With the first signs of spring coming over the horizon and with a big change about to happen in our lives this seems a good time to move on to the next log.  Go to "2008" to view our future adventures.  

Sunday 24th February 2008.  Well the big news is that once again we have a worker aboard.  Maureen accepted the post of Hospitality Assistant with Unite Ltd who manage student accommodation at Loughborough University and has just completed her first week.  It is 10 minutes by car from the marina to work and 4 hours a day means we avoid the rush hour traffic.  After almost three years without a wage packet it will be quite exciting and not a little relieving financially to have an income again next month.    Having not anticipated turning Ramyshome's engine for a while we were tempted out on Monday 4th as far as Loughborough to do some shopping before returning to our mooring.  We have had our share of freezing nights and days of clear blue skies over the last three weeks and so nice was it on Sunday 10th we slipped our moorings again for a two hour sail up river as far as Sileby Lock.  We were in company with fellow moorers Dave & Jackie Wade aboard their boat Nb Matilda Rose.  They, like many at Pillings Lock, are new to boating and still getting to know their own boat and the waterways.  After coffee and cakes below Sileby lock we turned the boats around in the fast flowing stream and headed back passed Mountsorrel where boaters and drinkers mixed beside the riverside pub.  A very pleasant day.  We have also found a pleasant hour's walk across the fields coming back along the towpath, so if you come visiting bring your boots as the soil can be very clarty.  We have spotted foxes, herons, kestrels and, with Barbara & Jim Thornely last Saturday, we saw redwings or possibly fieldfares - similar to thrushes.  Our first visitors to the marina were John & Val Cobb who came for dinner one evening last week.  They live just a few miles away and their son lives on his own boat further up the River Soar.   Yesterday we attended our first meeting of the Residential Boat Owners Association which are held in a pub in Loughborough.  Very long but some very interesting topics covered.  Of course we had to throw in our "two pennyworth" which seemed to be well received.  If you live on a boat then you ought to join them - see their website for details www.rboa.org.uk  With the recent cold weather it was not the time for our central heating boiler to break down last week but of course that is just what it did.  Our little Mikuni heater has served us well over the years with not much need for attention so a partial rebuild now is perhaps not altogether out of line.  At least our local engineer, Jim of Jim's Mobile Marine Service (JIMMS - neat eh!) was able to sort things out fairly quickly and also spotted the cause of a separate electrical problem.  It seems Ramyshome is finding it a little difficult to rest in a marina hooked up to an electricity supply but all is well (for now at least) and Roger has started to restore her paintwork.  Of course all this work means expense so a wage coming in will be most welcome and there are possibilities of a second income in the near future.  Fingers crossed.                

Sunday 3rd February 2008.   Even if Ramyshome doesn't go a venturing that won't stop her crew heading out to explore new canals.  Regular readers may recall our frustration back in June 2006 when, with our good friends Klim & Tina Corke, we were unable to access the Basingstoke Canal beyond the first 20 metres - reversing in from the Wey.  We had all agreed we would return one day and so it was that on Tuesday 22nd January the Corkes & the Yorkes were walking the Basingstoke's towpath.  We had motored south on the Monday to spend four days with the Corke's at their home.  On Tuesday we drove to Odiham, a lovely South Downs village where at the wharf there was good parking.  From there we walked west along the towpath for two miles, passing the head of navigation beside Odiham Castle to arrive at Greywell Tunnel, home to thousands of bats.  Sadly, Ramyshome is never likely to reach this pretty stretch of water, a canal bridge north of Aldershot too low for her to get under, so it was good to visit if only on foot. We walked back through the fields with hedgerows hinting that spring may not be too far away.  We were afloat again the next day, crossing Portsmouth Harbour on the Gosport Ferry to explore Old Portsmouth, completing the day by ascending the Spinnaker Tower to view the lights stretching from the Downs to the Isle of Wight.  We achieved another first on Thursday, walking the full length of the Chichester Canal.  2 miles down from the city wharf this arm used to make a junction with the Portsmouth to Arundel canal coming east from Chichester Harbour via a sea lock, going on east to reach the old Wey & Arun Canal to complete a watery route from Portsmouth to London.  It was an unsuccessful venture abandoned early in the 20th Century but the 4 mile section we walked to the sea has survived and is now being maintained by a small but obviously enthusiastic trust.  We wish them well with their efforts to restore full navigation but two roads look like big obstacles to get around.  Having thanked the Corkes for their excellent hospitality and agreeing we will meet again this year beside some waterway we headed first to Yatton to stay 2 nights with the Robinsons, then an overnight stop in Devizes with the Jakeman's (calling off to view Caen Hill flight of locks - of course) and finally 2 nights in Salisbury with Maureen's cousin Carol & Francis Bray.  What it is to have friends and family scattered about the country and the time to go a visiting.  We thank them all for putting us up and putting up with us.

