I don't think we have much blacking left!

 Jan 3rd 2026

Minus 3 and yes we had some ice. Mainly behind FS, in front a slight breeze was disturbing the water which kept the ice formation at bay. 

 Took ourselves off for a walk to the road bridge and, looking through the bridge 'ole and beyond, could see clear water with no ice. We had high hopes, therefore, that the breeze had kept the channel clear, making the journey to Glascote relatively easy. Decided then and there to pull pins and head for Glascote.

The distance to go was only 4 miles, roughly an hour and a quarters travel. Apart from pockets of very thin ice, going through both bridges 52 and 53 hardly anything at all. But then, through bridge 54, and we almost came to a standstill. Crikey, at least a 1/4" of ice had formed, and more power was required to get through it. From that moment on, most of the way we broke ice. Our speed was about 1 to 2 mph even with the revs up and in unsheltered areas, I reckon the ice was thicker still! 

It was very lucky for us that the only moored cruiser we passed was in very thin ice, otherwise going past would have had me worrying. One sharp sliver of the rock hard ice could easily pierce the hull! Anyway, not many boats moored at all until we came to Alevcote. The ice by the marina entrance was particularly thick, and it was here one boater poked his head out of the front cratch and shouted for us to slow down! I was amazed! I asked him if our speed wasn't slow enough considering we were doing a mere 600 revs. His grumpy reply was we should be almost at a standstill going past his boat! Oh, well....I just smiled at him and blew him a kiss!

It was with some relief that Glascote was reached. I really didn't fancy going down the locks today, and Ian agreed. No ice had been broken on the approach to the locks, and we expected the gates to also be frozen in. 

 

 

Managed to moor with a lot of toing and froing because although the bow broke the ice towards the bank, the stern still had the ice to contend with. The 4 miles had taken 2 hours 30 minutes, a far cry from the one and a quarter hours we expected.

And there were.

 Then, having secured the boat, suddenly from behind came another boat. He got level with FS and came to a dead halt! With cries of "I've lost all steering and power" Ian laughingly told him he had just hit the ice. Having used our channel which was of course ice free, now it was his turn to start ice breaking.

 

He carried on toward the locks, wanting to go down. Not sure if he did or if he is moored on the landing. Maybe a walk tomorrow to see.