On Schedule !

7 October 2011

Each year since we've had a usable boat R, as the oldest indirect inhabitant of the boatyard - he's had a longer association with it than anyone now there - has arranged a weekend away by boat for whoever wants to join. Details of the previous trips have been chronicled elsewhere in these pages.

This year was different in two ways. Firstly, the trip was about a month earlier than previously as we now no longer have to arrange things around potential trip boat duties. Secondly, now that we are free of the trip boat burden, we can go out for longer if that's agreeable with everyone and this year it was!

And so it came to pass that having pre-warned the other participants that we'd set off at 10am, H & R found themselves tumbling out of bed around 7am on the Friday morning to gather up those things that still needed to get to the boat. This included a couple of tables for the usual Sunday lunch (when all concerned sit down together on our boat) but excluded the extra chairs for these had been delivered earlier in the week when R had been to the boatyard to complete the paintwork repairs that he started at the end of September.

We arrived at the boatyard by 9am and were just about ready in time for a 10am departure, narrowly beating one other boat - the other two being ready almost before we were but had waited for us to lead the way. However, M who moors in front of us, shot off first as this made it easier for us to extract ourselves from our mooring.

Not long before we set off we saw one of the boatyard's day hire boats head north - the way that we were going, to be followed several minutes later by another boat. Both would feature in part of the rest of the day's tale.

A had walked ahead to open the swing bridge and had then rejoined M's boat when they saw us not too far behind. H decamped from our boat and stood guard over the opened bridge until the other two boats had also passed by. She then walked to the lock where everyone had gathered, including the boat that we'd seen earlier. This boat with only a single crew member had not been quick enough to catch up with the day hire boat and had just set the lock for himself when M & A appeared on the scene. They explained that there were four boats travelling together whereupon the other boater opted to standby and allow us all to go first in return for us back-setting locks for him. Phew, that saved us quite some time.

And so we went on. R & H and M & A led the way, turning locks behind the day hire boat so that we could use them and then leaving them filling so that the pair of boats behind could use them. They in turn would leave the locks filling so that the following boat could use them. Although this other boat had lost time allowing us to pass, he soon regained that time because he was arriving at ready filled locks rather than locks that had been left empty (and needed filling) behind the day hire boat.

It was a dry, cool but blustery day and we met but one boat heading south just as we approached one lock.

We stopped as usual for a communal brunch after seven locks, just under 2½ hours after we'd set off. We were excused lunch preparation as we were providing the accommodation and other items of hospitality for the Sunday dinner although, in the end, we escaped catering for that except for the desserts that H had all but pre-prepared and taken to the boat from home. We'd also made the purchases for the first day's brunch as we were coming to an empty freezer on the boat whereas our fellow travellers either didn't have freezers or had full ones.

Brunch lasted ninety minutes after which we went to set off again just as the following boat vacated the lock - he was too close for us to get away in front of him. Nonetheless we followed him to the next lock, some thirty minutes distance whereupon he refused our offers to help him through the locks preferring once again to sit it out and let our convoy go first. He did however indicate that it would be his turn to go first on Saturday when he would have a larger crew.

We stopped for a communal shop to buy all the required items for Saturday and Sunday (we'd stop again on Monday on the way back to get that day's food). R took the opportunity to visit the local DIY shop for a replacement plug for the boat's bathroom hand basin, the previous one having shead its rubber washer sometime towards the end of our previous trip. H also managed to sneak into town to purchase a present for our upcoming niece/nephew - although "Mum" is in labour as this is written, we still have no news of the make of the new arrival.

Just over an hour after stopping we set off yet again, for the relatively short journey to the planned overnight stop, outside a pub! We had one lock left to negotiate and had to pass the local hire base. The lock was quite busy and we soon discovered that there was something preventing one of the bottom gates opening fully. R wonder if it could be a windlass and promptly got out his magnet to go fishing, something that he'd done with some success a few locks previously when he managed to extricate a tired looking windlass from near a gate (although he later learned form the other two boats that this didn't allow the gate to open any better).

