On Schedule !

1 May 2011

Target: Woodlesford, Lock 5, 7 hours 24 minutes cruising, 9.54 miles, 17 locks
Actual: Stainforth, 4 hours 55 minutes cruising

With a day to kill to suit the tide times on the Trent, we had negotiated a late start on Sunday morning, 9am cast off. However, we'd had a slightly disturbed night, the first for some while and got up not long after 7am. The sun was still shining in a cloud free sky. The wind that had died down a bit on Saturday evening had not increased in strength when we got up. It was a different story later in the day!

M had showed us up on Saturday evening by washing Karen's roof so we decided we'd play catch up on Sunday morning and wash our roof. M then decided to wash first one side and then the other side of Karen. We finished our roof and then decided to wash the port side which was against the towpath, leaving the starboard side until we were moored with that against the towpath.

H set off looking for a post box, couldn't initially find one, found a shop instead and bought some sausages intent on making toad-in-the-hole for our evening meal only to realise when she got back to the boat that we'd got no eggs for the batter! She found an alternative post box, posted her cards and then as she returned to the boat she discovered the almost hidden post box nearer to the canal that she'd originally intended to use.

We finished washing the boat a little after 9am and then decided to have a cup of tea before we set off. We'd seen a couple of boats pass us heading back towards Leeds. We finally moved away from Whitley Bridge at 9.40am for what we intended would be a relatively short run to Pollington Lock where we'd stop for water. Our journey there went as planned with the only distinguishing factor being that by then we'd seen three power stations and before we moored at the end of our relatively short day's cruising we'd have seen at least another.

We took on water from a slow tap and as M wanted to top up Karen's tank we were there for all but an hour. We filled both tanks using our hose which we discovered was devoid of the tap adaptor which R thinks got left behind on Saturday when we made the somewhat hurried departure from the last water point that we visited. Fortunately we had another which we used instead.

Pacing ourselves to kill time we only planned to cruise for another hour before stopping for lunch. The wind on the Aire and Calder canal was almost continually in our faces so it was with relief that we turned onto the New Junction canal where the wind was almost behind us.

A kindly boater, moored at the first lift bridge taking water opened that bridge for us as there wouldn't have been room for us on the landing with his boat there as well. BW opened the next bridge for us having opened and then closed it as we approached - there had been a boat waiting there for forty five minutes, unable to operate the bridge and BW had been called out to fix the problem, which they did and the opening and closing was testing the fix.

The boat that had been waiting at the bridge got to the next lock first and managed to stop in the mid position on the lock landing which with the wind as it was prevented either of our boats from pulling in so the other boat's crew had to work the lock for all three boats.

We moored just after the lock landing below the lock and stayed there for just over an hour before setting off again, following another narrowboat that had just worked through the lock. That boat worked the next lift bridge for all three boats, we then reciprocated by working the bridge after that. The wind didn't help get H back on board for R pulled over to the landing on the left beyond the bridge and the wind blew him across the navigation before H could get back on. He then got stuck on some mud before managing to pull away.

As he did so a widebeam boat that had only just passed through the next swing bridge decided to turn around in front of us and retrace their steps. Fortunately R just managed to keep moving enough to avoid being blown into the bank again and then overtook the widebeam boat before both boats worked through the swing bridge which had remained open for us.

There was an aqueduct beyond the bridge, the wall of which on one side was at water level. As a result the wind was whisking up a spray which then promptly blew across the aqueduct and, as we passed, blew all over the side of the boat that we'd cleaned just a few hours earlier! We were not amused.

A little further south and we turned almost back on ourselves again, onto the Stainforth & Keadby canal where we soon worked through the first lock. Shortly after we worked through another swing bridge which H operated for both boats, M passing through first. R pulled over to the right to allow H to board and the wind whipped the front straight across the canal so R moved the rest of the boat over there for H to embark.

We cruised on to Stainforth where our first attempt to moor was aborted because the wall against which we tried to moor was too high and liable to damage our boats. The second attempt, a few hundred metres further along was more successful save that as R went to moor the wind whipped the front across the canal again so he turned the boat, retraced his steps a few yards, turned in the entrance to a marina and managed to get into the bank at the second attempt thanks to some assistance from another boater who had appeared and offered to hold a rope until we could get some stakes in the ground.

We all had a cup of tea on our boat during which we agreed on a 9.30am start on Monday and then M returned to his boat. R called the family whilst H cooked the evening meal and then having watched a couple of television programs out came the laptop for this page to be written up, checked and uploaded.

2 May 2011

Target: Crowcroft bridge, 7 hours 37 minutes cruising, 19.84 miles, 7 locks
Actual: Keadby Lock, 4 hours 25 minutes cruising. We're still 1½ days ahead of our base schedule.

We took full advantage of the planned later start on Monday, not getting up until after 8am and even stretching to R having is hair cut (in the hope that his slightly ill-fitting cap might stay on his head with a bit more certainty with the seemingly constant head wind that were continually experiencing).

We were ready to move just before 9.30am and stuck our heads out of our boat at almost the same time as M did likewise on his. A quick thumbs up and we were untying and setting off. The wind, which had dropped overnight soon picked up again and was the main topic of conversation throughout the day.

We were at the marina at Thorne a few minutes before 10am and by the time we'd tied up and walked to the office it had been open for a few minutes. We requested a pump out for us and fuel for both boats and by the time that R was back on his boat the pump out machine was being readied. Thirty minutes and a few hundred pounds (between the two boats) later and we were casting off again for what turned out to be a short move to the local visitor moorings where we stopped for the inevitable cup of tea.

We arrived a few moments after four narrowboats appeared to leave the same moorings heading towards us, so we slid into the limited space that they had vacated. Suitably refreshed we were on our way again passing what was to be the last boat that we'd see moving until after we'd moored up, a boat with a steerer who called across to us that they were glad that they weren't the only fools to be out in the wind (and they had the wind behind them).

Our next bridge was opened by a friendly boater who was approaching along the towpath. They offered to help to avoid us having to stop to pick up crew after working the bridge - they hadn't quite got to the bridge before we stopped to let H disembark, so they took over from her when they arrived and H rejoined the boat before the bridge was opened.

There isn't a lot to be said about the rest of the day except that it was windy and cooler than recently. Virtually every bridge was either a lift or a swing bridge so both boats stopped, both crews made sure the bridge would open, both boats passed through and stopped again so that both crews could assist in closing the bridge before setting off again.

The canal looked clean and deep so we didn't envisage any problems when it came to stopping for lunch. How wrong we were. We'd stopped to work through Cock o'Moor swing bridge and decided that the trees either side of the canal beyond the bridge might afford us some shelter over lunch. Alas, when we headed for the bank just a few yards from the bridge we were soon aground. M moved a little way further along and managed to get Karen's bow into the bank and the stern close enough to be acceptable. By this time we had managed to remove ourselves from the cause of our grounding and moved closer to Karen and we too managed to get our bow into the bank but our stern remained resolutely in mid channel although with a bit of help from H and M now on the towpath R was able to secure the stern to avoid any further need for movement.

We had an hour for lunch as befits people trying to waste time. Then we set off again, destination Keadby and, eventually, the tidal River Trent. This stretch of water was largely straight and we were cruising into a head wind. We negotiated the one swing bridge before Crowle and then, just before Keadby, the Vazon swing bridge. This bridge is adjacent to the sliding railway bridge and as soon as we started working the swing bridge the signalman slid the railway bridge so that we could pass. With both bridges closed and H back on board, we carried on to Keadby - M having carried on instead of waiting with us. He found the mooring and a few minutes later we moored alongside his boat.

