Last Tuesday was D day for us! Laden with rucksacks and bags, we left the flat behind and took to the water, 223 days after leaving the boat in the Newbury Boat Club! For the majority of that time the River Kennet has been on red boards, with us advised not to travel as the fast flowing river is too dangerous. A boat without a keel, with a flat bottom, has little chance against the strong flow of a river in full flood and the all too real possibility of ending up sideways on to a weir or tossed about in a lock, banging the boat from side to side, leaves one little option than to stay put, however long it takes!
We filled the water tank to the brim, checked the oil and started the engine with slight trepidation. She started first time and we heaved a sigh of relief, navigating right, out of the boat club and mooring up almost immediately on the towpath. A stocking up of supplies at both Lidl and Tesco meant there was no chance we would starve over the coming few days and gradually we got back into the swing of boat life. Turn off the water when doing ones teeth. Wash ones hands, not leaving the tap running, after handling wet mooring ropes. Only boil the necessary quantity of water for a cup of tea. All these water saving tips soon came back into focus as we took note of where we would find our next water point. The unwelcome news that the diesel supplier, situated after going through our first lock, had closed down, is a slight cause for concern. It appears that refuelling is not very easy on the K&A, so we just have to hope we have enough fuel on board. Visions of carrying 20 litre flagons of diesel is not appealing, but hopefully, it will not come to that!
Wednesday saw us moving through one lock in preparation for friends arriving at Newbury Station on Thursday in order to travel with us to Kintbury. The lock seemed harmless enough, so R looped the mid rope around a bollard and gave me the end of the rope to hold the boat steady. Patiently he waited for the lock to half fill before opening the second paddle, which he did rather quickly. Before I knew it the bow whipped around to the right heading for the chamber wall and as I shouted for R to drop the paddle, so the stern end of the boat clanged against the wall behind me. It took all my strength to maintain a hold on the rope, stretching my body as far forward as I was able. Disaster averted, a day or so later I noticed a couple of angry bruises on my arm and one finger, a stark reminder of how vigilent one must be. Fortunately, even with the severe rocking of the boat, nothing was damaged below decks.
Setting off on Thursday, it was not a particularly long stretch of water, but 7 locks impeded our progress and we were expectant that the trip would be at least 4 – 5 hours. Infact it was nearer to 6, but we were treated to a rare sight……. arriving at one of the locks we were greeted by an engineless widebeam, going down the lock while a beautiful shire horse gently munched on the verdant grass. Once the boat was through the lock, being pulled on a rope, the rope was attached to the horse, who proceeded to walk along the towpath, taking the widebeam and its three dozen or so passengers with him. The boat was skillfully turned around by a couple of helmspeople and then the horse pulled the boat back to the lock, enjoying a well earned rest as the boat rose up in the lock. What a special and unusual sight that was and well worth the delay it caused us. Mooring up at Kintbury we found a wonderful pub for an early supper as both R and I and our guests were truly exhausted by a day back on the water. We were grateful for an early night and, after the light and noise pollution of London life, we appreciated the stillness, blackness and quiet of being in the countryside once again!
Various family commitments took us back into London for the weekend but as we move further west I can see this juggling of two lifestyles getting more complicated, especially when the canal no longer follows the same path as the railway. That is a double edged sword. I have just returned to the boat a day later than R. He kindly moved it through a lock into the picturesque village of Kintbury where the moorings are so popular, you can only stay in them a maximum of two days. However they are a stone’s throw from the railway line and I fear my night’s sleep is going to be noisier than in the heart of the city!!
NarrowboatTLC 