Shangri La - back to blogging

Shangri La – April 2026 – K and A Canal

I have not posted anything here for ages! Mainly because we have not been going anywhere.

Shangri La, our 58 x 11 ft widebeam barge, has been moored up here on the Foxhangers private moorings since August 2021, while my wife Karen is doing carework …

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Shangri La Drydocking 2023

Shangri La at Semington

Shangri La Drydocking 2023. So in August we made the huge trip from Foxhangers down to Semington to give her a much needed drydocking.

5 Swing Bridges and 6 locks. We set out on the Sunday late morning, and arrived there mid afternoon.

Overnighted aboard, and th…

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Into Dry Dock

On the Midland Waterways

Normally my posts are about trips on our own boat, but recently I did a boat moving trip, mostly on the midland waterways, from Eynsham to Tardebigge. Purpose of the trip was repositioning some hire boats – so a bit of a free holiday.

The 2 boats we moved

The route took us down the Thames, v…

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The Three Magpies

Why a trip to The Three Magpies?

Several reason for the trip to The Three Magpies: Since I moved the boat to our mooring here at Foxhangers near Devizes, (Read about that trip here) the boat has hardly moved, other than across to the pump out. Since we bought the boat, Karen has done very little…

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Newbury to Devizes - Part 4 - The Caen Hill Flight

View from the bottom of the Caen Hill Flight!

The title of this post is probably a bit incorrect, as we had already past the actual town of Devizes, but the Foxhangers moorings at the bottom of the Caen Hill Flight is still technically in Devizes.

The team

My friends Wyn and Donna continue…

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Newbury to Devizes - Part 3

This part of the journey from Newbury to Devizes takes us from Pewsey, along about 10 miles of canal with no locks, but many narrow and overgrown sections, till we reach Devizes and start the descent of Caen Hill. We did the first three locks going down and moored up at the Black Horse pub – a brea…

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“There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” … as the Water Rat said to the Mole in “Wind in the Willows”. And how right he was! I hope I can share the pleasures of boating by recording the trips myself and my wife Karen have taken on the journey to actually buying our boat, and now on our very own Dutch Steel Motor Cruiser, Shangri-La 2.

This blog is an online journal of my various boating activities that have happened over the last few years, from the numerous boating holidays we have taken, some interesting work related events and the journey to buying our own boat

Latest Adventures

Netherlands waterway trip – Weesp to Uithoorn

Netherlands waterway trip – Weesp to Uithoorn

Netherlands waterway cruise - Weesp to Uithoorn Leaving Weesp Sunday 22nd June The weather was lovely again. Left the mooring just after 09.00, and through 2 bridges - Zwaantjiesbrug and Roskaan Brug. Both these operated by the same bridge-keeper, and a place where we...

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Netherlands waterway cruise – Naarden to Weesp

Netherlands waterway cruise – Naarden to Weesp

Netherlands Waterway Cruise - Naarden to Weesp Shangri La in Weesp - Netherlands Our trip this month has a number of 'firsts'. It is the first time we have friends staying on board for a few days and travelling with us. In all, three couples will joins for about four...

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Netherlands cruise – Hardewijk to Naarden

Netherlands cruise – Hardewijk to Naarden

Netherlands Waterway Cruise - Hardewijk to Naarden Nijkerkersluis - in the rain We planned to leave Hardewijk fairly early as we needed to be in Naarden by lunchtime to meet some friends who were joining us there. We got going by 08.15 hrs, which was pretty good for...

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From the North Sea back to Zwartsluis

From the North Sea back to Zwartsluis

Waterway cruising. Back aboard in Zwarsluis Sunrise in the North Sea Crew change day dawned with the North Sea flatter then I have ever seen it. The proverbial mill pond came instantly to mind. And a glorious sunrise with it. Sunsets seem to get photographed more...

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Steenwijk to Zwartsluis via Blokzijl – Part 2

Steenwijk to Zwartsluis via Blokzijl – Part 2

Cruising the Netherland Inland Waterways Waiting at the Blokzijl lock Got going just before 1300 - or so we thought! After hours of work, new ignition switch and all sorts of other bits - turned the key and - nothing. Back to the 'hot wire' method, which fortunately...

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Steenwijk to Zwartsluis via Blokzijl – Part 1

Steenwijk to Zwartsluis via Blokzijl – Part 1

Netherlands waterway cruising On the Steenwijkerdiep On Sundays the bridges and locks here only operate from 9 am, so we had a slightly later start, and got going about 0945. We planned to go the slightly longer way round to Zwartsluis, via Blokzijl, still a fairly...

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Trips by Date

About Me

My love of boats goes back to my early years when I went on holiday with my parents to Knysna in the Cape. We stayed at a hotel on stilts, and I played in rowing boats and little motor boats on the lagoon.

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