Blacking Weekend: Day 2

We had a lazy start to the day, then just before 11am we could be seen walking up the towpath in suits. We had a car at the bridge, and drove up to a place near Mansfield in Notts for a wedding. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

We got back just before 11pm

0 miles, 0 locks. (9 miles, 7 locks)

Blacking Weekend: Day 1

I came up to the boat after work and Adrian came up from home, doing shopping on the way. I arrived just after 11 and Adrian about 45 minutes later. We then went and dropped off a car at Stoke Bruerne locks. Back at the boat, we set off and headed north. It was warm when the sun was out, but also quite blustery, although fortunately not while I was turning out of the marina. It took the usual hour and a half to get to the bottom of Stoke Bruerne — where we had help in the form of Jenny and Pete from Momentous who were moored at the top. We were joined up the locks by a family on a Gayton hire boat, who’ve been hiring for thirty years and had been to London and back. There was even some synchronised boating.

The Momentous dogs, Sassie and Frisbee were great fun  Frisbee likes going back and forth across the lock gates.

We moored up at the top, along towards the tunnel, and Jenny and Pete came along for a cup of tea as a small thank you for their help. Plus we had a good chance to catch up of course. Then while I set off through the tunnel, Adrian walked back down to the car and drove to Blisworth. There was nowhere to moor in the village, but we’ve slotted into a very tight space just before Bridge 49. 

9 miles, 7 locks

Look East: Day 1

Adrian came up to the boat after work yesterday evening, and picked up my car which had been at Milton Keynes station car park since last Saturday.  I was on night shifts, so came up this morning.  I got away early, so arrived on the train at Wolverton just before 8am.  Adrian had already done a Tesco shop when he picked me up.

Adrian is actually working today, and had a few calls to make.  The first was at 9 so while he did that I got the boat ready and set off.  There was a brisk breeze in just the wrong direction for the double-back-on-yourself turn out of the marina going north.  It took a while to get round.  I couldn’t get over how quiet the canal was.  We saw no moving boats until we got to Stoke Bruerne Locks, and even lots of usually popular mooring spots were nearly empty.  When we got to the locks, two boats had just come down so we headed up.

The first three locks were empty and ready for us, then we met a boat coming down.  They’d left a gate open on the fifth lock up so it was set for us — but then crew from a couple of boats coming down turned the lock on us.  If that hadn’t happened, we have been up the five locks in record time.  We tied up in the long pound as Adrian had another call at 12, and when that was done we had lunch. There was a question mark over Adrian’s 1.30 call, and confirmation that it was off came just too late for us to join a boat which was heading up the final two locks.  We waited a few minutes and went up after them.

In Blisworth Tunnel we passed two boats.  The first one was fine, we both kept going at a reasonable speed and slipped by each other.  The second one, which I could see from the round window at the front was a Gayton hire boat was going very slowly, and as we got closer he all but stopped, meaning his bow swung out and gave us a clonk.

We carried on through Blisworth and moored at a regular spot just before Bridge 49.  The sun keeps coming out, but in between the clouds are big and rather black.

This is the start of this year’s main trip.  It won’t be as long as the previous few years, because Adrian’s new job meant he could only get a couple of weeks.  Nevertheless, we’ll still be trying out some new waters.

9 miles, 7 locks.

New stove

Adrian left home slightly before me this morning as I had a village task to do, and then I set off a few minutes behind.  En route, Adrian stopped at Tesco at Bicester for some food for the weekend — and miraculously when we phoned each other just as I was approaching the marina, it turned out he was two cars behind me.  We left one car there, and drove up to Heyford Fields.  As expected, the old stove had fallen apart when moved, so it’s been replaced by a new Morso Squirrel.  We went like for like, as going for a cheaper option would undoubtedly have meant that the flue no longer fitted.  The old stove had some extra sloping metal pieces inside, to reduce the size of the fire box, and I’d kept them and re-installed them in the new one.

The BLS guys have also taken off the roof collar of the flue and reseated and resealed it, so hopefully we’ll no longer have a leak.  A speaking of leaks, we’ve also had the shower room towel rail swapped back to a radiator.  The towel rail was put in a few years ago when the original radiator developed a hole, but hasn’t been the improvement we expected, as it was small and took only one towel.  I’ve re-installed a rail above the rad, which can take two towels.

As might be expected, the bill was substantial. The boat had been put on a mooring near the diesel point, and getting out from there turned out to be a lot easier than the space by the slipway.  It was about 1pm when we left, having grabbed some lunch, and it was grey and chilly — although at least we could now light the stove.  We went to Blisworth, to a mooring just through Bridge 49 where we slotted into a space on the piling, rather than having to continue to the bit where pins are needed.

5 miles, 0 locks.

North West Passage: Day 1

Another early alarm, and as I went onto the M1 at Milton Keynes the junction's southbound slip road was a mass of blue flashing lights. The crash there turned out to be one of the biggest stories of the day.