The magnet had seen much use but only had a relatively short lanyard albeit with a knot tied in the end so that if could be held in the hand without the lanyard slipping through the fingers. For some reason, possibly because of the splash that it made when entering the water, causing H to utter her ingratitude at being splashed, R didn't grasp the end of the lanyard and it quickly sunk to the bottom of the canal. Despite attempts with a boat hook the magnet/lanyard combination remained beneath the water and we had to carry on without it.

We'd been invited to eat on M's boat on Friday evening and were just about to leave our boat when we were met with M & A carrying the evening meal. They'd forgotten to bring the extra furniture so couldn't provide us with anywhere to sit. We soon re-arranged our furniture and within a short while were eating a meal cooked by A.

All eight of us had pre-arranged to meet in the pub at 8pm, and so we did returning to our boats well before pub closing time for a good night's sleep, largely undisturbed by the nearby trains but noticing the road traffic departing from the pub along what is the pub's access route as well as the towpath.

8 October 2011

M & A as well as R & H are not normally renowned for their late starts although A sometimes takes some prizing out from under the duvet. The crew of one of the other two boats are equally early risers which makes up for the fourth boat's preference for late starts. As a result we hadn't planned to set off until 9.30am on Saturday even though ¾ of the convoy were champing at the bit to get moving!

We'd slept reasonably well but had finally decided to get up when the pub's gardening contractor arrived just after 8am to water the hanging baskets!

There were plenty of moving boats about even though the weather was nowhere near as warm as it had been seven days earlier. Nonetheless, and with only five locks to work through, all before brunch, we had a largely uneventful day. We stopped for two hours for lunch at Fenny Stratford and were passed by the boat that had twice allowed us to overtake him on Friday a little while before we resumed. However, there was no sign of a large crew on board so we assumed that with only one further lock probable that day the crew had abandoned ship at the previous lock.

We were joined just before we departed by a friend of ours who often takes advantage of our offer of a short trip when we're in the locality. She was dropped off by her son who then drove back home and walked back to meet our boat and join his Mum until they both alighted a little way from our planned overnight stop.

We'd booked a table in a canal side pub for all eight of us on Saturday evening. However, there were no convenient turning points adjacent to the pub so we had a few options. One was to turn two of the four boats and then breast each of those to one of the unturned other two and cruise the ¼ mile to the pub retracing our steps back to the winding hole on Sunday morning where the other two boats would turn and we'd carry on south.

Another option was to continue on beyond the pub to turn either at an unofficial turning point about ½ mile further on or, failing that, to continue to a full winding hole 1½ miles beyond the pub to turn before returning to moor outside the pub ready to head of south first thing on Sunday.

M, who had been leading the convoy since the restart and had opened up a bit of a gap between his boat and the boat behind, decided to carry on to the distant winding hole to turn. Boat number two opted to stop at the pub and reserve some mooring space for the rest of us. We were number three in the queue and decided to head for the unofficial winding hole whilst boat number four also opted to stop at the pub and hold the mooring spaces for us - there were a number of other boats in the area by now and despite the reasonably generous mooring space outside the pub, there was a risk that we'd not be able to moor if we left stopping for the night too late.

Our attempts to turn where we wanted to were thwarted on two counts. First there wasn't enough water depth in which to place our bow as we turned not helped by a boat that had decided to moor right opposite where we wanted to turn. That boat had been there a couple of weeks previously when we passed and should have moved on by the time we got there as the normal maximum mooring period is fourteen days in one stretch.

With no luck where we wanted to turn, we carried on to the official turning point, passing M & A heading back towards the pub having turned. A hire boat appeared as we approached one bridge. They were travelling quite fast and didn't have full control of the boat with the result that they all but collided with the bridge. We were to encounter this boat again on Sunday.