We walked to the river - it was big/wide and when we looked, quite low. We reported to the lock keeper and confirmed our desire to leave on the early morning tide. We then returned to our boat for a cup of tea before retracing our steps to the lock to see two narrowboats drop down onto the river and turn southwards - the way we'd be going just twelve hours later. One of the boats was a BW work boat with a crew that had never been on a river before. This boat had followed us first thing in the morning and had passed us whilst we were taking fuel.

These two boats were delayed by a barge that was passing, also heading south. The barge was followed by a cruiser that passed the lock, turned and entered the lock after the narrowboats had left. This boat then turned and moored up in front of us. The crew decamped into a car, as far as we could tell leaving their boat unattended on the limited lock moorings.

We washed down the side of the boat that hadn't been cleaned a few days before and also wiped over the side that had been attacked by the spray from the aqueduct on Sunday. We all ate on our boat and then discussed the options for Tuesday, whether we would stop at Torksey or continue through to Cromwell. We agreed to make that decision in the morning depending on our progress relative to the tide and on the weather.

We watched a couple of television programmes, made some final preparations for the next day's trip - like getting the anchor and life jackets out - and then whilst H washed up R wrote up these notes which he then uploaded on what was the weakest signal of any duration on the dongle so far in the trip.

The lock keeper starts work at 6am on Tuesday, the high tide is at 8.15am and we've been told that we'll be away first thing (presumably as soon as the lock keeper has arrived). We'd set the alarm for 4.45am to be sure that we were ready.

3 May 2011

Target: Maud's Swing Bridge, 6 hours 35 minutes cruising, 14.53 miles, 3 locks
Actual: Newark, 8 hours 20 minutes cruising. Once again we're over 2 days ahead of our base schedule.

We didn't really need the alarm on Tuesday morning. R was awake around 3.30am and H by about 4am. However, we lay in bed until the alarm went off and then got up and had breakfast. Surprisingly M walked past our boat around 5.30am, not bad for someone who said they wouldn't get up until that time.

A short while later he came back to report that there was a big freighter moored just outside the lock and another at the wharf a little further away from the lock, near the bridge shown in yesterday's last picture. He didn't visit the lock keeper, who wasn't due on duty for another thirty minutes.

We busied ourselves with our final preparations, making sure that the anchor was accessible, that we had the charts for the river and had our buoyancy aids on. With everything ready R walked to the control tower and was advised by the lock keeper that all was in order for us to go. He returned to his boat, signalled to M that we could move, started his engine and moved forward to wait for the lock keeper to set the lock and then open the swing bridge. Soon we were in the lock and the top gates were being closed behind us. The paddles were opened and the water started to drain. A few moments later the lock keeper opened the outer gates - the ones that stop the river water flooding back into the canal if river levels rise astronomically. We could see the river through the small gap between the inner bottom gates as the last of the water drained from the chamber. To say it was moving noticeably was an understatement. In a few minutes we'd be out there.

At 6.20am the bottom gates of the lock opened and M signalled to R to leave first. The front of the bow of the freighter on the mooring outside the lock soon turned into the rest of the freighter and despite trying to keep a straight course as we left the lock to ensure that we cleared the freighter, the river current started to sweep our boat towards the freighter. R applied a little more power and was soon out onto the open river, clear of both lock and freighter.

Monday's wind had dropped and the lively water level were replaced with a river that was almost like a sheet of floating ice (albeit, relatively fast moving). We were soon motoring along watching the river move the same way as us. M had set up his new 'phone to tell us how fast we were moving over land. Initially he clocked us at a little over 10mph - the normal canal maximum is 4mph, but this was river. By the time we arrived at Cromwell lock, the end of the tidal section, some six hours later, the speed was down to just over 4mph as we were in slack water, with the tide not really going in or out.

There is little to report about the next six hours for R was too busy concentrating on handling the boat. The wind gradually increased although not as strongly as on Tuesday. However, the temperature felt not a lot warmer until the sun gained some strength. Unfortunately it kept disappearing behind clouds, which defeated the object.

We held our respective engine speeds for most of the journey although M, whose boat has a more powerful engine, did blow the cobwebs out of it for a short while. Some of the corners are quite tight and the boat did take exception if we took them too near to the inside of the bend. We sneaked a cup of tea around 8am and when the tide slackened M requested that we make him one, which we did. R eased off the power, allowed M to come alongside for H to pass the warm drink to M, who then eased of the power whilst we pulled away again.

We had arranged to converse on a specific radio frequency but for some reason were unable to do so we had to rely on the occasional hand-signal. One of these, together with a sounding of Karen,s horn alerted R to the fact that we were swiftly being overhauled by a barge that was making far more knots that we were. We kept to the outside of the channel and the barge passed both of our boats without incident.

We eventually saw, away in the distance, the small narrowboat that had set out from Keadby on Monday evening and had stopped overnight at West Stockwith. They'd apparently set off again at 7.20am on Tuesday and we must have eventually overtaken them around 11am. Two narrowboats set off from Torksey heading north as we approached and we eventually overtook another one about thirty minutes before we got to Cromwell, just before we passed a loaded gravel barge that had just set off from the loading wharf heading north.

A few minutes later a hand signal from M alerted R to an empty barge that was attempting to turn round to go back to the wharf to load. They were having a problem in turning probably because the tide hadn't quite started to ebb and the wind was fighting against what flow there was. We stood by for several minutes and were soon joined by the two boats that we'd overtaken earlier. Eventually the barge gave up, straightened up and signalled us to pass. All four boats did so and we left the barge about to have a second attempt at turning.

This brief stoppage put us in grave danger of arriving at Cromwell lock during their advertised lunch closure. However, as the lock hove into view we were greeted by a green light so we were able to go straight in. We made fast against the wires in the lock wall and waited for the other two boats to join us. Soon the lock gates behind us were closed, the paddles at the top of the lock were opened and our latest tidal river escapade was over.

One of the four boats in the lock continued onward, the other three moored at the top of the lock for lunch. We took the opportunity to top up with water from the adjacent tap whilst we were stopped. The third boat set off whilst we were jointly discussing our options. We decided to carry on to Newark, where we would moor overnight in the centre of town so that we could top up with stores before setting off again on Wednesday.

The locks on the non tidal part of the river are all manned during the day (with boaters able to operate the locks themselves out of hours). The keeper at the first lock saw us approach, turned the lock for us and then worked us through the lock. We moored within five minutes of leaving the lock and R & M immediately set off to investigate an alternative mooring which they soon discounted when they discovered that the fair was in the nearby park. We checked out the local supermarkets on the way back to the boat where we had a cup of tea.

H then headed for the shops whilst R dozed, to be woken by M who informed him of some news from the boatyard. We ate independently and then R fired up the laptop whilst H watched television. R had earlier spent nearly an hour trying to find a digital television signal and when he couldn't thought that he'd check for an analogue signal and immediately had success! And we thought that analogue signals had been switched off almost everywhere. Obviously not.

We had a relatively early night after the day's excitement (and the thought of shopping before we departed on Wednesday).

4 May 2011

Target: Morton (tidal River Trent), 7 hours 39 minutes cruising, 23.04 miles, 1 lock
Actual: Hazelford Lock (non-tidal River Trent), 2 hours 55 minutes cruising.

When H got back to the boat on Tuesday evening she said that she'd like time on Wednesday to wander around the town. This wasn't a problem as we were ahead of the base schedule so when M appeared for the morning's run to the shops he expressed agreement to the extended stop. We did the grocery shopping first, returned to the boat for a cup of tea and then set out to do a basic exploration of Newark.

