Hoovering the Towpath

I can guarantee that there are now no crumbs on the towpath of the Grand Union Canal between Cow Roast & Bulbourne Junction.

As it was a lovely afternoon we decided to take Jack & Vera for a nice walk along the canal for a change. We left Liam at home as it would be too much for him and headed off in our sporty red two-seater (a diesel Escort van). We parked up near the entrance to the marina and headed off west. You can tell us, we’re the two people looking longingly at all of the canal boats. I’m the short one with the binoculars.

Jack and Vera don’t go for a walk, they go for a forage. They identified every spot used by a fisherman, and possibly the odd hardy pick-nicker, and cleaned the towpath of any left-over crusts, bait or other unsavoury morsels.

Simon is quite familiar with this part of the canal, although not from quite this angle. Before Jack got ill, he was in training for the Devizes to Westminster canoe race, and used to bring his canoe here for his on-water training due to the long lock-free stretch.

Cow Roast lock is very impressive; it’s the first section of canal I have ever come across where you can actually see the bottom. The walk out to Bulbourne Junction was at a relatively modest pace as Jack wasn’t yet into his stride. We discussed all the boats we passed, judging the merits of their colour schemes against the one we have finally chosen for Muriel. Muriel’s won.  

We saw a widebeam go by heading east. It looked lovely, sporting a huge searchlight on the bow. We met a bunch of anglers as we approached the junction. Most made a point of ignoring us, but one or two made a friendly comment. Jack and Vera were on their leads at this point but still made valiant attempts to steal bait, and one chaps sandwiches. Luckily he was one of the friendly ones.

We admired the junction, and the nearby metal works with an interesting tower and some great sculptures outside. I whipped out my binoculars as I saw more movement there than on the rest of the walk, with flocks of goldfinch, redwing & starling. The only other birds on the walk were mallards, moorhens, blackbirds, a solitary robin, blue tit and fieldfare, and a couple of jackdaws flying over. The only other wildlife was a fox, but unfortunately it was dead and floating in the canal.

On the way back it was a bit of a speed walking event. Once Jack gets going, there’s no stopping him. Well unless that is he comes across a crumb that he missed on the way out. We were racing the light as it was fading fast. We could see a boat ahead of us chugging away. We overhauled it due to Jack’s pace-setting, and saw a cup of tea being handed up to the lady at the tiller of the cruiser stern. The lady said they weren’t going far, just trying to get out of the cutting so it would be a bit lighter before they moored. It looked great. Can’t wait. I even coverted her nice purple knitted hat.

Made it back to the van just as it got dark and headed home to our house - which we love very much - but would still trade it for a life on Muriel.

Liam:

aka Pomble

Liam is our 16 ½ year old Border Terrier. He started out life as Simon’s Mum & Dad’s dog, living in Exmouth, Devon. I first met him when he was a young whipper-snapper of 18 months on my first visit to Simon’s folks. Liam’s a real character, a typical terrier with a mind of his own. When visiting, he used to sleep on my bed, and by morning he usually had more of it than I did. He’d then sit on me and stamp his feet to demand some of my toast (that was when I first started going out with Simon and I actually got breakfast in bed!). We used to take him on some lovely long walks along the River Otter and the coastal path. He terrorised Amy his older sister who was a bit overweight and liked a nice quiet life.

When Liam was about 4 ½ we got Jack our first black lab. They got on fine, especially as Liam was larger than Jack for a while, so managed to become established as the boss.

Then in 1995 Simon’s Dad died, and his mum then took over all pooch activities. Liam had always been pampered, but now he thought he was in heaven! He started sleeping on the bed beside his Mum, under a blanket, after having his bedtime treat of half a Cornish Wafer!

He thought he had it made, until Simon’s Mum had a heart attack in 1998. Although she soon returned home, she didn’t feel able to look after Liam properly any more, so he came to live with us. By now we also had Vera, our second black lab, but as both she & Jack had known Liam all their lives, he fitted in without a problem. As for Liam, he was very adaptable e.g. he knew that whilst visiting Devon he could climb on the sofa, when in Wheathampstead the sofa was out of bounds. Unfortunately he now had to get used to receiving only 1/3^rd of the attention and going for much longer walks.

Although we still think of him as Simon’s Mum & Dad’s dog, he has actually spent far more of his life with us than he did with them. He came with us on our 1^st canal trip around the Four Counties Ring, although as he didn’t settle very well he went to Simon’s sister’s when we went round the Leicester Ring. He has a wail of a time on his holidays getting spoilt rotten by everyone.

