On Schedule !

1 September 2011

H revealed a few days before the trip that she's always wanted to visit the Bucks County Show but had always been otherwise engaged in previous years. So this year, with a relatively free hand, R arranged for daughter to collect both himself and H, take them to the show and return them to the boat afterwards, if her entrance fee was paid for. R even managed to persuade daughter to deviate via the boatyard on the way back to the boat to collect the replacement pump for the shower that M said he had.

Daughter duly collected us from Old Wolverton at 8.30am and we had a very rural journey to the showground, the car park of which was already filling up when we arrived just before 9.30am. We even managed to get extra discount on our admission fee when R jokingly but truthfully asked for two concession tickets (for R & H) and one child's ticket - after all our daughter is our child! We never expected for one moment to be given a child's ticket and despite saying that he was joking, the ticket wasn't changed!

We stayed at the show until just before 3pm during which time we bought a few odds and ends, including a wide brimmed, leather hat for R to wear in both sun and rain. We returned to the boat via the boatyard where R discovered that the pump that M had put aside was completely different to the one that R wanted so R left a message thanking M, returned to the car and we made our way back to the boat.

We sat outside the boat having a drink and piece of cake in bright sunshine when we got back then daughter set off for home and we checked the battery voltage which was still reading a reasonably healthy 11.9 volts, checked the engine and then cast off.

We were following a hire boat at a slight distance and hoped that we would catch them up at the only lock that we planned to pass through. By the time that we arrived at the foot of the lock the hire boat had moored and were filling their water tank. We mentioned to them that the tap they'd chosen was a slow filler and that there was a faster filling tap a short way above the lock. They disconnected their hose and were soon in the lock with us.

We passed through the lock with no problems and then bid the hire boat crew farewell. We cruised on for the next ninety minutes before mooring for the night on the visitor moorings at the foot of Stoke Bruerne locks.

We had a few text exchanges during the trip with our fellow moorers from the boatyard who'd we'd help move their boat several weeks previously. The wife had become unwell a few days earlier and had gotten worse to the extent that they now felt that they (as a couple) weren't going to be able to move their boat themselves and there was a risk that the wife may end up in hospital.

As a result, aside from the need to get to the chandlery sooner rather than later to get a replacement pump, instead of being relatively free agents for (almost) the next four weeks, it now looked likely that we would have to be in a specific place on a specific date in order to help move the other boat because we dreamt up a plan that we hoped would enable the boat to be returned to its home mooring in a few weeks time. Only time would tell what would happen as far as this was concerned.

2 September 2011

We weren't in any real hurry on Friday morning. We had the Stoke Bruerne locks to do and might get as far as the Buckby flight so we could afford to wait for a while for another boat to join us to work up through the locks.

We'd seen a boat facing north on the distant water point moorings when we moored on Thursday evening. There was no sign of a boat facing that way on Friday morning, instead we could see a boat facing south and, because we were so far from the water point we could only just see the front of its roof whereas, the previous evening we could see a small part of the back of the boat's cabin. We assumed that the previous night's boat had set off up the locks and the morning's boat had come down the flight early.

We moved up to the water point (not un-surprisingly, to take on water) where we planned to wait for the first boat to arrive so that we could share the lock work with them. Almost immediately the people on the boat that we'd seen from the distance started talking to us. It was their boat that we'd seen the previous evening, they'd turned it round on Friday morning so that they could touch-up their paintwork on the other side of the boat before taking the boat back to its moorings for the winter.

We sat chatting to them for almost an hour and were on the verge of making our way up through the locks alone when a couple of boats appeared in the distance heading towards the lock. We made for the lock and prepared it for our use leaving the bottom gates open so that the first of the approaching boats could join us for the ascent.

The boat was a hire boat returning to base, the crew were a group of Swedish people who had come to England especially to travel on the canals and would be flying back to Sweden the following afternoon, once they'd returned the boat.

We were lucky with our progress for although we occasionally had to wait for the lock above to become vacant, all the locks were in our favour, without the need for us to turn any of them as there were boats coming down through the locks in an almost continuous stream. The pair of boats behind us were almost as lucky, although they did have to wait a little more than we did for their next locks to become free.

The hire boaters decided to stop for lunch and water at Stoke Bruerne whereas we carried on (it was only 11.15am when we reached the top of the flight). We stopped for our lunch opposite the pub at Bugbrooke Wharf and set off again after nearly an hour, at 2.30pm. We reached the bottom of the Buckby lock flight at 4.55pm just as a pair of working boats left the bottom lock heading towards us. We slid into the vacant chamber and despite a notice asking boats to ascend in pairs (and wait up to an hour for a following boat in order to do so), we decided to press on. We reasoned that we'd not seen any boats behind us and that, at almost 5pm, there probably wasn't much chance of another boat arriving as it takes anything up to two hours to climb up through the flight.

Some people seem to have no sense of the dangers associated with canal boating. We passed a boat as we neared the Buckby lock flight. This boat has what is known as a cruiser stern - an area at the back where people can gather to keep the steerer company. The area is generally (and loosely) protected by a handrail around much of the open deck. This particular boat had material screens between the handrail and the deck and across the small handrail free area whereby people normally board and alight from the boat. There was a young lad at the back of this boat. He was balancing on the narrow ledge on the outside of the screens around the stern deck. Not content with this balancing act, he was also bouncing up and down and had nothing on his feet. It doesn't take much to realise the catastrophic consequences of the lad loosing his footing and slipping into the water, just a few inches away from the boat's propeller.

The noise from the adjacent motorway at the bottom of the locks was almost deafening more so because it was continuous whereas the noise from the equally adjacent railway was just as loud but was only intermittent. Is it any wonder that we were keen to get as far away as practical from both the road and the railway?

It took us forty minutes to get to the third lock where R decided to return (on foot) to the second lock to shut the top gate, which had opened after we'd left the lock. If we were the last boat through the flight there was a risk that the leak on the bottom gates of the second lock was bad enough to drain the pound above the lock overnight - the pound was already several inches lower than it would normally be expected to be. R looked back towards the first lock at this time and wasn't surprised to find that there wasn't anyone following. It wasn't the first time, nor was it likely to be the last time that we'd been the last boat for the day through a set of locks.

We moored for the night in the pound below the top lock, a pound where the water level was about 15cms below the normal with the result that some boats were already listing slightly. Luckily water was being back pumped into the pound from a lower level and the level would therefore be restored overnight. We were fortunate enough to find somewhere to moor where the water was deep enough for us even before the level rose overnight. The down-side was that we were a little closer than we would have liked to the nearby A5 trunk road.

As it turned out we weren't the last boats through the locks for the day, a pair of boats passing us almost an hour after we'd moored. Had we waited at the bottom for another boat we could have inadvertently split a pair and caused the unlucky one to wait for a further hour before proceeding even though we doubt that they would have waited.

We ate soon after mooring and then R fired up the laptop to bring a bit more of this page up to date. He didn't get that far because the corded mouse that he uses with the laptop gradually functioned less and less and R couldn't remember how to re-activate the touch pad on the laptop. Eventually and when it was too late to do anything to this page, with a bit of remote assistance from daughter, R managed to re-activate the touch pad so at least he'd be able to use the computer again before he got back home.

3 September 2011

We were up and about bright and early on Saturday. We wanted to get to the chandlers as soon as possible to get the replacement shower pump and wanted to make sure that we had time in hand if we had to queue for Braunston locks. We were also harbouring hopes that we might just make Warwick by Saturday evening to hook up with our friends.

We moved off from our overnight mooring at 7.40am, the first boat travelling in our direction to do so. We reasoned that we'd actually help the water levels in the pound we were vacating if we dropped another lock full of water into it.

We were nearly up to the top of the top lock when two BW employees arrived to check on the flight and the water levels. They politely reminded us that they we asking everyone to travel through flights of locks in pairs but were satisfied with our singular presence when we told them that we'd followed their instructions at the foot of the flight the previous day and had been moored just below the lock that we were now in.