We skipped the castle, concentrating more on the shops and church although we did skirt the market. The town seems to have escaped the recent demise of many town centres with the likes of butchers and bakers still evident. The church is also amazing (to someone like R who doesn't make a habit of investigating their inner parts). There were several altars and organs and numerous chapels within a building that is several centuries old.

We were back on our boats a few minutes after midday and opted for an early and extended lunch. We eventually moved off at 1.30pm and were in the town lock within a matter of moments having been able to advise the lock keeper of our imminent arrival over the radio so that he had the gates open for us. We were joined in the lock by a cruiser that had been moored nearby.

We were soon through the lock and making our way somewhat sedately to Hazelford lock where we planned to spend the night. We passed a few isolated boats, mostly cruisers, heading towards Newark during the eight mile run. The cruiser that had shared the Town lock with us overtook us as soon as the river conditions permitted. As a result he arrived at Hazelford lock about 15 minutes before us and advised the lock keeper there that we were following him.

We then called the lock keeper and told him where we were and were asked to speed up a bit to avoid keeping the cruiser waiting too long for we were to join him in the lock. Imagine our surprise when we arrived at the lock to find the cruiser, which we expected to be in the lock, waiting outside with the bottom gates closed.

We were also told by the lock keeper to wait outside as there had been a power failure and the lock couldn't be operated. M and R moored their boats alongside each other - in the only available space - and then R went and spoke to the keeper. Apparently some re-wiring was being carried out and as the keeper was about to set the lock for us the whole system failed although he didn't think the two were related.

We were advised to return to our boats and have a cup of tea as we weren't going anywhere for at least thirty minutes. We'd just done so and H had just made the tea when the keeper called us over the radio and said that we were to be worked through the lock manually. We untied and one by one entered the lock through the only gate that could be opened, secured our boats and signalled that we were ready for the lock to be filled.

To be honest we didn't notice anything unusual save that the electricians were walking around the lock manually working gates and paddles. Eventually one top gate was opened and we all left the lock, which was then closed and declared a failure, unable to be used by anyone at least until some time on Thursday.

We moored just above the lock on the 48 hour mooring and had the delayed afternoon cuppa sitting on a bench atop the lock cut wall. Afterwards we managed to get some digital television channels but none of the regular ones so we switched back to analogue and got a reasonable signal. M, in contrast, with a omni-directional antenna managed to get a full house of digital signals.

We all ate on our boat, had our customary chat afterwards and then R fired up the laptop to check mail, write up, check and upload this page. We were heading for bed shortly after 10pm with the intention of moving off again at 8.30am on Thursday heading for an afternoon (and possibly and overnight stay) in Nottingham.

5 May 2011

Target: Cromwell lock (tidal River Trent), 7 hours 7 minutes cruising, 28.27 miles, 0 locks
Actual: Nottingham, Castle Marina (non-tidal River Trent), 5 hours 15 minutes cruising.

We hadn't bargained on the water flowing over the adjacent weir making so much noise when we stopped at Hazelford lock on Wednesday night. It wasn't too noticeable when we moored but by the time we thought about retiring, when most other noise has all but ceased, we were certainly aware of the dull thunderous roar. Even with all the windows closed we could still hear it through the open ventilators. Luckily we were too tired to worry about it and despite going to bed a little later than intended, we were soon asleep. What's more, we slept well and until after 6am.

With an agreed start time of 8.30am, for some reason we got up around 7am! We were ready soon after 8am and M appeared at the rear of his boat shortly after. Despite thinking that we'd move off promptly, we didn't actually set off until 8.25am. We made our way to Gunthorpe Lock where we arrived a few minutes before the lock keeper was due on duty so we waited in mid channel as there were people walking around the lock. Soon the gates opened, the light turned green and we slid into the chamber.

We'd passed a boat just before we arrived at the lock and were able to call across to advise them that Hazelford Lock was closed. By their response they were not aware of this.

The next lock is Stoke lock and we made good time heading in that direction, having picked up a third boat in our convoy as we left Gunthorpe lock. This was the cruiser that we'd shared Hazelford lock with on Wednesday afternoon. R heard a boat call Stoke lock on the radio without luck. The same boat was then advised by Holme lock that Stoke lock was unmanned. As we were still a couple of miles away we didn't bother to call and just carried on heading to the lock content that we'd have to work the lock ourselves.

We tied up on the wall below the lock and when we mounted the steps to the control panel found the other boat just starting to rise up in the lock. This was the boat that R had heard over the radio - they'd been delayed entering the lock by a narrowboat that had started filling the lock (to drop down in it) just as they arrived. We'd have been in the lock with them if we'd called to let them know we were behind them.

We waited whilst they worked through the lock (and agreed to wait for us at the next lock). We inadvertently slowed them down when we put our key into the bottom end control panel whilst they had their key in the other panel. Apparently both panels are interlocked and this caused the top paddles to close. We quickly removed our key when this was pointed out to us and they resumed filling the lock.

We shut the top gates for them and soon had the lock drained for us to use. We tied our two boats together so that M and R could take holding ropes at each end of the boats whilst H worked the controls to fill the lock.

The cruiser left first as we had to wait for H to rejoin our boat after closing the gate. We stayed breasted up whilst we all enjoyed a cup of tea and then Karen, which has a bigger engine than our boat, took off after the cruiser to make sure that the lock was saved for all three boats. We needn't have worried as the initial boat was only just entering the lock as we approached and we slid into the lock behind Karen without really delaying anyone.

We don't know if it is normal or whether it was because Karen was at the head of the lock held only by a single rope but the lock took an age to fill - we must have been in the chamber for about fifteen minutes. The other two boats were stopping near the top of the lock so we left first, initially intending to carry on into Nottingham but when M saw a suitable stopping spot he pulled over (and we followed), stopping for lunch.

After lunch we took a closer look at the water sports centre on the opposite side of the bank against which we were moored. We'd just decided to move off again when we had to wait for a narrowboat that was just leaving the lock and heading the same way as us. We'd already overtaken this boat on the tidal part of the river, followed them into Newark after they'd passed us when we were moored and we'd apparently passed them at Gunthorpe lock earlier in the day whilst they were moored.

Not wishing to have to follow them through the next lock, which we had to work ourselves, both R and M upped their speed slightly. We were soon passed this boat and had prepared the next lock and were entering it before they arrived. Their crew came and helped us as we left the lock and told us that they were stopping for lunch at the top of the lock.

We carried on through the next lock, stopped on the moorings outside the supermarket and had a cup of tea before venturing forth to explore Nottingham. We were just leaving our boats when the boat that we'd overtaken came past. We wandered around the town stopping from time to time to look at various buildings or shops, returning to our boats at 5pm.

We ate independently and then watched some television before the usual evening ritual of writing up the day's tale on this page, checking it and uploading it, tasks that were accomplished much earlier than normal and to the occasional sound of rain, the first that we (and many others) had seen for many a day.

6 May 2011

Target: Stoke Bardolph, 7 hours 15 minutes cruising, 22.32 miles, 5 locks
Actual: Miller's Bridge, Loughborough, bridge, 7 hours 5 minutes cruising.

We had an undisturbed night, although we were close to a road. We woke at 5.50am and put the boiler on so that we had hot water for our showers a little later. We were well surprised when the thermostat didn't trip the boiler and, in fact, it didn't trip the boiler until after R had had his shower some two hours later and that despite the fact that we'd moored up before 3pm on Thursday.

