Repaint cruise - day 4

Another day when it looked promising first thing, then came on the rain.  We left our overnight mooring just before 9, carried straight on at Gayton Junction, and moored in Blisworth for a quick walk up the hill to the shop for a few supplies.

Setting off again, it was straight into Blisworth tunnel, which was warmer and drier inside than out.

About a third of the way through the tunnel we caught up with a boat in front.  Even our tickover was too fast, so I kept having to knock us out of gear to avoid getting too close.  We usually get through it just under half an hour; today it took 45 minutes.  However, going so slowly meant I was able to get a decent photo of the side shaft, so that's a minor ambition achieved!

We ended up sharing the locks with the slow boat, which turned out to be an ex-OwnerShips boat with a man and his mum on board.  At the top lock, two boat were coming up, one of them being Reckless, (The Boat that Guy Built).  Adrian asked the owner if he'd still got the steam powered shower on board; he said everyone asks that, and no he hasn't.  In fact, most the Guy installations have gone!

We made rapid progress: locks were in our favour towards the top of the flight, then we started meeting boats coming up: Taverners Boat Club, which was moorings just across the cut from Thrupp Wharf Marina, are having their annual dinner tonight at Stoke Bruerne.

At the bottom of the locks, we were surprised to find the moorings completely empty.  A couple of other boats have arrived since, but it's still very quiet here.

This afternoon, my second cousin, Catherine, along with her husband, Nigel, and her children, Grace and Matthew, came to visit as they live quite close.  We reckon we haven't seen each other for about 35 years, so it was good to at least make a start on catching up.  Grace and Matthew, who'd already had quite an exciting day learning about blacksmithing at the forge by the southern entrance to the tunnel, were very taken with Briar Rose, and we've promised them that next time we'll go for a trip.

5 miles, 7 locks.  (34 miles, 14 locks)

Repaint cruise - day 3

We woke to a beautiful sunny morning, and set off at just after 8.30.  I walked the first part of our journey, to get some photos of Briar Rose in the sunshine.  The autumn colours added to the scene.

Along the towpath, we met a woman walking her little horse.  She explained that he had bad feet so can't manage a paved road.  He's also a bit overweight -- I said he looked like a Thelwell pony.

When we arrived at Buckby bottom lock, I winded in the marina entrance and we moored up opposite.  We walked up to the chandlery with a list of things we wanted, but they didn't have most of them.  We came away with a new rope for the bow, as Adrian has always disliked the really thick and rather stretchy rope that's been there.

We began retracing our steps.  It had clouded over and tried to rain a couple of times; there was also a brisk breeze, which made it quite cold.  We stopped at Rugby Boats at Stowe Hill Wharf for diesel, having tweeted them last night to check the price.  Service was friendly and efficient, and we were soon on our way again -- going about a hundred yards into a convenient space on the towpath side, where we stopped for lunch.

In the afternoon it was much sunnier, although still breezy and chilly.  The Northamptonshire countryside looked good in the sunshine,

We stopped just before 3pm, just short of Bridge 46, less than a mile from Gayton Junction.  We have the Virgin Trains close by again, but it's almost impossible to get away from them round here.

13 miles, 0 locks.  (29 miles, 7 locks)

Repaint cruise - day 2

It absolutely threw it down with rain yesterday evening and overnight, and at first today we believed the forecast which was for a relatively nice day.  We set off at 8.45 and did the final two locks of the Stoke Bruerne flight.  There was a boat coming out of each of them, which saved some work.

In the locks, we thought we'd better check that the horn and particularly the tunnel light were working, as they've been disconnected while the boat was painted.  The horn was fine, but the light wasn't.  The connection has always been a bit dodgy, so it wasn't really a surprise.  We moored temporarily while Adrian sorted it out, using a connector block to replace the fixings.  Once that was done, we set off for the tunnel.

The top pound was a very muddy colour, and full of frothy bubbles.  Once through the tunnel, it was obvious why: a feeder on the offside was putting lots of water in the canal, and churning it up in the process.

