First hot cross bun of the season for breakfast. Delicious with just butter and served in bed by my lovely R. He meanwhile had his customary boiled egg because it is Saturday and it gives meaning to his week. I stayed in bed writing my blog. Meanwhile R went and sawed some wood lightly drawing blood in the process so my first task of the day was a bit of firstaid.
We realised it was a very blowy day, rainy at times and that we would have some difficulty with the 6 locks ahead of us. As the weather was not set to get any better we decided to just get on with it and donning our waterproofs and warm hats we set about the task. All the pounds were very shallow which did not help us and R had to go ahead to the lock above to let in water each time, to keep the pound deep enough to get the boat through. On one occasion the wind kept blowing the bottom gates of a chamber open before R had time to reach the paddles at the top gate to open them and let the flow of water in. Even with me reversing the boat to try and secure the gates shut they continued to loll open. Presently a passerby assisted us and we were able to continue. What seemed helpful was for R to prepare the next lock up, opening the lower gates, whilst I left the previous chamber going full steam ahead, keeping the boat on course and then slowing down at the last minute to steer the boat safely into the lock. We only came a cropper between locks 2 and 1. A passerby had told us it was extremely shallow so R had let some water into the pound. In doing so he noticed a blue plastic bag, just out of his reach. He suggested he jump on the back of the boat as I exit the lock. In order to do this I needed to wait whilst he shut the gate behind me and reverse the boat to enable R to jump on board. The force of the wind swung the boat round to such an extent that we could not then get it off the left side of the canal and moving forward just landed us in the reeds. Eventually our only option was for me to totally reverse the boat back into the lock and then go forward as previously with a bit of power on my side! We just had to take a chance on the blue plastic bag wrapping itself around our propellor – not nearly so big an impediment as the groundsheet scenario!
An amazing sense of achievement as we exited the top lock. Even then I had to motor on around the corner before we could moor up for some lunch because the prevailing wind could have forced us sideways into the turning circle involving the exhausted R bodily pulling the boat out, all 12 tons of it! Once revived by some lunch (now slightly complicated by R having chipped a bit of tooth off due to my crunchy vegetables!) we set off again to the water point and Elsan. It’s been a while since I emptied a cassette so I thought I’d give R a break. Had forgotten what an unpleasant job it is and why we say roll on pubs reopening so that the toilet facilities on the boat are not the only ones we can avail ourselves of. Infact many of the town toilets we have come across have been locked, although not all, which makes one wonder what the criteria is for keeping lous open or closed! Same at petrol stations and in supermarkets – each to their own I think!
It’s rather nice being back on the main GUC with boats moored up and a few more passing by. However turning onto it from the arm, after making use of the facilities involved a near miss with a boat moored, I think, in rather a hazardous position. With the wind blowing, thus not so much control of our direction, its a tall order to leave the canal edge and turn the boat at a right angle without bumping into this boat which has parked itself in the firing line! Its hard to explain but let me tell you, you would understand if you saw it and would be thinking the same uncharitable thoughts as me! At least when our bow bumped him it was gentle and slow and to be fair the owner was very nice. He even helped push off the stern when I was almost parallel to him and so R and I continued up the canal, passing moored boats on either side so I needed to keep a straight course. Under a bridge and round a corner we encountered a couple of young fishermen untangling their rods from the over hanging trees beside the towpath. We moored a bit further along just before reaching the boat of a man we spoke to on one of our previous walks who said this was a lovely spot for the evening sun. R enjoyed watching the spectacular sunset along with a beer and cheroot as dusk arrived and his lentern fast is suspended for 24hrs. My dad always said there were 40 days in lent but 46 from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday so Sundays didn’t count. R has expanded this to mean sundown on Saturday to sundown on Sunday! I meanwhile was grappling with the household accounts.
Had a very lovely Zoom with friends in Ireland and then cobbled together a quick supper of Jamie Oliver ravioli and homemade tomato sauce with crumbled cheese. Toptip- if you freeze cheddar it naturally crumbles when defrosted thus saving the need to grate. Perfect for cheese toppings or sauce. A two hour Endeavour episode followed, which we enjoyed, but that was enough for one night, so we took ourselves off to bed.
NarrowboatTLC 