We'd agreed an 8am start and at 7.55am H set out for the adjacent Sainsbury's to dispose of our collection of recycling. A few seconds later M was untying his boat and saying that he'd potter along until we joined him. What neither R or M realised was that H had also taken money with her and had decided to visit the inside of the store despite having said more than once in the previous fifteen hours that there was nothing she/we needed. She eventually returned to the boat some twenty five minutes after departing on what should have been no more than a five minute mission!

We eventually caught up with M at the end of the Beeston Cut where the lock was being worked by BW as they happened to be in the area. From there we ventured out onto the Trent again for what was to be the final stretch of this river, to Cranfleet lock.

We arrived there as two boats were in the final stages of preparing the lock for their downward passage - we were heading up in the lock - so we had to wait for them to pass through the lock. We were looking for the water tap which the guide suggested was below the lock when it was actually at the top of the lock.

We duly vacated the lock and once the now waiting boat had moved into the chamber we were able to moor up at the water tap. We'd barely completed this manoeuvre when we were advised by some locals that the tap was slow and that we'd be better off using the tap at the junction just a few hundred yards ahead. As R had made the tea we passed M's cup across to him (together with the cake that H had bought for him earlier) and then moved to the suggested tap where we stopped for over thirty minutes to top up the tanks on both boats - out tank is smaller than Rachel's and with two people on board plus the washing machine, we need to fill up more often than M.

We started to see more boats from here onwards, many leaving the River Soar, the route we were about to take. We also started to see a lot of planes heading for East Midlands airport. We have yet to decide whether the ten plus DHL labelled planes were the same plane repeatedly trying to land or whether there are in fact that number of planes owned by the company. We won't go into the discussions R had wondering why all these planes were landing at the same place at that time of day.

We stopped for lunch at Kegworth New Lock having had to wait for a pair of boats to vacate the lock and then leaving the lock for a further boat that arrived just as the other two disappeared from view.

The River Soar is much narrower than the River Trent. We showed our respect for this by not travelling as fast as we had done on the Trent, not that we were able to anyway! There was also much more traffic on this river than we'd seen on the Trent and whilst we passed some boats between locks we were frequently arriving at locks just as they were being vacated by other boats and then we'd vacate the lock with more boats waiting to use them.

We stopped in Loughborough for our afternoon cup of tea and then moved just out of town to stop for the night. We'd exchanged several text messages with our daughter who was planning to visit us on Saturday for a meal and to visit a local attraction. That exchange continued for a fair while and finally ended when we agreed to meet her at Mountsorrel and strike out from there.

Once again we all ate on our boat and had some highly detailed discussions about many things afterwards. R fired up the laptop after M had returned to his boat, wrote up the day's story, checked it and then uploaded it via a surprisingly good signal on the dongle given that we were some distance from the town.

7 May 2011

Target: Redhill Marine, 7 hours 13 minutes cruising, 18.26 miles, 8 locks
Actual: Mountsorrel, (Just) 1 hour 50 minutes cruising!

The rain woke R a couple of times during the night although he did manage to go back to sleep afterwards. Then an inconsiderate boater passed at 6.30am (they were inconsiderate because of the speed at which they passed us) and for some unexplained reason R decided to get up at 6.45am despite previously agreeing that we'd not start off until 8.30am.

As we'd finished breakfast not long after 7.45am we decided to make the most of the spare time and wash the roof of the boat. We took one side each and had more or less finished when M popped out of his boat, disposed of the ash from his fire in the hedge and cast off. We were right behind him, just a few seconds later.

The day's first lock was a stop lock, with both gates open. Then it was Barrow Deep Lock, which we had to turn in our favour before we could use it. From there the navigation widened slightly for several hundred yards before reducing in both width and straightness, to the extent that it resembled a far more rustic canal. M had stopped at Barrow to empty his toilet and was some way behind us by the time he restarted. The twisting nature of the canal was such that he felt obliged to check with us (as we have the cruising guide) that he was still on the navigation and not heading up a dead end somewhere.

We arrived at Mountsorrel lock and had to turn that in our favour as well. We worked through the lock at the same time as a member of the crew of a boat moored above the lock (on the visitor moorings) returned from the local shop with some supplies. They disappeared into their boat quite promptly because the drizzle that had been falling for a while was gradually getting much heavier. Nonetheless R decided that this boat would be moving soon - a lucky situation because there is only space for two boats on the visitor mooring and with one boat there already our two boats would need to moor alongside each other.

On leaving the lock we'd moved forward and moored behind the other boat with us against the towpath and M on the outside. Once moored, and whilst we waited for daughter, we made and drank a cup of tea. During this time the rain stopped and the boat in front decided to set off so M popped out and moved his boat into the vacant spot before anyone else had a chance to take the space. Unfortunately the rain had started again by this time so M got slightly damp.

M returned to his boat after tea and R fired up the computer to find our more details about the Great Central Railway, the chosen destination for our adventure with daughter in her car. H also disappeared in the general direction of the local shop to top up on a few supplies as we didn't plan to be near any shops until Tuesday.

Daughter arrived just before midday and joined us for a light snack then, at about 1pm we set off (with M) to visit and travel on the railway. We arrived as one train was leaving, bought our tickets and then had a look around before catching the next train from Rothley to Leicester North. We stayed on the same train for the journey back to Loughborough where we had a look around before striking out towards the town. Alas, the time spent in and around the station had eaten into the time to look around the town and having walked for almost fifteen minutes we decided that we'd only just make the main part of town before we had to turn back so we turned around there and then, returned to the station, had a cup of tea on the platform and caught the last train back to Rothley.

We passed an hour on our boat generally chatting and then decamped to the pub alongside the lock for a meal. Daughter departed straight from the pub and we went back to our boats where R fired up the computer and H watched some television. We didn't plan to be too late going to bed as we didn't want to stop in Leicester on Sunday and needed an early start to enable us to get to the other side of the place by the end of the day.

8 May 2011

Target: Cossington Lock 48, 7 hours 3 minutes cruising, 15.94 miles, 10 locks
Actual: Double Rail Lock, 8 hours 25 minutes cruising.

After so many dry days we didn't mind the thought of Saturday night's rain until we woke several times during the night because of the noise of it hitting the boat's roof. The amount brought the water levels up in the River Soar which, at one time were almost in the red (meaning that we should stop cruising and wait for the levels to drop).

We'd already outlined our plan for Sunday. Needless to say a passing boat at 6.30am helped to ensure that we were awake in time and the Mikron theatre boat that moored behind us whilst we were away on Saturday also decided to depart before we were up although R didn't hear them go because he was in the shower at the time.

We set off at 7.50am and apart from the clouds that were scooting across the sky saw precious little else moving. The earlier boat had set the first few locks for us and had obligingly (for us) left the bottom gates open so that we were able to go straight in to each lock and not have to stop outside to drop a crew member off to open a gate beforehand.

We stopped on the northern outskirts of Leicester, near the National Space Centre, around 11am for a cup of tea. We had some difficulty in driving the stakes home as the towpath edge was lined with stones with a tarmac surface adjacent. Luckily we could just get a stake in without damaging the tarmac where two stones joined.

We hadn't been stopped many minutes when we had the only rain shower of the day. It didn't come to much, just a few spots on the windows. We thought that we were going to get drenched several times when it came over black but we managed to avoid it. The wind was quite cool and although R tried to dispense with his coat he soon put it back on again.

We saw one boat after an hour or so and then had to wait at one lock for a pair of boats to drop down through another lock. We were lucky with a few more locks but then started to find locks against us and, in some cases, with top gates open and/or water weiring over the top gates.