We set off across the summit level without seeing another cruising boat. We even managed to get through the tunnel without the need to pass anyone. We could see the top of the locks as we cleared the tunnel and noticed a couple of boats about to vacate the top chamber. We had expected to have to wait at the top of the locks for someone to share the flight with but found a hire boat waiting so the two of us dropped down through the locks together. We had to wait from time to time for pairs of boats to ascend through the lock that we were about to use.

We noticed a pair of hotel boats in the pound above the bottom lock. They looked as though they were moored. They were, but only temporarily whilst they waited for a pair of ascending boats to climb up in the lock. The hotel boats then dropped down through the slow filling lock, to be replaced in the chamber by another ascending pair of boats before we could use the lock. and there were further boats waiting to use the lock when we left it.

We travelled at tick-over speed to Braunston Turn where we moored outside the chandlery. We bought the items on our list, which included a replacement mooring pin for the one we had where the welded loop had fallen off and then topped our purchases up with some new curtain rails and the associated supports. We'd have preferred chrome but only the brass ones were deep enough to accommodate the curtain rings that we've been using. Installation of the new items is on the list of things to be done during the coming winter.

We were moored for about forty five minutes during which time we had two boats moor alongside us, one of which then moved off and in doing so confused H because she'd seen the first boat to arrive - it was facing the way we'd come from - and was very puzzled when she re-appeared out of the back doors to find a different boat there, facing the same way as us!

We set off at 11.30 with all hopes of reaching Warwick forgotten. This was just as well because we seemed to be in an endless queue of boats, all heading west, and continually passing boats heading east. Not long after we re-started we encountered a sunken wooden boat at a winding hole where a boat was turning. Initially they'd waved the boat in front past but then changed their minds and completed turning and then setting off in front of the other boat and us.

This particular stretch of canal is very twisty, with some very sharp bends and numerous moored craft. As a result R tried to signal to the boat behind whenever there was a restriction or when the route was clear for them. It took us 1¾ hours to get to Napton Junction, by which time one of the boats ahead had moored up and we'd been waved past another only a few minutes before they turned into the marina at the junction.

The boat that had been following us from Braunston turned the same way as us and we expected to share the three Calcutt locks with them as we'd not seen any other boats heading our way in front of us for some time. However, there was a boat waiting when we arrived at the locks so we shared the first two locks with them. They then went forward ahead of us to share the final lock with a boat that was just entering the lock. We waited for them to clear the last lock thinking that the boat behind us would then join us. They didn't as by that time they'd paired up with a boat following them and opted to stay as a pair, leaving us to drop down through the last lock on our own.

The next locks were the Stockton flight. The boat that we'd shared the first two Calcutt locks with had now teamed up with a further boat and was descending the flight with some speed. The boat that they'd joined in the last Calcutt lock was only a short way ahead of us when we left that lock and we soon caught them up and were waved past. We never saw the boat again but we did see the steerer when he cycled down the Stockton flight and cycled back up again a little later.

We were prepared to wait for a while at the top of the flight but the top lock was about to be vacated by boats that had climbed up the flight and there were other boats behind, so we used the water that would otherwise have been wasted had the following boats turned the lock in their favour.

We'd seen people joining a hire boat a little way before the top lock and this boat then appeared at the top of the flight following the boat that had been behind us at Calcutt. These two boats paired up for the flight but weren't quick enough to catch us up. We didn't learn until we got to the bottom of the flight that there was a single boat behind the pair. Had we known this we would have waited for one of the following boats and left their then partner to team up with the last boat.

We remained on our own for the rest of the day, eventually mooring up above Welsh Road lock. We saw a couple of boats heading towards the Stockton locks after we moored but nobody passed us heading our way. The first task after mooring was to fit the replacement shower pump so that we could shower after our meal. R also planned to replace the button for the boat's horn but having investigated the new button realised that he probably only had to clean the contacts of the old one, which is what he did later in the evening. The horn has worked faultlessly ever since, negating the purchase of a replacement.

Part of the evening was spent watching television and part on the laptop, making a start on catching up with the backlog of entries for this page.

4 September 2011

Although we were awake early on Sunday, we weren't ready early enough to set off with either of the two boats that arrived at the lock separately and no more than about five minutes apart. Consequently when we did emerge from the boat we decided to wait for a boat to join us and passed the time washing down the side of the boat, latterly in the light rain that eventually started to fall.

We were on the verge of setting off alone when a hire boat arrived. We shared the next two locks with this boat and then went on alone when they decided to stop for breakfast. We waited at the next lock for thirty minutes in case a further boat arrived but when none did we dropped down through the lock which had been used in the interim by a boat heading towards Stockton.

We were no more than one hundred metres from the bottom of the lock - on the way to our next lock - when the hire boat appeared at the top of the lock that we'd just vacated. We set the next lock for ourselves and waited for the hire boat to join us. We virtually stayed with them for the rest of the day. We got to a canal side supermarket ahead of them and moored to allow H to do some shopping. We'd taken the last mooring place. The hire boat then arrived and said they were also intending to stop for shopping so R invited them to moor alongside.

Both boats re-started together and we worked through the two Cape locks with them. We turned left onto the Saltisford Arm at the junction between Cape and Hatton locks and the hire boat turned right. We turned in the winding hole on the arm and reversed back to moor alongside our friends. We spent a couple of hours sat on the grass alongside their boat and in the evening the four of us wandered into Warwick for a meal. We returned to their boat for a hot drink before we finally returned to our own boat and went to bed.

5 September 2011

We paid a quick visit to the local supermarket first thing on Monday morning to top up with foodstuffs.

Our friends were leaving their boat for a few days so emptied their fridge by giving us the remaining content. We then set off to explore Leamington Spa for the day and were surprised to find our friends just about to depart when we got back to our boat just after 4pm.

We spent the rest of the day on our boat watching television and/or on the computer where the new corded mouse that R had bought in Leamington was put to good use.

6 September 2011

It had rained heavily overnight and the strong winds had brought enough leaves down to cover a fair part of the roof of the boat. We looked out of the front windows around 8.15am and noted that the hotel boats that had been moored a little way in front of us were no longer there. We assumed that they'd set off early to pick up some new passengers, possibly in Leamington Spa.

We didn't rush to sort ourselves out, preferring to take things steadily. We tried to fill the water tank whilst we had breakfast but found the tap dry so we deferred tank filling until after breakfast. Water was flowing when we next checked the tap so we set the tank filling whilst R went to dispose of the rubbish. In doing so he discovered where the hotel boats had gone. They'd simply moved to the pump out point and were temporarily moored there before they set off to climb the infamous Hatton locks. They were going to same way as us!

R's first attempt at disposing of the rubbish was a failure because the bin cupboard was locked. R left the bag outside the cupboard, returned to his boat, collected the appropriate key and returned to the bin cupboard, only to find that someone else had put our bag in the bin!

R then set off to find a post box but was unable to do so, returning to the boat with the envelope still in his hand. We would see a post person at our first lock and they offered to take the envelope for us. Finally, having filled the tank we disconnected the electric and cast off, passing the now deserted pump out point.

We made our way slowly up the arm and into the main channel and headed for the lock flight expecting to have to wait for a while for a boat to join us. We could see the bottom lock being drained in the distance as we approached. Then, much to our relief, we noted what looked like someone standing on the towpath holding a boat by a rope. Could this be a single boat about to start ascending the lock flight? It was.

We joined the boat in the bottom lock and remained with them throughout the ascent of the 21 lock flight. Both boats had a crew of two and the other boat was being helped for the majority of the flight by a friend who set off to lock wheel most of the way up the flight. We did supply him with a cup of coffee part way up the flight - the crew of the other boat declining our offer of a hot drink even though they did break out the chocolate biscuits for us.

H temporarily took up the lock wheeling task and was, at one stage, some three locks ahead of the boats. We passed a single boat and at the next lock passed a pair of boats towards the bottom of the flight and we then passed another pair of boats travelling together later in the flight. We could see the hotel boats ahead of us but we never saw anyone behind us.

