Saturday 19th July; car shuffle day
We were heartily glad we had come into the marina yesterday instead of leaving it till today! It was raining lightly as Jess got her early morning walk, but by 8.45 when we walked up to the office it was pelting down, so we both wore full wet weathers. Dave’s taxi was early so off he went while Jess and I went for a walk down the towpath. Would she be able to cross the top gates of Calcutt top lock? The lock ideally needs to be full, as the footboards are over the lock - if a dog falls in you can reach them to haul them out again. If the dog can swim well and the lock is empty, theoretically you can open a gate for them to swim out but I wouldn't want to do that. Anyway, she was fine so we set off down the locks and along the towpath.
 |
| Bonjour from the towpath – it’s the one with the diamonds on the cratch board |
The towpath is mostly very narrow and there are prolific crab apple trees along the way. There is a damson too, and though the fruits are not yet ripe enough to pick they are already starting to colour. The rain was making the laden trees bow down and I had to duck to get past.
We walked as far as Tomlow Road bridge and I was rather fed up by then. My no longer waterproof wet-weather trousers had let enough water through to soak my legs and socks and it wasn't very comfortable. We saw just one boat at the top of Calcutt locks and I think I heard them mooring in Ventnor marina as we came back. Apart from them and a lone dog walker that was the only activity. Back at the boat, once I had dried the soggy doggy and myself – my shorts got pretty wet too – it was time for some cleaning and the other bits and pieces necessary at the end of a trip. I managed to get the fridge defrosted and the cleaning started before Dave got back, around lunchtime. He had caught an earlier train but had had a horrible drive from Springwood Haven, with heavy Saturday traffic, often at a standstill, and driving rain.
After lunch the weather improved and boats were soon on the move. One hire boat moored on the towpath opposite for a short while. I could see a Devon flag so went to signify my agreement with its slogan.
 |
| Cream first, yes, of course! |
They had driven up from Totnes and started a week’s holiday yesterday afternoon from Clifton Cruisers. They were hoping to get to Stratford …. I suggested they have a look at Canalplan as I was pretty sure that wouldn’t work out. I looked it up later - they might just have managed it at 10 hours a day! Nearly 100 miles and 166 locks.
We spent an hour in the boaters’ lounge, which is the only place apart from the marina office to get a half-decent signal. I picked up the message from Cross Country Trains that they would refund the whole of my ticket price for my difficult journey back to Nuneaton last week. Then I took some photos of the cratch cover as we will need some repairs once we get back to Droitwich. J&H Trimmings at Ashwood Marina did a good job repairing Chuffed’s cratch cover, and it’s easily accessible from Droitwich by car.
 |
| The fabric on the zips is rotting from the sunlight and most of the Velcro needs replacing too |
Dave meanwhile had another go at fixing the connection between the water tank inlet and the well deck fitting, which had been misaligned on the original fit-out. The abortive visit to Midland Chandlers had been to look at their flexible water pipe, which turned out not to be anywhere near bendy enough. He had brought some other piping which was more flexible than proper water-pipe but even so needed soaking in hot water so it could be manipulated to fit.
 |
| From this – the split is visible below the bottom jubilee clip - |
 |
| To this. The misalignment is less than an inch. |
Getting the second jubilee clip tightened was another difficult task as there was insufficient space to hold it still while wielding the screwdriver, but with the aid of micropore tape – sticky enough to hold the thing still and crucially slightly stretchy – he got it all secured. Time will tell if it will hold without splitting. The water tank is reasonably full, so we didn’t test it this evening, just in case …. It was now too late to drive to the Folly to eat so we had the old standby bacon and beans for our rather late meal.
On Sunday we drove home in much better weather.
Trip stats
36 miles (30¼ miles narrow canals, 5¾ miles broad). 4 narrow locks, 3 broad.
Rose Narrowboats swing bridge at Stretton Stop. Newbold tunnel (250 yards underground).
Coventry, North Oxford and Grand Union canals.
No comments:
Post a Comment