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Moored for the next few
days above Radford bottom lock. Buddy
resting on the towpath as usual, in the distance
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Thank you, Sue, for
pointing out that we are in November and not December. When I posted yesterday’s blog entry I had
said that it’s only ten days until the days start getting longer. I’ve been thinking along these lines for a
week or so now and said to Karen the other day that it’s just over a fortnight
until the days get longer: she hadn’t picked me up on it either.
We had a frost on Friday
morning but the sun was out so it was bright and brisk for our morning
walk. Like yesterday we moved the car
first and then walked back to the boat.
I had planned on getting to Welsh Road lock which is five locks further
on, so I left the car there. We know the
people in the lock cottage but they weren’t in so we walked back to the boat
and set off.
First we had to go down a
staircase lock at Bascote. This and the
staircase lock on the Droitwich Junction canal are the only double width
staircase locks we have been through; all the others have been narrow
locks. We know there are others around
such as on the Leeds & Liverpool but our old boat was too long for those
locks. We will return to the north when
Karen finishes her contract as we have yet to go into Liverpool, cruise the
Leeds & Liverpool canal or get up to Lancaster or York.
I always find it hard
getting my head round how staircase locks work and, as Karen is usually locking
with me, I let her get on with it as they seem natural to her. The bottom gates of each lock are also the
top gates of the next lock. So going
down you fill the top lock and go in;
then you make sure the other locks in the staircase are empty so you can then empty each lock
into the next.
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Sun’s a bit bright but the
boat is in the top lock
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Leaving the top lock and
transferring to the next lock
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Sitting in the second lock
with the top gates closed ready to go down again
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Buddy making sure I do it
correctly
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Once again all the locks
apart from the final, ninth, lock were set against me but I made good time and
got to Radford Semele in time for lunch.
We had travelled 3 ½ miles through nine locks in under four hours so the
three lock miles per hour average seems a pretty good guide when single handing on double width lock canals. It’s obviously quicker with Karen as she
tends to walk ahead with the dog to get the next lock ready whilst I close up
the previous one.
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It really was a gorgeous
day again
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| Wood lock – one of my favourite double width locks as it feels so rural and there is no sign of habitation around - I always feel at peace here |
At the final lock I was
joined by a couple on their boat. They
had recently bought it and moor it in a marina back at Calcutt and this was
their first trip out in it. They had a
dog that they daren’t let off the boat and couldn’t believe how good Buddy was,
especially knowing when to come down the steps to get back on the boat.
As I was mooring up soon after leaving the lock I let
them go ahead and I closed up the lock.
I took the boat out of the lock and pulled up against the steps so I
could go up them to close the gates. I
know the stones are often slippery and for some reason I forgot and nearly
ended up in the water. As it was I got
one leg wet up to my thigh but managed to cling onto the boat. I was reminded that that is the sort of thing
that makes me wear a life jacket.
After mooring up we walked
back to get the car again as we had gone further than originally planned. Our mooring seems great for catching the sun
all day on the solar panels but I suspect we will also catch a lot of leaves.
We parked the car by Offchurch
Lane bridge which is 4 ½ miles from Karen’s office and walked back to the
boat. On the way I stopped to chat with Blair
who recently moved onto a permanent mooring by the bridge with Liz and their
children. He was doing some welding work
by his boat which should be expected as he is a welder.
Just before reaching the
boat I passed an encampment in the woods next to the towpath so I went in to
introduce myself. It was a Polish family
living in tents with a makeshift shelter for their kitchen. The guy’s name was Gregor; he spoke a little
English but his wife spoke none. No doubt I will find out more about their situation over the next few days.
We moved onto Chalkhill
Blue 2 on 7th October 2016 and left the boatyard a week later and have now
travelled 130 miles through 97 locks on her.
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Our journey so far on the
new boat
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