The helper left us a few locks from the top and the two crews completed the last few locks themselves. The hotel boats were moored right outside the top lock and made a hasty getaway as we started to ascend through the top lock. They were so hasty that their motor boat twice collided with a moored boat as it attempted to connect up to its butty boat.

We bade our companions farewell at the top lock for they wanted to carry on in case the chance arose to pass the hotel boats. We moored at the first opportunity and had over 1½ hours for lunch before we set off again to moor up for the day about a mile before Kingswood Junction at 3.45pm.

Afternoon (cup of) tea was followed by a bit of reading and after our evening meal some time on the laptop. We also discussed what we would do over the next few days as we were keen to avoid mooring in unsavory areas. In the end we decided that we'd head for Birmingham and then towards Cudworth rather than take the route that avoided the centre of Birmingham as that route involved some longer day's travelling.

7 September 2011

We'd managed to almost get away from the motorway and the railway but their respective noises were still audible in the distance. We'd spoken to daughter the previous evening and had now agreed with her that we'd meet up in Birmingham on Saturday. Communication was made slightly more difficult because R's outgoing emails suddenly stopped being transmitted.

We had to do a bit of re-thinking as a result of our upcoming rendevouz for we'd have been in Birmingham on Friday had we continued in the manner we were thinking of going. Now we effectively had to lose a day. That was part of the reason why we didn't bother to set off too early on Wednesday; not moving off until ten o'clock.

We were at Kingswood Junction within forty five minutes and decided to take in two of the three sides of the triangle that form the link with the Stratford canal because we'd already cruised two of the sides in the past and wanted to be able to say that we'd cruised all three.

We thought that we'd made the right decision when we saw a boat pull away from the bank ahead of us and make for the side of the triangle that we weren't planning to use. We thought that there was a chance that we might overtake the other boat if our lock working was a bit smart. We soon learned otherwise because there was a boat just entering the lock that we'd chosen to use so we had to wait for them to clear the lock before we could proceed. In addition, before we got to the top of the lock a third boat managed to pass through the lock on the more direct link! We now had (or thought that we had) three boats immediately in front of us.

H disembarked to work the initial lock and started talking to the crew of the boat just leaving the lock. Apparently there were three boats travelling in convoy and they were reportedly following at least one slow boat. The four boats started working as a well oiled team almost immediately with steerers and crew from each boat setting the closely spaced locks for each other and working other boats through locks whilst they waited their turn. Where appropriate boaters were even turning locks for following boats as they left locks.

H, perhaps not surprisingly, was in the thick of it, often being two or three locks ahead of our boat either setting the locks or working a preceeding boat through a lock. From time to time one or more boats would have to wait for a boat descending the flight of twenty locks and at others we simply pulled on our waterproofs to ward off the occasional shower.

We started off at the back of the queue but we approached the fifth lock just as the gates were being opened for the boat in front, the crew of which waved us straight into the lock on the basis that it was probably quicker to do that than for the two boats to swap places on the lock landing.

In years gone by, whilst we'd probably have mucked in with the other boats as now, we'd have been very frustrated at being stuck in a queue, a queue which we later saw as we looked up the flight was only four boats long with no sign of a slow mover ahead of us. This time though we were quite happy to soak in the atmosphere as a group of four boats helped themselves and helped each other.

We had to wait below the penultimate lock for a boat that was taking its time to drop down through the top lock. Soon though the boat appeared along with a cycling look wheeler. R helped them drain the lock he was waiting to use and asked the lock wheeler if he'd pause before opening his gate so that R could step across the gap once he'd opened the gate on his side of the lock. The lock wheeler either chose not to or didn't hear R's request and opened the gate as soon as the lock was ready. Whilst R then had to walk around the lock, the lock wheeler jumped upon his steed, expensive camera around his neck, and set off towards the next lock only to fall off his bicycle within the first few yards. Somehow he managed to roll over (without damaging the camera), pick himself up, regain his composure, climb on his bike and carry on as though nothing had happened. The crew of the boat behind ours, who had had the odd glass of amber nectar (or the like) simply couldn't stop themselves laughing!

We intended to stop at the top of the flight for a break before continuing on to moor out in the country somewhere. However, it was 3.30pm when we stopped and nearly an hour later by the time that we'd had our afternoon drink so we decided that we'd stay where we were for the night. We'd been quite intent on trying not to disturb too much water for an angler who was sat near where we intended to moor. The consequence of this was that we'd failed to spot a No Mooring request on the adjacent canal-side house. So, before we shut ourselves in for the night we moved the boat back a few metres so that we were not moored right in front of the house's windows.

R wandered along to the nearby lift bridge after we stopped initially to open it for the three boats that we'd worked up the flight with. They were heading for Hockley Heath, a few miles distant and it was one of these boaters that drew R's attention to the aforementioned No Mooring sign.

8 September 2011

We learned one lesson about now for we'd only brought the cruising guides with us that we thought that we might use, the remainder were still at home. We knew that we couldn't head straight for Birmingham or we'd be moored up for two days and the batteries would definitely not stand that. Similarly we didn't want to stop too close to the suburbs lest we become a target for some ne'er do wells. As a result the only option left for us was to turn south at King's Norton Junction and find somewhere there to stop. Fortunately we had some magazine extracts for the area and they showed mooring and turning points at Hopwood, about an hour's cruising from the junction and about 2½ hours from the city centre. We also had the option of cruising a little further south, turning and returning to Hopwood on Friday evening if we wished.

Anyway we set off from our overnight mooring at 9.15am and pottered slowly along, excessive speed wasn't possible because the canal isn't deep enough for that. Progress was soon interrupted by what felt like something around the propeller so we found a straight bit of canal and pulled over for R to investigate and remove a couple of large pieces of relatively inflexible plastic sheet from the propeller area. We were soon on our way again.

We'd been cruising for a little over an hour and had reached bridge 20 when we saw a sign for a local bakers. H had tried to have toast for breakfast but had been thwarted by the lack of suitable bread. We therefore decided to pull in just beyond the bridge so that H could go shopping and R could both stay with the boat and gather up some of the numerous bits of branch that were spread all over the towpath to top up our firewood supply. We took advantage of the stop to have our morning cuppa when H returned (complete with fresh jam doughnuts) from what she called a very useful shop.

We moved off again at 11.20am and cruised for a further ninety minutes before we stopped for lunch. Much of this canal is bounded by trees, hedges and bushes and runs through numerous cuttings, limiting what can be seen from the boat and also making it quite dark. Consequently it was very noticeable when we passed out of a cutting into a bit of open land for the ambient light level increased manyfold.

We restarted after lunch to stop again at Lyons Boatyard. The toilet tank was getting full and with no knowledge of a place to empty it in the next few days we decided that we'd empty the tank, hoping that it would then last until we got home. Whilst we were there we decided to check and then top up the fuel tank. We probably had enough to get us back to our mooring but it was best to be safe so took about eighty litres of fuel on board.

We extended our stop to have an ice cream and then set off again, turning left at King's Norton Junction about thirty minutes later. We were soon stopped again, this time for water and our afternoon cuppa which we had complete with toasted teacakes that H had bought earlier at the baker's by bridge 20.

We finally moored for the night a few metres before the winding hole at Hopwood. This was a lucky decision because although there were mooring rings a little further south, they were much closer to the road overbridge, a road that was very busy and equally noisy.

Ongoing problems with R's outgoing emails consumed much of the evening replacing the intention to bring this page further up to date. The situation was also slight tempered with the news that an amateur radio colleague who had had a heart attack and stroke earlier in the week had passed away earlier in the day and R was trying to pass this information on to a few people.

9 September 2011

We outlined our options for Friday above. We could cruise further south and return later in the day or we could stay where we were and either relax on the boat (including checking the email problem again), go out for a walk or even take a bus somewhere. In the end we combined a couple of options and went out for a short walk after breakfast and then returned to the boat so that R could check his mail problem and finally bring this page up to date.

