A Happy Epiphany today

Thursday, 06 January 2011 09:13

A good day and a Happy Epiphany!

A refuel for narrowboat Epiphany, a re-provision too, followed by hot showers for both of us. All topped off by a wonderful meal at the Deddington Arms Hotel. The meal was a consolation for the one I missed on Christmas Eve due to my bad cold.

John, Carolyn and John were each given "golden envelopes" at that visit with special offers inside the envelope

They were only to be opened on ordering a meal and could be free wine or discount of meals. We decided to open just one and it was 20% off the meal - that would do! And what a good meal it was!

Blue sky!

So now it is the morning after - a cold night, waking to a film of thin ice on the canal which joined up the ice floes. However, wonder of wonders, the sun came out and what a difference it makes.

Morning sun

The College Cruiser hire boat that had passed us in Dusty's wake - at a fair lick and with much crashing of ice on our hull - had turned at Thrupp Wide and returned to moor outside the Jolly Boatman. It left this morning.

Off goes the hire boat

So, is cruising anywhere nearer for us now the ice is broken? Well, there are very large ice floes on the cut here, some of them below the surface and under other ice floes.

Sun on ice floes

The ice is between 3 and 4 inches thick so a floe pushed against the side of a narrowboat makes a huge alarming thump. This may not be good for the steel hull but for a fibreglass boat it could cause some damage. So to be sure of not damaging our newly blacked hull and caring for other boats we shall wait until most, if not all, of the ice has gone. We just need to keep a close eye on the weather forecast when making decisions!