That was relatively smooth. I set a course for St Joseph, 60 miles straight across. About half way across the wind filled in from the north as forecast, and I poked my bow into it a bit and headed for Saugatuck. Covered 94 miles in 11.5 hours and arrived in port well before sunset. Sunny, but cold out on the lake. Water temperature in the middle is around 40 F. I was happy to have heat.
This is an easy anchor stop. I anchored here just inside the breakwater. There is also space to anchor in Douglas Lake.
Today the wind in light NE and I’m cruising up the shoreline approaching South Haven. Smooth sailing today, but I may get stopped by weather in the next few days.
We launched today, and after finishing up a few things I cruised up to downtown Chicago, and am anchored here in what locals call the Play Pen for the night.
Tomorrow my plan is to head for Michigan. The weather doesn’t look great for the next week or so, but with east and north winds forecast I’m hoping I can make my way up the eastern shore.
My destination is Wiarton. No schedule, but no desire to dawdle.
It’s nice being back aboard, and even better to be underway again.
Miles drove me and a bunch of stuff to Chicago yesterday, and I’m back aboard Escapade on shore at Crowley’s. It’s good to be back aboard.
My plan is to prep and launch in the next week or so, and head for Canada. I have a lengthy to-do list, as usual…
I didn’t pursue the electric drive. I came very close to ordering the drives, then the tariff nonsense started, and I pulled back. I’ve been reevaluating any future plans for cruising in or through the US, and what that means for my boating needs and choices. My choice of power over sail was always motivated by river travel, so if that’s not part of the plan it may motivate changing to sail.
This summer I’d like to go east in Escapade. One of my favourite trips was in 2021 when I went out the St Lawrence to Nova Scotia. This year I’d like to take the north shore all the way to Labrador, then down the east coast of Newfoundland and on to Halifax. I’m not sure I want to do the whole trip solo though, and I don’t speak French. And I’m not sure I have time.
I’ve also sort of pledged to get Tin Lizzie sailing this summer. Not sure how that fits with going east. Lots of moving pieces, but they’ll get sorted in the coming weeks.
Here are a few pics of interesting boats on the docks. A Sydney 38 that I’ve always liked the look of, a Sabreline 36 hardtop that I’ve come to admire, a big Beneteau Oceanis, and a new Beneteau 36 alongside a Beneteau 36.7. interesting to see the design changes between 2000 and 2024.
I haven’t had a lot to say recently as Jeff and I travelled over semi-familiar ground through Fenny Compton and Cropredy (the site of the very last Fairport Convention concert) before picking Mallory up in Banbury on Wednesday.
Before further comment, I want to give a mini shout out to the two restaurants we ate at in Cropredy – on our initial visit, we had lunch at the charming Magnolia Cafe where ‘everyone is welcome’, and dinner this past week was at the low-beamed Red Lion, a beautiful 15th c thatched-roof pub. Jeff may or may not have entertained the locals bumping his head > once.
The three of us spent Wednesday night in the country south of Banbury. Thursday we meandered down the Oxford Canal. Although the early morning was overcast, the clouds soon gave way to sunshine, and I was reminded yet again how lucky we have been to have had such spectacular weather.
By Thursday afternoon, we had made our way to the charming Aynho Wharf, home of the beautiful sheep that were the subject of my first blog about the trip.
Along the way we stoppped near Bridge 177 to have lunch aboard the boat. After lunch, Mallory and I attempted to walk to Kings Sutton, a nearby village. I say attempted because the walk was extremely difficult on a busy road with no shoulder, We (I) gave up very quickly,; I was somewhat concerned about our safety given my limitations and risk of falls. It was this failure to visit Kings Sutton that led us to walk from the wharf to the town of Aynho. It was tough, a mix of walking on the (scary) street and on a “path” that was quite filled with brambles and overgrown. We made it, though, only to find the village was bereft of any rests or cafes. We admired some lovely properties including the “big house” before making the trek back to the wharf.
On Friday, we returned to Heyford. Saturday morning we left early on a train heading for Heathrow and home. It’s been an amazing adventure. Hope you have enjoyed the stories and the photos. The following are some of my favourite photos from the last days of the trip.
We’re back at Heyford Wharf getting packed up. We travel back to Toronto tomorrow. Susan is still a post or two behind, so there will be more pictures.
Mallory joined us a couple of days ago, and we’ve had a relaxed last few days. Weather has been fabulous, though I’ve had more sun than I like this week.
Some summary numbers:
27 days gone. We moved every day.
245 miles traveled
200 locks
Fuel (propulsion & heat) 280 l / 75 gal
I feel fortunate to have done this, and am happy that Suey came along. We both really enjoyed the experience.
Here’s the one picture I took recently showing the running gear on one of these boats.
We completed the Warwickshire loop on the Grand Union Canal before re-connecting with the Oxford Canal on Sunday.
