Autumn Cruise: Day 1

After what seems like a very long summer at work, and a bit later than in previous years, our Autumn Cruise finally got under way today.  Well, it has for me anyway.  Adrian has meetings this week, but I was scheduled to finish my night shifts this morning, so had a few extra days — so I’m single handing the first bit so we get a head start.

I got away from work about 7.15 this morning and drove up to the boat, stopping for shopping at Tesco in Wolverton on the way.  By the time the car was unpacked, everything was put away, and the boat was ready for cruising, it was almost 10am.  At Bridge 62 there was a road works sign on the towpath; it turned out to be some guys doing a lot of cutting back on the offside.  There are many sections which need it, so I hope they are doing a lot.

Having hardly seen a moving boat all morning, my heart sank when I got to the bottom of Stoke Bruerne Locks as there were two hire boats just starting to go up.  But by the time they had gone up the bottom lock and another boat had come down, more boats arrived behind me.  I ended up sharing the locks with a very nice couple from Vancouver who are out for a week on a Wyvern hire boat.

We worked well together.  At the point where the locks are closest together, we waited for a boat to come down two locks ahead.  It meant quite a long pause, but at least the next two locks were then set for us.  At the top two locks, a helpful volunteer lock keeper assisted, and at the top I got some gongoozlers to close the gate after me.  The only problem has been that quite a lot of green slime from the lock walls seems to have transferred itself to my jeans and fleece. I’m not quite sure how I managed to get this dirty.

It was nearly 2pm by the time we got to the top, so I paused briefly to make some lunch which I then ate on the move.  I passed three boats in the tunnel, including one right at the Blisworth end.  I wanted to get a bit more distance under my belt, so I carried on until just before the New Banbury Lane Bridge.  It was almost 4pm by the time I was secured.  The weather has been a lot better than forecast.  There was a brief shower at the top lock and a bit of drizzle through Gayton, but not the light rain all day that was predicted.  As the loo hasn’t been used for a couple of weeks and it was very dry inside, I have emptied and reset it.  I feel exhausted, so it’ll be a traditional post-night shift early night tonight.

11 miles, 7 locks.