Cruising again

So having left the basin, (talking of which, it was nice to see Carol-- blog follower & friend during our stay) we are passing through the lines of boats in Little Venice.

Made of the local rubbish by a youth club.

Just liked the look of this one but the next one in front, see below, just was so completely different in shape and the workings. One thing for sure the variety of boats is huge on the edges of London and each trip seems slightly different.

All electric, no gas,diesel or petrol. Solar panels galore on this boat some can be seen on the side up front. All the power is stored in a battery bank weighing 1.2tons. Price £119,000(NO mooring) or for just a read of the detailed spec click here.


Now hands up all those boaters who were like me thinking "it won`t freeze like the last 2 years".  Keep those hands up those that moved when the mild weather of late suddenly changed. Well our hands are up as it snowed quite hard this morning(Rickmansworth) and we moved a bit smartish to top up the diesel and the galley. Nothing came of it but it was a nudge from mother nature or as Jaq would say the Goddess.

Not sure of our location for Christmas as for both of us it will be our first afloat and we have to be mindfull of stoppages we want to get through. Winkwell swing bridge was one (Jan-Mar) but they have cancelled a complete closure but still have delays of a matter of hours. So that took off the pressure. Then BW decided our second stoppage to get through (Cosgrove Aquaduct) would not need the canal closed during the first 2 weeks, fantastic we thought less rush. BUT reading on it seems they can`t guarantee this happening so boaters should assume the canal is closed!!!! W T F why bother making the amendment if we still have to get through by the original date.

 

Stoppage: Cosgrove Iron Trunk Aqueduct

04 Jan 2012 - 09 Mar 2012

Associated Regional Office: South East Waterways

UPDATE (12 December 2011): For the first 2 weeks of this project, works will be taking place without dewatering the canal. It is possible that limited passage may be possible during this period, but British Waterways are unable to guarantee this.
For the purposes of journey planning please assume the canal is closed.