The heavy darkness of winter is receding. Stirring in the morning to natural daylight gives a lift to the spirits and an incentive to be outdoors. Still boatless, Cleddau’s completion date has now been delayed to the second week In April. All the home-based boaty jobs have been completed, any enthusiasm for a pre-spring turn out of redundant items has faded, domestic duties hold no attraction – but meanwhile the lure of life afloat grows stronger… There was a very...

Bereft of a boat to float in, what do would-be boaters do…? Cleddau has been away from her mooring for over three months now. She was taken on a south westerly cruise in October, to Aqueduct Marina, near Nantwich. When last seen afloat she was a slightly sad looking picture, curtains gone from the windows, poles and ladder from the roof, herb pots from the rear cabin roof.  Next seen, just after Christmas, she was out of the water, on...

– Boating in December? In that cold week? Never! – Well yes… – But isn’t your boat out of the water up on hard standing somewhere…? – Well yes… Lacking a usable boat of one’s own, the Captain and Boatwif spent two days windlass-wielding, helping a friend navigate her boat down the Trent and Mersey Canal. From Sunday 10th December snow and ice had caused alarm and chaos across huge swathes of middle England and the Welsh Marches. Road travel...

Cal Guy Jnr is a connoisseur of play parks. Over three weeks in San Marcos there were expeditions to 9 different parks, some on more than one occasion. “You see, I can swing myself* now, Granny,” said the 7 year old.      After the first three parks Boatwif ‘felt a chart coming on’. Within certain circles, as when establishing plans for a Sisters & Cousins Coven gathering or finding dinner dates for the Girls’ Night Out set, a chart...

If calculated correctly this is the 15th visit to San Marcos. Though this Southern Californian city is familiar now, it’s still not necessarily easy to find your way about.  Whether on a shopping expedition, a school pick up run or a sight-seeing mission the US version of the Co-pilot app on the smart phone is a regular lifeline. With the app’s aid the Cleddau crew have managed to find their way to several previously new (to them) locations. “What, you...

It was as an 8th Grader in middle school last year that Cal Guy Snr began talking about Marching Band. Would he be able to join the marching band when he moved up to high school? What it would involve and how it would impact on family life no-one then knew… Marching bands developed over a century ago to perform during interval breaks at football games. After the first World War many veterans with musical experience became involved in music...

The drive from LAX down to San Marcos can take up to two hours, or three, or four – it all depends on the traffic and whether you use the toll roads. Rental car allocated (a NEVADA plate again, curious)    luggage loaded and satnav set, it was time to get on the road. As on previous occasions Boatwif sat in the passenger seat (on the right-hand side of the car), hands round a bottle of water, teeth and buttocks...

Terminal 2, Heathrow: time for the not-Christmas-yet US visit (despite the Heathrow Christmas trees), time for the not-even-Thanksgiving-yet November visit to California. It serves many purposes, this November visit: a flight to the sun, a look at how another country operates, a seasonal celebration and some serious cross generational bonding… Heathrow is already in Christmas mode: much in evidence in the smart high-end retail outlets are classy gifts, fine edibles and jolly Christmas stockings. Conscious that the next day and a...

Day 7: Fine weather for a final cruise Middlewich to Aqueduct Marina, Church Minshull, 6½ miles, 1 lock It was Thursday morning when Cleddau cruised westwards away from Middlewich. This canal length (Wardle Lock at the eastern end, Barbridge Junction at the west), is about 10 miles in total, with four locks. It connects the Trent and Mersey Canal at Middlewich with the Shropshire Union Canal, which runs between Wolverhampton and Ellesmere Port, north of Chester. On a still and...

Day 6: Not speeding on a blustery day Wheelock to Middlewich, 6¼ miles, 6 locks Was Wheelock damned with faint praise in the previous post? In her search for items of interest in Wheelock Boatwif overlooked the very obvious: Barchetta  .     The old transhipment building on Wheelock Wharf     is now occupied by a fine Italian restaurant which serves simple pastas and pizzas between 5 and 7pm but offers a more extensive menu for evening diners. Despite passing it...