Liam has had a few memorable exploits over the years. On one infamous occasion Simon’s Dad was walking Liam on the golf course along the cliff edge. Liam started scratching about in a bunker, and a rather stroppy golfer shouted “can’t you read the sign? It says dogs must be kept under control” to which Simon’s Dad replied “he is, I told him to do that”. Liam is also rather partial to hedgehogs, which has caused a few incidents. One morning Simon found a carcass on the lawn which consisted of the spiny shell & a rib cage! Liam had a big grin and bloody chops! On another occasion, he was on my lap whilst I was watching the tele. I was tickling his head and had been for a few minutes when I actually looked down. To my horror, his head was crawling with fleas! He’d obviously had another close encounter in the garden. I instantly launched him across the room, and then when I calmed down, I spent the next hour picking fleas off his head!

Now he’s a little old man and only has one short walk a day, and as he can’t hear or see much he stays on his flexi lead. However, he still seems happy enough, so whilst he is we’ll keep him going. Long may he rein!

VERA

How to construct The Perfect Form

The outer casing must be loose fitting and flexible to allow for plenty of movement, and be reasonably tough.  The materials used should provide warmth and be very dark in colour, so that mud and dirt will not show.  The coating will need to be soft to the touch and such that it can be brushed out to allow the removal of accumulated dust.  The frame will be broad and strong, providing sufficient room inside for the apparatus that will power this formidable creature. The body needs to be set on strong, powerful supports that are themselves positioned on large pads so that a high level of stability is achieved.  A broad head must be built with eyes that are dark in appearance, so as to complement the coat, but be bright in every other way.  The nose will be sensitive to all scents and smells, no matter how faint, and the mouth strong, its bite firm.

The head should be filled with a large brain capable of clear thought and appreciation.  Additional powers will be built-in that are beyond the scope of this description but can be summarized as ‘psychic’.  The brain must have the facility to switch off peripheral thought and apply all its energy to a set task, usually determined by the brain itself (for example, chasing a pheasant in preference to walking to heel).  This attribute will manifest itself in considerable bravery which, when alloyed to an immense sense of loyalty, can only be considered as being beyond price.  The propensity for loyalty combined with the independence afforded by self belief will manifest itself in an interesting attitude towards affection.  Basically, attention will be gratefully received and returned, but at arms length.  Lap is a word associated with drinking not sleeping. 

The physical appearance should be such that any reasonably sighted person would describe it as being beautiful, and such that it would bring a smile to the most ardent dog hater’s lips.  This is achieved by every aspect of the form being in perfect proportion and of ideal size.  Faultlessness in looks is reflected in physical performance, and unprecedented power will be on tap at a moments notice. 

If you manage to put such a thing together or you have a Black Labrador that you recognise from this description, then you are surely blessed.

Vera:  Black Labrador bitch.  Born in Modbury, Devon.  Dec 1996.

An alternative version of the boat hunt, without the poetic licence!! 

By Sue 

The Plan

This is my first contribution to the site. Everything else is Simon’s handiwork; he likes to write and has even had some of his articles published e.g. ‘Soar Point’ was in Canal  Boat magazine, which handily won us a free year’s subscription to the magazine whilst we were searching for a boat!

We’ve had 2 canal boating holidays, both with Viking Afloat. In 2004 when we did the Four Counties Ring, and in 2006 the Leicester Ring, both over a fortnight. We had a great time, and the holidays made us sure that we wanted to get our own boat. We initially got the idea though from our friends Gloria & Derek, who we had originally met through dog walking. Their border collie Ben was of a similar age to our eldest black lab Jack, and we just used to chat when we happened to meet up. They had always been into canal boating, and had part owned a boat for years before buying their own. Canal boating wasn’t really anything we’d ever thought about, but then when they decided to sell up and move onboard full time, it got us thinking. Hence the 2 holidays to see what we thought of it, and we though it was great! Gloria and Derek have now lived on board for about for 7 or 8 years, and still love it. Sadly Ben died earlier this year, so now their tranquil boating life has been livened up by Jake the pup border collie!

We played with the idea for a while of ‘dropping out’ and going to live on the canals. Then we decided to go for it. We are both working full time at the moment, but as of March 2008, Simon can retire on a minimum pension as he’ll be over 50yrs old and have been working in his job for 25 years.  I’ll only have been working 21 years, so will just resign, and we’ll have to be somewhat frugal in our spending. Still, you only live once, and enough things have happened over the last few years to make us decide that as long as we can afford to go, we will.  After all, you’re a long time dead, and there’s no point in being the richest man in the graveyard (as Simon often says!)