The rest of the day was spent on the boat, reading and dozing and watching television, not being too over impressed with the pending weather forecast for the end of the weekend and the start of the following week when we may well be working through numerous locks.

We thought that we'd moored clear of the winding hole on Thursday evening but three boats tried to turn there on Friday - one of them twice! - and each seemed to experience difficulty. Perhaps the bow of our boat was too close to the winding hole. In fairness by the end of the day a further boat had moored probably just as close on the other side of the winding hole which is probably why the last boat to turn did so with their bow against the towpath instead of their stern.

The problems with the email returned again during the evening and more time was spent unsuccessfully trying to resolve the problem than doing what R wanted to do, which was to send a mail to his sister.

10 September 2011

We both had a terrible night on Friday with neither of us getting much sleep. We don't know why and don't believe that it was because we'd nodded off during the afternoon. Anyway, we'd made a cup of tea about 4am and were probably both just on the verge of dozing (or had dozed off and were woken suddenly) when a boat went past. We were moored within a few miles of three hire boat bases and had expected to see plenty of their boats returning to base whilst we were moored up on Friday. We saw very few and most of those appeared late in the day and had moored nearby. We'd also seen a few hire boats heading away from their bases on what we suspect were weekend hires. Our guess is that Saturday's early starter was a hire boat pushing the envelope to get back to its base.

We stayed in bed for a bit longer but finally decided that we'd make a move at 7am. We were dressed, had breakfast and checked the engine over ready to cast off a few minutes before 8am. We would be repeating a trip of some twenty three months previous, save that this time we had to turn the boat before we set off heading north, this time there were only two of us on board (we had M with us two years ago) and we were meeting daughter in Birmingham this time rather than going to a concert.

We were soon in the tunnel. On Thursday we'd been able to see right through, on Saturday we couldn't see hardly a hand in front of our face for some reason. On Thursday we'd been rebuked because our headlight was mis-aligned and had probably unintentionally blinded a boater travelling towards us. We decided to make sure that didn't happen on Saturday and adjusted the headlight both upwards and to the right. Alas, we adjusted it too far so the beam was pointing at the tunnel wall just a few metres on front of the boat. Fortunately we never met another boat in the tunnel and just stayed in the middle of the channel all the way through.

Not long after passing King's Norton Junction we noticed a high number of walkers, runners and joggers on the towpath. They appeared to be taking part in some kind of organised event, something that was confirmed later when we saw a refreshment tent on the towpath.

We didn't see too many boats initially but after we'd stopped to get some provisions near Selly Oak we started to see more. In fact we met two on either narrow stretches or by bridges with the result that we had to hold back to let the other boats through before we could continue.

We finally tied up adjacent to the Sea Life Centre just after 12.30pm. This left us but a short while to devour lunch and then head off to the station to meet up with daughter who had come up from home by train. We then headed back the way we'd come by boat (only this time on the train) and visited Cadbury World. We returned to the City centre afterwards, had a meal and a short wander around waiting for daughter's train time before we returned to our boat.

We didn't quite manage to dodge the increasingly heavier showers but didn't get too wet. Whilst H watched television R fired up the laptop and was pleased to see that his outgoing mail was up and running again (although we didn't know how long for). He managed to update this page as well, accompanied as he was by the sound of fireworks around 10pm. We guess that these were something to do with the arts festival that was being held in the City centre.

11 September 2011

There was a bit of noise on Saturday evening after we'd gone to bed and a couple of boats went past, at least one of which was a trip boat. Other than that we weren't disturbed until the first boat went by on Sunday morning whilst we were still in bed. Fortunately for us this boat turned away from the locks we planned to drop down once we set off. The same can't be said for two boats that came past much faster whilst we were finishing breakfast so we knew from the start that we'd have all the locks against us when we did set off.

We were surprised when we got to the locks to find that the first of the pair had just left and the second boat was just entering the lock. We duly stopped at the top of the lock and waited our turn although H did set off down the flight for a short way getting locks ready for these other boats thereby helping them on their way. In return the crew off the boat in front of us set the first few locks filling for us as they vacated each chamber.

We'd seen the BW lock keeper near the top of the flight and he'd advised us that there was someone further down helping boats through the locks. We met said person about halfway down the thirteen lock flight. Jim had sold his boat some while before as his wife was unwell. He missed the boat like crazy and had moved to live close to the locks in Birmingham to enable him not to lose touch. He kept fit by helping boats down the locks most mornings, and very grateful we were for that.

It took us 100 minutes to work down through the flight and a further fifteen minutes to get to the next junction - Aston Junction. We then set off down a further eleven lock flight where we were still following the two boats that we'd been following earlier. These locks were a little further apart than on the first flight but we got into a routine where we could. R would put the boat in the lock and then walk down to the next but one lock and start it filling, returning to previous lock to open the gates ready to take the boat in when he left the initial lock. He'd then walk back to the boat just as H was opening the bottom gates for the boat to exit the lock.

The last three locks were too spread out for this method of working so we tackled one lock at a time. Our passage through one of those locks was watched by a party of about twenty young Germans who would be setting off on five hire boats for five days the following morning.

We got to Spaghetti Junction just under two hours after we started down the second flight. Here we turned right and set off towards Minworth and Cudworth, where we planned to do some family history research.

We stopped first at Minworth where some of H's relatives had lived around 200 years earlier. We moored where we intended and were lucky enough to find a couple of local people on the towpath who were able to direct us to the landlord of the local pub who knew a little of the history of the area. He in turn directed us to a nearby resident who knew even more. Time had taken its toll and most buildings we were interested in had disappeared in the intervening 200 years. Nonetheless we were able to leave the area with a bit more knowledge than when we arrived.

We moved on to the top of the Cudworth locks where we turned the boat and returned to the local mooring by the tunnel. Here we found the two boats that we'd been following earlier. We then walked to the local church and inspected all the gravestones that we could read lest we find any information about H's family, one member of whom was the local undertaker all those years ago. We were surprised when our search revealed absolutely nothing. We returned to the boat as the winds strengthened and spent the night mostly watching television.

12 September 2011

Once again we were in bed when the first boat went past (at 6.45am!). We set off almost two hours later and were the next boat to move. The wind had increased in strength overnight and there'd been a fair amount of rain as well. We'd not been moving for many minutes when as we rounded a bend we saw the stern of another boat that had just cast off from the towpath. So, just like Sunday, we were in a queue again. However, unlike Sunday we'd only be following this boat through three locks not the twenty seven that we'd followed boats through on Sunday.

We passed under a bridge just before the third lock and managed to ride over something in the water. We knew not what. When we got to the lock we were met by the lock keeper so we told him of this and he advised us that it was a safe that had been thrown over the bridge but which was in a difficult place to get at. Apparently at least one safe is thrown over this bridge every year!

We were retracing Sunday's steps on Monday as far as Spaghetti Junction where we turned onto a different stretch of water to that which we'd used on Sunday. The noise from the motorway was so loud that it actually drowned out the noise of our own engine!

There weren't as many locks on Monday's stretch of water and we were lucky to find many of those locks ready and waiting for us. On the down side there was a bit more rubbish in the water and we had to stop once to remove a great wad of the remnants of plastic bags from around the propeller. We didn't know it at the time but we would find ourselves doing the same thing again, later in the afternoon not long before we moored for the night.

We met one hire boat after the fourth lock, at about midday. We were the first moving boat that they'd seen that day (and we'd only seen a couple ourselves). We stopped at what was supposed to be a water point at Bordesley only to find the tap was dry. However, we used the excuse to have lunch and also managed to find a post box to post a birthday card to an ex work colleague of R's.

We set off again and were soon climbing through the Camp Hill flight of six locks, some of which were in our favour. The wind was still quite strong so we were trying to make sure that the next lock's gates were open before we left the current lock. We met one other boat heading down the flight and thought that they'd probably be the last we'd see for the day as there are only a limited number of places that overnight stopping is recommended in and around Birmingham and we were a fair distance from most of these.

