 |
| May steering out of a lock |
After a
hectic three weeks away, we took it easy on Thursday and Friday, pottering
around the boat and going for walks.
Buddy really enjoyed being back home as he could be off the lead again; he
had to be on the lead all the time we were in Hartley Wintney as there were so
many squirrels and deer in the woods. On
Thursday, Wendover Woods seemed to be a favourite of his as it was hilly
meaning he could tear around, tiring himself out rushing up and down the
slopes. I also started studying for my Marine
Radio Shortwave Certificate and got our tax returns out of the way.
I nearly
forgot, but Buddy had yet another rabies injection on Thursday and hopefully
the follow up blood test (which can’t be done for 30 days) will prove he has enough
antibodies this time around. At least by
the time we get the result we will know where we stand with respect to dogs
travelling to and from mainland Europe after 29th March.
We met up
with Liz and Colin a couple of times and were pleased that they were getting
bookings for their trip boat even at this time of the year. They moor it in the basin and take people up
a couple of locks and then back again.
 |
| A happy family on the Little Trip boat in one of the locks |
We had
forgotten how quiet it is in the basin – the only rowdy night tends to be
Saturday with weekend revellers making their way back from town to the
Travelodge next to where we have been moored. In fact, it is so quiet that we
have seen kingfishers and heron even though we are in the centre of town.
 |
| Heron perched on the white towpath railings opposite our mooring |
There
was a frost on Saturday morning, our first for over a month, but it meant it
was sunny which was the first time we had seen the sun for nearly three weeks. We spent most of Saturday at Karen’s mums in Wendover – again relaxing, but this time trying to do a 2,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. One advantage of visiting Ann, other than
being provided with a delicious roast lunch of course, is that we get to pick
up all our mail. She says that some days
all the mail is for us, especially on the build up to Christmas when we were
having items delivered.
I had
ordered some aluminium fender hooks from a fabricator in Northwich and these
were in one of the packages that had been delivered. We need these for when we are in France as
the normal plastic hooks won’t do the job they are needed for over there. Unlike in the UK, we will have to keep the
boat in forward gear when ascending many of the locks which holds the boat
against the lock wall. Because of this
we will have horizontal zigzag fenders at the rear to protect the boat from the
lock wall. The fenders will put a lot of
strain on the fender hooks, hence the aluminium versions.
 |
| Our new fender hooks – also useful for our go-cart tyre fenders |
Sunday
dawned sunny for a while but unfortunately soon clouded over but it wasn’t as
cold as had been forecast.
 |
| Quiet moorings on Sunday morning – about to get even quieter when we left |
We need to
top up with diesel and coal as well as replace one of the gas cylinders so have
arranged to meet Jules on her fuel boat up at Marsworth, on the Grand Union
main line, when she comes through on Tuesday. This means going seven miles back up the 16
locks on the Aylesbury arm. We decided
to do it in two trips so set off for Wilstone after breakfast.
 |
| Leaving the basin after it had clouded over on Sunday |
During the
morning, whilst I had been filling up with water, I had been chatting with a
lovely Australian family who were touring Europe over their summer holidays. They were staying in Aylesbury for a couple
of nights with a family friend and were fascinated by the canal and the boats
on it. They had two young daughters who
joined us for a trip up the first two locks – the older child also had a go at
steering. She was a natural; some people
take a while to get to grips with the counter-intuitive method of turning the
tiller the opposite way to the direction they want to turn.
|
| May steering out of a lock |
The Aussies
left us at the edge of Aylesbury and we were soon out in the tranquillity of
the countryside leaving all the dogwalkers and other towpath users behind.
 |
| Doing what we love – cruising on a winter’s day (although it wasn’t really wintry) |
The
sixteen bridges on the Aylesbury arm are very narrow and just wide enough for
the boat. With the shallowness of the
water it can sometimes be difficult negotiating the bridge holes as it’s easy
to be knocked off course where silt has built up. We were fortunate and completed our journey
without any mishaps.
 |
| Emerging from one of the narrow bridge holes |
On our way
down, a month or so ago, we had encountered several low pounds and made really
slow progress, but we met no such problems this time. We moored up after 4 ½ miles, a couple of locks above Jem Bates's wooden boatyard at Puttenham,
having ascended seven of the sixteen locks.
 |
| Our mooring for Sunday night |
I got on
with some DIY jobs during the rest of the afternoon. For once I seem to have completed some jobs
without the need to do them a second time.
Karen did point out that there had been a lot of swearing along the way,
and that was just getting my tools out of the man cupboard. She also pointed out that it sometimes takes
a day or two before we realise a job needs doing again.
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment