Boaty Explorations

The Maiden Voyage!

Reading - Kill Your Friends by John Niven
Listening - Tokyo by White Lies
Podcast - Ctrl Alt Delete (#178 Sarah Knight) 
Watching - American Horror Story (Season 7, Cult) & Mindhunter

Chris and I have been together for nearly two years, so it is pretty ludicrous that it has taken us this long to actually travel somewhere on his canal boat. We stay on it at Victoria Pit Marina (in Poynton, where it is permanently moored) as often as we can, and I love how it feels completely shut off from the world. We have pretty hectic lives, both professionally and socially, so being able to grab the dogs, hop in the car for twenty minutes and escape to a little cosy haven for a night really is bliss. 

We planned a trip last August, but because of the insane heat we had over the summer our final destination was shut due to low water levels, so it was shelved for another time. Of course, one negative of travelling by barge is the speed of the bloody thing (5 miles per hour if you're lucky), so we had to wait until we both had at least 3 days off work in order to reach the point we wanted to, even though to drive there would take about an hour!

 An opportunity presented itself in mid February, so we did a huge food shop, packed plenty of warm walking gear and with a very full car (I always find it crazy how much stuff accumulates when you don't have airline restrictions to adhere to) we set off.

Day 1

We set sail at about 1.30pm, chugging along for a couple of hours before we reached Marple where we decided to moor for the first night. By pure coincidence (I promise!) our stop was next door to a lovely pub called The Ring O' Bells with an extensive gin list, so we called in for a drink after giving the dogs a walk further along the canal to stretch their legs. 

Having been without an oven since we moved into the house in November, I took full advantage of the boat kitchen and roasted some veg and sweet potatoes to go with a good hearty ol' pie drowned in gravy for tea that evening, followed by salted caramel pudding with ice cream for dessert.  

Day 2

Chris was up bright and early to cast off, but I had a little lie in and then made us some pancakes for breakfast before I was needed to jump to shore to open four different bridges, taking us from Marple to Disley, through New Mills and Furness Vale, to Whaley Bridge and ending at Bugsworth Basin. 

Chris had made me slightly panicked trying to explain the procedure in advance, but it was actually pretty simple. The first was windlass operated, which basically means I had to slide a metal winch onto a pole and turn the handle to lift and lower the bridge manually. It wasn't too difficult, but did take more effort than the second one which literally involved sticking a key in the machine and pressing a button to move it up and down electronically.

The third and fourth were swing bridges, and my least favourite method! I still had to stick the key in and turn it, but then I had to lift a big lever (like the motion used to do an upright row with a kettlebell) to release a spoke from the bridge mechanism allowing me to manoeuvre it open for Chris to sail through. If I thought opening it was challenging enough, closing it again meant pushing it shut with such force that it clicked the spoke back into the hole, and I genuinely didn't think I would do it after failing the first couple of times. I definitely earned my wine that evening!

Day 3

We had made the decision to stay at Bugsworth Basin for a couple of nights, so Tuesday had a much lazier, coffee and croissants in bed kind of start. The weather was drizzly so we chilled on board until mid morning, Chris engrossed himself in his first issue of Breathe Magazine, a wellbeing publication that he got a subscription of for Christmas, and I started Kill Your Friends by John Niven, which is well written but absolutely barmy if I'm honest!

Once the skies brightened we ventured out to walk to Todsbrook Reservoir, going through the village of Whaley Bridge which had some cute little shops and eateries. I had a tasty prawn marie rose jacket potato in one called Cafe 110 on the walk back  and then the rain started again so we retired early and I baked some salted caramel brownies to have as dessert that evening.  Chris made a beltin' tofu stir fry and we had a proper TV binge.

Day 4

On Wednesday we started the journey back to Poynton. We had a hearty breakfast of cheesy beans on toasted bagels to help get me through opening all the bridges again (although FYI I'm a pro now!) and thankfully we did all four before halting for our final pit stop in Disley so as to not have to deal with any on our last morning. The weather had cleared up nicely so we went for a little walk with the dogs for some fresh air, and then I baked a brie, cranberry and kale tart for our tea with balsamic roasted squash; and had enough pastry left over for sausage rolls for the last leg, bonus!

Day 5

The final morning meant an early start (for Chris at least), and I was on packing up duty. We had pulled back into the marina by midday, so after fuelling up with the aforementioned sausage rolls, we got to work with tidying everything up and transforming the boat back into Take a Breather HQ for treatments to commence on Monday. A couple of hours later and we were settled back on the sofa in Edgeley with a Dominoes ordered to soothe our post holiday blues... With just the small issue of packing for the hen party in Krakow that I was off to the following day to address!