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An enjoyable wee trip


haggis

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Our last night on board Kelpie for this trip and sitting on one of our favourite moorings - Bramble cuttings.

We went to Ellesmere Port with a wee side trip to Audlem and in true Street boating weather we only had a little  rain when we were locking down to the basin at Ellesmere . We have had several trips on Kelpie this year and we have yet to need waterproofs - our neighbours in the marina are pleased to see us as it means good weather!

It was a fairly leisurely trip apart from yesterday when we came from Chester to Barbridge but it was such a lovely day we didn't want to stop. 

On the trip most locks have been against us but the one yesterday which was for us provided some entertainment. Two 65 footers were coming down  and they insisted on trying to come out together despite the fact that their crew couldn't open the gates fully. They got stuck - twice , before deciding to come out singly, but which one should go first ?. A bit of light entertainment after one of the crew telling me how he was an experienced boater. Both were private boats 😀

Nice to see so many hire boats still out and a lot of them with experienced crew. 

All on all, yet another good Kelpie trip and although we will winterise her before we go home tomorrow we might fit in another trip before the end of the year. 

 

Haggis

 

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2 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

He's not as old as us, his time will come if he is lucky

 

Unlikely at my pace Brian!

 

In my defence, I usually either lockwheel while MrsBiscuit steers or I singlehand the locks, so fast passages are honestly earned.  And there's this twinge in my back ... and my knees ...

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22 minutes ago, haggis said:

Ah yes, it used to be a leisurely trip for us too but we find we do shorter days now 😀

 

I've just checked my log and it took us 3 days when we did it in July.  That's quite leisurely for us, but I think a day and a half was spent passing all those ruddy moored boats!  It felt longer. ;)

 

 

Edited by TheBiscuits
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21 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

I've just checked my log and it took us 3 days when we did it in July.  That's quite leisurely for us, but I think a day and a half was spent passing all those ruddy moored boats!  It felt longer. ;)

 

 

At least most of them seem to tie up well

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19 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

I've just checked my log and it took us 3 days when we did it in July.  That's quite leisurely for us, but I think a day and a half was spent passing all those ruddy moored boats!  It felt longer. ;)

 

 

I think passing those boas must be one of the most boring bits of canal I have been on. I usually quite enjoy passing moored boats and seeing different styles and colour schemes but that stretch is just a line of boring boats 😀

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19 minutes ago, haggis said:

I think passing those boas must be one of the most boring bits of canal I have been on. I usually quite enjoy passing moored boats and seeing different styles and colour schemes but that stretch is just a line of boring boats 😀

 

The first three hours are OK, but it gets tedious after that :D

 

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14 hours ago, haggis said:

I think passing those boas must be one of the most boring bits of canal I have been on. I usually quite enjoy passing moored boats and seeing different styles and colour schemes but that stretch is just a line of boring boats 😀

At least they are all together and not half a dozen every 100 yards

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18 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

I've just checked my log and it took us 3 days when we did it in July.  That's quite leisurely for us, but I think a day and a half was spent passing all those ruddy moored boats!  It felt longer. ;)

 

 

 

Only a day and a half to pass the moored boats at Golden Nook.

 

I'm surprised you didn't get shouted at to slow down! 🤣😅

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My dear Haggises, I am very disappointed to have not passed you again before you finished your cruise. 

 

I cant remember what slowed me down this time -almost certainly it was sheer laziness, as usual- but I only passed Tattenhall this afternoon on my way to Chester, so I missed you by more than a week. 

 

I must say, I was not previously aware of the existence of that ridiculously long and most unwelcome line of moored boats after Tattenhall. It must have been a mile long at least.

In fact, I think there comes a point when you might be justified in getting up to say 2 or 2.5mph when passing so many moored boats (despite the dire warnings that they put up on boards as you approach). 

With all the weed on the towpath side, I wouldnt have liked to have had lots of boats coming the other way, but as it was I only passed two moving boats after I left the Shady Oak moorings (at which, I have to say, there were a few boats already moored when I arrived, and those same boats were very much still moored, when I left after the permitted 48 hours). So it was a very quiet cruise, which I guess is one of the advantages of winter CCing.

 

But to business; to business...

I have a question, if I may trouble you once again on this issue: I'm near Waverton, but I'm thinking about moving up close to the winding hole at Christleton, just so that I'm closer to Chester town centre. 

My only slight  concern is about whether you might get the local youth hanging about the towpaths in Christleton? 

I dont want to go further than that spot, as it'll mean doing about 8 locks to get to the next winding hole, and as a single hander, 8-lock flights are my nemesis 😁 

 

(I even have a cunning plan to turn the boat around there, and then to reverse it, or just physically drag it backwards, to the water point that is shortly after the winding hole, if I should run low on water.)

