May Cruise -- Day 4

Yesterday's mystery duck has been identified as a red crested pochard, thanks to comments from Irene, Sheila, and Debby.  It was not, as suggested by my cousin Jonathan on facebook, a river parrot -- although that seems like a good default guess for future mystery birds.

This morning, a boat went past while we were having breakfast, so as we weren't ready to leave we let him get a bit of a head start before we set off.  It was about 8.20 when we headed for the first lock under blue skies.

After the first couple of locks is a longer pound, then I jumped off to open the swing bridge just past Pitstone Wharf.

We met boats coming up at the next lock, the top one of the three Seabrook locks.  They passed on a message that the boat in front would wait for us at the next lock.  It turned out to be a professional boat mover, Richard, and we shared all the way down to Leighton Buzzard.  We got into a good rhythm, and I ended up walking all the way to Slapton Lock, which is three miles or so.  At Slapton Lock, we met the hotel boats, Snipe and Taurus coming up.

Later, we saw another hotel boat, Takara, that we've seen several times over the past couple of days

At Grove Lock, the wind was exceptionally strong, and we struggled to get away from the side and into the lock.  We stopped on the shopping moorings at Leighton Buzzard, and Adrian popped into Tesco while I got lunch ready.  After lunch, we set off again -- the first time on this little trip that we've done more than half a day's boating.  At Wyvern Shipping, the number of hire boats moored up has reduced significantly since yesterday -- down from 30 to 15.

At Leighton Lock it started to rain, and as we passed The Globe, where  Lois Jane was moored up, it became really heavy.  There was a pause in the rain, but as we came down the Soulbury Three Locks there was another downpour combined with strong winds.  The lock keepers were a great help, and the boat we shared with, a Canal Breaks boat from Hillmorton, did a bit of synchronised boating, which was probably wise in the conditions.

We moored up for the night at Stoke Hammond.  While we've been here, there have been squally showers interspersed with sunny spells.  It really can't make up its mind what it wants to do.

12 miles, 15 locks.  (41 miles, 33 locks)

May Cruise - Day 3

Last night, after dinner on board, we braved the elements and walked the hundred yards or so to The Globe, where we had a drink and dessert.  Last time we passed, it was closed for refurbishment; now it's very smart -- probably more of a restaurant than a pub -- but still comfortable and welcoming.  It was also pretty busy, given it was a wet Thursday.

This morning we were off by 8.30, and shared Leighton Lock with a family who were reluctantly returning their Wyvern hire boat after a ten day trip to Market Harborough and back.  At Wyvern, there were about thirty hire boats in, which struck us as rather a lot.

At Grove Lock, we shared the lock with Muchgigglin, which had moored below the lock.  It's a boat we used to see a lot when we had our share in Debdale and were based at Stockton Top.  We got on very well with Tone and Julie, who, it turns out, live not far from us, and also had a share boat at one stage.

We got into a rhythm of sharing locks with them, and chatting as we did so.  It made for a very pleasant and speedy passage through Slapton, Horton, Ivinghoe and Seabrook locks.  The weather, though, didn't show much improvement on yesterday.  In fact, the wind was at times very strong, and made boating a challenge.

At the swing bridge at Pitstone, a single hander had somehow opened the bridge, and left it.  Julie managed to get across onto it from the boat, and closed it.  We helped the single hander up the final two locks, so we could continue sharing.  Coming down were three little boats all sharing one lock.

At our final lock of the day, the sun finally made an appearance.

We stopped at the water point at Marsworth Junction, ans began having lunch while the tank filled.  When it was full, we winded in the junction and began retracing our steps.  We travelled just a couple of hundred yards, and moored on rings just before Bridge 129.

In the afternoon, we walked back to the junction and up the Marsworth flight, along the start of the Wendover Arm, and back through the reservoirs.  Last time we were here, the reservoirs were verging on empty; today things look much more healthy.  There was also quite a lot of wildlife, with a duck I'm struggling to identify, and a clutch of more everyday ducklings.

As we walked, the wind was ridiculously strong at times.  But with the sun out it's been quite warm, and we've even got the side hatch open.

10 miles, 12 locks.  (29 miles, 18 locks)

May Cruise - Day 2

We woke to bright sunshine, and a bit of a breeze. The thinking was that if it wassn't too windy, we'd set off and see how far we got before the weather closed in. It didn't seem too bad, so we left our mooring at a couple of minutes before 8. I saw a tweet from BBC Weather this morning saying enjoy the blossom on the way to work - it may not last the day. So I had to take a photo of some trees in full bloom as we made the long plod through Milton Keynes.