There is a water point at the top of Camp Hill but the compound is protected by a high fence and other items of metal to stop people getting into the compound by swinging around the end of the fence at the water's edge. As a result and with the strong wind we decided to turn the boat through 270° to bring it alongside the tap rather than risk catching the side of the boat on the overhanging metalwork fixed to the fence.

There was a lock keeper on duty in the office when we arrived. He came out of his office momentarily whilst we were in the lock and then went back inside, the last we saw of him. This is most untypical of BW staff who are usually only too pleased for an excuse for a chat!

We restarted with the intention of stopping as soon as we left the urbanised area, some seven miles distant. However, the canal was boarded by very tall trees and banks on both sides at this point making television and telephone signals likely to be poor if not non existent. In the end we moored on the visitor moorings at Catherine de Barnes. We were surprised that we saw a couple of moving boats after we'd moored and even more surprised that we'd passed about three boats heading into Birmingham as we came south. They'd have had to cruise for a fair distance and work through numerous locks to get to one of the recommended overnight mooring points.

13 September 2011

There was less wind when we woke on Monday morning. We were to have a reasonably leisurely day because we were now trying to kill time before our boat moving exploits which were due to start on Friday. As a result we didn't rush to get up nor to cast off, choosing to have a wander around the village before moving off.

We eventually cast off at 9.40am just as a hire boat arrived and decided to moor. They indicated that they would probably be stopping for about thirty minutes and were also planning to drop down through the five Knowle locks, the only locks that we intended to use that day.

We were at the top of the lock flight within the hour and moored up waiting for another boat to share the locks with. The top lock was in our favour and there was a boat ascending through the locks. We turned the top lock in their favour whilst we waited for any other boat and took the opportunity to have our mid morning cuppa whilst we waited.

We gave up waiting after thirty minutes and set off down the flight on our own. There was no sight of the hire boat behind us and, as far as we could tell by looking behind us, there were no other boats in the flight by the time we left.

Our intention was to moor somewhere near where we'd moored the previous Tuesday night, which we estimated would take a little under two hours to reach. In the end it took a little over two hours because of numerous moored boats and the need to give way to boats as we approached bridge holes.

We finally ceased cruising and moored for the night at 1.45pm! We took our time over lunch and then R settled on the laptop to bring this page up to date with the last three day's news. H started reading her book and promptly nodded off, briefly stirring each time a boat went past. It was quite breezy but we had an excellent view from either side of the boat. The local pub was no more than a couple of hundred metres away on the non towpath side of the canal which, as a result, meant that it involved a walk of anything up to a mile to get there so we stayed on board!

We had a couple of heavy rain showers, far heavier than the one we'd had about ten minutes before stopping for the day. Eventually H decided that she'd be best employed by heading outside and trying to loosen all the dirt on the roof in the hope that the roof would get a thorough wash the next time it rained. We had no further rain during the afternoon and none during the evening!

Several boats went past after we'd moored up which, given the earlier hour at which we stopped, wasn't surprising. We were also joined by several other boats that moored both sides of us.

Early success with an Internet connection turned sour later in the afternoon but resumed in the evening after we'd eaten. R spent a bit more time on the laptop during the evening but then joined H watching television once the entries on this page had been brought up to date.

The wind was still quite strong before we went to sleep and there was a very bright full moon that lit up the inside of the boat through the Houdini hatch.

14 September 2011

For some unknown reason R had another disturbed night and had to take pain killers before he went to bed and again at around 2am. The moon had shrunk in size as it had moved further away but it was probably still giving off enough light to read by (albeit outside the boat, which we never tried).

The first boat of the day went past at 6.45am. The second and third went by as we were eating breakfast. In fact we were almost ready to move off when the third boat crept past so without rushing, we completed our preparation and cast off. This last boat had a crew of five which we decided would be useful as we worked down through the twenty one Hatton locks. We were to discover later that this wasn't necessarily the case.

We must have started at least ten minutes after the last boat had passed so R put in a bit of effort to gain on them so that they were aware that we were behind them at the locks. We caught them up by Shrewley Tunnel and kept them in sight from there to the locks.

There was a boat waiting in the top lock when we arrived, much to our dismay. This meant that the boat that we'd followed would descend the flight with them and we'd be left to await another boat. The waiting boat had been the other boat that we'd seen whilst we were eating breakfast.

Far from making things easier, the crew of five seemed to complicate matters somewhat and initial progress (at least) down the locks seemed to be slower than that achieved by a pair of boats each with a crew of two. We weren't sorry that we'd not travelled with the multi-crewed boat.

We refilled the top lock as soon as it had been vacated and took our boat into the chamber to await the next boat - we'd drop down through the lock if a boat wanted to empty the lock for themselves but, otherwise, we'd sit and wait for a partner. We refilled the second and third locks as they became empty as well and even opened the top gates ready for what we hoped would be our usage in a short while.

We'd waited for almost an hour (and had a cup of tea) when we saw not one but two boats approach the lock. Hoorah, we'd soon be on our way. We'd motioned to the lead boat to join us in the lock but they declined saying that they were travelling with their friends on the other boat. We were in no hurry and didn't fancy working down through the flight on our own if we didn't have to so we decided to reverse out of the lock and let the other two boat go down first.

They'd not been gone long when the first uphill boat of the day (that we'd seen) came up through the top lock. They'd just moored at the top of the lock to take water when we spied a boat approaching the lock so we moved into the lock and were soon joined in the lock by the other boat.

We worked down the entire flight with this other boat and had an enjoyable time. What was surprising was that the two boats in front had both had an excess of crew and yet we managed to keep pace with them with just two crew members on each of our two boats. We soon had a routine and simply used it at each lock. One or other of the two on shore crew members would walk down to the following lock, fill it and then open the top gates. The two boats would enter the lock singularly and the steerers would close gates and lift paddles as required. The fourth crew member would open one gate and lower one paddle once the lock was empty - the steerer on the offside boat lowering the other paddle - and then the boats would leave the lock with the gate being closed behind them. No words were necessary, it just gelled.

We never caught the boats in front but were never far behind them. We did have to wait a couple of times for boats climbing up the flight rather than turn locks that were in their favour. And then just two locks from the bottom we caught up with the boat that we'd followed closely up to the top of the locks. They'd stopped for lunch whilst their companion boat had continued.

Our earlier suspicions were confirmed when the crew off the preceeding boat objected to us going ahead to set the last lock for them and then took their time not only to work through the lock where we caught them up (and the last one) but also crawled between the last two locks. We probably took longer to work through the last two locks than we'd taken to work through the previous four locks and those four locks were much wider spaced.

We said farewell to our travelling companions and whilst they turned left at the junction we continued to return to the Saltisford Arm where we almost immediately had to stop because the above mentioned multi crewed boat was stationary in front of us because the coal boat was manoeuvering. The multi crew boat then moved forward, turned and reversed into the trees whilst they were trying to gain their mooring point from which the entire crew disembarked with all their bags and baggage.

We then turned and moored temporarily until everything was sorted. We had lunch and had just settled down to read when we were advised that we could move alongside our friend's boat and remain there until Friday morning. After a while H decided to go shopping and left R to guard the boat (not that it was needed), have a shower and catch up on the computer.

She returned in due course having suffered a senior moment for she had bought the wrong milk. However, by now it was time for our afternoon cuppa so we had that and then R took the milk back to the store to exchange, just over an hour after it had been purchased and whilst it was still cold enough to be uncomfortable to hold for too long. The supermarket refused to exchange it saying that their policy was to only exchange chilled items within fifteen minutes of them being purchased. How many people are in a position whereby they can get their purchases to a place were they can establish an incorrect purchase and get back to the store within fifteen minutes. R was not impressed and only just managed to control his disrespect for the supermarket.

He bought the desired milk and returned to the boat with it and the unwanted item, an unhappy man.

We ate on the boat and spent more time on the computer as well as watching television. With a forecast low temperature overnight we lit the fire and are now getting reasonably good at keeping the fire low enough not to heat the boat so much that we have to open the doors to let some cool air in to lower the internal temperature!