The Basingstoke Canal near Odiham The Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth

Monday 14th January 2008.  A happy New Year to all who are still making the effort to come to our website.  We thank you for your continued support and will try to make our life afloat still sound appealing.  

For the first time in seven years we welcomed in the new year with our feet on dry land.  We had travelled by car to the home of our friends, Barbara & Jim Thornely, near Chinley, Derbyshire and little more than a mile from Bugsworth Basin, the eastern end of the Peak Forest Canal where we had been on New Year's Eve 2006.  Sadly this time, New Year's Day did not see us heading for the Macclesfield Canal as we had in 2006 and 2007, ready to descend the beautiful Bosley Locks before they closed again for more winter maintenance.  No, this time it was back by road to Pillings Lock Marina and our resting Ramyshome.  We had thought we would sail the couple of miles into Loughborough on the 2nd but the wind blew in the rain and we went by car instead.  Are we getting soft so soon?  On Saturday 5th we were back crossing the Peak Forest Canal, by car again, on the way to a party in New Mills.  A chance to catch up with old friends and a non-floating bed at the home of David & Jane Forshaw.  It is still a little difficult to take in that we can travel by road from Loughborough to Whaley Bridge in two hours whereas by boat it is more than a week's journey.  The rest of the year so far has been taken up settling into marina life, getting to know some of our floating neighbours, beginning to explore this part of Leicestershire a little further away from the water and beginning the search for employment.  At least we still have the joy of living afloat even though Ramyshome's engine has not turned since Christmas.  And we aren't battling with the floods that have hit the rivers once again.                          

December 2007.   Where did December go?  For us it seemed to disappear down tyre tracks, narrowing railway lines and finally in aeroplane vapour trails.  It started on the 6th, still coping with jetlag from our 30 hours travelling back to Ramyshome from Christchurch, New Zealand. The first task was to re-stock the food cupboards so Ramyshome's engine was fired up for the first time in almost 3 months and soon after we were turning north out of the marina for an hour's cruise to Loughborough.  The moorings there are just a short walk from the town centre convenient both for Sainsburys and the central square where an excellent market is held two or three days a week.  The wharf has re-opened following its redevelopment and now offers 5 or 6 mooring spaces even closer to the town but we are not yet sure how safe it will be to stop there overnight.  Time will tell.  The idea was to stay out over the weekend but the weather forecast was for wind and heavy rain so we stayed on the mainline just one night slipping back into the marina on Saturday afternoon.  The forecast was spot on.  Tuesday we were travelling again, driving a hire car to Cheshire to see friends and family, swap presents, collect post and generally sort out things that had not been sorted out over the last 10 weeks.  Back to the boat Friday afternoon to receive a delivery of coal, then off again on Saturday, this time by train from Barrow Upon Soar via Loughborough, Derby and Doncaster to Filey on the Yorkshire coast where Roger's parents live.  We bored them with lots of photos of our holiday and enjoyed Sunday lunch at a local hotel but there was an ulterior motive for our visit in that we wanted to steal their car to provide us with some wheels for the time being.  All was agreed and we drove back to the boat arriving late into the evening.  Normally that would not have been a problem but unfortunately our central heating boiler had not been working since we returned from New Zealand.  Even though our stove was soon burning bright it took a long time for heat to percolate through to the bedroom so Maureen went to bed attired in nightdress, dressing gown and woolly hat.  Fortunately Jim the engineer appreciated our dilemma and arrived on Monday to complete the necessary repairs.  Next day it was taxi to East Midlands airport, a flight to Girona in northern Spain then across the French border by car to a little village nestling below the Massif des Alberes where Maureen's parents live.  Christmas passed quietly and under blue skies, we were grateful for both, with gentle strolls through the French countryside and beside the sea.  As we came back to England on 27th we both agreed we had had our fill of flying and airports for quite some time.  Boats have always had greater appeal for us.  The next task is to find some work for us both but we already have one unpaid job as the marina's official coalmen, taking orders from fellow boaters and arranging delivery from a local coal merchant.  Well it's step up from being unemployed!