NOVEMBER

 NOVEMBER SECOND HALF
Friday 14th a massive rain front sat over middle England all day and dumped a reported 4" of rain but amazingly no floods resulted in this part of the country.  I was concerned as to how the boat would fare and resolved to visit the boat by bus on the Saturday which I did on a round trip.  Suffice to say I was up at 6am and dressed for the road by 7 and on the only bus option at that time the No.1 to Baker's Lane where I transferred painlessly to x4 and settled in for the long haul to Northhampton arriving there at 10.30 and catching the 96 which on Saturday's departs Drapery at +40, got off at Houlton at 11.50 to hail a passing D1 which left me on the boat at 12.10.  It took about 35minutes to pump out Pentargon and hoof it back to Houlton to get back to Northampton. 

I pumped out the bilge in less than 10 minutes meanwhile making a mug of coffee, rearranged the deckchairs, put a note in the log and left at 12.49 to WALK back to Houlton for the 13.10 96 which arrived at 16 and then beetled to Northampton bu not in time for me to catch the 15.33 X4.  The X4 route was haywire and suffice to say that it was 16.03 before I caught one and 1840 when it got me to Baker's Lane with 12minutes to wait for a No.1.  But I did get to the FLAT at 19.15 exactly 12hrs after I had walked out.   I got to bed about 10pm and slept well all night waking at 6.30 to listen to the farming and later programmes on steam radio til 9oc.  On land I revert effortlessly to my alter ego.  Sundays have always tended to be observed and nowadays R4 which used to be the Home Service has wall-to-wall religious-themed programmes is very easy on the ear. 

Later I half-dressed, surfed FB and made tea.  Later still I dressed fully and went to Iceland and Co-op to stock up. Just as I was gong out I was met in the corridor by Rosemary who proferred a brand new freezer which I accepted with grace because I believe it will fit in the existing fridge hole in the kitchen and become part of the furniture. On Sunday evening I rewired the fridge hole and fitted the freezer but I didn't plug it in because it is not needed.

We were now promised serious cold for the next week so I planned to see how the boat can cope with the cold.  It should give the solars a chance to fill the Sterling.  Wed 19th Nov I went to the boat to stay a week and returned to the flat on Wed.26th having successfully tested out the winter settings on board.  A lack of reliable sun prevented full testing of the charging system and it remains work in progress.  The boats have been separated and the Pentargon turned and facing Braunston.  

Meanwhile I signed up for the ATC lunch in Wynns on Tue 9thDec and got a return ticket to Dublin from Stansted out on Sat6th at 1845 returning Wed 10th late evening.  I plan to have the boat in Braunston with Paul Renshaw to do the exhaust leaving Wavy to mind the house while I am away.  With luck the exhaust will be completed for me to pick up the boat, rejoin Wavy and move onward through Rugby in stages towards 'Newbolt' to continue constant cruising towards Ansty and Bedworth and eventually Nuneaton itself with a view to doing the Ashby le Zouch arm in the spring.  

NOVEMBER FIRST HALF
The blog is getting ragged but hanging in there and now is on a monthly schedule or at least that is the intention. This is being keyed in at 12.52 on Thursday 13th Nov in the common room with the curtains drawn and the sun shining outside. 

The daily weather on board had been getting progressively worse since I left Braunston on 9th with winds and overnight rains filling the bilges so the chore of deleafing and emptying water and crud was essential and was done. The almost total lack of proper sunlight meant I could not usefully develop the onboard electrics so I decided to bale out and see what was happening at the flat. 

I had prebooked a cheap train ticket Nuneaton to Peterborough a week ago and knew I could connect from Rugby to Nuneaton via an 84 bus which I did and thus arrived 'home' on Wed12thNov/16.20 to settle in and prepare for my Thursday laundry slot.  During the evening I was delighted to have long conversations with Steve and Rosie and Thomas the mariner til very late.  I eventually got to bed at midnight and slept through til "8oc" waking a bit confused  before realising my clocks were still on New Time ... 

The extra hour allowed me to get the washing on early and visit Willowtree who said they would give me a phone appointment for Thursday morning.  I kept the phone on and stayed in but got no call by 2oc so I took a trip to town to pay my sub for u3a.