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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Newbury to Devizes - Part 2

On the Kennet and Avon

Kintbury to Pewsey

Part 2 of the trip from Newbury to Devizes took us from Kintbury to Pewsey with an overnight stop at Great Bedwyn.

The stats for this bit:

18 miles

27 locks, with a total rise of 196 ft 10 ins

1 swing bridge.

We also negotiated the Bruc…

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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

Canal du Centre – Genelard

Canal du Centre – Genelard

Friday 27th and 28th July Montceau to Genelard We had arranged with the VNF for an 0900 start, as there were three bridges that needed to be raised for us to get going. All went well and we were through the three bridges by 0915. And all the locks were set in our...

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Montceau-les-mines

Montceau-les-mines

Monday 24th to Thursday 27th July 2017 Canal du Centre - Locking down Montchanin is at the summit, so to speak, of the Canal du Centre and now we started locking down again. The trip to Montceau-les-Mines was 13 kms and 9 locks with a total drop of 26 metres. Locking...

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Canal du Centre – St Leger to Montchanin

Canal du Centre – St Leger to Montchanin

Sunday 23rd July 2017 Some days are full-on boating days and this was one of them! Lots and lots of locks as well as lots of low bridges. Fortunately the weather was good - not raining, but cloudy with a comfortable temperature. Perfect as we had to have all the...

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Chagny to St Leger-sur-Dheune – Canal du Centre

Chagny to St Leger-sur-Dheune – Canal du Centre

Friday and Saturday 21st and 22nd July 2017 Chagny to St Leger-sur-Dheune St Leger-sur-Dheune was touted in the guide book as a good place to stop, and so it proved to be. We set out from our wild stop near Chagny, initially leisurely, but spotted a hotel boat coming...

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Chagny – on the Canal du Centre

Chagny – on the Canal du Centre

French inland waterway cruise - 20 July 2017 Chagny After our long and exhausting day yesterday, we decided to stay in our wild stop just outside Chagny for another night. We love these wild stops - so peaceful and relaxing. In the morning though, we walked into the...

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Canal du Centre  – Chalon-sur-Saone to Chagny

Canal du Centre – Chalon-sur-Saone to Chagny

Chalon-sur-Saone to Chagny Wednesday 19th July 2017 So finally it was time to leave the River Saone and venture into the Canal du Centre - a totally new waterway for us. Canal du Centre was indeed as beautiful as we had been told, but a lot of locks, lots of low...

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River Seille – Cuisery and Louhans

River Seille – Cuisery and Louhans

On the Saone - Chalon to Macon and back - River Seille Saturday 1 to Tuesday 18 July - Part 5 We had been told by quite a few boaters that the River Seille up to Louhans was lovely - and so it proved to be. The river is quite small and narrow, and also quite shallow...

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On the Saone River – Macon

On the Saone River – Macon

On the Saone - Chalon to Macon and back. Saturday 1 to Tuesday 18 July - Part 3 Macon My memories of Macon are somewhat mixed. I was somewhat prepared having read up in the waterway guide that the marina was not that close to the town, and that the town moorings were...

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On the Saone – Tournus

On the Saone – Tournus

On the Saone - Chalon to Macon and back Saturday 1 to Tuesday 18 July - Part 2 Tournus Tournus (pronounced Tour-noo) was a delight! We called in there twice, on the way down to Macon and again on the way back up the Saone. The mooring was a floating jetty that could...

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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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