We've cracked it

A sunny day - after a wet night on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal

We decided to "go for it" this morning. Go for what? Water of course - it was time to fill up, do some washing and for both of us to have a shower. No, we weren't smelly, as we do have a basin and soap in the bathroom!

Leaving the pontoon was relatively easy - thanks to Nb Witchcraft yesterday morning and our neighbour Dan, yesterday evening. As it had not frozen over there was still a bit of a channel. We had to shove a couple of ice floes out of the way though.

At water pointThis is what we left behind

Our stern was left floating free as we were unable to get it alongside the towpath due to the ice. It was a good job there were no boats passing - he he..

broken iceClose up of the broken ice

So, two washing machine loads, two showers and a full water tank later we reversed back to our pontoon. I wish it had been that easy! In the time we had been away a couple of large ice floes had materialised "from nowhere". There was no way John was going to try and reverse through them; that way lies a damaged prop.

A prodding boat hook made absolutely no impression! So John precariously pushed the floes away from the stern, slowly reversing, pushing, reversing, pushing - and so we very gradually crept backwards! Worse was to come!

thick ice3 inch deep chunk of ice and reflected chimney

In the confines of the pontoon there were some very thick small floes - again the same manoeuvres, sometimes from the stern, sometimes from our pontoon! I do not know how many of the other boaters were peeping around curtains, we were concentrating so hard!

E at pontoonPhew we made it!

Lock and iceDid I say it was a lovely day - top lock with gate open at last!

P.S. The NEO concert was brilliant, we both came away uplifted. The orchestra (of mainly young musicians) was excellent and the singers were great. Our hands were sore from clapping! It was a lovely mix of classical pieces and spirituals. The NEO are to be recommended, if you ever get a chance to see them!

The meal in "Bella Italia" before-hand wasn't bad either - yummy Penne Marco Polo (duck in a sweet sauce) for me and pizzas for John and Stephen.

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