Yes 10 months ago Tasotter had a lot to look forward too, a new boat and some Canadian adventures. How times have changed, I hope you are all safe and coping with COVID, wherever you are in the world.

After doing all the house renovations, and adding to the family with young Rosie (a long haired Chihuahua pup); we’ve taken to travelling again. Sadly not on a boat, but a 7.6 meter long Avida Eyre motorhome. There seem to be a lot of similarities to a Sea Otter, even though the caravan park owner looks puzzled when you ask where to connect the shoreline power !

The slide out kitchen really increases the interior room, allowing a bit more play area for the dogs if the weather is inclement. The small dinette and swivelling Captains chairs is sufficient for the 2 of us.

Between the front cabin and twin beds is a split bathroom with shower one side and basin/wc the other. This is a vast improvement over T42’s arrangement, no fighting with a shower curtain whilst simultaneously holding the shower head,soap and operating the tray pump out !

Finally there is a small “garage” underneath for all those odds and ends, I’ve resisted the temptation to add an anchor, settling for an e bike instead. For our first trip we’ve just ventured to Turners Beach, and the very nice Berry Patch Cafe for take away lunch. As the van is equipped with solar we will be able to live off grid for a number of days once I’ve sorted out what everything does. Stay tuned for further blogs !

Tasotter is in Western Australia, enjoying Christmas with Mum and Dad, and dreaming of the UK canals to escape the heat. A feeling captured in my Xmas present from H.

Our big news is that T42 is on the sales pontoon, 😔, but Prime Thyme is now in our spot at Pyrford Marina. She is a 2002 30′ Sea Otter, in beautiful condition.

She has an L shaped settee, seperate shower and a lot more storage than T42 as the extra 4 foot is all in the cabin. T42 and Prime Thyme side by side at Pyrford whilst our friend Penny does the equipment transfer.

Plans for our 2020 cruise include an Oceania cruise of the inner and outer passage from Vancouver to Alaska and back, a Rocky Mountainer rail trip, and our inaugural cruise in PT. Hopefully this will involve a Sea Otter Rally, possibly around Oxford, and a trip to Kings Bromley Marina. Until then I can dream…..cheers Tasotter.

After a long, but uneventful, flight home we are both battling the jet lag. Cooper was very pleased to see us, Sue had done a wonderful job looking after him and the house.

The garden is covered in blossom at the moment, with the Camelia’s and Azalea’s being prolific.

Our “Otter” parcels had arrived from the Shetland’s. Tasotter will sally forth once more next year, till then “au revouir”.

It’s definitely autumn now, lots of leaves falling and it seemed to get dark quite early, very different from when we arrived. I couldn’t just go straight into the Marina first thing without having a half hour spin down the Wey.

Then turn around and back home….T42 really wanted to keep going onto the Thames and up to Oxford, and truthfully I wanted to as well.

But back into Marina, top up the fuel and set her up for long term mooring. We’ve done all the packing. I’ll give the hire car a quick wash, she’s covered in leaves, and touch the blacking on T42’s hull where we’ve bumped something. Perhaps a visit to the Anchor pub ? I didn’t get round last night as it had started to rain again.

Australia, here we come !

Another wet day, but fortunately only drizzle whilst we were loading T42 at Kings Bromley. It poured on the motorway, but stopped long enough to unload at Pyrford once a widebeam had been moved off the slipway. We had hoped to get to Walsham Gates but there’s every possibility of the river going in flood, so we’ve moored outside the Anchor pub on the canalised, non flooding, section.

Tomorrow we have to top up the fuel tank and then prepare for long term mooring. Also some packing ! and we are all set for the long trek home. My ears have finally cleared just in time, that head cold / man flu gave me a run for its money….

Yesterday afternoon the sun came out, on went the solar charging and we sat out the back chatting to our boating neighbours Eddy and David. A lovely couple who live full time on their 60′ apart from the winter when they take their motor home to Spain or Portugal…..