15 September 2011

We slept better on Wednesday night, the day's exercise being sufficient to make us sleep. We got up around 8am and had breakfast then we filled the water tank, changed the bed clothes and extracted our inflatable bed from under our bed so that we could prepare it for our guests who would arrive later.

We set off to spend the day at Warwick Castle, the first time that R had been there. The weather was kind to us and the archery re-enactor was superb, just that little bit more so than the other re-enactors.

We were back on the boat by 4pm and had our afternoon cuppa before firing up the computer to update this page and to get a postcode that we could give to our visitors to guide them to the side gate of the Saltisford Arm and, thus, only a few yards from our boat. We also lit the fire for although we were eating out we expected that we'd return to the boat with the visitors later and the temperature in the boat when we returned at 4pm was already lower than that outside and that wasn't very warm.

The visitors duly arrived around 6.15pm having called to say that they'd arrive in about five minutes and then taking almost fifteen minutes to undertake the final short distance to the nominated parking space. They unloaded the car, transferring their possessions to the boat that they would be mainly travelling on and then we secured both boats and headed to town for a meal.

We returned to the boats afterwards, said our farewells to M who had brought A and the grease monkey to the boat and spent a short time on our boat making final arrangements for our departure the following morning before going our separate ways and heading for bed.

16 September 2011

We'd already made it known to the locals that we intended to depart at 7am in an attempt to ensure that we managed to get through the Calcutt Locks which were subject to limited opening due to shortages of water. We'd set our alarms appropriately and R even managed to grab his breakfast in the available time before emerging from the rear of the boat to find the grease monkey busy with the engine checks on his boat. We did the same on ours and then some ten minutes earlier than planned we crept out of the arm as quietly and as slowly as we could.

We were through our first two locks in just under thirty five minutes with the grease monkey leading. We'd not cleared the locks by many minutes when the radio burst into life and R was told to catch up (the grease monkey). As we rounded the next bend the reason became obvious because a hire boat was making ready to cast off and we didn't want that boat in between our two for the twenty plus locks that we had ahead of us. The hire boat set off behind us and initially stayed in view but had long disappeared from sight by the time that we reached our next lock over an hour later.

We eventually caught up another boat and were almost waiting for them to vacate locks when we arrived. In the end we told them to leave the top gates for us to close and this worked well, enabling them to be clear of each lock by the time that we got there.

There are four Bascotte locks, the upper two forming a staircase, where both locks share the same intermediate gate. Water levels between the various locks were not great with the result that the boat ahead temporarily grounded between the second and third lock. They then had trouble moving between the staircase lock but this was attributed to a bottom paddle on the lower chamber being left slightly open and causing the level in the staircase to fall. It took several minutes to notice the problem and several minutes more to rectify it.

In the meantime we were following the other boat and had now been joined below the bottom lock by the aforesaid hire boat and one other. In addition a single boat arrived at the top of the staircase. In an effort to speed things up and save water we arranged to cross the single hire boat in the staircase.

The single boat entered the top lock and our two boats entered the lower lock. The top lock was emptied into the bottom lock and the shared gates opened. We moved one boat from the lower chamber into the upper chamber and pushed our other boat to the vacated side of the lower chamber. The single boat moved forward and we then pushed our boat across the upper chamber so that our other boat could change chambers. With all boats safely in their respective chambers we closed the shared gates and both filled the top lock and emptied the bottom lock.

A crew member from the hire boat behind us, obviously still smarting from being beaten to the off by us, walked up to the top lock and started to close the gates behind us until we pointed out the approaching boat whereupon the gates were grudgingly re-opened. At this point the bottom gates of the lower lock were still open in readiness for use by the two boats following us.

With the northbound boat safely in the top lock but with the top gates not completely closed, the hire boat crew member started to drain the top lock. The top gates slammed shut and then someone noticed that the bottom gates of the lower lock were still open. At that point we disappeared under a bridge, too far from the locks to see what happened next!

Water levels above the top lock were also low but not alarmingly so. The boat ahead of us eventually pulled over to take on water and we were on our own again.

We had the Stockton flight of ten locks almost to ourselves although we did meet a couple of boats heading down. As had been the case for most other locks we'd had to drain most chambers. We'd breasted the boats up at Bascotte, until we had to split them but all the other locks had been too far apart to enable us to do this realistically. However, our final eight Stockton locks were all together so we breasted up once again and were able to benefit from having three people to work the locks and only one steering. It's amazing how much difference that simple practice makes to the time it takes to travel through a number of wide locks.

We left the Stockton flight at 1.10pm, nearly four hours before the Calcutt locks were due to close and those locks were less than an hour's travelling time away. We had no other boats in front of us but there were more boats moored on this stretch than we remembered when we went north so progress was a tad slower. Soon we were on the long straight to the locks. Then it all started to go pear shaped for out of the massive marina nearby crept one boat that turned towards the locks in front of us.

The crew off that boat were still draining the lock when we arrived so we had to wait for them to complete that task and work through the lock before we could use the lock. In the meantime a boat that had climbed through the locks a little earlier was now waiting in the top of the three locks for the following boat to join them.

Once again we'd breasted up but it is amazing how slow progress can be when you're waiting for preceding boats to vacate locks before you can drain (or fill) them. Nonetheless we were soon out of the top lock but just before we were another hire boat pulled away from the bank just in front of us. By the time that we'd cleared the lock and were on the short straight that leads to Napton Junction there were the two boats that had left the locks before us and the hire boat in front of us. All three boats turned the same way as we would and were joined by another hire boat that had just left its base on the southern Oxford canal. Once again we found ourselves wondering why we're always at the back of the queue!

And so we cruised almost all the way to Braunston. The first two boats seemed to keep up a good speed but the lead hire boat seemed to have left the hand brake on for we found ourselves cruising along in tickover for much of the five miles.

Eventually the lead hire boat pulled over and moored up so we could speed up a little. Then we had the opportunity to pass the second hire boat so for once we seemed to be at the head of the queue. In fact both boats that had worked through the locks before us had moored up as well by the time we got to Braunston.

We turned towards the locks at Braunston Junction and crept passed all the moored boats, including another that moors at our boatyard.

We'd been overtaken ourselves on the way to Braunston by a somewhat tatty looking cruiser that was almost more tarpaulin than boat and R caught sight of what he thought was this boat near the lock. As boats were only supposed to navigate through the locks in pairs we wanted to make sure that we weren't split up by this other boat. Fortunately the cruiser's sole occupant seemed more interested in talking things mechanical to the nearby engineer and didn't filch when our two boats first drew alongside him and then eased in front of him.

Yet again progress through the locks was slow with the boats in front delayed by who knows what. Nevertheless we eventually cleared the locks ten minutes before 6pm and set off first through the tunnel and then across the summit. After a while and having gained on one of the two boats that had preceded us through the locks, the boat pulled over and waved us both past and was last seen in the same physical position when we looked backwards some time later. The other boat also attempted to moor up just before the junction as we went past. When they couldn't get close enough to the bank they moved further along once we'd gone past.

The top lock of the Buckby flight was in our favour - although we would have still used the lock even if it hadn't been. We were soon through the lock and moored up for the night in the pound below, far enough from the nearby road to get a quiet night's sleep. H had been cooking a casserole in the slow cooker for most of the day and had cooked the rice as we cruised across the summit.

All four of us ate on our boat and then the grease monkey headed for the pub to use their facilities (and get an early pint in) whilst the other three of us had showers on our respective boats before sauntering over to the pub ourselves. We left the pub long before closing time. We were all nicely tired having cruised for more than 21 miles and worked through 31 locks in a shade over twelve hours, some of which we found frustrating!. Needless to say we didn't hang around going to bed especially as we planned an equally early start the following morning.

17 September 2011

We were away as planned on Saturday, albeit fifteen minutes later than on Friday. We had the remaining six locks of the Buckby flight to descend and then the long flat pound to Stoke Bruerne. Some of the locks were full and some empty but after the widely spaced first two locks we breasted up to take advantage of having an extra body to help work the locks.