The day's lunch stop was at Aylestone Mill lock where we moored breasted up at the end of the lock landing and the afternoon's tea break was at Dunn's Lock near Blaby. We had intended to stop for the night at Kilby Bridge but stopped one lock earlier when we saw a length of piled canal bank that we could moor against. M was keen to watch the highlights of the Turkish Grand Prix and would have moved further along the canal if he hadn't got good television reception where we stopped.

R tightened the boat's stern gland when we stopped because it was allowing an increasing amount of water into the bilge.

We ate on our own boats and R both called the family and wrote up the day's tale during the evening as well as watching a bit of television.

We'd started the day on a river, cruised along canalised river stretches and plain canals during the day and seen long straight sections of waterway. However, by far the majority of what we'd cruised was meandering river (and latterly canal) which varied in width from more than adequate for two boats to pass (alongside moored craft on both sides of the waterway) to some places where it would have been difficult for two boats to pass each other. In fairness a lot of the narrowest sections could be attributed to vegetation that desperately needed cutting back to widen the navigable channel.

M's concerns over Leicester were probably a bit over cautious. There were some areas that were ripe for regeneration but most didn't look any worse than scores of other places we'd seen. True, you may not care to stop at some places overnight but we didn't get the impression that daytime mooring would be unwise. Our next major conurbation is Milton Keynes in almost a week's time and we'd have no problem mooring almost anywhere there.

9 May 2011

Target: Blaby Bridge 98, 7 hours 20 minutes cruising, 13.02 miles, 14 locks
Actual: Market Harborough, 6 hours 55 minutes cruising.

We'd not intended setting off until 8.30am on Monday as part of our slow down, trying to lose the time that we'd been accumulating (as we didn't want to get back to the boatyard before the due date). However, an early moving boat at 6.40am did nothing to help and as we were to learn later, M was already up and about when the boat went past. Whereas we had thought it was a boat heading downhill, it transpired that it was the boat that was moored just a few feet behind us which had been there when we arrived on Sunday evening and was facing the same way as us.

A further boat passed, this time actually heading downhill, not too long before we decided to move off, just after 8am. The sky was dotted with odd clouds, it was cool and at that time not too windy (something that changed later in the day. We managed to pass another boat before we got to our first lock, which H had walked forward to set. We decided that both downhill boats (plus two more that were moving when we arrived there) had started from Kilby Bridge as there were only a few vacant slots suggesting that we did the right thing by stopping short of the place on Sunday.

Apart from these boats we hardly saw a soul for the rest of the morning. We even managed to tie the two boats together to work through a few consecutive locks although that idea was terminated when we encountered first one and then a second lock pound that was about twelve inches below the normal level meaning that we needed to follow each other along the now narrow channel.

We encountered a few more boats in the next group of locks, the last locks that we'd encounter that day. We made our way through Saddington Tunnel where we could see the boat that was preceding us southwards just disappearing around the corner at the end of the straight stretch beyond the tunnel. With no further locks and a lunch stop still to be taken we didn't need to worry as they'd be unlikely to delay us.

We had just over an hour for lunch, part of which was spent watching the antics of the lambs in the field opposite. We then set off again noting the shallow nature of various stretches of the canal. Eventually we arrived at Foxton Junction where not only did we find the expected bottom lock of the flight of ten but also two other routes where we were expecting only one. Luckily M had been this way before and was able to direct us along the one that we wanted, the other as we would see once we passed the entrance was of limited length and led to the base of the Foxton Inclined Plane, a device that did a similar job to the locks, raising or lowering boats between the canal's upper and lower levels in the area. The plane fell into disuse many years ago but work on its restoration is now under way.

The entrance to the Market Harborough branch of the canal is protected by a manually operated swing bridge which H had difficulty closing after our two boats had passed through. In the end R had to reverse our boat back to the bridge so that he could alight and give the bridge a nudge, after which H could close it without further assistance.

The arm is a little over five mile in length and we encountered a number of boats returning from Market Harborough. In fact R was fearful that they were doing so because of a lack of mooring space. Luckily his fears were unfounded when we arrived at the end of the arm and both boats turned and moored up quite easily, although separated by a boat that was already moored.

We had a delayed afternoon cup of tea and then M went off to explore the basin which he advised us had changed considerably since his first visit. We all ate on our boat, had the customary chat afterwards and then we watched a television programme on canal walks, this week's covering the Worcester to Birmingham canal, which we'd cruised eighteen months previously when we went to Birmingham via Stratford on Avon.

The latter part of the evening was spent updating this page.

On the subject of updating there are two snippets that were accidentally omitted from Sunday's write up. One concerned a swan that managed to get in front of our boat on a particularly winding bit of canal. It kept trying to fly away as we got near. Alas it couldn't quite manage it and having moved about ten yards would settle down back in the water until we approached again whereupon the same scenario would be repeated. Eventually the swan wised up to the fact that simply swimming to the bank to let us pass was the easiest option.

The second tale related to an anti-vandal lock fitted to a ground paddle at one of the latter locks of the day. H had inserted the key into the lock whereupon it had all but seized, refusing to turn either way. R administered some persuasion and managed to get the key to turn once but not enough to release it. It wasn't until M appeared with tools to try to release it that the key and lock combination decided that they'd give up peacefully, the key turned as though there was nothing amiss and H extracted it from the lock. We did managed to advise a couple of boaters that we saw later of the problem and R shouted the information to a BW worker early on Monday morning as we passed Kilby Bridge.

10 May 2011

Target: Smeeton Winding Hole, 7 hours 13 minutes cruising, 9.71 miles, 17 locks
Actual: (near) Husband Bosworth, 4 hours 25 minutes cruising.

Union Wharf at Market Harborough is a long way from the town centre and it is uphill when you're walking back to the canal with heavy bags of shopping, as we found out on Tuesday morning. We'd managed to stay in bed until after 7am and then attempted to fill the water tank whilst we had breakfast. Alas the water supply is so slow that having connected the hose to the tap and turned on it was several seconds before the flowing water appeared at the other end of the hose.

We connected the hose at 8.30am with the tank gauge showing that the tank was about 25% full. By 9am, when we disconnected the hose so that we could go shopping the content had only risen to a little over 50%.

The intention was to have a wander around the town, visit the museum and then go shopping before returning to our boats. We got as far as the town, discovered that the museum didn't open for another forty five minutes and didn't think we could amuse ourselves in the town for that long so we headed for the supermarket, did the shopping, called at the bakers afterwards and then made our way back. We put the kettle on straight away thinking that we might be on the move around 11am. However, we got so involved with our general discussions that it was 11.35am before we kicked the engines into life and set off for Foxton Junction.

A couple of boats had arrived at Union Wharf after we moored on Monday evening. One was a time share boat looking the worse for wear. That boat set out again with a different team on board whilst we were having our tea on Tuesday morning. This boat came into view as we made our way back to Foxton Junction, about thirty minutes from the junction and pulled over to allow us to pass as we were travelling faster than they were. We stopped for lunch and the time share boat eventually passed us about thirty minutes later and promptly moored up in front of us whilst we presume they had their lunch.

We started off again about twenty minutes later and made our short way to the Junction, ready to ascend the locks. We moored first and M tied up along side us. R set off to find the lock keeper and was able to return to the boats with the information that we'd be able to proceed in about twenty minutes, once the boat currently heading down through the locks had arrived at the bottom. We passed the time by dispatching H to buy a round of ice creams which we'd just about finished when it was time to move.

We started talking to an elderly gentleman whilst we were waiting. He was most interested in how we worked the boats and when M set off up the flight as the first of our two boats, this gentleman set off too. By the time that M reached halfway our interested bystander was helping open and shut gates which made things easier for M and left H to help R.