The local church clock chimed away, and the butchers produce was delicious last night. We spent the evening with our neighbours again, and gave them a lift down to the services at Fradley Junction this morning. Morning tea turned into lunch then we decided to cruise the last 3 locks to our pick up point. It’s blowing a gale, which made mooring difficult, hopefully it will die down tomorrow morning on the slipway.

Leicester Ring done ! We are starting to think about going home, where somebody is waiting! But first one more night on the Wey, and an overnight stop in Western Australia to see mum and dad….

A grey overcast morning but no rain so we set off on our last full day. A few small locks, and a water point to make things interesting. However as we approached Wychnor Lock passing boats commented about the river. I knew we had a mile or so to do on it, but apparently the recent rain had made a “proceed with caution”

H seemed to be getting nervous, but as we entered the river Trent all seemed OK. Then we went round a corner, under a narrow bridge and past a weir, suddenly I needed almost full throttle to make headway. We battled on round another corner, saw the next set of locks but had to head directly into the full stream to get past the next weir, complete with white water. It was a good test for T42 and she responded well. H was very relieved to get off the Trent, and into Alrewas.

This is a pretty little town, with excellent shops so we are provisioned for the rest of the trip. We also made friends with the Narrowboat behind us, books exchanged and drinks later on. I’m going to watch some boats “shooting the rapids” whilst going downstream, I reckon it could get a little hairy…..

Black and white mini to go with the house….

A wet morning so we stayed put until a passing trad who displaced so much water, probably 25 tons, sucked us away from the bank pulling out one of our pins. Not an ideal place to moor, so after lunch when the rain stopped we moved on. Of course 30 minutes later it started raining heavily, but with only 2 locks to do only the helmsman got wet. One upside was going thru Burton upon Trent, a bright blue and orange kingfisher posed several times on trees as we passed. Superb but impossible to catch on film sadly. With the batteries charged we are moored at Branston, only 5 hours and 7 locks from our final destination.

There is a large water park alongside, sadly its raining again, but the Canada geese are honking away, and several swans drifting around.

It’s good to be on a canal again, but it’s fairly uniform agricultural land with occasional villages. The towpath has mainly hawthorn hedge, with occasional breaks to views.

One other uniform thing are the massive 14′ deep wide locks. Some present a real challenge for Hazel, and I climb out of the lock on a slimy ladder to give her a hand. She’s very good scrambling across the lock to open 2 ground paddles and 2 gate paddles as we are going upstream for the next couple of days. Luckily CRT volunteers did the last one, promising and delivering a “smooth” ride.

Long lost relatives at Swankstone Junction ? We passed a couple from WA earlier.

We are moored outside of Burton upon Trent tonight, hoping to blast thru tomorrow weather permitting. It’s looking very dark and grey at present……

A few showers setting off from Zouch this morning, and straight into a lock. On taking off the alternator belt squealed, we’ve already adjusted once, then bang as it broke. We pulled over and I replaced it in 4 minutes, good enough for the Ferrari team Rico said.

A couple of other boats caught up with us, and we all squeezed into the next lock.

By now we were reaching the end of the River Soar, where it joins the Trent. This is a massive expanse of water, and has some large Dutch barges on it. We’ve also just completed the Leicester Line, another canal and River system for T42.

Then it was a turn into the Trent, and we are going up locks rather than down. Sawley Locks are manned and automated. A relief as they are rather deep ! It’s also the the home of the Derby Boat Club, Lazy Otters Marina. Time to say goodbye to Rico and Lorraine for another year, we really do enjoy their company, and sharing the work makes for a more enjoyable holiday. Till next time guys …..

We’ve done 2 more locks by ourselves, but the rain has set in and we’re moored for the day now. It’s about 12.5 hours to Kings Bromley Marina where we are being trailered back to Pyrford on Friday. We can take our time over the next couple of days..