While I was at work, Adrian did various boat jobs. He went to the tip with a load of stuff we've been carrying around in storage under the dinette, including two old televisions, a Sky box, and the satellite dish we gave up on years ago. He also went to collect things ordered yesterday from John Lewis and M&S.

My journey back from work was one of the quickest ever, and we were pulling out of our berth in the marina at 3.30, in very nice conditions and under big Northants skies.

It took the usual hour and a half to get to the bottom of the locks, in which time we passed ten boats going the other way. At the locks, a widebeam was coming out of the bottom one so we could go in, and there was a narrowboat waiting to come down. There was a boat in the third lock, which waited for us, and we did the next two together. They moored up in the long pound, while we carried on. We knocked on Katharine's door and had the usual catch up while the top lock filled. Moored just beyond Sculptor is the interesting-looking Progress.

It was 6.30 when we went into Blisworth Tunnel. It was so misty in there that we were a good third of the way through before I could see the far end. The tunnel took 29 minutes. We carried on to Blisworth, where the village moorings were as empty as I've ever seen them, so I was pretty confident the ones closer to Bridge 49 would also not be full. Sure enough, there are only a few boats here, and there was even a space on the piling, rather than the bit where pins are needed.

9 miles, 7 locks.

Birthday Weekend: Day 1

It's my birthday today, and we were due to pick up the boat from being blacked. We had a slow drive up, as for the first part of the journey we went cross country due to an accident a severe delays on the M27. We dropped off one car at our marina, having a quick chat to Hallie as we left, who was also doing a car shuffle. When we got to Heyford Fields, Briar Rose was still in the shed, as they were waiting for the farmer to come with the tractor to put the boat back in the water. It meant we got to see the process, involving a big hydraulic cradle, which lifts the boat in a very gentle way.

It was very windy, so getting out of the marina was a real challenge. It also made it hard work just keeping in a straight line in places. We've come along to Blisworth and moored up just by Bridge 49. We have a table booked at the Walnut Tree this evening; we're being joined by my second cousin, Catherine -- her husband Nigel was also due to be coming but their Matthew isn't well so he's staying to look after him.

5 miles, 0 locks.

Birthday weekend - Day 2

Grafton Regis is a nice quiet mooring.  Even the lambs didn't get up early, and certainly weren't of the vocal variety.

We set off at about 8.30, planning to stop at the water point at the bottom of the locks, as we were pretty sure we didn't have much water on board.  As we approached, though, a boat on the lock landing showed signs of going up the locks, so we went with them.  The couple on board proved to be excellent locking partners.  They live on board and are on their way to new moorings.  As we made our way up the flight, the sun broke through the slightly misty start, and the temperature went up dramatically.

We passed a pair of Gayton hire boats on the way down, so after that the locks were in our favour, and we were at the top at around 10.30.  I went to knock on Kathryn's door, and she came over for tea while we filled the water tank at the tap outside The Boat.  It took a good half hour to fill, which gave us plenty of time to chat.

We set off again and went through the tunnel, which was exceptionally wet and quite cold.  We continued to Gayton Junction, turned right down the arm, and stopped at the marina for a pump out.  When we got the 'empty' gas bottle out of the locker, it turned out to be far from empty, so it went back in again.  Maybe yesterday we just needed to give a bit more time for the gas to come through.

We went down to the winding hole above the locks on the Northampton Arm, where we turned.  It's the fourth time I've turned a boat there, and was by far the most successful.  We backtracked to the junction, turned left back towards Blisworth, and moored just beyond Bridge 49.  From here it's just a short walk up the road to The Walnut Tree, where we're booked for dinner tonight.

It was only 2pm, so we've been doing jobs.  I've given the pole a coat of varnish and broken out the Brasso.  Adrian has been cleaning inside the boat.  The sun is out, the side hatch is open, and it's a very pleasant afternoon.

8 miles, 7 locks.  (11 miles, 7 locks)

Up to Blisworth

It was sunny and dry this morning, and we set off at about 9.45am.  Making the turn north out of the marina proved to be a bit more challenging than usual, because of the wind direction.  But once we were on our way the canal looked beautiful.

There were a few indications of the high water levels just before Christmas -- when even out marina was a foot higher than normal.  Water was still going over one of the brick arched spill weirs along the pound, and it was also full of debris.

At the locks, we found a boat which used to be moored just down from us at Thrupp Wharf now has a mooring on the offside.  They said the water there (which is where the River Tove flows across the canal) was four feet higher than normal on Christmas Eve;  it had clearly been up over the lock landings.

The first couple of locks were against us, and then I spotted a boat up ahead -- they agreed to wait for us in the fourth lock.  It turned out to be another boat from Thrupp Wharf, a narrowbeam Dutch barge called Piggin Arkful, which is moving to Braunston.

