capetocarpe

Got back to Cape Town on 8th Jan from a winter cruise on Carpe. It was freezing. I woke up on New Years Day in the pound at Alrewas to find all of us stuck in 1cm ice. Had to break the ice round the lock gates with a barge pole to be able to open the gates. Once through the lock and into the river section the water was moving a bit and therefore free of ice. Two days later when I arrived at my Marina outside Derby, Carpe had to break the ice to get into her mooring. Steering through ice is very challenging with a 57′ boat. Not sure if I will do another winter!

Not long after my return to Cape Town 29 Cleek Street came onto the market. I had always liked this house from the outside and decided to view it. Having determined that I could do some structural alterations that would give me a diningroom I made a cheeky offer. To my amazement it was accepted necessitating my putting 1D onto the market.

I took occupation of 29 in February and started the work on the extension, floors, blinds etc.etc. In May when Peter went to UK I moved into his house (next door to 29) while I finished off this work and got a tennent installed in 1D. The price I could have achieved for 1D was not attractive in this depressed market so I decided to rent for at least a year. I also managed to get a subsidised tennent to take 29 furnished while I was in UK for the next four months. On June 8th I flew to UK and Carpe.

I headed north on the Trent and Mersey to Stoke-on-Trent. In Stoke Sheilah, who I had met on the Rajasthan cycle tour the previous November came on board for dinner. Sheilah had cycled down the tow path and left her bike outside and not locked up. During the evening the guy on the next door boat knocked on the door to say that he had just apprehended a lad and prevented him from stealing the bike! “Damn”, said Sheilah,”I was hoping someone would steal it and give me the excuse to get a new bike”.

From Stoke the cruise took me through the horrible Harcastle tunnel. It is one way, narrow, dark, very damp and the roof is uneven, lowering on you from time to time. The reward was finally getting into the beautiful Peak and Forrest canal. This canal terminates at Bucksworth Basin which used to be a collection point for lime quarried out of the hills and taken by barge to where it was needed for construction. Nowadays it is a lovely mooring place with lots of little arms which though charming can be quite a challenge to get in and out of! From Bucksworth I re-traced my path into the Trent and Mersey, crossed over to the Chester canal and headed north to that city. The canal is a double width canal here and therefore has double locks. Quite a challenge to operate solo as you have to watch that your boat doesn’t get bashed around by the fast inflow of turbulent water. The mooring was right in the centre of town and very convenient. Chester is a lovely city with interesting Tudor double story shops and a great cathedral. I stayed here for some days and took a cycle ride down the tow path to Elsmere Port where the canal feels into The Manchester Shipping Canal. There is a British Waterways Museum here which is well worth a visit and it is an attractively developed basin with hotels and apartments and views over to the Ship Canal and the River Mersey.

I had many friends and family visit the boat during the summer. Anne and Stewart were on board when a very odd incident happened.

We were cruising along the tow path when a walker shouted that we may want to stop because there was a man hanging from a tree further down. The police came and roped the area off. We had to wait about two hours. The people in the boat behind us were frying bacon and, somewhat irreverently we all got a huge craving for bacon butties!

Jon at the helm

Another highlight visit was that of Henry and Charlotte who stayed for a week. We spent time at Tixal, visited the Stately Home, swam in the river and the kids really enjoyed the mud!

So a successful first full summer cruise on my lovely new boat came to an end.

I returned to Cape Town on the 15th September moved into my lovely little house and got stuck into the garden. There are no beds but a number of pots and troughs and all these needed planting with herbs and salad veg. I was soon back into the routine of cycling and hiking. In October Jan, Alfie and The Sheridans (Gail & Philip) came to do the Exodus Cape Winelands cycle Tour and spent some time with me afterwards.

At the end of October I went off to do the Whale Trail with 11 friends.

This is a five-day slack pack trail along some wonderful coastline.

The path took us from the first overnight hut, over the hills and down to the coast. After that the path was either along the shoreline or on the clifftop depending on the tides.

The accommodation was very well equipped with every kitchen item you might need. The huts were located in wonderful positions and were all uniquely beautiful.