Skipton

Generally fine. Water in the morning early, to get back on the mooring.

Bus to Gargrave to explore possibilities for the children. Met Richard Parry and Steve Haywood at Gargrave locks.

0 miles, 2.5 engine hours.

Skipton

Rain in the morning, but cleared up. Bus trip to Keighley in the afternoon.

0 miles, 4 engine hours.

Skipton

Weather OK before lunch, so we went out to pick up prescriptions from Boots, but really miserable afterwards. No sun for the solar.

0 miles, 3.5 engine hours

Skipton

Rainy day. Caught the bus from Skipton to Grassington and back.

0 miles, 2.5 engine hours

Skipton

Another rowdy night on the mooring. Gloomy day. Went to Champions Church a.m. Rain came on as we walked to the Black Horse for lunch. 6/10.

0 miles, 3.5 engine hours

Skipton

Batteries good overnight, and then some sun during the day. SG around 64% by the evening, so ran the engine for a couple of hours.

Mick left to catch the train back to Edinburgh in the afternoon.

0 miles, 2 engine hours

Gargrave to Skipton

Cloudy to start with, but cheered up later on, and got sunny late afternoon. Reversed, winded and filled up with water at Gargrave, then came through to Skipton in one hop. Tied up on the visitor moorings opposite the CRT station.

Went for a walk through Skipton Castle woods late afternoon.

5.2 miles, 3 locks, 5 lift bridges, 3.3 engine hours

Gargrave

Caught the bus to Malham so we could walk up to Malham Cove and then back to Gargrave. Weather started cloudy but fine, but began to drizzle around coffee time.

0 miles, 3.5 engine hours

Skipton to Gargrave

Dull day with some drizzle. Ran the engine for an hour from 8 a.m. Got going about 11 a.m. Worked through the swing bridges with some wide beam hirers. Met a day boat with some friends of Mick's on board. Decided to come through the locks and have a late lunch – around 3.40 in the end. Plenty of space on the visitor moorings at Gargrave.

5.3 miles, 3 locks, 5 swing bridges, 5 engine hours.

Skipton

Ran in the engine in the morning. Margaret Michie came on the train just after  2 p.m. Went on a stroll round Skipton in the afternoon, and then to the folk club in the Narrowboat in the evening.

0 miles, 2 engine hours

Skipton

This a.m. voltmeter said 12.1, SG said 49. Ran the engine for two hours for charge and shower water.

Late afternoon started fitting the sound insulation panels, which seemed to go pretty well.

0 miles, 2 engine hours.

Skipton

Moved across to the Pennine Cruisers wharf once there was a space, about 10 a.m. Wayne did the 500 hour engine service. Then we got a pump-out (£15 with blue, but no rinsing at all), and filled up with diesel (111 litres).

A space cleared on the visitor moorings on the curve going back towards Gargrave, so we named to get in there for the weekend.

0 miles, 1 hour engine time

Skipton (Pennine)

The SmartGauge was registering under 40 this morning, so the engine went on, as well as the diesel heater for showers. We'd watched a video for about 40 minutes, which surely should not have discharged the batteries that much. I hope they're not deteriorating faster than they should.

Ian re-installed the mended alternator, and we ran the engine for a couple of hours in evening. Although it was a sunny evening, a lot of the day had been too cloudy to rely much on solar, and the SG is clearly not accurate during the charging part of a cycle.

0 miles, 3 engine hours

Skipton (Pennine)

Stayed on the mooring, Ian from Pennine Cruisers checked the alternator, and then removed it for testing at an auto-electrical engineer's in Keighley. He reported at the end of the day that the guy had phoned him to say it was sorted.

Agreed with Zoe that they would do a service and a pump-out. Schedule depends on what Ian is doing.

Solar panel seems to have done well today, but ran the engine for an hour for hot water and a charge boost with just the engine alternator.

0 miles, 1 engine hour

Gargrave to Skipton

Sunny day – very nice for cruising. The three locks were't too bad, but some of the swing bridges were difficult.

Tied up on the visitor moorings in Skipton opposite the Pennine Cruisers office. Ian came over late afternoon for an initial assessment of the alternator issue. He's not convinced that the alternator is faulty – thins it may be the way Isuzu engine alternators behave. Will test more in the morning.

Bought a new tiller pin from Pennine Cruisers chandlery. Checked out the main visitor moorings to see how we might manage the weekend, and the days when the children are here.

Fish and chips from Busy Lizzie's for tea.

5.3 miles, 3 locks, 5 swing bridges, 3.5 engine hours

Barrowford Top Lock to Gargrave

Started out cloudy and a bit cold, but nice and sunny by the end of the day.

Intended to stop just before Bank Newton top lock, but there were some CRT volunteers so we took the opportunity of going down the flight. After that there were no moorings before the Gargrave locks, so we went down them as well. Tied up on the visitor moorings at Gargrave, and went for a walk through the village.

Had a call from Pennine Cruisers, so they're expecting us tomorrow.

12.8 miles, 12 locks, 8 engine hours.

Barrowford Bottom Lock to Barrowford Top Lock

Alternator issue convinced us to get going early, as the promised rain seemed to be holding off. In the event, the rain got us wet, but we came up the seven Barrowford locks in reasonable order. Tied up on the moorings above the top lock.

