Final trip with Chalice ?

(Boat Chalice - posted by Alan)

Reversing off our temporary mooring.

The task seemed simple - clear the remaining things from "Chalice", clean up as much as possible, then deliver boat the final half mile or so to the brokerage. ("Polish the outside" is missing from this task list, as it was raining lightly as we got up, and continued to do so intermittently.)

The reality seemed rather different, and maybe an alternate title for today's blog post might be "Two into one won't really go".  I think the amount of storage space in "Chalice" should maybe a major selling point, because for a boat we thought we had at least half cleared already, I couldn't believe how much "stuff" was still on her.  Apart from a car, all we had available was "Flamingo", which whilst large really has no fitted storage at all at the moment beyond one already full kitchen cupboard.  So, on the whole, much of what "Chalice" proved to still contain is now randomly distributed about "Flamingo" in all manner of highly inappropriate temporary skips, boxes and bags.  This is going to be fun when we start serious work again on "Flamingo"!

Setting off past "Flamingo".

Despite this, the car was packed so full there was no view out the back, and once again poor Odin could only squeeze in the front with Cath

I was under pressure to try to be back home to attend a CRT meeting in the evening, so eventually I called time on any further cleaning, and started the engine for maybe my very last trip on "Chalice".  Cath maybe had already had hers, as she travelled to the same place in the car, with Odin.

Arriving at the brokerage at Stowe Hill.

A strange feeling, both seeing the boat stripped of most of our junk, (how much more space ther seems to be!), but also realising that after 10 years she will hopefully get a new owner, and that our great canal adventure will start to involve a very different boat.

I failed to take any internal pictures, but will try to get some when we go back up for a final clean up.





High House Wharf to Stowe Hill Wharf - both near Weedon
Miles: 0.4, Locks: 0
Trip totals: Miles: 43.7, Locks: 23