A bit of planning for a one way cruise

Well we are committed  and the clock is ticking.

C&RT have received our notice of quitting our Fradley mooring. We have been there with three boats now for over 11 years. I checked back on my old Waterlily blog and we were buying Comet our first boat (with the mooring as they could be transferred then) in January 2007.  See here

That is some time and we have shuffled up and down a bit over time but broadly stayed 3-4 boats down from the gate. There have been some nice people come and go and some are still there. We will miss the place but are excited about moving the boat and exploring a newish area.

We have to be off the mooring Mid November. But there are stoppages after the last school holiday and in effect from early November the canal system goes into repair and replace mode. C&RT are very good at publicising these 'stoppages' and try to avoid locking people into one part of the system for too long. 

The critical stoppage for us is the bridge at Norbury junction that is having work done from the 5th November.... so that is one key date.

Our new mooring owners have been very helpful and flexible in accommodating our arrival. Basically we (I) need to have Percy moved by mid to late October. That gives me time to beat the stoppage and also allows time in November to clear our mooring at Fradley.

I'll be single handing as the back cabin has no stove at the moment so is not the best place to put me or a guest should I opt for looking for a crew mate. My normal crew mate Rachel will be working.

CanalpPlanAC is a great resource for planning a move that I have done in the past (last but one blacking was done at Norbury) trip post here  but its still interesting to play with length of days for cruise length  and over night stops.

I'll aim to do it in 4-5 days of between 4-6 hours cruising per day. Its 52 miles and 22 locks so not too bad and as I recall the locks are not too badly spread out - thats why we like the Staffs and Worcester.

Before we move I really would like to give the boat a decent outside clean.... watch this space for that little milestone and some other info on the paint..... oh and now a breakdown.

Fradley does not want to let go  !!