We turned and just managed to set off south again as a fuel boat came into view. However, they weren't travelling as fast as us and they were soon left behind.

The ploy of leaving a couple of sentries outside the pub worked because by the time we returned there were no spaces left, M having taken the last one. As a result we tied up alongside one of the other boats from our group and even then we weren't the last boat to arrive looking for a mooring even though darkness was fast approaching.

All eight of us adjourned to the pub at 7.30pm and had a pleasant evening meal although, once again, we were back on board our respective boats before the pub closed.

9 October 2011

H & A had pre-arranged to go and inspect the local ruins at 8am on Sunday morning so there was no lying in bed for either. In addition, because there was a grand prix on television early on Sunday morning M and the crew from one of the other boats were up early and glued to the television until around 9am. The fourth crew (as normal) really wanted to stay in bed but reluctantly had to join the masses and get up fairly early.

We had originally considered stopping for the communal meal and then carrying on a bit further to moor for the night on Sunday. However, discussions on Saturday evening resulted in a change of plan for not only would we stop for dinner and not restart again, we'd also return to the pub from whence we departed on Saturday morning rather than stop at the previous pub a few miles further north.

And so it came to pass that we started our engine at 9am and tied ourselves to one of the unturned boats - M doing the same to the remaining boat. Once united we set off slowly for the winding hole with M a short way behind us. We didn't rush, preferring to take our time and avoid overtaxing our engine - there were numerous moored boats so we couldn't cruise too fast if we wanted to.

We hadn't been cruising for very long when we encountered the hire boat that we'd seen on Saturday evening. This time it had an inexperienced steerer who managed to position the boat diagonally across the canal just in front of our boat requiring us to take avoiding action. Control of the helm was soon regained and all three boats soon carried on.

There are two winding holes, one either side of a road bridge. We opted to take our charge to the furthest one leaving M's companion to turn at the nearer one almost simultaneously. We'd just cleared the bridge when we met a northbound boat. We cast our charge off and left them hovering in mid stream until after this other boat had passed. M had also uncoupled and was soon through the bridge and following us followed in turn by our discarded charge and then the final member of the convoy.

The rest of the day's cruising went without a hitch even if there are a couple of points to relate. A fifth boat had set off from the pub shortly behind us and had been delayed slightly by our manoeuvering but they were content to follow us. Even though we weren't racing away, this boat gradually dropped further back and we didn't encounter them again whilst we were cruising on Sunday.

At one point a sixth boat appeared in the distance behind our tail end Charlie and was reportedly making good speed. They even managed to overtake the other boat that had started from the pub. Luckily the curving nature of the canal prevented this other boat from attempting to overtake any of us although they may also have decided that there was little point in doing so once they realised that there were four boats ahead of them.

Although we'd arrived at our second lock of the day but a few minutes after a boat had left it, we arrived to find the lock full and a boat rising in the chamber. We waited for them to vacate the lock before we turned it for ourselves and in due course set it draining for the two boats behind although this wasn't before a northbound hire boat had arrived at the top of the lock and moored on the lock landing leading our companions to question whether this boat was continuing or stopping for a while. They were stopping.

We caught up with the same boat again at our next lock and had to follow them through the flight of three locks as the wind started to strengthen. The other boat was in turn preceded by a further boat that had decided to stop in the top lock and wait for our predecessor to join them, thereby denying the intervening lock pound of the much needed water to keep the level reasonable. As a result once the top lock was drained, the water turbulence in the lock pound was much greater than normal and M had to fight hard to get our breasted up pair of boats into the last lock of the day. The following pair which were not tied together saw the predicament and decided to sit in each lock chamber until the following lock was ready for them to enter.

Our first and only stop for the day was just after 2.30pm. We'd laid our boat out for the meal after breakfast and with no cooking to do soon had everything ready for the meal so we sat and read for the hour or so until the food arrived from the other three boats. A couple of hours, a couple of bottles of vino (or whatever) and a round of questions from Trivial Pursuits later and the afternoon (and early evening) were over.