Any sign of a nice day had vanished, and it was now raining properly, and quite cold.  We stopped at Gayton Junction to fill the water tank, then carried on.  We made a lunch stop outside Heyford Fields Marina, then decided to continue a little further.  During the afternoon, the sun put in the occasional appearance, and by the time we stopped at just after 3 the skies had cleared considerable.  We're moored in the bendy section north of Weedon, just short of Bridge 23.  We've got the Virgin Trains for company, but that's true of almost everywhere along this stretch.  We've seen an extraordinary number of boats moving today, especially given that it's November, it's wet, and it's cold.  We met several at bridge holes, and some were going at an incredible speed.  In one case, we spotted the bow wave well before the boat.

Thanks to everyone who left a message about the repaint.  We've been told to be very careful with the paint for a while, as it takes time to harden fully, so we don't yet have the plank and pole stands on the roof, we're not putting cups on the rear slide, and we're not walking along the gunwales, in order to protect the cabin sides.  Also (and anonymous commenter, this is for you!) we're not getting up on the roof to clean the mushroom vents!

Some more things we like about the paint job:  the rear doors with the mouse's ears, and the registration number, which for the first time since we've owned the boat is readable.  We didn't ask Andy Russell to put a place along with the number, but we rather like Registered at Poynton!

13 miles, 2 locks.  (16 miles, 7 locks)

Repaint cruise - day 1

We'd originally been due to collect Briar Rose after her repaint on Monday, but the damp, dank, foggy weather last week meant the job was delayed a little.  Consequently, we've spent the past couple of days visiting friends and family in the north west.

We spent last night at a hotel in Market Harborough, but we were up and about early and got on the road at about 7am.  We swapped cars at the marina, shopped, and went along to Baxter's Boatfitting.  We were both quite nervous -- would the two greens work together?  Would we like the raddle red?  Would the renewed signwriting look good?  Fortunately, moments after we saw the boat we were grinning from ear to ear.  It looks incredibly glossy; the colours look fantastic, and the signwriting is fresh and lively.

We unpacked the car and set off.  I was very aware of every branch sticking out from the side of the canal.  While I steered, Adrian started getting the inside of the boat sorted out.  It wasn't as dusty as we'd feared it might be, but everything still needed a good clean.  The view of the roof is now completely different.

We considered stopping below the locks at Stoke Bruerne (as we hadn't yet had breakfast), but a boat was just going in the bottom lock so we joined them.  It was reasonably sunny and relatively mild.  All the locks were against us, but we still made reasonable progress, and moored in the long pound above the fifth lock.  There was still quite a lot of sorting out to do, and we were both hungry.  As we had lunch, the forecast rain arrived, so we're staying put.

3 miles, 5 locks.

Foxton Locks

I had a boat test today a stone's throw from Foxton Locks.  So as the test wasn't scheduled until the afternoon, I went up early and stopped at the locks for a walk.  There were a few gongoozlers about, and just a couple of boats moving.

I had lunch at the Bridge 61 pub at the bottom of the locks.  They've got an interesting exhibition coming soon.

The test went well.  The sky stayed mostly blue, although at one point it did rain at the same time, but it was fairly blustery.  I managed to reverse the boat back onto its mooring -- at the far end of a four-boat-long pontoon in the marina.

On the way home, I made an unscheduled stop at Heyford, where Chance was moored.  I'd intended to stay just an hour while the rush hour traffic round Oxford subsided, but ended up staying for dinner next door on Dolce Far Niente.  We'd met Stephen and Jayne at Crick, so it was really good to catch up with their news since then.  I left at about 9pm, making my way along the towpath by the light of my phone, back to the car.  It had been an excellent evening, all the better for being unplanned.

Walhalla on test

The November issue of Canal Boat is out, and includes my test of the extraordinary widebeam, Walhalla.

Pinch punch

Although someone somewhere in the organisation of Stoke Bruerne's Village at War festival may be a little confused about the date today...