund raiser where we work the lock for boaters and encourage them to give a donation or buy stuff from our stall. The 2020 event was cancelled due to Covid-19 so it was good that this year's could take place.

The weather was not great and we got wet a few times but this has the upside of making boaters feel sorry for us and giving more money!

We try to have a BBQ on the evening before the lock wind but the weather did not cooperate. But we did have a nice meal at the Barbridge Inn on the Saturday evening - we walked there and the rest drove (but we beat them there!).

It was part of our retirement plans to get a bigger boat so we could go on longer cruises. Mind Like Water is basically a single room floating caravan which is fine for the 2 week cruise that we could manage while working but less practical for longer cruises (i.e. 2-3 months) that we plan to do after retirement. Andrew retired from lecturing in August 2021 and Alison will retire from the GMB union in early March 2022.

So… As we were doing this lock wind near Venetian Marina where we bought Mind Like Water, we though we could go and have a look at what they had on sale - just to start gathering information about what is around of course…

Anyway… a chap from Venetian came to look at Mind Like Water and we went to look at two boats. One was a bit too long at 60ft and also had a rather poor internal fitout done by the previous owner. But the other one was quite nice and reasonably priced. When Venetian then offered us more for Mind Like Water than we had paid for her 7 years ago, we decided to make an offer on the other boat - Ganzee.

The survey came back with no nasty surprises and less than a month after the lock wind we now own the new boat! We will be renaming her to Vegvisir (the Icelandic / Viking compass symbol which means Way Seer or Path Finder). Logs of our time on her will be on a new blog page at https://nbvegvisir.blogspot.com/.

We had a reasonable journey back to base on Mind Like Water though the weather turned and Andrew got very cold and wet by the time we were moored up.

Weaver: Lion Salt Works -> Middlewich 4/8/2021

Start: 10:00 Lion Salt Works

End: Bridge 28 Middlewich

Miles: 9

Locks: 5

Lock miles: 14

Engine hours: 646.8 start / 652.1 end

Glorious weather - sunshine and a fresh breeze - sultry when sheltered. Alison got busy in the galley making potato salad, carotted rapees, salade nicoise, emptied and cleaned the fridge, checked all contents (thrown out or returned to fridge). Bacon, egg, mushroom, onion and brown sauce sandwiches for lunch.

At one point, we were so earnestly discussing our dream boat that we almost went aground in one of the flashes : an oncoming boat going too fast to spot why we were slowly avoiding an obstruction and nearly crashed : a crabwise dayboat lent entertainment to an otherwise placid journey. Queue at Big Lock but CRT lockies on hand to oversee matters at the 3 locks (although too chatty to keep an eye on what they were doing - Alison definitely in charge). Another queue at Wardle lock and surprisingly slow to cycle through. Stopped just through Bridge 28 ready to go to shops. Done and back by 16:30, salade nicoise when a bit cooler.

Weaver: Anderton -> Lion Salt Works 3/8/2021

Start: 09:30 Anderton

End: Lion Salt Works

Miles: 2.25

Locks: 0

Lock miles: 2.25

Engine hours: 644.3 start / 646.8 end

1st trip of the day up the lift 10:00. Glorious sunshine. Both caissons at low level so we were the only one going up. Took lots of photos and video for Charlie. Once up top, the canal seemed very narrow and busy after a week on the Weaver! Alison walked ahead to see if there were any spaces outside the marina: just one at the far end away from the services; the moorings for which were jam packed. However, no problem getting showered (water still ridiculously hot), elsan and rubbish. Then Andrew walked ahead to scope out moorings at Lion Salt Works while Alison tiptoed along past oncoming traffic, moored boars and in the wake of fuel boat Halsall. Ironically was just passing her when spotted Andrew waiting at a nice mooring spot.

Still much traffic and rings not conveniently spaced so rigged up spring lines as well - much better. By 13:00, weather cloudier in parts - still fine and warm. Went to Salt Barge seeking lunch - the sole positive was working wifi… No food and beer was dull and old, the building deserted. Pleasant enough garden except for wasps (one of which found its way into Andrew's beer…). Retreated to boat (pursued by yapping dogs from a nearby house) for corned beef sandwiches).

Nice shady mooring, phoned up Laura and Megan for the quiz from the cruiser stern - Doritos & salsa, beer and good company - excellent!