At the penultimate lock, we crossed with a single hander coming down.  He told us he'd only just bought the boat, and this was his second ever lock.  We gave him some tips, but no doubt he'll be fully proficient by the time he gets to London.

At the top lock we rang Kathryn's doorbell, and she came out to say hello.  After a brief chat we pressed on through the tunnel, which not surprisingly was the wettest it's been for a while.  We moored up just before Bridge 49, on the northern end of Blisworth.

We had a late lunch of breads, cheese, biscuits, ham, and chutney, with champagne.  I said it was a bit like having Boxing Day before Christmas Day.  We're having our 'Christmas' dinner this evening: a duck is in the over roasting.

Tomorrow, we'll turn at Gayton Junction and head back down the locks.  Monday's forecast looks a bit unpleasant (in the morning at least), and I'm back at work on Tuesday.

9 miles, 7 locks.

Birthday Weekend - Day 2

The people we shared Cosgrove Lock with this morning said they'd hardly slept last night because of the wind and rain.  We heard nothing.  Mind you, I was in bed and asleep before half past eight, thanks to post-night-shift exhaustion.  It could also be that we were sheltered by the blocks of flats at Wolverton.

Today is Adrian's birthday (he thanks everyone for the messages on yesterday's blog), so we started with cards and presents.  Adrian then made a quick visit to Tesco, and we set off at aboout 9.15am.  There had been a little bit of drizzle, but nothing like the heavy rain forecast, and it wasn't even that cold.  We said a quick hello to Halfie as we passed Jubilee a little way out of Wolverton, then shared Cosgrove Lock with Trinity, who used to moor in our marina but have moved up to Yelvertoft.

We made a stop at Baxter's to get a pump out -- but it became clear that the pump wasn't working, so we had to abandon the attempt.  We did buy a couple of bags of coal.  By the time we left, the sun was threatening to come out -- and has made appearances on and off during the day.

It's just as well we weren't planning to stop on the moorings at the bottom of the Stoke Bruerne flight, because they were entirely taken up by anglers.

There were also anglers in every pound up the flight, including on the lock landings, and all along the moorings in the long pound too.

Half way up the flight, we met Herbie coming down.  Neil and Kath had been planning to do just the top two locks, but couldn't moor because of the fishing match.  We'd been planning to stop and have a catch up, but we're now hoping to do that tomorrow.  It was great to see them, even for just a brief time.

The trees are beginning to change colour, and there were some nice autumn colours as we progressed up the flight.

At the top lock, we met Kathryn from Leo No2.  We'd been planning to knock on her door, but she was already out by the lock.  It was another case of never having met someone before, but feeling you knew them because of the blog.  We'll see her again tomorrow too.

We made rapid progress through the tunnel, which wasn't too wet inside, and then carried on to Gayton Junction.  We turned right at the junction down the Northampton Arm, and stopped at Gayton Marina for a pump out.  It was a very thorough job, with plenty of rinsing through.  Afterwards we carried on to the winding hole above the top lock, where we turned and began retracing our steps.

We turned back towards Blisworth at the junction, and have moored near Bridge 49.  It's just a short walk from here to The Walnut Tree, where we've got a table booked for Adrian's birthday dinner.

14 miles, 8 locks. (18.5 miles, 9 locks)

Leaving Crick - day 1

We had a good evening at The Moorings last night with the other Braidbar owners, but we didn't have a late night because we needed to be up early this morning.

Adrian set off for work at 6.30; my crew, Kath and Neil, arrived at 7.30, and we set off straight away.  I was a lovely sunny morning, and Crick Tunnel wasn't too wet.  We arrived at the top of Watford Locks in under an hour, and found no-one else waiting.  The lock keeper was already on duty -- he told us that he'd opened the locks at 7 (and they hadn't been open all night) and about ten boats had already gone down.  Neil booked us in with the lockie and we set off.  Within a few minutes, another four boats had arrived behind us.  We made rapid progress, catching up a boat in front.

We turned left at Norton Juntion, and stopped at the water point to fill the tank using the fast tap there.  We'd decided that when a boat turned up we'd stop watering and go down with them; in the event, a boat arrived and the man said they'd have breakfast while they waited for us -- his wife had apparently only just got up.  We set off down the locks together at about 10.30, and soon started meeting boats coming up.

The only frustration was a pair of hire boats  going down ahead, who left the bottom gates open.  Even so, we were at the bottom at 12.  The section alongside the M1 was unusually quiet: the northbound carriageway was almost at a standstill.  We stopped for lunch before Weedon, and just moments after we'd come inside, the heavens opened.  We got wet a couple of times during the afternoon, but at other times it was sunny and quite warm.

We stopped for the night just beyond Bridge 49 at Blisworth at 5pm, having got much further than we'd ever expected.  It's been a nice evening, and we've even had the side hatch open.

18 miles, 14 locks (45 miles, 35 locks)