Braunston Coal Run. Day 8

We arrived at Braunston after an uneventful short trip with no locks. John and Jenny Jackson (our coal merchants) were already there on a mooring just past the  junction, along with Terry Bellamy from Streethay Wharf on nb Starling  and Pete Howker on nb Bletchley. Both of these boats were carrying coal for the Jacksons, so there was going to be a lot of loading to be done over the weekend. Barry and I started to clear the hold on Nuneaton, emptying water from the barrels that had acted as ballast and pump out the rainwater from the bilges ready for loading. Mark had arrived to pick up Maggie and we said our goodbyes. Loading began and I contributed as best I could, but these guys fling 25kg bags of coal around as if they are filled with sawdust! Chris from nb Merchant turned up to help and we were both surprised to see each other, as we last met in June, when travelling together up the GU and I was crewing on nb Leo No.2. Most of the motor was loaded by the end of the afternoon. I volunteered to open up the mudbox to see if there was a blockage there, as the cooling system outlet was running intermittently. We later realised that no water was being pumped through because the inlet was out of the water, due to the list on the boat caused by loading mainly on one side. – doh!

Let's Start Loading

Mick and Suzanne Wilson, from the Byfleet Boat Club, walked past later and stopped  a chat. Their boat was moored out of sight around the bend. Also Kevin from Brighton Kite Flyers stopped by on the towpath and I discovered that he had a share in a narrow boat. What a small world it is on the canal system sometimes. As much as I would have liked to pay a visit to The Admiral/Lord Nelson (I can never remember which it is), we went to The Boathouse, which was much closer as we all had had a busy day.

Fully Loaded (Photo by Maggie)



Chris on nb Merchant

Clearing the mud box. (Photo by Maggie)