Winter continues to hold us in its grips but thoughts of spring are in our thoughts.
With this are the planning of our cruising dreams for this season.
Ownashare are busy with the final preparations for our open days this month when we look forward to welcoming new shared owners to our syndicate families.
This year we have planned to make all of our boats available on these two days.
Each marina will have boats with shares for sale available to view with an Ownashare team member available to discuss your requirements.

The cooler days have arrived and sitting in front of a lovely warm fire is very appealing.
Do remember to keep a check on the plate in the top of your fire box.
Soot can build up here and cause a blockage of the flue leading to carbon monoxide entering the cabin.
Please refer to your stoves manual for advice or ask your engineer.

Enjoy those cosy evenings in front of a lovely warm stove and savour the colourful autumn cruising.

The Caledonian Canal, engineered by Thomas Telford, was built between 1803 and 1822, linking Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east along the Great Gen. It comprises 22 miles of excavated canal and 38 miles of loch – Lochs Locky, Oich, Ness and Dochfour. It was sized to enable 32-gun frigates to cross the country while avoiding the hazards of the Pentland Firth and the North Atlantic.

The cruising season is in full swing.
Our canals remain a haven of England of yester year.
People have time to chat and the schedules of our week are downsized to a former era.
When our trip of 70 miles is planned to be achieved in a week or more....
If we venture onto the bank we marvel at the speed of the traffic!
During those times when we need to stop and wait why not enjoy the novelty of meeting new people and chatting about our love of the canals.

Summer has officially arrived.
With it the prospect of long summer cruising hours and the planning of our main holidays.
The canals offer a respite from our busy frantic lives.
Just cruising at between 2 and 4 miles per hour enables us all to enjoy the beauty of nature.
We can stop and listen to the bird song.
Just notice flora and fauna that eludes us during our normal lives.
The ebb and flow of the day can be appreciated.
The canals give us back our connection with the natural world and helps to calm our minds and sooth our souls.
Enjoy!

What a fantastic start to the summer.

Ownashare joined the three other management companies in running a joint Boat Share Show at Braunston over the weekend of the 12th and 13th of April.

The event was well attended and Ownashare owners and staff greatly enjoyed welcoming prospective owners aboard 4 of our syndicate owned boats during the weekend.

It is always a great pleasure to meet up with our syndicate owners and enjoy some fun and laughter, even during the out of show hours.

April has arrived and the land is fast awakening and the boaters are now out enjoying the spring.

Now is the time to dust off the boating clothes and the walking boots and make a bee line for the nearest towpath.

Even if you are unable to take a boat out the peace and tranquility is still available on the towpath at no charge.

I do hope you have enjoyed the lovely boating program "Grand canal journeys" with Timothy West and Prunella Scales.

This wonderful program was so true to the canal spirit and was a great antidote to the usual TV documentaries.

"Feed the birds tuppence a bag"
It is at this time of year the birds enjoy fat balls, nuts and seeds and although it costs a great deal more than tuppence (two old pennies) it is well worth the expense and effort.

If afloat or on dry land you can be well rewarded for your thoughtfulness with wonderful close up sightings of birds.

If you are uncertain what food to provide try look at http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/

The nights are fast drawing in and cruising hours are restricted. We have been busy preparing our managed boats for their annual preventative maintainance. Several syndicates have already moved marinas ready for their 2014 cruising season and are looking forward to new cruising areas.
Just a gentle re byminder about leaves around the propeller during autumn.

Here we are entering the season of mists and fantastic autumn colours.

As always at this time of year I like to remind us all of the leaf fall effect on propulsion.

If your revs are increasing and the boat speed is decreasing try placing the morse controller in neural and glide for a moment to allow the leaves to fall away from the propeller.

If this does not work try a short burst of reverse thrust.

The main thoughts in October are focused towards the building excitement of "Heartsease" launch.