 

 

 

Edited by Tony1
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Hi Tony and we are sorry we didn't see you again - we did look out for you! I am sorry but having gone to Chester and beyond numerous times over the years, we have never actually moored at Christeton so can't offer any advice on how safe it is. I am sure someone else will know though and will be along to answer your question.  It is a pity you are not taking the boat into Chester but I can understand that the prospect of 8 broad locks is a bit daunting! Didn't take us long though as the dog and I walked all 8 both ways and had the next lock set for himself who had closed up the previous lock. If you find another boat going all the way to Chester, it is well worth a visit and mooring at the grassy bit near the wall is where I would recommend mooring. 

Mooring at Christeton you can always go into Chester on the electric bike which you don't have 🙂 

 

Glad you are expanding your cruising range!

 

All the best, haggis

 

 

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52 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

My dear Haggises, I am very disappointed to have not passed you again before you finished your cruise. 

 

I cant remember what slowed me down this time -almost certainly it was sheer laziness, as usual- but I only passed Tattenhall this afternoon on my way to Chester, so I missed you by more than a week. 

 

I must say, I was not previously aware of the existence of that ridiculously long and most unwelcome line of moored boats after Tattenhall. It must have been a mile long at least.

In fact, I think there comes a point when you might be justified in getting up to say 2 or 2.5mph when passing so many moored boats (despite the dire warnings that they put up on boards as you approach). 

With all the weed on the towpath side, I wouldnt have liked to have had lots of boats coming the other way, but as it was I only passed two moving boats after I left the Shady Oak moorings (at which, I have to say, there were a few boats already moored when I arrived, and those same boats were very much still moored, when I left after the permitted 48 hours). So it was a very quiet cruise, which I guess is one of the advantages of winter CCing.

 

But to business; to business...

I have a question, if I may trouble you once again on this issue: I'm near Waverton, but I'm thinking about moving up close to the winding hole at Christleton, just so that I'm closer to Chester town centre. 

My only slight  concern is about whether you might get the local youth hanging about the towpaths in Christleton? 

I dont want to go further than that spot, as it'll mean doing about 8 locks to get to the next winding hole, and as a single hander, 8-lock flights are my nemesis 😁 

 

(I even have a cunning plan to turn the boat around there, and then to reverse it, or just physically drag it backwards, to the water point that is shortly after the winding hole, if I should run low on water.)

 

 

 

We have moored a few times at Christleton over the years and I don’t have any memories of any issues with the local youth, although it is at least thre years since we last did it. I would say, however, that the moorings each side of the pub - The Cheshire Cat? - seem to fill up very quickly so sometimes it is pot luck whether you can get moored where you want to.

 

Howard

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4 minutes ago, howardang said:

We have moored a few times at Christleton over the years and I don’t have any memories of any issues with the local youth, although it is at least thre years since we last did it. I would say, however, that the moorings each side of the pub - The Cheshire Cat? - seem to fill up very quickly so sometimes it is pot luck whether you can get moored where you want to.

 

Howard

 

Thanks Howard, I usually plan and execute a critical boat move like Rommel in the Western Desert.

I do a thorough recce, wait until the enemy are at their lowest ebb, and strike fast. 

 

For the recce phase, I have an amazing electric bike (although I dont really like to talk about it as a rule).

 

There seem to be very few boats moving around here at the moment. so fingers crossed I'll find a spot at Christleton.

 

My suspicion is that 48 hour moorings are going to be a bit more tricky, as people are starting to assume they can stay for 14 days. 

 

 

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On 24/10/2021 at 21:30, Tony1 said:

 

 

 

 

I must say, I was not previously aware of the existence of that ridiculously long and most unwelcome line of moored boats after Tattenhall. It must have been a mile long at least.

In fact, I think there comes a point when you might be justified in getting up to say 2 or 2.5mph when passing so many moored boats (despite the dire warnings that they put up on boards as you approach). 

 

 

 

 

When we passed there in June I made a point of counting the number of moored boats there, and reckon there are 121 and it went on for about a mile. It took us 26 minutes to pass them.

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1 hour ago, Grassman said:

When we passed there in June I made a point of counting the number of moored boats there, and reckon there are 121 and it went on for about a mile. It took us 26 minutes to pass them.

Steady on! that's ... ( sucks pencil) 2. 3 mph. 

You'll be getting a speeding ticket!

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On 26/10/2021 at 09:15, Mad Harold said:

Steady on! that's ... ( sucks pencil) 2. 3 mph. 

You'll be getting a speeding ticket!

 

Guilty as charged :) . Like a lot of people probably do, I started off on tickover and then became a little fed up so tweaked the revs up very slightly.

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2 hours ago, Grassman said:

 

Guilty as charged :) . Like a lot of people probably do, I started off on tickover and then became a little fed up so tweaked the revs up very slightly.

Must say last time we went through the few boaters we actually saw seemed quite happy with our progress

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