Tusitala on test

The November Canal Boat is out, and includes my boat test on Tusitala by Finesse Boats.

Annoying

This is really just to log a night on the boat.  I went to work yesterday from Milton Keynes station, and during my lunchtime walk my phone was snatched by a kid on a bike.  Very annoying.  Without it, I didn’t even know Adrian’s number!  The process of getting everything sorted was begun.  This morning, I did a few boat jobs, such as swapping some bulbs, sorting the loo, and sealing a couple of leaking mushroom vents, and then headed home.  It’s difficult to do anything without internet, and the weather for Monday (which was supposed to be a boat test day) is dire.

Step up

I came up to the boat after work — and the drive took ages. When I got to the marina, I could easily seen the water level was high. Then I found there was a step up from the jetty onto the boat, when there’s usually a small step down. 

September Cruise: Day 18

It rained a lot all night and was still going this morning, sometimes very heavily.  Having looked at the rainfall radar, we waited for a lull and set off at 8.45.  Really, it was the sort of day when you wouldn’t move unless you had to; unfortunately we had to.

The first lock was full — and the rest of the flight turned out to be too full.  Because of the way these Grand Union locks are designed, there are no normal by-washes.  Extra water goes through the ground paddle somehow, and if there’s more it goes over the top gates and over the bottom gates.  The gates are different heights, so if there’s water going over the top ones, the lock will never make a level and you’ll never be able to get the gate open.  So from the second lock down, I had to run water off by opening top and bottom paddles, to lower the whole pound.  Of course each time this just moved the problem further down the flight, so there was a lot of running off water.  It meant the five locks took us an hour and a half.

It had rained again while we were locking, but once at the bottom it had stopped.  It was also pretty warm as we made our way along the five familiar miles back to our marina.  I saw a couple of kingfishers, and there were what looked like hundreds of geese at Grafton Regis.

The last mile had a fishing competition, but at least they weren’t fishing opposite the marina entrance, so I didn’t have to annoy an angler by turning in.  There was no wind, so my spin and reverse into our berth was one of my worst.  Then our next door neighbour came out to tell us that the marina owner, Roy, had unexpected died a couple of weeks ago.  He was 80, and the marina had been his project since retiring from his farm, which surrounds the marina.  He’ll be sadly missed as he would come down to check on everything at least once if not twice a day.

Adrian had done most of the packing as we came along, so we had lunch, loaded up the car and I headed home — while Adrian began the journey to Warrington for work tomorrow.

6 miles, 5 locks.  (215 miles, 137 locks)

September Cruise: Day 17

Another day where the actual weather was better than the forecast, although it was a bit overcast when we set off a bit after 8.  I walked round the junction to the top lock while Adrian brought the boat.

A Weedon hire boat was coming up, so the lock was set for us.

The second lock was full and we met a couple of other boats on their way up, so we didn’t actually have to turn any locks.

We got to the bottom about 9.45, and began the five hour journey along the Stowe Hill pound.  It turned out to have its moments.  In the quarter of a mile between High House Bridge and the narrows, we passed six boats going the other way — it it would have been seven had they managed to get through the narrow bit.  Near Heyford Fields, a day boat from Gayton waited for us to come through the bridge, then got it all wrong and shot across the canal before heading straight for us.  Then in the narrow section before Bugbrooke, an enormous widebeam came through.  We pulled over to let it pass.

It took three people to steer it: one at the bow with a walking talkie, one at the stern with a walkie talkie who also dives back and forth looking down each side, and one actually on the tiller.  None appeared to be enjoying themselves much.  We carried on, and eventually went past Gayton Junction.

As we passed through Blisworth there was thunder rumbling around; thundery showers had been in the forecast, but originally for much earlier.  The rain came between the Mill and the tunnel.  We passed two boats in the tunnel and Mike’s trip boat, Charlie, came in and backed out again at the far end.  Much to our surprise it was sunny in Stoke Bruerne, and we shared the top two locks with the hire boat Sally.  The were lots of people about.

We moored in the long pound, just as there were more rumbles of thunder and some showers.

17 miles, 9 locks.  (209 miles, 132 locks)

September Cruise: Day 16

It was very murky this morning, with a not very promising forecast.  We set off about 8.30.  Napton windmill seems much more visible from this angle than it has been previously; I wonder whether some trees have been taken down.

Napton hire boats were returning to the base and reversing in, so we waited for one to do that while another waved us past before attempting it.  Then we passed Napton Junction.

Just after the junction we make a brief stop to go down the weedhatch, and got a handful, of weed off from round the propshaft.  Adrian was just pushing off the bow when he put his foot down a water-filled hole in the towpath, resulting in a wet boot and a grazed leg.  A bit further along, there’s so new piling going in.

In what seemed like short order, Braunston church came into view, and then we turned right at the junction.  After the junction was a black swan, a white swan, and a load of sizeable cygnets — so presumably the black and white swans are a family.

We stopped at the water point at the Stop House, and while the tank was filling there was a brief torrential downpour.  Then we pulled the boat back onto the moorings, tied up, and walked into the village where we had toasted sandwiches at the Community Cafe.  We returned via Midland Chandlers, so I could buy a tin of Crimson Lake paint for the handrails, as the current tin is completely empty.  Then we set off up the locks.  Once in the bottom lock we spotted a boat coming, so waited for it.  It was an ABC Diamond Resorts boat, with two couples who’d been from Gayton to Leamington and back — but seemed to have got so used to the candlestick paddles they’d forgotten how normal ones worked!  They were back in the swing of things by the top.  By now the sun was unexpectedly out.

We met boats coming down at the first four locks, and there was a surprise at the lock by the Nelson, when a couple about to have lunch recognised Adrian.  They turned out to be Braidbar owners he’d met at the Crick Show, whose boat will be ready in a couple of months.  At the top we led the way into the tunnel, and almost immediately met a boat.  The couple on board seemed to know me, but I didn’t catch who they were and didn’t see the boat name, so leave a comment if you read this.

We carried on to Norton Junction, and found a space just the right size before the junction bridge, with a nice view across the countryside.

11 miles, 6 locks.  (192 miles, 123 locks)

September Cruise: Day 15

It was very autumnal as we set off about 8am, and not in a particularly good way.  It was grey, a bit chilly, and blustery.

We made our way along the summit, through Fenny, and hardly saw another boat.  The HS2 works seem much more prominent when you’re going this way, with a huge embankment across the countryside, and the new bridge across the canal.  Then when the line passes close to the canal there are more concrete supports.

We got to the top of the locks at 12.15, and found ourselves seventh, yes seventh, in the queue.  It seems everyone was going our way, and all arrived at once.

We were there for about an hour, gradually moving along as boats went down.  We had our lunch on the towpath, while hanging on to the centre line.  Then it was our turn.

There was another queue for the third lock down, which has only one top paddle working.  The other problem was that with several pounds near the top where people moor, more boats kept joining the procession in front of us.  Still, it’s a very pretty flight, and the sun came out.  It was still very breezy at times though.

Today, the water buffalo were all walking purposefully across their field.

We got to the bottom in just under four hours, which is incredibly slow.  But we’d had nice chats with the people ahead, on a boat called Willow.  One uphill boat had a grey parrot in a cage on the stern.  I wanted to see if the Merlin bird song app could identify it — but the parrot talked rather than making bird noises, first saying ‘hello mate’, and then ‘let’s have a cup of tea’!

We moored up just round the corner from the bottom lock, where the towpath hedge was laden with blackberries.  It took out a container and soon filled it, so there will be apple and blackberry crumbles on the menu in the next few days.

13 miles, 9 locks.  (181 miles, 117 locks)