The forecasted showers didn't appear yesterday so wet gear was not needed, in fact it was sunny with a gentle breeze to stop us getting overheated & it was really pleasant cruising along between Hest Bank & Carnforth with splendid views over Morecambe Bay
By 11am we had moored up on the visitor moorings & doing our grocery shopping in Tesco, also collected my new vacuum so we were pretty laden, it's a good job it's only a few hundred yards back to the boat. After Carnforth had served it's purpose we carried on in search of a rural mooring, as I have already said the sides of the Lancaster Canal are very shallow making mooring a bit of a challenge but up to now we've usually got in somewhere & haven't had to resort to using the gangplank - yet.
By the time we got to the entrance of the Capernwray Arm we hadn't found anywhere & the arm had plenty of room with just one boat at the top end. We moored down at the bottom on the pontoon & what a delightful spot this is, it is a old quarry ( click link for more information) that is now wooded with bluebells in abundance. Plenty of birdsong, have spotted a pair of jays, greater spotted woodpecker & nuthatches.
The chairs have been out & we've certainly made the best of another sunny day today (with apologies to all you boaters further south who are struggling in the rain & floods!)& got some jobs done. I got my new toy out, it has a selection of attachments & the small lozenge shaped one made short work of sanding the damage to the paintwork, a coat of primer/undercoat has gone on & I'll do a bit more over the next few days, weather permitting.
Meanwhile Mark removed the cratch cover & making good use of a nearby picnic table, scrubbed it to within an inch of it's life.
It had got some unsightly green algae patches that we'd not managed to get rid off & what with some of the stitching wearing away we had been looking at getting a new one but Mark decided to tidy it up in the meantime & it has come up really well, so much so that we will not be replacing it now but the stitching does need attention so I'll be looking to get that done. We are planning to do the Liverpool link in July/August & I'll see if we can get it sorted then.
By 11am we had moored up on the visitor moorings & doing our grocery shopping in Tesco, also collected my new vacuum so we were pretty laden, it's a good job it's only a few hundred yards back to the boat. After Carnforth had served it's purpose we carried on in search of a rural mooring, as I have already said the sides of the Lancaster Canal are very shallow making mooring a bit of a challenge but up to now we've usually got in somewhere & haven't had to resort to using the gangplank - yet.
By the time we got to the entrance of the Capernwray Arm we hadn't found anywhere & the arm had plenty of room with just one boat at the top end. We moored down at the bottom on the pontoon & what a delightful spot this is, it is a old quarry ( click link for more information) that is now wooded with bluebells in abundance. Plenty of birdsong, have spotted a pair of jays, greater spotted woodpecker & nuthatches.
Chores out of the way we had a walk up to Tewitfield & the end of the Canal
Looking down the arm from the towpath, it has filled up since yesterday,
we are nearly out of sight at the bottom.
The humble Dandelion usually gets poor press, especially when in the middle of your lawn but swathes of them in the fields are a refreshing splash of colour
The terminus ( for now) of the Lancaster Canal
a path round the corner next to the M6
leads to the bottom of the old locks, still in reasonable condition.
Walking back, we followed a path across the fields
a bit of a tight fit...
& an even tighter fit !
Red Campions
& cowslips.
Tomorrow back to Hest Bank for the weekend
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to comment or to just say hi!