We arrived at the third lock from the bottom to find that the top gates of the lock below had been left open all night with the result that the intervening pound was very low. It was so low that our boat had trouble leaving the lock and the other boat kept grinding along the bottom between the locks. None of this delayed us unduly and we were soon heading to the bottom lock which R had found empty with a boat approaching. He'd signalled the approaching boat into the chamber but the boat had pulled into the bank a couple of hundred yards before the lock.

R decided to turn the lock and had nearly filled it when the crew of the other boat walked up to the lock and said that they'd not seen the signals.

We cleared the flight at 8.20am and bedded down, so to speak for the long pound that lay ahead. We eventually caught and overtook a small and slow moving boat several miles before we reached Stoke Bruerne tunnel. We also caught up with another slow moving boat a little later and had little option but to crawl along behind them until Gayton Junction where they decided to turn around and return in the direction from whence they had come. We don't know why they wouldn't let us past if they knew that they intended to do that.

We managed to sneak past a further boat that was about to set off before we reached Stoke Bruerne tunnel and considered ourselves quite lucky. The luck soon ran out though because it was obvious soon after entering the tunnel that we had another boat ahead of us. Normally this wouldn't matter and we'd all get through the tunnel in about the same time. Not so this time though.

There was precious little light originating from the boat in front so it was difficult to work out exactly where they were. We knew they were there somewhere because they were partially blocking the view of the far end of the tunnel. We carried on for a while and then realised that we were almost on top of them for we could hear their engine and their voices, although the latter was surprising given the noise from the former.

The engine seemed to be working hard and yet we were gaining on them with our engine frequently in tick-over or simply coasting in neutral. And so it remained until we left the tunnel after a journey much much slower than we'd ever experienced before. We know one boat entered the tunnel some way behind our pair of boats but all four boats (including the lead) plus one other popped out of the tunnel within a very short space of time just to show how slow we'd all been going.

The grease monkey had inadvertently caught the horn button whilst we were in the tunnel, thereby sounding the horn. We were asked why we sounded our horn when we passed the now mooring up lead boat. We explained that it wasn't us but someone behind (without revealing who) possibly because their boat was going quite slow - they had actually increased their speed as they left the tunnel. The steerer responded saying that he felt he was going quite fast! We'd hate to have to follow them if they were meant to be going slowly!

We were soon at the top of the locks, just as another hire boat was moving up to the top gate. We explained that we were two boats travelling together and they said that they were happy for us to go first and that they'd wait for a following boat, one of which arrived almost before we'd got into the lock.

Progress down the flight of six locks, again with us breasted up towards the bottom where the locks are closer together, was reasonably rapid with no requirement for us to wait for boats heading towards to clear locks.

Soon we were on our way to the next lock at Cosgrove, several miles distant. We only passed one boat of note and this was a hire boat carrying a group of young lads who had pulled over to the offside to await some of their team who had hopped off the boat at a previous bridge to replenish supplies of drink.

It seems unbelievable but once again we found a couple of boats waiting to use the lock when we arrived so we had to wait for them to go and then turn the lock for ourselves. Meanwhile the hire boat had crept up behind us and would be one of the next boats through the lock.

It was only just after 4pm so we had about three hours of daylight left and intended to make as much use of it as we could. Within a few minutes we passed another couple of (moored) hire boats, part of the same group as those on the boat behind. We could still see a moving boat ahead of us but we only latterly got close to them. We carried on through Milton Keynes under increasingly threatening skies, similar to those that we'd experienced a little earlier and which had generated a few light rain showers, but nothing to write home about.

This lot would be different for in little over an hour after we left Cosgrove lock it started to rain and gradually got heavier and heavier. By this time we'd gone far enough south to ensure that we could get back to the boatyard by the following evening if we stopped for the night. We needed to consider a stopping place where the grease monkey could be collected by road and where M could leave his car all day on Sunday for he was steering the other boat on its final leg of its journey.

We were soon approaching The Black Horse pub and the rain was getting heavier and we were getting wetter (and catching up the boat in front). Then the storm started so by use of the radio link between the two boats we decided to stop for the night at the pub and were glad that we did because the weather worsened for a while after we'd moored up.

We phoned M as soon as we stopped and were please to find that the storm had passed by the time he arrived to collect his passenger. The three remaining crew members settled down for a meal on our boat afterwards and then following a short chat A decided to head back to the other boat and we decided to have an early night.

The three hire boats that we'd passed earlier all arrived a little after us. The rain was quite heavy and the crews were having problems finding somewhere to moor close to the pub. One managed to slot in near the adjacent road bridge but the others carried on further south, turned and then returned to moor initially on the offside. Soon, and with much revving of engines they moved back across the canal and moored for the night, side by side. We never heard them go to the pub and we never heard them come back, a fact that we thanked them for when we set off the following morning.

18 September 2011

We had set the alarm for 7am on Sunday just in case M arrived early, which he did! We hadn't slept overly well on Saturday night so in many ways were glad to get up and get on. Numerous attempts at estimating the arrival time at our planned destination (which may have sub-consciously been part of the reason for fitful sleeping) seemed to arrive at equally numerous answers. One thing was for sure though, if it rained on Sunday we'd have to keep going because we were providing the vehicle that would ultimately re-unite M with his vehicle which he'd left in the pub car park.

A had indicated that she'd set her alarm for 7.30am but was several minutes after M arriving at our boat. Nonetheless after a quick cup of tea we gathered ourselves together, checked the respective boats and started our engines. We moved off almost dead on the hour. The crew of the hire boats were already up and about despite a no doubt late night on Saturday. We wished them well as we passed and disappeared towards the rising sun, a sun which made steering very difficult initially because it was so low in the sky.

We were conscious of the early hour so tended to creep past any moored boats even slower than normal in an effort not to disturb the occupants. We eventually saw a couple of boats moving, one of which appeared (like clockwork) as we approached a bridge with a particularly severe bend either side of it.

R kept a mental note of where we were at various times and concluded that had we not been forced to stop early on Saturday we would have managed to get to either of the two overnight stopping points that we'd originally intended to use. There was plenty of room at the first but none at the second so the rain possibly did us a favour.

We passed through the apology that is the (eighteen inch) lock at Fenny Stratford just after 10am and found that we had another boat behind us. We continued on towards the next lock and soon caught up a slower moving boat that allowed us to overtake them. We advised them that we were being followed and they agreed to wait for the following boat thereby allowing us to work through the lock before them.

We followed two further boats into the bottom of the Soulbury Three Locks, where we arrived at (pub) opening time. For some reason the pub's clocks didn't match our watches and the doors stayed resolutely shut whilst we worked the boat through that bottom lock. The pub doors opened as we entered the middle lock, where we would have to wait for a boat descending in the flight, so A grabbed some money from M and was soon in and out of the pub, latterly carrying a tray with filled glasses on it.

In the meantime, thinking that they'd missed out on a drink, H disappeared into our boat and opened a bottle of beer for those of the crew that enjoy such liquids. She emerged from the boat holding two glasses just as A arrived with her tray and filled glasses. There then followed a reasonably quick drinking session whilst the boat progressed to the top of the locks leaving just enough time for A to return tray and the associated empty glasses to the pub.

The arrival of a boat intent on descending the flight but making no contribution to our passage through the chamber encouraged us not to rush, thereby making A's walk back to the pub more leisurely.

Leighton Lock was against us, with a boat in the chamber so we had to wait outside. We'd just managed to enter the lock when the boat that had been following us earlier also arrived below the lock. Their progress through the lock was then further delayed by a boat heading towards the lock after we left.

We paused briefly at Tesco to allow A to get some shopping and to allow H to serve up the bacon and sausage rolls that she'd been cooking as we approached the stop. We managed to start off again just as the following boats appeared in the distance. At this time we were hopeful of arriving back at the boatyard shortly after 5pm.

