Bartimaeus

This morning started with rain as forecast.  We sat it out hoping the promise of better weather in the afternoon was also accurate.  I spent some of the time trying to work out how to plot our travels on the map.  Bartimaeus records her current position several times a minute and uploads the data to the cloud. I can collect the data and process it myself.

By experiment, displaying all the data for a month on the web map is cumbersome and slow.  So I set about trying to filter it.  First I tried rounding the locations to about the length of a boat.  Any further precision is certainly spurious. I then dropped all repeat positions – Bartimaeus sits still the majority of the time, and the speed limit is about 5 boat lengths a minute.  This produced a reasonable track.  There are some odd dithers at our overnight moorings.  Another time I will try to work out if I can filter those out too.

Before we set off I reversed back about six boat lengths to the water point we passed last night. I love the manoeuvrability of this boat!   No need to fret about water again for a few more days.  We set off after lunch in gradually improving weather.  The Macclesfield Canal is beautifully rural with frequent views over the Cheshire Plain and a fleeting glimpse of Joddrel Bank.   We arrived at Congleton mid-afternoon and went for a little explore.

We followed the signs to one or two places, but didn’t find anything open.  The pedestrianised centre is very pleasant, though we didn’t stop at any of the cafes.  Chinese take-aways were common, and smelt delicious. We moved on to another rural overnight mooring so as to be a little nearer the Bosley Locks.  The locks are only open in the morning, so tomorrow we’ve decided we will do them even if it is raining, rather than be delayed by a further day.