Broughton (back in the country again)

Monday broke to glorious blue skies, sunshine and a light frost so it seemed we had picked the perfect day to cruise out of Aylesbury.  Karen moved the car whilst I filled up with water and set off for a mini-cruise to meet Karen and Buddy walking down the towpath after they had parked the car.

Passing the, ‘Thank you for visiting Aylesbury basin’ sign

Turning out of the basin

The first lock wasn’t set for me and it took a while to empty it as there was so much water in the pound above; water was flooding over the top gates almost as fast as it was escaping through the bottom paddles.

The lock was one of the ones that was closed in November while new lock gates were installed which can be seen in the next photo.  When there are double gates on narrow locks like these the lock wheeler can usually step from a closed gate across the gap to the other side or vice versa.  This avoids the need to walk all the way around the lock to open or close both gates.

The new lock gates at lock #16

The Aylesbury arm, although with double gates, is a bit different.  The hand rails are set such that it’s practically impossible to make the step across; in addition, the locks, although narrow, are slightly wider than most narrow locks.  When doing the locks on your own you can still open both gates without walking around the lock. This is done by standing on one gate and pushing the other one open and then open the gate you are standing on.  As these were new heavy gates, I couldn’t quite get the momentum going and ended up walking around anyway.  Not that it really mattered as it was a lovely day, I wasn’t in a rush and there were plenty of onlookers chatting away, interested in seeing the lock operation.

As I was leaving the second lock a passer-by offered to close the gate behind me which was jolly nice of him.  It avoids having to leave the boat in the lock head whilst stepping off to close the gate.  Usually lock heads are quite long and it’s quite safe to leave the boat while closing the gate.  Sometimes there are also handy bollards to temporarily tie the boat to for added security. 

On the Aylesbury arm there are neither bollards nor long lock heads so it’s a matter of leaving a line lying across the ground hoping that the wind doesn’t take the boat away.  I’ve yet to lose the boat in that scenario but have had many occasions where I’ve had to stop closing the gate and hurry back to grab the line to pull the boat back before completing the operation.

I could see Karen and Buddy in the distance as I was moving away from the lock.  When we met up, Karen asked me to pass her a windlass as she wanted to walk up to the next lock to get it set.

Karen caught me having help at lock #15

We moored up after the third lock at a place called Broughton and stayed there for lunch.  In the end we stayed all day as it was peaceful and a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of the basin. 

Our mooring at Broughton for Monday night

During the afternoon I did a bit more revising for my Marine Radio Short Range Certificate and when I was extra bored, I spent some time rearranging my email folders.  I have always had two folders for holidays, one for upcoming holidays and one for old holidays.  The upcoming holidays folder would contain details associated with holidays like flights, accommodation bookings etc.  After a holiday was finished the mails would be moved to the old holiday folder.  I noticed for the first time ever that there were no mails in the upcoming holidays folder.  I suppose I shouldn’t complain as it’s only six weeks until we move to France and many people would call that an extended holiday.

Tuesday was an early start as we had to be in Leamington for our annual dental appointments by nine.  Early starts mean that we have to wake Buddy up and get him to the car where he falls fast asleep again.  We arrived with 20 minutes to spare, ample time to let Buddy have a quick walk around Jephson Gardens and have his breakfast.

After the dentist it was off to Stockton to sit my Marine VHF radio practical and theory exams which I passed; just as well as it’s a prerequisite for us living on the boat in France although most of the stuff I had to learn would never be required in inland waters!  Karen took Buddy off for a walk while they waited for me and picked up some eggs from a lady we used to use when ccing in the area and Karen was touched that the lady remembered her.

Steve (the owner of the Willow Wren training centre) was on form and as chatty as ever.  Ironically, he said he doesn’t use the egg lady as she chats so much and he can’t get away.  We finally got away from Steve and headed for Braunston where we picked up our extra long lines and zig-zag fenders – a job we have been putting off for what feels like months. I know we said recently that there was nothing else to buy for the boat and that was true as we had paid for the lines and fenders back in November.

Fenders so heavy I had to have a rest carrying them back to the boat

We then popped in to Long Itch to see Chris & Sue’s new home they have recently moved to there.  A lovely location and it seemed ideally designed for people who’re going to be living on their boat for most of the year.  We went for lunch at the Stag in Offchurch and heard about their cruising plans for this year.  It made us feel quite nostalgic as it reminded us of our visits to the places they were planning on visiting, the hills they planned to climb etc.  By the same token, they were excited for us and looking forward to hearing about our foreign travels.