Back to the ducks

So all the fun of book launches is over and its back to our saga on the cut or in the ditch depending on how you view it. .  We're now at the junction of the Coventry and Grand Union canals at Braunston junction.  I'm waiting for the delivery of a new controller for the alternator as there are still some Gremlins hiding in the charging system.  As soon as it arrives we are off up six locks and then through the 2000yd Braunston tunnel.  This one is two way and we keep hearing stories of boats colliding inside.  Me, I think its just folk telling tall stories - we shall see.  What we do know is from now on we are on double locks rather than the nice simple single ones we've been used to so far.  Still they will be a bigger target for Fi to hit, oops I mean miss.

 

 

A couple of gratuitous canal photos on the way to Braunston .

And we've invented a new fun canal game.  Late night drunken, duck feeding - (us being the drunks!) this guy was getting quite angry when he didn't get any bread and hissed at us a lot.  To be fair both parents let the babies get the lions share of the bread.

So, if you've read this far - buy my new book!!!!!!!

New book

Finally the new book 'Siren' is available on Amazon today.  This a is a departure from all my previous ones, it's pure Science Fiction.  It's based on an idea I had many years ago when I was growing up in Winchester.  There is an old stone age hill fort there called St Catherine's Hill.  All sorts of strange stories are told about it, for example there is meant to be a buried chapel right at the top but there is no sign of it.  Just to one side of the summit is a path cut into the ground in a strange pattern, locally known as the 'Miz Maze' it may have had hedges there in years gone by. Another story is that a pupil from Winchester College hanged himself there.  The hill is a strangely regular shape.  As a boy, I fantasized that a space ship was hidden underneath.  Later, I wondered what would happen if I woke it up.  This led to me speculating about how I would cope with suddenly being given effectively God like powers.  Its not an easy question to answer and so eventually Siren was born.  How would you save humanity from itself without being corrupted yourself or causing catastrophic damage?  The book proposes one approach and allows me to murder some sacred cows on the way.  As ever, if you do buy a copy, a review on Amazon would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: apologies -  the current new book pages on Amazon are a bit muddled with the cover image in the wrong place - a rude email has been sent and I'm waiting a reply. 

St Catherine's hill, just south of Winchester in Hampshire, spookily regular in shape, are there aliens beneath???

And now for something completely different

Yes, a post that has nothing to do with boats, electrics or ducks today.

Some may remember a while ago, some posts about my latest book.  This is a Science Fiction novel and very different to my others.  Its actually based on my first ideas for a story which I had many years ago.  On the basis of all the good reviews my published books have on Amazon, I thought that  an established track record would be a  selling point with mainstream agents.  On spec I sent it to two who specialise in Sci Fi.  One rejected straight away the other took ages so I kept counsel just in case it was being considered.  After almost three months and some nagging,  I got this:

'It’s certainly pacey stuff and you do well to create visual world, it really came alive as I read. However, it’s not quite as literary as I look for.'

Apart from the dreadful English - it's the first time I've had that sort of praise for one of my books even if its not 'literary' enough - whatever that means.  So give me a few days to finish polishing and the novel 'Siren' will appear for sale on Amazon worldwide.  As usual, I would really appreciate feedback on Amazon or to me directly. 
For those of you who have been asking about a fourth naval novel - it's well underway - about a third complete although the RN are being a bit anal about some of the subject matter so I might have to do some tweaking when its finished.

Back to ducks and the canals next time.

The latest epic out on Sunday.

Ohm's law should be repealed

So we pootled into the little village of Hopwas near Tamworth for a day and ended up staying longer than intended.  The engine charging system had been doing odd things for  a few days so I decided to have a look see.  The problem with a boat that someone else has wired up is that its  *****y hard to work out what all the wires are actually doing.  Ohms law is no help whatsoever even though I had an ammeter as well as volt meter.   However, much to my embarrassment in the process, I discovered that I had wired up my battery monitor incorrectly and also managed to open circuit my Alternator.  That may not mean much to readers - to me it meant £135 to get it repaired.  Luckily there was a local firm who collected it and did the business.  However, with it rebuilt and a fair amount of the electrics redesigned, its all working rather well.
We have also decided on a strategy - to be called the 'Sunday Roast challenge'.  Every Sunday we will ensure we are near a pub and give their Sunday lunches marks out of ten. Something to really look forward to!! The first contender, the Red Lion in Hopwas, only got four as the veg was undercooked.  That said, the beer was fine. 
We've now moved on and are in the village Atherstone in the middle of a flight of eleven locks.  We'll soon be on the Grand Union with wider locks and more boats but hopefully, warmer, less fizzy beer.

Sorry for the boring photo of an alternator but it caused me so much grief it had to be named and shamed.

One reasonably fluffy Cockapoo.  Five minutes later the silly ass fell into the canal by a lock when trying to lean in for a drink, almost got run over by the boat and I had to fish him out.  He probably won't do that again.

Serious navigation

We came across a junction yesterday and actually had to make a decision about where to go.  Should we go straight on or turn right into the Coventry canal?  We turned right but not for far as Fradely Junction was a very pretty place with several cafes and a pub.  Not only that but they served Marstons Pedigree without one of those horrible little nozzles most of the pubs have that make the beer fizzy to give it a head.  Today we pootled a few hours and stopped in a nice little village who's name escapes me but its only a few miles form Tamworth.  Unfortunately my alternator charging system is playing up and I need to service the engine anyway so tomorrow is going to be Sunday Lunch in the pub, the Canadian Grand Prix and an oil change - not necessarily in that order.

The signpost helped.  (Don't get those in the middle of the Atlantic) - Fradley Junction

And for all of you who gave me grief the other day when I described a Swan as a duck - see I'm not the only one!!

Up the creek with a paddle

Carried on pootlin' today.  The sun hid until we stopped and then came out.  We leave the Trent and Mersey tomorrow and turn off  into the Coventry canal to continue our epic voyage south.  One of the things I wanted was to get more exercise while away. My knee doesn't like running anymore and my bike wouldn't fit into the hire car on the way back to the boat but my inflatable canoe would.  I actually blew it up several days ago but wanted a quiet place with no onlookers to watch the inevitable cock up followed by a large splash.  Well ta da! I stayed dry.  Best fifty quid I've spent on Amazon, so within only a few months I will have the physique of an Olympic rower!!

Something very strange has happened

Yes, just look at the photo below and tell me what is totally wrong with it:

Yup - not one cloud in sight - something that hasn't happened in this country for years.  What a beautiful day as we headed further south and finished the day in the little village of Great Haywood.  I even had slightly sun burnt arms, last time that happened I was in St Lucia.  We are right next door to the Sugborough Estate which is a beautiful old country house straight out of Jane Austen Land (for you Red Dwarf fans) so we decided on a quiet day to look around.

Fi trying desperately hard not to show her disappointment when after an hour or so there was no sign of Colin Firth climbing out of a lake.

I also did some boat work and fixed a problem with the generator as well as some varnishing - its all work on the canals.

But I did take some time off to feed this large, hungry, white, duck.