Locked down in Shackerstone

Been here for going on a month now.

Movement is not encouraged on the canal networks at this moment.

Only ‘essential’ travel is permitted. This basically means when your toilet needs emptying, or your water-tank needs filling.

Traffic is down to 0.

Very few boats moving around. 0 this week so far.

This is how my water-tank looked at the end of last week.

That’s about a day’s worth of water in the bottom.

I couldn’t really move because the canal was iced over.

Moving whilst there’s ice isn’t really advisable. Some ppl get shirty when you move past their boats when there’s thick ice. Some ppl get angry even when it’s thin ice. ‘It might damage my boat’.

It’s better to let it thaw out. Plus, thick ice makes it difficult to navigate.

Luckily, when I moved down to get water, a boat had gone on before me and it was just a case of following his trail of broken ice!

Snarestone

Is where I had to go to the waterpoint and is the next village up.

There’s a pub here and not a lot else…

To get to the waterpoint, you have to go through a short tunnel. Maybe 300-400 yards of it which takes you under the village and out the other side.

Here’s a picture of my boat at the waterpoint.

Took nearly an hour to fill it up. During which time I made lunch and had a cup of tea….

When it was eventually full, I reversed the boat 100 yards or so and turned it around in the winding hole.

After some brief engine problems, (the throttle cable had come lose from it’s retainer housing), I set the boat straight and continued on my way.

Returning to Shackerstone

Was much quicker. The ice was broken up. Where it wasn’t, it acted as a layer of resistance to water underneath the boat, which meant better pressure and less flow for the water passing under the boat.

Took about 50 minutes to do the 3.4 miles home.

Not bad at all.

Here’s a picture of Bonnie at her frosty moorings in Shackerstone.

New job

I’ve started a new job, for my sins.

It’s working for the testing centre in Hinckley. That’s the LTS or Local Testing Centre for COVID.

We’re meant to keep our social media discussions to a minimum about work type things.

Basically, I have to work for the government’s ‘test and trace’ program.

I’ve just finished my first week.

It doesn’t seem too bad….

Hopefully, I can use the money to re-start my whisky-tasting experiments on my days off!

That’s all for now!