Weaver: Northwich -> Anderton 2/8/2021

Start: 10:15 Northwich

End: 13:30 Anderton

Miles: 6

Locks: 0

Lock miles: 6

Engine hours: 641.1 start / 644.3 end

Brunch again! Then away past Anderton to turn just before Saltersford lock. Returned to find Anderton mooring pontoon entirely deserted so dithered outrgeously about where to stop. Finally went on the very end as we were going to leave the engine running to charge all our stuff as well as our aging batteries.

Went for a walk to explore nearby village: Barnton has all the services - Coop, hardware, chippy, pub (1960s prefab, has good reviews but we didn't fancy). Coming back the path we hoped for was barricaded off so had a jungle exploration (kudos to the cyclist we passed) and emerged back at the canal - navigation from there to the Weaver was simple. 

Weaver: Northwich 1/8/2021

Start: Northwich

End: Northwich

Miles: 0

Locks: 0

Lock miles: 0

Engine hours: 640.1 start / 641.1 end

Stayed on moorings. Brunch, shopping, chores, pub crawl. Waitrose had absurdly expensive nail clippers (needed by Andrew for guitar playing) so left those. Had a pint at the Salty Dog then left due to rather noisy duo playing. Found more reasonably priced nail clippers in Boots then went to the Barons Lounge - an even more micro pub. Acoustic session there was soft jazz, really good and a friendly bunch of locals.

Weaver: Vale Royal -> Northwich 31/7/2021

Start: 10:00 Vale Royal moorings

End: 13:15 Northwich

Miles: 8

Locks: 2

Lock miles: 10

Engine hours: 636.7 start / 640.1 end

Plans: Winsford to take Silver Propellor photos and top up water then back to Northwich. Worked like a charm. Weather dry - fresh breeze at times.

At Hunts Lock asked where we could lose our rubbish - skips on a pontoon off the old BW yard so that was a good job too.

Found a nice mooring opposite Northwich Marina.

Emptied the elsan before having lunch. Andrew, having noticed that the sink in the shower room was emptying very slowly, went to B&Q to find a plunger and flexible brush to clear it out. Bonus, was able to find tiles on sale individually to replace those that have popped off the wall. Meanwhile Alison took the finished books to a charity shop and hunted for replacements - also a nice skirt for Mum a semi-constant awareness of the need for more, bigger clothes.

18:00 Booked for a meal at Northwich's oldest pub - The Bowling Green. Thought at first oh no! No bitter, no pie, no wifi. But food and service super. Andrew had 2 pints of IPA and Alison had Symond's Yat cider. Both had belly pork - Andrew then, surprisingly, had cheesecake and Alison, fudge cake.

Weaver: Vale Royal Moorings 29-30/7/2021

Start: Vale Royal moorings

End: Vale Royal moorings

Miles: 0

Locks: 0

Lock miles: 0

Engine hours: 634.3 start / 636.7 end

29th - Walked to Winsford, left river at top of town to go to Morrisons : had coffee and cake and bought picnic things : headed back to boat. Informative information boards but really hard to imagine the leafy surroundings as intensively industrial only 100 or so years ago. That lily covered inlet? A shipbuilders dry dock in constant use. That angled line of masonry? The old line of the river before a new cut dug to reclaim land and build a new road. As it happened, we continued back to the boat and had our picnic there.

30th - Forecast for constant rain so works on bathroom planned. In fact, by the time the bodge completed, the sun was peeping through. 

When the rain failed to arrive, walked down to Northwich, visited the museum, had coffee at Bear then walked back on the other side of the river. Jungle in parts, lovely nature reserve in others. Burgers in pitta bread for dinner.

Engine run for 2.5 hours to recharge batteries and encourage fridge.

Weaver: Northwich -> Vale Royal 28/7/2021

Start: 10:15 Northwich

End: 12:00 Vale Royal moorings

Miles: 3

Locks: 2

Lock miles: 5

Engine hours: 632.2 start / 634.3 end

Lazy start: Brunch at Bear - Pancakes with maple syrup and bacon for Andrew and shrivaka (?) with poached eggs and feta for Alison (this was a rich tomato stew with pickled onions (very gentle pickle - must research recipe)). Very good coffee!