So, we started making a plan. With next March as our target date we started looking at canal boats. We searched the internet, went and saw lots of boats, and even ventured to the manic Crick show. If you’ve read Simon’s article on buying a boat, you’ll know that poor old Derek & Gloria have had to field numerous phone calls when we’ve had queries over boating stuff. They came out to Whilton Marina on our first expedition and pointed out all the bits to look at, which gave us a good grounding. Simon was particularly fond of a boat called Decodream, which we went to see several times, and which set a bit of a bench mark. However, I just didn’t like the décor or the general ‘feel’ of it.  We were keeping a very open mind, looking at both second hand and new boats. We quickly found that you get what you pay for. The cheaper new boats were memorably dreadful. I found it hard to believe how bad some of them were. My Dad’s a joiner (or rather was, as he’s now enjoying his retirement), and would definitely have had a Dicky Fit had he seen the quality (or lack of). I had one on his behalf.

After a while Derek suggested we take a look at Aqualine boats. We duly went along to the New Boat Company in Reading, where we saw a Manhattan and were pleasantly gob-smacked by the quality, which far out stripped anything else we’d seen that was even vaguely in our price range.  Then we saw a second hand Sandpiper with a rear galley, which although nowhere near the quality of the Aqualine, was nevertheless again far better than anything else we’d seen at a comparable price. We’d always quite fancied the idea of a rear galley too. We mentioned this to Stuart the salesman, and low and behold, he said that they also had a Madison, the rear galley Aqualine on display. Love at first sight!! Wow.  If the rear galley sandpiper was nice, this was superb!

Then the dilemma began. We liked the Sandpiper, but we liked the Madison better…..but was it worth the extra money? I took my Dad to Reading for an expert opinion of the woodwork, and he was impressed. It’s hard to impress my Dad. He was actually impressed with both of them! We mulled it over, and then when we wanted another look the Madison was no longer at Reading but at the main base in Hanbury Wharf near Droitwitch. We headed North, and luckily a Sandpiper and the Madison were side by side, so we went from one to the other, and back, and back again…..

We had a chat to Sam, discussing the options for both. One advantage of the Aqualine was that we could have an extra foot added to the bedroom (and loose a foot from the saloon) to accommodate Simon (who is rather tall).   Then again, there was slightly more headroom in the Sandpiper. Derek had always said to stay away from MDF, and my Dad also said not to have MDF unless it was marine grade. We almost made a decision. If the MDF on the Sandpiper was marine grade, then we’d go for that. After all, maybe the Aqualine was just too nice for us; we’re heading to the canals to explore not to hold tea parties!

The MDF was not marine grade. We agonised. I said Simon could decide, as I liked both and much of the decision hung on how comfortable he would find the boats. So, he headed up North again on his own as I couldn’t get the day off work. It really was a hard decision, I think we were looking at a difference of about £13000.

Then I got a text from Simon. He had put down a deposit! Anyone nearby must have thought I was potty as I stood there with a big grin on my face. It wasn’t until he’d made the decision that I realised how much I’d wanted it to be the Aqualine – and that’s exactly what Simon had chosen. He’d even managed to get us an earlier build slot than we’d expected as they let him have the one reserved for the Crick show.

So, they’re due to start building this month. Aqualine’s are built in Poland and shipped over complete. We’ve decided on the spec, and the contract is signed and ready to be sent back. We’ve gone for a few optional extras e.g. bed extension (in addition to the extra foot), chrome pack, Pullman dinette, 3000kw inverter, washing machine, and a 2 colour paint job. 

It was down to the paint job that we’ve started this blog. We always intended to start one when we set off on our life on the canal, mainly so that our friends and family will be able to keep track of where we are and what we’re up to. However, things kind of happened by accident……

Whilst Googling for ‘canal boat paint schemes’ or something similar, I came across the ‘Peter Duck’ website. It was excellent, not only because we liked their colour scheme, but because it practically mirrored what we were about to go through. Peter Duck is a Sandpiper from the New Boat Company, and I read the entries as they appeared. Then suddenly they all stopped. I kept checking, but they seemed to have disappeared. After a while I decided to contact Peter Duck to find out what had happened. It may be because I’m an IT numpty, or it may just be the way it is, but I couldn’t figure out how to send them an e-mail without registering, and in so doing somehow managed to start our website. At that stage I called Simon, who’s more IT savvy than me, and he got started! Peter Duck are now back on the planet, and I await with interest details of their exploits that caused their lengthy absence!

So there you have it! They should start building our boat ‘Muriel’ this month (although they are apparently already 3 weeks behind). We’ve sorted a mooring out at the new Pilling’s Lock Marina just North of Leicester.  We’re getting all excited. However there’s only one problem. We need to sell the house before we can leave work and take up a life as Water Gypsies, and unfortunately we appear to have picked the worst time in the last decade to try and sell a house.

Still, hopefully we’ll sell at some stage, and by then everything else should be in place.

We just can’t wait!