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.

Maintenance trip Calveley 4/8/2020

Engine hours start: 608.4 end: 611.2 = 2.8 hours

Miles:5 Locks:0  Lock miles: 5

First boat went past this morning at 6:08!

Weather forecast not great for this morning so not rushing to get the 2nd coat of gloss on the cratch. Will probably head back to base early afternoon then put the 2nd coat on then. 

Rain continued through the morning so waited till about 11:00 to set off back to Nantwich. Stopped at Calveley services to top up the water and empty the rubbish. Used a fair amount of water washing the boat.

Even though I was careful getting into the cratch area I managed to scuff the new gloss paint so clearly not ready for a 2nd coat yet. Last night was quite cold and wet so it's not dried as well as expected. Will need to watch the weather forecast and pop back to apply 2nd coat.

Trouble free trip back to base. Mooring a little challenging due to stiff breeze coming up the basin.

Had lunch on board and packed up. Set off home around 15:15.

Maintenance trip Calveley 3/8/2020

Up early to continue work. First boats passed very early again.

Check the drying times on the paint and decided not to give Fertan the full 24 hours but get it rinsed off so I could prime the cratch area. After rinsing and degreasing the cratch area, I got a coat primer on. Was planning a 2nd coat but don't have that much on board so going to risk one coat.

Then got a 3rd coat of stain on the deck board. When dry, that is ready for the non-slip tape. 

Mid morning the farm across the cut started muck spreading. Absolutely revolting stench.... Not a pleasant atmosphere to work in.

While primer was drying, I walked into Bunbury to the Co-op, mainly to escape the stench. Unfortunately the Co-op had closed on the 31st July for a makeover!

So I walked back to the boat, collected the rubbish and headed off to the services at Calveley. After disposing of the rubbish, went to the cheese shop where I was able to get most of what I wanted. Got a couple of hot sausage rolls for lunch which made a nice change. 

After lunch, I applied non-slip tape to the deck boards. Involved a lot of measuring to get the spacing right. Looks pretty good I reckon. Quite decorative!

Final job for the day was to apply first gloss coat to the cratch area. Had hoped to put a coat over the paintwork on the front bulkhead but it clearly wasn't sticking. Will need sanding and priming. A job for another day!

Had pizza followed by yogurt for dinner accompanied by a couple of glasses of wine. 

This location has a fairly good 4G signal so I have been able to use the mifi router to connect both my phone and tablet to the Internet. 

Quiet evening reading and Web-browsing / YouTubing. 

Maintenance trip Calveley 2/8/2020

Interesting start to the day when I looked out of the front window to see the 2nd boat ahead of me at a 45 degree angle across the cut!

There had been some boats passing quite early ie 6:45ish and they were not hanging around so the other boat must have had its pin pulled. 

I got some clothes on and went to investigate. There was already one guy with a dog stood by the boat and another came off the boat in front of me. The dog walker had already tried knocking on the boat but no response. Either heavy sleepers or not there. I later spotted the padlock on the rear door - away...

I went to fetch a couple of spare ropes while one of the others investigated the stern rope (bow was still moored). He found the pin hanging in the water. 

I joined my two ropes and gave one end to the dog walker. Then walked the other end along the boat and handed it to the other guy to tie to the stern rail. It was then easy to pull the boat back in and re-pin it. 

Later in the day, the parents of the boat owner came for a short stay and I had a chat with the father. Gave him the tip about using two crossed pins which he took up. 

After breakfast I got started on the boat. First stage was to wash the roof then polish using the surface restorer we got at Wrenbury Mill during our recent trip. 

Next lifted the matting in the cratch area and rear deck. Plenty of accumulated muck under both. The front deck board was in poor condition as was the cratch floor. Washed both areas first.

Sanded the deck boards and got a first coat of wood stain on. 

Then worked on scraping / sanding / wire brushing the cratch area. Got that back to a reasonably firm surface then applied lots of Fertan to leave overnight. 

Got a 2nd coat of stain on the deck boards. Front board needs a 3rd coat as it was mostly bare before I started. 

Washed the poles and gangplank before replacing on the roof. Also the life ring which was particularly grubby... 

Decided to dismantle the deck mats. They just seem to gather muck & moisture under them. Their pointy feet seem to damage the deck underneath and are a literal pain if you have pulled one back to, say, access the stern gland greaser and kneel on the mat... Took pictures to remember pattern if we did decide to put them back...

I have a lot of non-slip tape on board waiting to be used so will try that on the deck. 

Pretty tired after a full day washing, polishing, scraping and painting so quiet evening with bresaola and salad for dinner followed by a yoghurt. All accompanied by a couple of bourbons. 

Maintenance trip Nantwich to Calveley 1/8/2020

Engine start 603.3 13:30

Engine stop 605.6 15:45

ADS solo trip Saturday - Tuesday to spend some time tending to the paintwork.

Got to boat around 11:30 after a food shop at Broughton Tescos. Unloaded car and then moved coal bags to car to clear the cratch area.

Replaced bed clothes and dinette cushion cover, emptied toilet and bought more blue & pink from the chandlery in between some heavy showers.

Lunched on Moroccan salad from boat stocks.

Set off around 13:30 as the showers cleared. Aiming for Hurleston where the moorings were empty when we came past last weekend. Naturally the moorings were completely packed today!

Could have moored at Barbridge but decided to carry on to Calveley. Went beyond the services and crossover bridge, span the boat in the cut and moored around 15:45 facing back towards Nantwich. Loads of boats out and about but securely moored using pins so not moving much as they pass.

Decent Internet signal here so will start typing up the logs from our summer trip as it is too late to start any work on paintwork.