Tuesday 19 January 2016

Minus 9 degrees!

Yesterday dawned a bit warmer and the snow had gone as we readied Still Rockin’ to move on
… the slight wind that was blowing had an icy feel so Molly tucks herself well down in her blankets
This is at Lot Mead Lock and shows the air holes by the gate paddles; I’ve seen them often but these are in beautifully sculptured ‘basins’ and I wondered if they (the basins) were done naturally by standing water in days gone by … anyone got any other ideas?
A very long stretch of moorings on both sides of the Grand Union Canal after Lot Mead Lock.  The ones on the left as we came down are designated ‘Residential' and the ones on the right where this sign is are ‘Long Term Moorings - Permits Required”.  I don’t think that this sign, and the one at the other end of these moorings, is official as they had no C&RT logo etc., on them.  This caused me to wonder once again about the difference in Long Term, Permanent and Residential as it applies to mooring on the canals.  As I understand it to have a designated ‘Residential’ mooring you have a post-code and are liable to pay council tax and you don’t have to move/cruise your boat/home; so what about the other two mooring opportunities?  Do they have to move every so often and if so how often and is that movement enforced?
We arrived at our destination at lunch time and afterwards I did I gigantic, enormous shop at Tesco’s.  We were fortunate to be able to slip into an exact Still Rockin’ sized mooring opposite and planned to move off in the morning.
 A stunning sunset taken at 16:45 last evening (by George)
 And this morning - nearly minus 9 and we’ve decided to stay here until it warms up a bit!


5 comments:

Chas and Ann said...

The wonder is that you move so much in the winter! But I know what itchy feet means.

Vallypee said...

Iwe didn't make it to minus 9 last night, but it was minus 7. I don't blame you for staying put till it gets warmer. I love the snuggly doglet! And your sunset is beautiful! How lucky to be able to moor so close to the shops! As for the moorings, I'd love to know what they mean too, and who makes the rules on the English waterways. Is it all CRT? We have ver strict rules over here. You can only stop at designated moorings, which you have to pay for. The only long term or residential moorings are also designated and have to be applied for. It's really difficult over here to do continuous cruising in Holland as it always costs a fair bit of money! It's a bit easier in Belgium.

Carol said...

Hi Both, we need to get south of the stoppage at Cowley Peachey and we don’t want to leave it until the last few days as it’ll be more difficult to get a mooring there. Hope you’re both well and looking forward to some extended cruising in a few months time.

Carol said...

Hi, what a shame that you can’t cruise more freely (both financially and in space to moor) in Holland. I think a lot of the rules etc were originally set in BW’s time a long time ago and CRT are doing there best to make them clearer and fairer but it’ll take a while I think. We’re not bothered about the ins and outs of these moorings hopefully for a few years yet but I think I’ll contact CRT to ask if they can clarify the rules for future reference. Take care, Vallypeeh.

Vallypee said...

I will :) It's pretty parky on board tonight, I must admit. The old diesel stove is on full blast.