With a break of about fifteen minutes once the washing up was done, six out of the eight of us went to the pub for an hour or so and a couple of drinks.

Television reception outside the pub is non-existent so we had contemplated moving a little further away prior to finally mooring for the night. However, although there was space ahead, it was decided that television wasn't an urgent requirement so we stayed where we were. R blames this slight uncertainty when we first stopped for not securing his boat as tight as he normally does with the result that he awoke several times during the night as the wind increased in strength and we banged into the side of the towpath.

10 October 2011

We had intended to start at 9.30am on Monday when the cruise was originally planned. However, with the desire to go magnet fishing in the first lock and the originally unexpected shopping stop for food for brunch, two boats opted to start at 9am leaving the other two to set off when ready. Having arranged Monday's shopping stop on Saturday we'd also tentatively planned to have brunch whilst we were stopped. However, having cruised further than originally planned on Sunday, this would have made the brunch stop quite early. As a result we decided to stop for brunch just short of where we'd stopped on Friday, leaving us a little over two hours cruising after we'd eaten to get back to the boatyard.

The magnet fishing was unsuccessful despite numerous attempts at lobbing the anchor chain into the water in an attempt to attract the magnet. Consequently we gave up, filled the lock and carried on. We were in two minds whether to stop at the shops to await the completion of the shopping expedition or whether to carry on to the proposed stopping place and wait for them there. We chose the latter.

The other pair of boats duly worked through their first lock and moored up outside the shops. However, instead of being in and out within a relatively short space of time, they were stopped for almost an hour (just to buy food for brunch)! They were then delayed by a boat that appeared just as they left the shops and which they unwisely allowed to pass them before setting off again. We say unwisely because this other boat then proceeded to crawl all the way to the next two locks with virtually no opportunity for others to pass because of the lack of suitable straight lengths of canal and a very strong cross wind.

Eventually we were all re-united although it was over an hour after the first pair of boats originally stopped. As a result, although we took no longer than on other days to eat the meal, almost 3½ hours elapsed between the first boat stopping and everyone re-starting.

We were soon at the next lock where once again, despite passing a northbound boat just a few minutes earlier, we found the lock full and a BW boat about to enter. They worked through the lock and we then replaced them in the chamber, followed by the rest of our convoy a short while later. The crew of the BW boat had left the bottom gates of the next lock open so we were able to cruise straight in. A further pair of BW boats had arrived at the top of the lock by the time we were ready to leave and they had also left the bottom gates of our remaining locks open helping to speed us on our way.

Where appropriate we left the locks draining again as we left, ready for our other pair of boats. One of the boatyard's day hire boats had been allowed out late and had just turned our final lock as we arrived so we had to wait for them to use the lock before we could. We were slightly concerned that the day hire boat would steal our previous lock before our colleagues could get there but they didn't quite get there in time and our colleagues were soon through the lock and creeping up on us as we vacated the lock.

We waited at the top of the lock until our colleagues were on the point of leaving whereupon we set off and all four boats slowly made their way first through the swing bridge and then onto their respective moorings at the end of a very enjoyable and extended weekend.

It took us about an hour to tidy up, transfer everything that was going home to the car, bid our farewells and set off for home where we arrived at around 6.45pm. We unloaded and unpacked and then had our evening meal before R headed up to the computer where he updated the travelling log and then wrote up the tale of the last four day's on this web page, eventually heading to bed around 2am. leaving the pages to be checked and uploaded later in the week. H had retired somewhat earlier feeling decidedly under the weather, not a good omen for the next few days as we had theatre tickets for two different shows in two different places on consecutive evenings, one set of tickets only having been booked once we'd got back from the boat.

There are no plans for any further cruises in 2011. There are several jobs that we want to do on the boat during the winter months and details of these should find their way onto this site after the event so do check back from time to time to see what we've been up to.

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