How do you follow the lovely story of "the ships cat"
Ownashare are busily preparing for the Middlewich show.
This could not take place without our wonderful owners who give up their precious holiday to show their boat.
I do hope you will be able to join us all on Saturday and Sunday 5th and 6th September.

Rowan the ship’s cat
She’s never been brave enough to leave the boat before, but after some careful investigation she hopped off this time.
She got too confident though. On the Tuesday we were supposed to be starting to head back towards the marina - 3 days sailing away - but she hopped off at 07:50 and didn’t come back until 18:50.

HOT, HOT and HOT
We have started July with a heatwave and umbrellas are needed to protect us from the sun.
Are we, the British ever happy with our weather?
What would we talk about if it was predictable?
The chat at the lock is usually started with the weather closely followed by our trip and experiences.
Long may we have such changeable conditions, it is what makes the UK such an interesting place to live with wonderful contrasts in nature, flora and fauna.

June provides us with a great opportunity to meet everyone with an interest in the canals at our Summer Event at Fradley Junction DE13 7DE on the 20th & 21st June 2015 between 10am and 4pm
For the first time we are teaming up with Fradley Marine who have a dry dock and all the requirements for every boat owners needs.
Also in attendance will be local hire company Drayton Narrowboat hire who offer dayboat hire to fully equipped luxury holiday hire boats.

May begins the summer cruising season and the countryside has changed from grey skeletons for trees and bushes to a soft cascade of greens.
During our last trip out in April it was amazing to see the wild flowers, blossom,butterflies and birds.
The early summertime can boast the most spectacular colours and is a lovely time to cruise before the business of the main holiday season.
Ownashare are planning on open day next month and hope to welcome many of you to Fradley Junction in Staffordshire.

Easter is fast approaching and with it the start of the main cruising season.
We have had the solar eclipse and the large moon in the last few weeks and now come the April showers.
Writing this on the last days of March I am looking out at a lovely sunny day which gives us the promise of spring.
Looking along the hedgerows the buds are bursting the black thorn and almond blossom are providing cascades of pink and white.
Primroses and daffodils provide the splash of lemons and bright yellows.

Spring feels as if it has arrived and the number of boats cruising are slowing increasing.
It is lovely to see the signs of spring and with it the promise of new growth and renewed life.
Ownashare are at the beginning of some exciting changes.
Please watch our newsletters for further details throughout March and April.

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.