24.05.11

It was so lovely, (and cheap- no cost for moorings, electricity or water..) that we decided to stay at Tanlay for a few days. Sunday night we were watching TV with the doors open (it was so hot!) and in came an adolescent kitten!! He made himself at home on John's knee and ate sardines and drank milk....!!! Monday morning he came back and had another meal with us......

By Tuesday we really felt that we had won ourselves a cat, but after much soul searching when we left Tanlay on Tuesday morning we left him behind.....
We met a delightful couple at Tanlay, called Stephanie and Dudley, who were touring in a camper van and even exceeded us in age!! We had a lovely time and they treated us to a drink before we departed into the unknown!!

22.05.11. 1st week of travelling!!!

I cant't believe that it is only a week since we started doing this , it seems like we've been doing it forever!!! But this week hasnt been without it's fraught times!!! We have stayed by the side of the canal most nights and avoided the actual villages and towns and I must say it has been wonderfully tranquil and our electricity has lasted us, even watching the TV (DVD) and doing the cooking etc...

This was our mooring for last Tuesday and Wednesday nights just before Villiers-Vineux Ecluse. We didn't intend, initially, to stay for 2 nights but for reasons best known to the lockeepers, there was no-one at the lock you can see in the distance on Wednesday so we had to wait another night!! Mind you it was lovely and we saw the most amazing fish about 3 ft long! I also needed some time to recover from the naked flasher who displayed his wares to me just before the 'Pont de Crecy' bridge!!!!!  However, our bow thrusters were playing up again, which made us very sad considering the fortune we'd paid at the boatyard to get them mended!

Thursday morning saw us continuing on the canal and we spent the next night just past Charrey lock where we had the most fantastic thunder storm.... John checked the connections (again) on the bow thrusters and somehow managed to get them to work again!!!!

The scenery is beutiful with miles and miles of rolling green, and it all feels so tranquil!

We moored at Tonnere for some essential foodstuffs which we got with the aid of our electric bikes and Trailer, we felt soooo ecological!!!

Moored for Friday night after lock 95 so we can go to Tonnere market tomorrow.....

John nearly fell in at Dannemoine lock. The female lockeeper disappeared just after our arrival and John left the boat to put on our lines.... on his return to the boat he missed his step and very nearly fell in again, instead he paid the water goddess again with his wristwatch. never an 'on time' person his tardiness now has to be seen to be believed.......!!!

The market was very small and we got on our way again after lunch and we moored last night for the night at Tanlay.  A beautiful village complete with its own chateaux and free water, electricity and rubbish disposal!!! We are moored behind a huge hotel boat 'La Belle Epoque' whose visitors pay an astronomic £3,500 per week each!!

15.05.11. Sunday...MAN OVERBOARD!!!!!

Well the boat was finally mended friday night and we spent yesterday cleaning, shopping and generally getting ready to depart...AT LAST!!!! We invited a couple and their kids in for drinks at 6pm, although the cleaning wasn't completed so we are not departing until monday morning. We had a great time and several cans of beer were consumed. the ownwer of the boatyard arrived with our enormous bill (thank you once again Czech boatyard and English Boatbuilder- we may name them sometime in this blog but you have been warned, dont BUY from that combination..EVER no matter how good the deal appears to be...) and joined in with the wine and conversation.
Everyone decided to go at the same time and John generously decided to give Mark a can of beer to take away with him. In John's befuddled mind it seemed a good idea to walk the narrow gunwhales along the boat to the bows, the beer being more important than himself. With both hands holding the beers he came to the end of the gunwhales and just stepped into the river. I waited for him to come up but he didn't....just sunk below the surface.....Mark dived in , grabbed his belt and hauled him up and Nicola (Marks wife) and I hauled him back overboard. In the kerfuffle we lost a step ladder overboard too! I was just so scared and having got him into the bows of the boat he lay like a beached whale, his first words were 'is the beer ok?'???????? He looked grey and cold and without more ado I tried to get him into the shower!! Poor Mark was freezing too and the chap in the boat next door got a grappling hook on thin twine and hooked out our ladder and the one of the cans of beer, puncturing it in the process.......... No pictures I'm afraid there wasnt time!
In retrospect I'm quite happy to have given the watergoddess the beer in exchange for John.....