Rang Lower Park Marina. They couldn't look at anything tomorrow, but gave 07970 341010 as the number for Charlie Stevens. Decided to go to RCR's CanalContracting first. They got back to me quickly, and promised to arrange for a local engineer to arrange to come out.

1 mile, 7 locks, 3.5 engine hours (+ whatever it looks as though I should do p.m.).

Hapton to Barrowford

Pleasant day for coming through Burnley. Stopped at the wharf to visit Tesco and see the Weavers' Triangle museum. Encountered some kids with water bombs later on and were glad to get to Barrowford locks Tied up below the bottom lock.

Dropped the tiller pin, which bounced off the dodger into the canal. Couldn't retrieve it.

Auxiliary battery light was showing on intermittently. Don't know what that means. May ring RCR tomorrow, especially if we don't move on because of the weather. But don't know if it will be covered by them. Rang the engine a bit extra before 8 just in case.

10.8 miles, 0 locks, 4.5 engine hours

Hapton to Church to Hapton

Day with Andy and Wendy. Some sunny intervals, but got a bit drizzly towards the end. Went back to Church, winded and came back to Hapton. Winding holes pretty difficult to negotiate.

10.7 miles, 0 locks, 2 swing bridges (+ 2 permanently open), 6 engine hours (with the 2 charging in the morning).

Hapton to Rose Grove to Hapton

Went up to Rose Grove services for water, and found a CRT barge blocking our approach. Went on and found a place to wind just after Bridge 127, and picked up water on the way back. Tied up in the same place. Ran the engine in the evening to cover vacuum cleaner and TV.

4.5 miles, 0 locks, 5 engine hours

Rishton to Hapton

Fine, sunny day. Decided not to stop for the co-op in Rishton because of the prospect of an Asda in Church. However there was nowhere obvious to tie up, so we went on to Clayton-le-Moors and found a Co-op there.

Tied up on the first of the visitor moorings in Hapton – has bollards rather than rings, and their spacing is rather odd. The moorings through the bridge have some rings, though some appeared to have been sawn off.

Ran a wash after we left Clayton-le-Moors, so kept the engine running once we arrived, until the washing machine had stopped. Two of the four swing bridges on this stretch are permanently open.

9.5 miles, 0 locks, 4 engine hours

Riley Green to Rishton

Waited to mid morning to depart, hoping the rain would go away. In the end, the weather was pretty mixed but not too bad.

Up the six locks of the Blackburn flight – only one or two really difficult bits, but not pleasant. Picked up a lot of stuff on the prop and stopped at Eanam Wharf to clear it. No real opportunity to tie up to go shopping.

Got grounded a few hundred yards after Eanam, though it felt like more round the prop. Took 10 minutes to work clear. Tied up just before Bridge 106.

8.6 miles, 6 locks, 6 engine hours.

Wheelton to Riley Green

Batteries had been on 53% when we went to bed so no surprise they were down to 37% in the morning. Began charging at 8 – very cloudy and nothing available from the solar. Started out about 10.30, but the rain came earlier than expected and we got very wet. So no attempt at Blackburn – tied up on the visitor moorings at Riley Green. Very nice spot part from the constant rumble from the M65  half a mile away.

Played safe and ran the engine in the evening

3 miles, 0 locks, 5.5 engine hours

Chorley to Wheelton

Took the boat to Botany Bay, to walk down to B&Q to return some washers. Caught the bus to Adlington and back to pick up the package of washers from the Post Office, and to post the library book and a birthday present. Began to rain as we walked back up the hill to the bridge over the motorway.

After lunch came up the Johnson's Hill flight with Peter and Janet on NB Firefox – much easier as a pair. Filled the water tank at the top of the flight, and moved across to the 48 hour moorings for the night.

3.2 miles, 7 locks, 4 engine hours.

Chorley

47% in the morning. So ran the engine early to charge and for a shower. Down, and up, to St James for church, then a barbie before the rain. Dull day, so engine again in the evening

0 miles, 3 engine hours.

Haigh Hall to Chorley

SmartGauge reading 44% this morning after no engine yesterday – not sure whether the solar panel controller is always putting in all it could, or whether it gets a bit confused about the SOC. It's supposed to respond to voltage. So ran the engine first thing.

Sunny intervals sort of day. Canal very shallow, especially as we tried to moor up in Chorley.

Bought two anti-vandal keys from the White Bear Marina.

6.7 miles, 0 locks, 6 engine hours.

Haigh Hall

Stayed put. Sunny day, and we strolled around the grounds of Haigh Hall.

Hopefully the solar panel will have provided all the energy we need.

0 miles, 0 engine hours

Scotsman's Flash to Haigh Hall

Up early, and away by 8.15, along with NB Narrow Escape. First two locks were difficult, so it was later than planned when we finally got into the Wigan Flight.

Rain started around lunch time, and didn't let up before we were moored for the night. Tied up between bridges 60 and 61, opposite Haigh Hall Country Park.

1 hour of charging in the evening.

4.6 miles, 23 locks, 9 engine hours.

Boothstown to Scotsman's Flash

Sunny and hot early before clouding over. A couple of hired boats opened the Plank Lane Bridge as we were approaching, so we got straight through.

Police divers stopped us for a while on the approach to Leigh, looking for weapons / evidence in the water by a bridge.

10.6 miles, 0 locks, 1 lift bridge, 3.5 engine hours.