NB Zindagi: 2014

Plan? What Plan?

When we started out in 2007, we had a vague idea of the main places we wanted to go first, and then worked out where we might go after that. Our plans have been flexible, to say the least, and we like it that way!

In 2007, though we started up in Lancashire, we headed south and spent spent most of our time exploring some of the waterways in the south of the UK – but not all of them!

In 2008, we headed north and stayed there for most of the year, heading southwards in November to moor up in Blisworth Marina for the first time. After that, it became our usual winter 'home' until early 2013.

2009 found us fitting our cruising around Val's replacement knee joint operations in January and July. They were very successful! In the Spring, we went down the Nene to the River Great Ouse and the Cambridgeshire Fens. After the second op, and more recovery time in Blisworth, we set off for the Kennet and Avon Canal, via Braunston, the southern Oxford Canal, Oxford and the Thames.

An eventful time on the K & A, and a magnificent frosty journey back up the Thames from Reading to Oxford – and we entered 2010.

To start with, largely immobile in Aynho and Blisworth, but then we headed north-east via Leicester and Nottingham to the River Trent, from which we branched off wherever we could, down to Lincoln and Boston and back, then along the Chesterfield Canal and back before leaving the Trent on our way to Rotherham and Sheffield.

Then north and west over the Pennines by the Rochdale Canal, down to Manchester and then via the Macclesfield, Trent & Mersey and Staffs & Worcs Canals south to near Wolverhampton, via Birmingham and on down to the Severn at Worcester. Right down to Sharpness, then back up to Stourport, to head up the Staffs. & Worcs. Canal near to Wolverhampton again.

Blisworth again for the winter, then in the spring of 2011 we took a trip down the Grand Union to London, through and out the other side to the Lee and Stort – and slowly back! Then over to the Stratford Avon and up the Severn to visit the newly re-opened Droitwich Canals.

By boat to London for Jeremy and Laura's wedding in October 2011, then back to our 'second home' in Blisworth for the winter, enjoying a little more involvement with Christian folks there, too.

In 2012 we started by heading north again to see the Caldon Canal in the Spring, then changed our plans and decided to cross the Pennines again - up and down the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and then back over the Leeds & Liverpool to the Bridgewater. Our proposed visit to the 'Shroppie' and the Llangollen followed on after that – beautiful countryside on the way and once we were there.

Then onto the southern section of the 'Shroppie' and from there the Staffs. & Worcs. – we decided not to go down to Stourport but turned north again to Great Haywood, then south via the Trent & Mersey to the River Trent and then the the River Soar – up to Leicester.

From there, we dawdled back towards Blisworth for the winter again. The folks at the marina were expecting us on 5th November 2012, and we just managed to avoid being there early!

January 2013 saw us move back to the land in Lapford, and very little 'boat-related activity' until October 2014, when we moved Zindagi onto the 11-mile long Grand Western Canal near Tiverton in Devon. 3 years there gave us the opportunity to carry out some needed maintenance, but we did very little cruising!

The future? Well, as you can see, we moved Zindagi back onto the main national canal system in early October 2017. Just those couple of days gave us a fresh taste of enjoying life on board – almost like old times!

So, we hope to get out for some more trips, hopefully sometimes with friends, re-exploring some of our old haunts. Looks like there may be some interest from the younger members of the family, too. Lots of different routes to follow from Hatherton! Only about 3 hours drive to get there from Lapford – not too bad!

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Grand Union to Grand Western - in a day!

As we have become more and more involved with life back in Devon, having Zindagi moored at Blisworth has become more and more difficult to justify. 4 hours driving - exactly 200 miles - before we could start to do anything with the boat at all, whether that was maintenance (increasingly needed, 18 months after we stopped cruising) or even getting out for even a few days' cruising. Since moving back to Devon in January 2013, we had been out for precisely one week!

Time for decisions! We drove up to Bradford-on-Avon on the Kennet and Avon Canal and looked at possible moorings there. OK, but that would still make a 2-hour trip to get to the boat. Would we get to it any more often?

How about having it transported down to Devon on a lorry and placed on a hardstanding in a friend's farmyard? Expensive for transport, but hopefully fairly cheap for hardstanding rental, and we would be able to get the maintenance done! We enquired, but unfortunately the friends we had in mind did not have enough spare space and other possibilities came to nothing, except for one very expensive option.

Then Val thought of the Grand Western Canal at Tiverton. Only 20 miles from home, just 11 landlocked miles of navigable canal. We enquired and, yes, we could have a mooring. The mooring and the licence were quite a bit cheaper than leaving Zindagi at Blisworth, but of course we still had to pay for the craning out onto a lorry, transport down to Devon and then craning in - definitely NOT cheap!

Moving day was set for 17th October, but Shireen and Thor had a half-term break before that, so they joined us for just 2 days the weekend before, and we went for a sort 'there and back' trip.

Then a few days to pack up the 'breakables' ready for the trip by road, and also to spend a little time with some of our Blisworth friends. Here we are in the 'Queen Eleanor', Val with Alan & Jan, Mary, Sally and Dianne. Thank you, Sally for arranging the get-together! A little sadness at the breaking of our obvious link with Blisworth by moving Zindagi, but we feel sure that this will be 'Auf Wiedersehen' and not 'Farewell' and that we will get back for the occasional visit - and maybe get some return visits in Lapford!

Friday 17th came, and we chugged the half mile round to Gayton marina to be craned out, as we have done twice before to get the bottom of the boat blacked, but this time it was onto a lorry!