12.05.11. Thursday

Well, here we are still stuck in Migennes!! Yesterday we drove to Sens (in the car) as we had been told that our spare part was in the boatyard there...Well, part of it was but another part wasn't so here we go again... we were told that it would be here this morning but it hasn't arrived so I can't see us moving this side of the weekend....
My garden on top of the boat is looking fab and I have even got my first red strawberry, ready to be eaten!! Ive never grown anything before so I'm really pleased!!

Whilst I'm growing my green fingers, John is trying to develop 'fish fingers' and is trying to catch langoustines....the fellow in the boat next door has lent him the kit but thankfully he hasnt caught a thing yet!!!!!

Bless him , he doesn't deal well with disappointment!!!! This morning we walked around to the local market and on the way fed the ducks, there were a few ducklings who look so sweet, but they kept swimming out of the photos.... I managed a couple though!!

Wow that's 2 entries for this week now...... hopefully I shall be too busy doing the locks soon to put up any more, we still havent quite decided where we are going yet!!!

Monday 09.05.11

I can't believe that 5 weeks have gone by without my posting anything!!! Truth to tell we have been stuck in Migennes since 04.04.11. as our bow thrusters have blown up  and thanks to the boatbuilders (who will not talk to us) we have got to pick up the sizeable bill for their repair. We have tried to reason with us but they just will not communicate with us....advise your friends to NEVER have a boat built in the Czech Republic even if they are backed by a 'supposed' British company, they are not worth the paper they are printed on....
Anyway we returned to the UK for Easter and for me to see the plastic surgeon, Im now booked in sometime in October to have a reconstruction done so I shall be all woman again then!!!
We are stuck here in Migennes awaiting a part from a firm in Holland to repair our bow-thrusters, which were incorrectly fitted by the manufacturer. What happened to them should not have been possible so now we have to wait whilst the part is manufactured!!
We have been having a nice time and have spent many a lovely evening around our BBQ with a bottle of red wine discussing the world etc! We have met many interesting people who have stopped for work to be done on their boats and also some bores....they know who they are!!!!
Yesterday we went to a 'Vide Grenier' (literaly 'empty attic'). This involved an entire Village closing their roads and hundreds (about 400!) of stalls lining the streets selling all manner of goods from baby clothes to farm implements!!. It was the most enormous sale Ive ever seen and we were there for about 5 hours and made a few puchases.....

I was going to insert some pix but the computer says 'NO' !!!!   Fortunately the computer said yes today (11.05.11)

02.04.11

We woke up in our lovely little spot at Gurgy to a brilliant sunny day and got on way by 09.30hrs back in the direction of Auxerre.  At the first lock we realised our bow thrusters had died..... they are totally broken and we will need to crane the boat out of the water to get them mended.....

We arrived at Auxerre and moored to board our friends Marie-Jo and her husband Michel with their children Gabriel and Joanne.  We took them for a really nice cruise up the Nivernais canal as far as Vaux and back again but at Preuilly lock on the way back the engine died completely and wouldnt start again. Michel and John looked at the engine and all the wiring for ages (about 2 hours) whilst Gabriel watched Madagasca on the DVD in English!!! He had ice cream and seemed to enjoy himself!! Eventually we realised we were stuck so John and Michel pulled the boat with ropes out of the lock and we moored just outside on the bank.

Sorry they are on their sides but I cannot put the the right way, the computer is saying NO again!!!!
 Our poor guests had to walk home and we felt so sorry for them but at least the sun was shining. We curled up with a horror DVD and our dinner and had a nice night in isolation!!

01.04.11

Today we started on our watery travels in our home having overwintered in Auxerre, France. We were nervous but excited and having said goodbye to all our friends off we went! We had a fairly smooth journey down the Yonne to Gurgy where we moored overnight inidylic surroundings.

                                                          AYE AYE CAPTAIN!!!!