It was interesting to rejoin the Oxford after three weeks because of the dramatic change in scenery. There’s been virtually no rain during the day with most days filled with cloudless sunshine. The resulting growth and changing colour is quite incredible. I particularly noticed that hedges have grown in to obscure my view and that everything just seems incredibly lush and green.
I’m going to go back and look at some earlier photos cause I want to make sure that I’m not imagining how different it seems, it definitely seems like spring is here!
I also want to mention lunch Sunday at the Folly in Napton. Despite a very limited menu and we were told on arrival that the kitchen was closing in 10 minutes, Jeff managed to snaffle a roast beef dinner while I had a roast chestnut dinner, which was quite amazing. Took a picture for you, Beth! For dessert, Jeff had really good strawberry cheesecake and I had an amazing sticky toffee pudding with Custard sauce. it was really really good.
Monday we returned to Fenny Compton, and today we travelled back to Cropredy. Both places I really enjoyed visiting and I’m happy to be back with a little bit more time to explore. Tomorrow we meet Mallory in Banbury. Hopefully Jeff will get a new cell phone there to replace the one that went overboard a couple of days ago.
My blog posts often tell a vignette or (try to) convey a simple message but not today.
Today was another day like most on this trip – filled with early morning exploring followed by 6+ hours of canal boating. It was a day full of sunshine, birds, wind, beautiful vistas, and of course, locks!
The only drama came when Jeff left the handle on a lock. I offered to go back thinking that the locks were fairly close together. My mistake. To retrieve the handle, I had to cross the lock by walking along the top of the gates – twice. I was due to take my medicine, so was quite “Parky” eg. unsteady and lurching. It was a bit scary. I did it though.
Interesting enough, another boater approached me while I was walking between the locks. I was pleasantly surprised to realize he was someone Jeff and I met early on. It was nice to see he and his partner again, however briefly.
Last night we moored in the Grand Union Canal close to the Hatton top lock. As usual, I got up early to walk around and look at the birds, sheep, and cattle. I was particularly hesitant to wake Jeff up as I knew that our day would begin with a flight of 21 locks.
We had a lovely breakfast at the Hatton Café – there is a picture of my veggie breakfast below for Beth. Jeff had hoped to see volunteers when we started through the first lock, but no luck. Fortunately near the fourth lock, I met a volunteer when I was returning to the boat. I took the opportunity to tell them that I wasn’t helping Jeff at all. I wondered what they would make of that comment. It turns out that the other volunteer asked Jeff whether I just didn’t like working the locks. Jeff explained that I have Parkinson’s and am not particularly comfortable driving (yet, says Jeff to me). The two volunteers gave up assisting a boat going up the locks so that they could help us go down the locks. It is incredibly efficient and fast because they leapfrog between managing the current lock and preparing the next lock (and means Jeff is not doing hard physical labour for hours!). They operated about 15 or so locks before they had to leave to deal with a flooded lock above us.
I may not have been physically helpful today, but I did manage to score us freshly made scones with clotted cream and jam at the cafe. They were a delicious treat when Jeff was done. 
It was another unbelievably gorgeous sunny day. Definitely the warmest day we’ve had. We are now moored in Warwick near a pub called the Cape of Good Hope. We continue to make our way to the Oxford Canal to meet Mallory Wednesday next week.
Some of my photos from today. Please note that the last 3 photos are in the Saltisford Canal Centre, a permanent narrow boat community.
That was a stark contrast. Two days ago we were in probably the roughest area of our trip. Since then we’ve left the gritty cityscape behind and entered the countryside. The weather continues to be brilliant, sunny and comfortable. I wore shorts today.
The canal has gotten straighter and wider as well. The controlling width is now 14 ft. Easy peasy, but a little dull. Fortunately there’s always something of interest while burbling along. Lots of birds, and a few more boats and people along the canal.
We’re now here at the top of a flight of 21 locks going down into Warwick. If we’re lucky there will be volunteers to help tomorrow. We had a team take us down a short flight of 5 locks earlier today.
We’ve done the BCN loop. From Gas St to the Dudley Canal No.2, then around the Wyrley and Essington Canal to the Rushall Canal, then the Tame Valley down to where we entered Birmingham. We’re now on the Grand Union heading back towards the Oxford Canal.
These are not heavily traveled waterways. We haven’t seen another boat underway in 4 days. And some of them aren’t in the best shape, with lots of shallow areas, debris and leaky locks. We ran out of water in the canal yesterday coming down the Rushall Canal, but two Canal and River Trust (CRT) staff came by this morning and filled it up for us.
Today was another long day, with 23 locks. I’m tired.
The weather has been relentlessly pleasant. The forecast is for sun and mid-teens through the week.
Some pictures from Monday
Our favourite pictures from Tuesday
No room to move in the lock! While getting in can be tricky, on a ++ note, once there, there’s no need to tie upS
Boating Adventures 