The decision to go down the Northampton Arm meant a 20 minute journey in the opposite direction to the way we were facing in order to turn the boat around. We took the opportunity to top up the water tank and make use of the Elsan situated at the turning point. The turning of the boat went remarkably smoothly and before long we were ahead of our overnight mooring, in sight of the first lock in a flight of 17 in total. The initial 13 are close together, with the final 4 being slightly further apart as you approach Northampton Town centre. The weather was lovely and warm, with the sun on my back as I steered the boat along. Meanwhile R did all the hard work of operating the locks. The joy of single locks after the double ones we are accustomed too, is that they seem so much more easy to handle and the chamber fills with water much more quickly. However looks can be deceptive and one or two of the gates were very stiff to move. Greeting us at the first lock was the lovely CRT lady we met yesterday. She, C, was busy gardening and tidying up the canal. Very kindly she gave R a hand with the first couple of locks and then we met her again a bit further along the route and R had more help which meant we made steady progress. C has a boat that is powered exclusively by solar power which is great for the environment but does not always assist in day to day home comforts, when the weather is overcast for days on end. Nor will the boat be able to move if not enough energy is produced but as the entire narrowboat roof is covered in panels I think she is generally OK. However if the boat doesn’t move in very sunny weather, excess energy is produced setting off alarms, that can be alarming for boaters close by! All adds to the narrowboat adventure, but sounds a bit complicated to me!
Overgrowth 
Flowers specially planted
The stretch of canal we navigated was very scenic and peaceful. No other boats, just walkers on the towpath with a lot of dogs! Many more dogs around than children, even before schools reopened. We found a large enough pound to moor the boat for a spot of lunch and then continued onwards, although I thought the boat was chugging a bit. Arriving in lock 13 I needed to reverse the boat so as not to hit the lock doors and there was a terrible sound from the engine which was obviously finding it hard to turn the propellor. Pond gloves to the ready, R lay full length along the stern and opened the propellor hatch. It makes me go all funny having to put my hand into the unknown but R straightaway put his hand into the murky depths and indeed found the problem – a tarpaulin of considerable size had wrapped its way around the propellor shaft. No wonder the poor boat was struggling. A lot of pulling and heaving and the tarpaulin released itself into R’s hand. It is now snug on top of the boat under a heavy bit of wood awaiting the bin. We don’t want it falling into the canal again! All manner of strange things get wrapped around propellor because people use the canal like a skip. We have been fortunate not to have had too many incidents of this kind as it’s not a pleasant job to deal with and sometimes can be really tricky to sort.
Lock 14 was interesting. Once it had emptied the water was cascading through the top lock doors to such an extent I wondered if we would ever get out of the chamber. The lower lock doors were very difficult to open and the danger is that the upper pound of water gets seriously depleted . However I reported the problem the CRT and they emailed me a reply within 12 hours to say they would sort the issue. Will be most impressed if they do.
We moored up alongside an uneven edge so we can only get on and off the boat at the bow. We feel secure enough but quite isolated. An evening of bridge followed by a murder mystery from about 2010, which R liked the look of because it only had two episodes! ‘A Mother’s Son’ – coincidentally it features the same detective as in ‘Unforgotten’ and the writer is Chris Lang.
NarrowboatTLC 