Round the corner to Asda for provisions and away we went, noting the length of moorings available (lots) opposite the marina and two day morrings just below Hunts Lock, also close to Northwich town centre.

Short wait at Hunts Lock while 3 boats came downstream. At Vale Royal locks, the heavens opened - Andrew got drenched while Alison hid inside!

Continuing up to the moorings, a heavy rain front visibly chased us up the river and overtook us just as we moored up! At least rings made mooring up quick… Literally 8 minutes later the sun was back out. Vale Royal moorings and their bench are ours alone!

Weaver: Anderton -> Northwich 27/7/2021

Start: 10:00 Anderton Marina

End: 11:30 Northwich

Miles: 2

Locks: Boat lift

Lock miles: 2

Engine hours: 631? start / 632.2 end

Woke to a greyer, slightly damp morning. Jobs - recycling, rubbish, elsan and showers (incredibly hot water!).

Onto the waiting pontoon with a 40ft trad Kingswood descending for their first time. At the bottom, we left the caisson first but let them past as they were heding to Winsford. We got a spot on the pontoon by the cinema in Northwich - handy for the post office (and the Salty Dog pub!).

5 pints later (total not each!) back to the boat for a snooze (Andrew) and shop explore (Alison). Then quiz night with Laura and Megan - mainly out of doors for mobile signal but soon turned video off to help things along. Got the quiz connection at clue 3! And a perfect score as well - Wow!

Then to bed - a quiet mooring spot, lovely - and secured by BW key. Only 24 hours so must move tomorrow.

Weaver: Middlewich -> Anderton 26/7/2021

Start: 08:50 Middlewich (Newton Brewery)

End: 15:15 Marston (nr Lion Salt Works) then 21:10 Anderton Marina

Miles: 7 + 1.5

Locks: 1

Lock miles: 8 + 1.5

Engine hours: 628.9 start / ??? end

A hot, mostly sunny day; cool breeze on the water. Andrew to hardware shop for supplies to mend the shower where tiles have popped away from the wall - which renders it unusable… Alison to shops for more milk and muffins etc plus a couple of charity shop books.

Lunch promptly at 12:00 then off, thinking to get to Anderton despite the fishing event happening there today. However a mile or so short, we happened upon a quiet and shady spot and called it a day.

Turned out we had moored up next to the boat that we had shared Big Lock with: a professional boat mover - he is nursing a boat with multiple mechnical problems and had come to a halt again - eventual destination is Yorkshire!

Supplemental log: Went for a walk vi the boat lift and saw lots of space near the services. So back to the boat and moved up as the sun set - mooring opposite Andeerton Marina just after 21:00.

Weaver: Church Minshull -> Middlewich 25/7/2021

Start: 08:50 Church Minshull

End: 12:50 Middlewich

Miles: 5.5

Locks: 4

Lock miles: 9.5

Engine hours: 622.9 start / 627.2 end

A beautiful day for boating, slight overcast and warm, gentle breeze.

Alison took over the tiller while Andrew got some steps in - eventually walked the whole distance. Queues at Stanthorne and Wardle locks but most boats were turning right instead of left at the junction. At the Middlewich town locks a bit of hokey cokey as we negotiated oncoming traffic.

Moorings below Big Lock were full so Alison needed to do a cheeky reverse to the Newton Brewery - in the shade, very welcome.

Later in the day, we met up with Ann & Dave Chamberlayne who, Andrew had noticed in their Facebook feed, were caravanning in the area.

Tea and muffins onboard followed by dinner at the Big Lock pub. On the balcony so plenty of entertainment! Exchanged news around the deaths of Andrew's father and Ann's mother just 6 week ago - then moved on to discussing music making in the pandemic - a really pleasant evening.

Weaver: Nantwich -> Church Minshull 24/7/2021

Start: 10:30 Nantwich Canal Centre End: 15:15 Church Minshull

Miles: 7.5

Locks: 2

Lock miles: 9.5

Engine hours: 618.0 start / 622.9 end

At long last, our two week break, the day after John Rodger Smith's (Andrew's Dad) funeral. Nuff said, the holiday is needed…

Queue at Cholmondeston as usual but lunchtime so no dramas.

Sykes Hollow a bit lively insect-wise so we continued to Church Minshull.

Weather mostly overcast, warm - hot when the sun came out.

Top mooring, fab view.