Oh dear! A very cold start to the year and our plans to simply take the boat 200m to the Silo quayside to take on water and diesel were thwarted by 6cm thick ice. I could break small bits off with the boat hook but there is no way our engine would push the hull through it and then pull it back again.
There's the Silo in the distance, on the left by the lock!
This cold snap brought the question of water supply to the fore again. We had been researching turning canal water into wine water as it had been a worry when cruising, where could we find water next? This was more urgent now though as we had about 2 weeks of water left and the weather was set to stay cold for at least that long. I was due to go back to work then and Lorna would be left without water. It wasn't just the cost of the filtration system that concerned us but I would naturally think of canal water being full of farm nitrates, sewage and other industrial nasties. We would have to give it a go though so we prepared to spend another £1000 or so on filters, housings, pumps and plumbing!
Temperatures down to -7deg so far and worse to come. We get loud noises in the night as the ice cracks like gunfire and then grinding and bumping as the wind pushes us into the boat shaped hole in the ice!
Luckely we had got a coat for Tilly to keep rain out and she didn't seem to mind having it put on. She got right into playing in the snow so there will have to be some more photos of her on the next page.