We found yet another northbound boat in the chamber as we arrived at Grove Lock and also noted that the Day Hire boat from our boatyard was just setting off at the top of the lock when we entered the chamber. We guessed we'd be in for a slow journey back.

We didn't manage to vacate the lock before the following boat arrived and learnt from them that they were heading for Uxbridge. We assumed that they would be following us all the way back to the boatyard.

We didn't rush to work through the lock or to make our way to the next lock until that lock was within our sights and we saw the Day Hire boat still moored below the lock with the crew just walking up to set the lock. R increased speed and managed to get H ashore below the lock quick enough to ask if the Day Hire boat would wait for the now single boat that was following us whilst we went ahead through the lock. The crew of the Day hire boat were quite content to do so.

We were soon through the lock and the Day Hire boat's crew were just about to turn the lock for themselves when a northbound boat arrived and saved them the trouble.

We went on our merry way thinking that we might see the Day Hire boat at the next lock if they didn't hang about. At this stage we re-appraised our recently updated mooring time back to the time that we'd envisaged earlier and knew that this still left the Day Hire boat sufficient time to get back to the boatyard without being late returning their boat.

It takes a good forty minutes to cruise between Church Lock and Slapton Lock. We didn't daly but were more than a little put out when we arrived at Slapton to find two boats about to enter the lock and a third boat also waiting. We knew this boat and also knew that they moored above the lock. Nonetheless we had to wait for that boat to work through the lock before we could.

We expected the Day Hire boat to arrive at any second as we waited and then as we worked through the lock. They actually arrived as we were about to leave the lock to advise us that the boat that we thought had been following us had never appeared at Grove lock so the Day Hire boat had continued on its own.

We left the Day Hire boat at Slapton and carried on to Horton where we found one top gate open and a boat heading towards the lock. More surprisingly was the fact that the boats that had just been entering Slapton Lock when we arrived there hadn't long vacated the lock that we were now at. This didn't bode well for the rest of our journey.

We worked the northbound boat through the lock and replaced them in the chamber. We then turned the lock for the Day Hire boat which arrived just as we were moving away from the lock. We approached bottom Ivinghoe Lock to see the preceding two boats just departing and their place in the lock about to be taken by yet another northbound boat. Once again in due course we swapped places with a northbound boat in the chamber.

Top Ivinghoe Lock is but a short walk further on and A had set off to prepare it for us. We were almost there, having crawled through an almost dry intervening lock pound before A was able to start draining the lock after the preceding boats had departed. By this time the Day Hire boat was just about keeping up with us although we did frequently manage to start draining the lock for them before they got to the bottom gates to do that themselves.

The crawling along behind the slow boats continued through all three Seabrook locks save that at the top of those three locks we encountered yet another northbound boat which again added a few minutes to our journey time whilst the other boat entered the lock, dropped down in it and then vacated it before we could use it.

Both A & H walked from lock to swing bridge, opened it and then closed it after the two boats had passed through. They then rejoined their respective boats for the last few minutes back to the boatyard where M moored his boat on its normal mooring and R took our boat to the pump out point. After a bit of shuttling around because the pipe wasn't quite long enough, we managed to empty the toilet tank with a bit of help from M who had finished securing his boat by this time.

We then moved our boat forward and secured it more than sixty minutes later than we had expected. R then fetched the car and the empty packing crates therein for H to load whilst R transferred other things to the car. We had the car filled and the boat locked and secure within about thirty minutes.

M joined us in the car and we were back at the pub car park where his vehicle was within forty minutes. We then returned home leaving M to make his own way back to the boatyard. We unloaded the car and had a meal before spending a large part of the remainder of the evening trawling through the pile of mail that had arrived whilst we were away. We were both quite tired and were in bed around 10pm.

20 September 2011

After many false starts and the tidying up of several loose ends R managed to spend a short while updating this page on Monday evening, with further work on it during Tuesday interspersed with several other things including the purchase of a replacement for the external hard drive that is used for backups on the computer and which had decided that as we were still supposed to be away it would take its own holiday but one with a difference. It wouldn't return from its holiday!

21 September 2011

R was heading to the boatyard on Wednesday morning to tackle some of the scratched and scraped paintwork (and to do a small amount of office work whilst he was there). However, as he had to collect something for M on his way and that was unlikely to be in stock until late morning, he spent the first part of the day updating the computerised Ship's log to cover the recent trip.

We were away for twenty one days (although we originally expected to be away for thirty). We cruised on eighteen of those days and managed to add a further 116.5 hours to those that the engine has already run - we're almost halfway to our next oil change already!

We passed through 227 locks, many of which we did and are thus counted twice and we covered 233.1 miles, again, including many covered more than once. The maximum number of locks we worked through in one day was 32 and the greatest distance that we covered in a day was 27 miles. At the other end of the scale we had two days when we didn't operate any locks and only covered 4.1 miles on one day (but we did work through 19 locks that day!). Probably our easiest day was when we were only on the move for 2¼ hours even though we travelled 6.7 miles and worked through one lock.

We didn't move for 3 days and thanks to the hectic finish we averaged 12.6 locks, 12.9 miles and 6.47 engine hours per day (that we moved).

In a further attempt to pass some time before heading out R tried to connect to his former work's network, something he does from time to time. He'd tried on Tuesday morning without success so tried again on Wednesday with a similar result. Forty five minutes later and the problem was solved. The down side being that by then he had planned to be at the boatyard or well on the way thereto.

He finally set out at around 11.15am, called for the shopping that M wanted and made the boatyard by midday. The next hour or so was spent in the office on various matters. This was followed by lunch and some socialising with one of the owners of the boat that we'd moved at the weekend. As a result it was well after 2pm when R eventually started work on rubbing down the numerous rust spots and scratches in all but the black paint. The black paint gets more knocks than the other colours and with one further trip out planned for a few weeks time we'd decided to tackle the black when we got back from that trip

It was a slow slog not helped by the finding of further rust spots almost as soon as R thought he'd found them all. Eventually just before 5pm R declared a truce and having washed down all the areas that he'd rubbed down, set about applying primer to the numerous small areas of bare metal. He finished just after 5.30pm, tidied up, secured the boat and headed for home intent on returning in a couple of day's time to rub down the primer and applying some undercoat.

30 September 2011

This entry is a slight cheat for it covers a few days all of which were basically similar for they involved returning to the boat to rub down, wash and then repaint either with undercoat (once) or top coat (twice) everything (and a bit more) that R had attacked earlier.

Each visit took longer than expected and annoyingly just when R thought he'd found every rust blister, he found one or more further ones. However, by the end of his visit on 30 September he'd decided that whilst the green and blue areas would probably suffice, the cream areas really needed at least one further coat because the second coat still wasn't completely hiding the use of the dark grey undercoat.

The usual Tuesday visit the following week would provide the opportunity to try a third coat and also to tidy up the inside of the boat where paint tins, abrasive and washing materials (not to mention the debris from the previous three visits) had accumulated.

Whilst waiting for the boat to dry after washing down R had changed the push button for the horn. The horn had only been working intermittently over the last few months. Initial fears that it was a bad connection somewhere in the wiring seemed to have been proven as unlikely when after shorting out the two terminals on the back of the button the horn sprung back into life. Attempts at repairing/cleaning the button's contacts had only been partially successful and on one occasion, having not been working all morning the horn suddenly sprang onto life and could only be silenced by switching off the circuit on the main supply panel.

Another and somewhat messy task undertaken on the last day of the month was to clear the dried paint from around the rims of lids and tins of paint. The green and cream tins weren't too bad but the blue which had seen use with a roller was badly clogged and a skin had dried on top of the paint. This was also removed and R hopes that having now knocked seven bells out of the lid and tin combinations when refitting the lids after their most recent use, the paint will survive a little longer. Apart from the cream, further use of these tins of paint this year isn't planned.

A check on the battery voltage pleasantly revealed a similar voltage on both domestic and started batteries hopefully proving that we'd not caused any lasting damage to the batteries by overlooking to top up the electrolyte.

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