There were two lock keepers on duty, a professional and a volunteer. Both were excellent examples of their trade, being helpful and communicative without being overly so. They were a credit to BW and the locks and the surround looked and were really well kept.

We climbed through the ten locks in a little over fifty minutes. It wasn't a record but the boat that followed us up the flight was significantly slower. We moored at the top of the flight, used the tap to (quickly) fill the water tank and had a cup of tea whilst it did so. Then we set off to have a look at the Inclined Plane. We were also going to have a look at the museum but had forgotten to take any cash from the boats so didn't have the money with us to pay the entry fee so we returned to our boats.

We set off again just before 4.30pm and travelled almost to Husband Bosworth, where we moored about a mile north of the tunnel against a long straight stretch of bank. The television signal was good but the Internet was terrible so much so that R had to cancel the Windows Update because it was slowing everything else down.

We'd eaten on our own boats then H watched television whilst R used the laptop. We had a very short rain shower at one point and then within a few minutes the clouds virtually all vanished from the sky. We were about half a day ahead of our base schedule and planned to visit Welford on Wednesday to slow us down a bit further. Even with this addition and a 9am start we still looked like being ahead of ourselves by Wednesday evening.

11 May 2011

Target: Park Farm Bridge 32, 7 hours 10 minutes cruising, 14.49 miles, 10 locks
Actual: Yelvertoft, 5 hours 15 minutes cruising. This makes us a little under 2 hours - yes just hours! - ahead of the base schedule.

It had rained overnight on Tuesday as we discovered when we looked out of the window around 8am on Wednesday as there were droplets of rain on the outside of all the windows. We'd not lit the fire on Tuesday evening because it had still been warm when we went to bed. It was a different story the following morning but, by then, it was too late to have any real effect if we lit the fire then.

We pulled the pins just before 9am and set off for Welford. We saw nobody until we stuck our head in Husband Bosworth tunnel about 15 minutes later, for as we entered one end of the tunnel a boat did likewise at the other end. However, we didn't pass them until we were well over halfway through the tunnel, suggesting that they were travelling much slower than us.

We saw another boat between the tunnel and Welford Junction and a further boat just after we turned onto the arm at the junction. It was therefore quite lucky that we arrived at the arm's solitary lock when we did as a boat arrived above the lock just as we were arriving at the bottom of the lock (with the lock in our favour). We went through the lock first, then the other boat dropped down and finally M took Karen up through the lock.

We ventured to the end of the arm first to make sure that there was space to both turn and to moor. Karen followed us as soon as we conformed both. We turned and moored and within a few seconds a boat that we had crept carefully past decided to depart. At least they made room for Karen to moor right behind us.

It was 10.30am so we had a cup of tea and then went for a walk around the village, returning to our boats around noon and deciding to have lunch and then move off. How lucky were we? We hadn't been in the boat many minutes when it started to rain and continued to do so for some while, stopping just before we set off again.

We'd moored behind a hire boat and that boat set off (in the rain) not too long after we returned from the village. In what seemed no time at all the boat came back (there is a winding hole about 200 yards from the end of the arm) and stopped for about fifteen minutes. They then turned and set off again. We presume that they were looking for a tap to top up their water tank and didn't realise that the tap was at the end of the arm. We then passed the boat, moored up, approximately halfway between the lock and the junction.

We'd just moved off after lunch when the crew from two further hire boats returned to their boats a bit nearer to the lock and started untying. Consequently we got to the lock before they did but they helped us through the lock when they arrived. We continued on to the junction, turned southwards and simply trundled on (and on), aiming for Yelvertoft where we planned to stop for the night.

All the piled bank side places at Yelvertoft were taken either by short or long term moorers so we carried on beyond the bridge and moored as close to the grass festooned bank as we could on the outside of the curve on the south side of the bridge. We had a somewhat belated afternoon cup of tea and, later, all ate on our boat. We'd chosen Yelvertoft for our overnight stop as we wanted to be near some houses because this tends to be where phone (and dongle) signals are best. They weren't at their best but at least they were better than on Tuesday night.

R brought the web page up to date after M had returned to his boat and then we had an early night as we'd woken a few times the night before. We'd lit the fire at lunch time because it hadn't really warmed up during the morning. This always does the trick so when it came to evening meal time we had all the doors open as it was too hot inside by then because the sun had put in appearance late in the afternoon. We topped the fire up before we went to bed as the forecast suggested we would have a cool night.

12 May 2011

Target: Buckby Lock 11, 7 hours 17 minutes cruising, 13.14 miles, 11 locks
Actual: Stowe Hill, 7 hours 15 minutes cruising.

We wandered into Yelvertoft village on Thursday morning just for something to do to kill a bit of time (and also because the village has a butcher's and R fancied a pork pie)! We left the boats just before 8.30am and walked along the main street until we judged that there wasn't anything else of note to see so we turned around and walked back to our boats stopping at the butcher's on the way. It wasn't until we got back to the boat a few minutes after 9am that we suddenly realised that the butcher's was open before 9am, something we thought quite unusual in a village.

A quick change into boating footwear and we were away (after untying and retrieving the mooring pins). We saw no moving boats before we entered Crick Tunnel and managed to pass through the tunnel and get all the way to Watford locks before we saw another moving boat. It was a bright morning but still somewhat cool.

We arrived at the top of the Watford lock flight (which comprises a staircase of four locks, supervised by a lock keeper, in the seven lock flight). As we arrived a boat set off down the flight so R set off to find the lock keeper expecting to be told to follow this other boat down the locks. It wasn't to be.

We were told to drop down through the first lock, tie up and wait for some boats heading up the flight. Karen was to stay at the top of the flight and wait until we had started moving again before "she" could follow. We initially did as we were bid, put the kettle on and had a cup of tea.

We'd drunk the tea and still couldn't see any movement in the locks so R set off to investigate. He was soon joined by both M and H, all three of us sporting windlasses. Within a matter of minutes we were helping the growing number of boats working up the flight - some of whom seemed to be making heavy weather of it. One by one they ascended the flight until they were all clear of the staircase part, whereupon we set off downhill, closely followed by M on Karen, just as it started to rain. Luckily the rain stopped before we'd even got into the top lock of the staircase and we never saw another drop all day.

We'd been stationary for the best part of 75 minutes. This didn't stop us working through the remaining six locks in a little over thirty minutes, including waiting for Karen below the bottom lock. The three of us were working the two boats between us as best we could and, as we neared the bottom, H transferred to helping M, leaving R to work through the last couple of locks on his own. In preparation for this R had started emptying the bottom lock of the staircase and had then run down to the lock below to lift the top paddle. By the time he got back to his boat the bottom gates of the staircase lock were ready to open and the boat had drifted backwards in the chamber. Alas it chose to do this in a lock where water was pouring through the gate above and found the inside of our boat before R could move the boat out of the way. Part of lunch time and the first thing done after mooring up in the evening was to bale and mop out the bilge (again!).

We stopped for lunch on the moorings below the locks without any boats passing us in either direction. We set of fifty minutes later and were at Norton Junction just over 35 minutes afterwards. This marked the end of the big loop that we'd started out on just under five weeks earlier - the stretch of canal south from Norton Junction takes us back to our mooring and is the stretch of canal that we always have to traverse if we intend to cruise northward over any distance (unless we head for Northampton or stop before we reach Norton Junction).

The top lock of the Buckby flight was against us (as were all the locks in the flight to be). We worked the boats through this lock independently (although at the same time) and breasted them up for the rest of the flight - the distance between the first two locks makes it less practical to breast up through the entire flight.