Just before Fenny Stratford it started to rain. As we approached the lock a boat was just coming out, so they left the gates open and the bridge swung out of the way. We we joined in the lock by a couple on a 40ft boat, who'd set off from the moorings at Simpson. We did the lock in the rain, but shortly afterwards the sun came out again and by the time we got to Stoke Hammond lock, it was really quite nice. A boat had just left the lock, so it was empty for us. This is one of the locks which used to have another alongside, hence the double bridge.

Last time we came this way, Adrian took quite a shine to the converted pump house to the left of the lock. Today he decided he still liked it.

We we're making good progress. The wind was very changeable: one minute it would be calm, the next there'd be a huge gust from one side or the other; it was manageable though, and as we had a locking partner we thought we'd go up the Soulbury Three locks while the going was good. Yet again, a couple of boats were just leaving the lock, and two volunteer lock keepers were standing by to help. Consequently, we flew up the locks.

As lunchtime approached, and as the forecast had suggested, the wind really got up. Along the Jackdaw pound it was a real struggle to keep going in a straight line. We had a couple of abortive attempts to get into the side near Old Linslade, but ended up mooring just past the Globe Inn at shortly after 1pm. Last time we came this way the pub was closed for refurbishment, and it certainly looks very smart now.

Adrian has been working all day, just popping out to help with the locks. He had a conference call after lunch, so while he did that I've been doing a few other jobs. Our window cills need revarnishing, so I've made a start. I thought I'd better experiment on something relatively out of the way, to check whether materials and competence were up to the job, so I rubbed down, washed, treated, and varnished the porthole liners in the engine room. They'll need a couple more coats tomorrow, but look good so far. Once I'm happy with them, I can do all the others.

The rain arrived a bit later than forecast, at about 4.30, but I'm glad we stopped at lunchtime. Tomorrow is supped to be dry with less wind.

14 miles, 5 locks.  (19 miles, 6 locks)

May Cruise - Day 1

The original plan was that I'd come up to the boat today and do a boat test tomorrow. Then Adrian would come up tomorrow evening, and we'd have a weekend on board.

In reality, Adrian came up to the boat last night, and has been working remotely. My boat test has been postponed because of tomorrow's dire forecast, which means we'll have a bit more time on board. I drove up at lunchtime, and had one of the longest journeys ever. A car and caravan had come to grief on the A34 so I spent an hour stationary, then another hour covering the three miles to the accident. In all, the normal two hour journey took four.

By the time I arrived, it was quite a nice afternoon, with blue skies and some sunshine, so we decided to set off straight away. It was a bit blustery at times, but nothing too bad. Within fifteen minutes of my arrival, we were heading towards Cosgrove.

At Cosgrove lock, there was a boat just preparing to come up. As he came out the lock the wind caught him and he gave us a bit of a clonk. I was expecting it, though, as it's a tricky enough lock to get out of when there's someone waiting, even without the wind.

At Wolverton, Nutfield and Raymond we moored up, looking a bit incongruous among the modern flats.

I was aiming for Bridge 75 at Stantonbury, but could hardly believe my eyes when we came round the corner: there were loads of boats moored here, far more than I've seen before. There was room for us on the end, so I pulled in, with the line of boats stretching away in front of us. Most of these can usually be seen more into Milton Keynes.

Tomorrow's forecast doesn't look so bad for here as for further north. Adrian has to work, but if the conditions aren't too bad I'll take us through MK, which is all on the level. If it's really blowing a gale, we can easily sit it out here.

5 miles, 1 lock.

Swamp Frogs on test

The June issue on Canal Boat is out, and includes my review of Swamp Frogs, by Milburn Boats, which will be at the Crick Show at the end of the month.

More Cavalcade

At work on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday, so I couldn't resist another lunch break visit to the Little Venice Cavalcade.  Phone photos only again, I'm afraid.

Canalway Cavalcade

In my lunch break this afternoon I went along to Little Venice, where the IWA Canalway Cavalcade is going on all weekend.  It was very busy, both with boats and visitors.  One good change, though, is that lots of the stalls have been moved off the towpath on the south side of Browning's Pool up onto Warwick Crescent, so it's slightly easier to get around.