We saw the crew off the boat in front as we approached the flight's second lock and for much of the rest of the flight we were helping them through the locks, often lock wheeling for them to keep them moving without delaying us. There were three people on a single boat so they were better off than we were but they didn't put in the effort so they were slow and delayed us as well.

We eventually passed a pair of boats climbing up the flight but even that didn't open up the gap between us and the boat in front. Eventually we arrived at the bottom just after 4pm so we stopped for our afternoon cup of tea. We restarted at 4.50pm and cruised as far as Stowe Hill where we stopped for the day just before the water point, close to the railway but some distance from the A5 trunk road. We ate on our own boats and then after the usual early evening television programmes R fired up the laptop to write up and upload the day's tale whilst H did the chores.

We were still about two hours ahead of the base schedule and plan to stay that way until we return to the boatyard.

13 May 2011

Target: Stoke Bruerne Lock 20, 7 hours 17 minutes cruising, 15.85 miles, 9 locks
Actual: Cosgrove, 6 hours 45 minutes cruising.

Someone had a need to be cruising at 5.30am on Friday morning. Although they tried to pass us with little impact, the fact that we both heard them (only just) and felt them (because the water moves no matter how careful you are) meant that they weren't completely successful. Nonetheless, we've been known to cruise at that time of day and it was nice and bright so we can't complain.

Several other boats passed us before we set off at 8.30am. There was nothing to report about our trip as far as Blisworth, where we stopped for tea. Similarly our trip from Blisworth to Stoke Bruerne is only worthy of a mention because we managed to get through the tunnel in 27 minutes, which we think is probably the quickest we've ever done it.

We passed three boats heading north in the tunnel and were gradually gaining on the boat in front of us. That boat moored at Stoke Bruerne (as we did). However, rather than pull up close to another boat they stopped in the middle of a vacant length of towpath. By the time that we'd moored the space left around the other boat was too small for most other boats although when we returned to our boat later (after our visit to the museum), some boats had managed to fit into the space available.

We stopped just after midday and had lunch before heading for the museum where, once inside the door, we found an ex colleague from the trip boats working in the museum. We had a chat with them and then toured the museum. Our ex working colleague was outside having their lunch when we left the museum and we jokingly suggested that they might like to help us with a few locks before they went back to work. They agreed and we all started to walk towards our boats.

We hadn't gone too far when we passed the local trip boat operator who M knew and who our ex colleague was keen to work for if their were any vacancies as they no longer lived where they used to. To cut a long story short, we spent some while talking (and our ex colleague was offered some work) and were just about to move off to our boats when an eight feet wide cruiser arrived at the top of the locks - eight feet wide boats can't share locks with other standard width boats (and they'd have to open and close both gates of each lock). We knew there and then that we wouldn't be racing down the locks as there was only a crew of two on the cruiser.

The cruiser was still in the top lock by the time we'd got our boats there so we helped them finish working through that lock and then sorted things out so that we could use the lock. As soon as our boats were in the chamber - we breasted them up outside the lock - R set off down the flight and spent most of his time helping the cruiser's crew as this ultimately made things easier for our boats.

We passed two boats heading up the flight working singularly and taking a lot of time over it. At one stage they even delayed the cruiser, something that wasn't that easy to do! We then crossed another narrowboat that despite being quite capable of only requiring a single gate, insisted in having both open and then not using all the paddles to fill the lock.

We eventually got to the bottom of the six lock flight at 4pm, just in time for afternoon tea. We stopped on the water point below the locks and topped up the water tank to give some legitimacy to the fact that we'd stopped there. We set off at 4.30pm for what should have been a reasonably quick run to Cosgrove. However, following the damage that we inflicted on our front fender earlier in the trip, we wanted to replace it with one from the same source as before. The fender maker had moved from Marsworth to Cosgrove and we intended to make contact with them either on Friday evening or Saturday morning to get replacement.

It was with some surprise that we saw our contact moored a little way before Cosgrove - they'd been the mooring warden at Cosgrove and had had their service dispensed with as part of BW's economies, so they'd lost their mooring and were now wandering freely, which is why we found them somewhere that we didn't expect to. R pulled over whilst M carried on and moored at Cosgrove.

We spent a good twenty minutes having the fender replaced and then headed off to Cosgrove where we moored just in front of Karen. The evening meal was ready almost as we moored and M soon joined us. We sat and chatted afterwards and then when M returned to his boat H & R walked to the nearby lock to see if the cruiser was in the area. We didn't want to be following them through a significant number of locks if we didn't have to as they weren't the fastest boat on the water.

The cruiser wasn't anywhere to be seen so we returned to our boat where R fired up the computer and wrote up the day's saga prior to heading for bed.

14 May 2011

Target: Stoke Hammond, 7 hours 18 minutes cruising, 20.21 miles, 4 locks
Actual: The Globe (Linslade), 6 hours 15 minutes cruising.

We'd watched the antics of a hire boat that tried to moor on the non-towpath side just as darkness fell on Friday night. They appeared to be aiming for the local pub's mooring but moored too soon, somewhere plainly displaying No Mooring signs. A short while after turning their engine off they restarted it and moved about seventy feet further on, to the pub's actual mooring. They were still there when we woke on Saturday morning.

The sun was shining but the thermometer in the bow indicated that it was only 7° outside when we checked just after 7am. The sky was completely clear of cloud but the wind was far from subdued giving the weather a chilly feel for all of the day although the strength of the sun did manage to override it sometimes.

Many people dislike the canal through Milton Keynes, opting to start early in the day and just keep going until they are out of the area. True, there is a distinct lack of locks but as residents of the area we find the perspective from the canal quite interesting and are always noticing new things.

We set off at 8.20am and met H returning from the local store with a few provisions for both boats. The shallow lock had leaked overnight and had to be filled before we could use it. M was the first out of the lock and was soon several hundred yards ahead of us. To compound matters he'd forgotten to put his radio on so we had no means of contacting him until some while after when he happened to look back and saw us waving frantically at him. He retrieved his radio and we were able to tell him that our daughter was cycling along the towpath to meet us and once we'd been found she'd put the bike on board and stay with us for a couple of hours. Our paths crossed about thirty minutes later and we soon had bike and daughter safely aboard with the minimum of delay.

One of our daughter's friends came out with her two young children to wave to us as we passed the park near to where they lived. The same friend had also been there to see us head north just over five weeks previously. I bet we looked slightly more sun tanned now than we did then!

The rest of the trip through Milton Keynes was largely uneventful save that we reckon that we probably passed more moving boats on that stretch of canal than we'd passed anywhere else on the journey and we live in an area that is supposed to be fairly quiet in terms of boat activity.

We were just approaching Fenny Stratford when we caught up with a boat in front. We opted to let them work through the lock on their own as we were two boats travelling together. They had to turn the lock and open the swing bridge. They left the bridge open for us when they left the lock but a local resident decided that he wanted to cross the canal and promptly closed the bridge. R had to both turn the lock and re-open the bridge before we could take our boats through. Luckily a boat travelling towards Milton Keynes arrived at the lock as we were about to leave so we left gates and bridge open for them - the local resident was, by this time, on the wrong side of the canal to close the bridge again!

Daughter alighted whilst the boat was in the lock and headed home on her bike. We carried on almost immediately passing the boat that had preceded us through the lock. Despite the fact that they were short enough to have turned in several places, including immediately below the lock (and a short way before the lock), they chose to turn at the winding hole that is about half a mile below the lock and then retrace their steps.

We stopped for forty minutes for lunch at Water Eaton and then resumed our southward journey. Stoke Hammond lock was in our favour so we were soon through there. The Soulbury Three Locks were in varying degrees of being against us. We tied the two boats together and left M to work the boats whilst R & H worked the locks, each of which had to be emptied or partially emptied before we could use it.

We were in the top lock when a BW employee arrived by road and drained the middle lock behind us. They then joined us at the top lock with the intention of draining that once we left. However, a boat travelling north arrived before we left so we don't know what happened after that. Apparently the locks were being drained to restore water levels in the pounds between the locks. As neither of the pounds looked low we don't know what all the fuss was about.

We made our way to The Globe at Linslade where we moored just before 4pm both for our afternoon cup of tea and for the rest of the day as we were dining with friends from the boatyard who would be coming to the pub by road.

Mobile telephone coverage of the local area had improved no end since we were last moored in the area so R was able to both update and upload this page whilst we waited for our friends to arrive.

15 May 2011

Target: Boatyard, 6 hours 57 minutes cruising, 11.57 miles, 13 locks
Actual: Boatyard, 4 hours 20 minutes cruising.

We were planning on a 9am start on Sunday morning for the final day's travelling. However, M looked through the window as we were eating our breakfast just before 8.30am and said that he was ready if we were. We indicated that we'd be ready in about fifteen minutes.

The first lock should have been full after the late night passage of a boat returning from the pub. Luckily it had drained overnight and we were able to use the lock almost immediately, once we'd briefly lifted a single paddle to balance the water levels on either side of the bottom gates.

The early locks on Sunday were relatively widely spread so we developed a routine whereby H would drain any water in the lock and then open one gate. M would then take Karen into the lock and tuck the rear in behind the closed gate, pushing the bow over with her boat pole. R would then run into the lock alongside Karen by which time M had picked up his windlass and was on the lock side ready to start opening top paddles as soon as H had closed the bottom gate.

We made our way through Leighton Buzzard and beyond, passing several canoeists (and they passing us as well from time to time). Our second lock was known to leak so we were surprised that it was relatively full, suggesting that we might be following another boat. A northbound boat arrived at the lock as we were ready to depart so we were able to leave the gates open for them.

The next lock was fairly close by and when we arrived and found it full we knew that we were indeed following another boat. As we approached our fourth lock we could see the boat that we were following just about to move off from the top of the lock. We moored above the lock for our morning cup of tea. R popped his head under the nearby bridge to check that there wasn't anything coming (as we were moored on the water point) and saw a further boat pull away in front of us.

The top gates of the next lock were both open so H had to shut them before we could turn the lock. We closed the gates when we left and then, as we approached the next lock two northbound boats appeared - we needn't have bother closing the gates if we'd known.

It was now starting to rain lightly; enough to be annoying but not enough to force us to put on our waterproofs. We couldn't complain because apart from a 15 minute spell a few days into the trip and a couple of short sharp and not very heavy sprinklings, this was the first rain of any substance that we'd had to endure whilst actually cruising during the whole trip.

The next lock was ours and as its neighbour is close by we breasted up allowing R to walk onto the next lock which was both occupied by two boats heading south and had a further boat waiting to drop down in the chamber. Meanwhile M had brought our pair to the bottom of the lock and was waiting there.

We left the lock singularly just as another northbound boat arrived so once again we could leave a gate open for them. One of the moorers from the boatyard was just entering the next lock as we arrived and we used the lock after them. We then moored up for lunch, during which time both H and R carried on sorting out the things that were to head for home later in the day.

H was just about to turn our penultimate lock when two boats appeared at the top so we worked them through. Meanwhile M had again breasted up our two boats as our last two locks were only a couple of hundred yards apart. R walked on to find the bottom gates of our last lock open - the previous northbound pair not having bothered to close them.

Soon we were through the last lock and a short while after and with the usual difficulty in opening and closing it, we were through the swing bridge and cruising the final few hundred yards back to our mooring. The water level was down slightly so we had difficulty mooring. Nonetheless we were soon tied up and chatting to a few people who were pleased to see us back and inquisitive about our trip. We'd travelled 584 miles, passed through 369 locks and (so the schedule says) should have cruised for an average 7 hours and 11 minutes each day. We'd stopped for tea breaks most mornings and afternoons and with one (or two?) exceptions had stopped for lunch each day - each of which was a rarity for us.

Eventually we were able to complete the packing and transfer the relevant items to the car. We left the boatyard a little over an hour after we had returned on our boats, made our way home, had our cup of tea and then sorted out our mail. The laptop even got fired up for a while before we went out for a meal with our daughter as a thank you for looking after our place whilst we were away. R was back on the laptop later, writing up the last part of the trip's story, checking it and then uploading it.

17 to 22 May 2011

It was back to dry land with a bump on Tuesday, with R's usual visit to the boatyard to play catch up with the accounts. Whilst he was there he removed the cratch cover and loaded it in the car as it was going home for some TLC. Some of the stitching had come adrift before the trip and desperately needed replacing. There were also a few battle scars that required attention to save them getting any worse.

R also (once again) dried out the small amount of water in the cabin bilge. We were hopeful that this was still related to the rear deck drenchings that we received whilst we were away although we didn't think that there'd been that much water that flowed down the steps and into the cabin. Another option maybe that we have a problem with the welding between engine bilge and cabin bilge whereby excess from the former is seeping into the latter. We don't think that we have a leak in the plumbing within the boat otherwise there would be evidence of it by virtue of the water pump running when not expected or the water not being clear. All we can do is to keep repeatedly mopping until this lot of water has all gone and then keep watching what happens afterwards.

The case that we use to hold our cruising guide has drawn some attention from a fellow moorer for whom we proposed to make one as a gift. R reclaimed the one off our boat so that it could be used over the next few days as a pattern for the new one.

And so to Wednesday (and beyond). Once other things were out of the way R spent his spare time working on the cruising guide case. The construction was complete by Friday and varnishing started on Friday after it had been rubbed down.

Varnishing continued on Saturday and Sunday but with time required between coats to allow the varnish to dry, R was able to play catch up with entering the cruise data on the computer and to produce some pointless (?) statistics!

We were away for 40 days and spent all or part of 37 of them cruising. We covered approximately 601 miles (the addition to earlier figures accounted for by the detours to Welford, Market Harborough and to our overnight stop in Stoke-on-Trent). We passed through 371 locks, which included the normally open flood locks and the single lock on the Welford arm, which we passed through twice (once in each direction).

The greatest distance covered in a single day was 49.7 miles, and the highest number of locks in a single day was 28. The minimum distance covered in a single day (on days when we actually moved) was 4.5 miles and the fewest locks in a day was a big fat zero. We covered an average of 16.25 miles each day and worked through a (miniscule) tad over 10 locks each day.

We cruised for 245½ hours, with the longest day a mere 9 hours and 15 minutes, which is quite tame for us. The shortest day lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes and the average day's cruising was 6 hours and 38 minutes (or 6 hours and 8 minutes if we average the figure out over the forty days we were away).

The earliest that we started cruising was at 6am (on the day that we were on the tidal Trent) and the earliest we stopped for the day was at 10.20am. The latest we stopped was at 6.45pm. Generally we started around 8am and stopped before 6pm with stops of about 20 minutes for tea morning and afternoon and for at least 30 minutes for lunch.

We topped up with fuel twice and emptied the toilet tank twice and, on average, topped up the water tank every four days. We used almost five bags of fuel and (although we hadn't checked to confirm this) less than a bottle of gas. Our estimate is that we probably used about 350 litres of fuel.

Subsequent entries on this page will be sporadic and certainly not uploaded on a regular basis (and if we think of any further mindless statistics we'll add those as well).

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