Summer Jaunt 2018. 17

Heading Home.

Saturday 15^th September

Very little done today except watch several episodes of Getty on BBC iPlayer, which was strongly recommended by my daughter. I have to say that it is very addictive and interestingly, it take place when JPG lived at Sutton Place alongside the River Wey near Guildford, although the set is somewhere else.

A visit to the Co-Op was also in order, but you already know what I think of that place. The Barley Mow was on the list on the way back, with their good selection of real ales.

Sunday 16^th September

It was a case of ‘Getty With Breakfast’ this morning and I had to make the most of it, as I had a free wi-fi connection from the houses just behind the moorings.

I took a walk along the towpath and through the village later in the afternoon, but nothing too strenuous, calling in again at the pub for a pint. A very lazy day!

Monday 17^th September

Time to make a move on to Rugby and being around midday there were copious moorings, so with a prodigious shopping list I walked down to Tesco and stocked up for the trip to Braunston. Otherwise, another idle day not doing much.

Between here and Braunston, the pubs are dire chain outfits where no one cares about the food, beer or customers, so it was a time for restraint.

Tuesday 18^th September

I am still making the most of the free wi-fi connection here and finished Episode 10 of Getty – fascinating stuff.The afternoon was spent doing a load of washing.

At 15.15 the NBT pair of boats past me with a crew of three by the looks of it – the only one I knew being Howard Williams. I am meeting up with the loading crew on Friday, which will entail some dirty work on Saturday, but no lifting will be involved on my part.

Wednesday 19^th September

As soon as another boat pulled off the water point, I untied and drifted across in the wind to water up and empty the portable loo. With that all done, I set off with breakfast on the hoof, wanting to make Braunston today, because the forecast for tomorrow was constant rain.

I stopped off at Clifton Cruisers for a pumpout, wanting to get rid of the Elsan Blue the guy had chucked in last time, so that I could revert to a biological method of cleaning the tank with SilkyRX. The. re was a warning that it would not work if in contact with formaldehyde. Maybe I should wait until after another pumpout before adding it; in which case it is going to be a long drawn out businsess.

As the morning progressed, the wind became stronger until it was gusting to gale force, which made boating very uncomfortable indeed and there were very few sheltered spots, even behind hedges. I did find one however around 12.30, when I was desperate for something to eat and drink. Fortunately there was some piling to clip the centre line to and I could hold the boat on that while I made a drink and a sandwich, so I was only there for 10 mins.

By this time, I was not far from Braunston and I thought that being in a hollow, it would be more sheltered. How wrong I was. Most of the moorings from the turn to the Boathouse were full and again the boats were 10 to 15ft apart, being either ignorant or selfish boaters. Eventually, I spotted Nuneaton and Brighton breasted up and there was a space ahead of them, but getting moored up was not easy. Firstly there was only one ring near enough to use and secondly despite the hedge, the wind was blowing Stronghold off the bank. Lastly, passing boaters would not slow down for someone trying to tie up. Eventually I got a stern line on the only ring, before pulling in on the centre line for the umpteenth time, sufficiently to drive a mooring pin in a previously used hole and affixing the bow line to it. Not only did I add a spring line to a short length of chain pinned to the towpath, but I added a centre line spring as belt and braces against the wind. I rarely do this, but the mooring pin was loose in the hole, although driven completely in to its full length behind the coping stone. I will remove the centre line if the wind drops later.

I was just taking stock, when I was approached by John Japp of NBT. We had a brief chat and he had been asked by Howard to make a few adjustments to the boats as he collected his gear. I gave him a hand to speed things up a bit so that he could get away home to Patcham nr. Brighton as soon as possible.

Thursday 20^th September

Well, the forecast was right and it started raining in the night and continued until about midday, after which the wind began again in earnest, so it was once again BBC iPlayer to keep me amused most of the morning. Eventually i had had enough and decided to take a walk up into the village and down Dark Lane to visit The Admiral Nelson. With very comfortable furniture and so many cookery books on display for customer’s delectation, along with an excellent choice of ales, how can they lose?

Back on board, it was time to sort out a meal. The lamb chops in the fridge were beginning to smell off, so they went in the bin. They were originally bought to BBQ and I did two some time ago. These I was going to roast with roast potatoes, so that was scrapped in favour of the last of a chicken sweet and sour with rice and garlic flavoured fried cashew nuts on top, which was certainly different. I shall have to stock up on food tomorrow morning in the village.

Friday 21^st September

A good shopping session, especially at the Braunston Butchers where they had calves liver again in stock, which I eagerly look forward to. The remainder of the afternoon was spent reading and sorting out the mess inside the boat.

The NBT crew arrived and we had a good catchup session before they moved the pair into the arm for loading the following morning. The butty was bow hauled in first and tie up to the wharf, followed by the motor on the outside.

Barry had made me a stainless steel chimney which fitted perfectly and I now have to decide whether to fit the old brass handle and fittings and polish them, or make new stainless ones. The brass fittings take such a battering from the heat and weather, they really need cleaning every day.

The new stainless steel chimney.

Saturday 22^nd September

Loading day was here and most people were there when I arrived on the wharf. There were 17 tons of mixed fuels to be loaded onto both boats and once it had started loading continued in record time of less than five minutes per ton. I has to be recognised that there were usually two persons lifting off the stacks and another two people stacking inside the hull, which is why it was so quick. When the butty was about level, the boats were swapped over and loading the motor was loaded to completion. I have to say that the loaders worked tirelessly, never pausing for breath and I wished that I was young and fit enough to do the same, but I did help with some of the clothing up afterwards, so did not feel entirely useless.

Loading the butty.

Off down the Oxford canal.

The pair left the arm at 13.30 in good time to get to The Folly at Napton for a meal with two new recruits on board for a short trip up to The Turn. I bade my goodbyes to the last of the loading crew and returned to Stronghold via The Nelson for a well deserved pint with Barry. Although I had done little this morning, I was knackered and had an hours snooze back on board.

It was time to meet up with my daughter again in The Nelson for a beer or two, although I was not in a drinking mood and consumed very little, but it was an excellent evening, despite being so crowded.

Summer Jaunt 2018. 16

Back Yet Again.

Monday 10^th September

Here I am back on board after an angioplasty, which involved inserting two stents into the right cardiac artery, so that should put paid to the angina for some while. After a seamless journey involving four trains, which fortunately all linked up, I started up the towpath and within five minutes, three people greeted me with a wave or hello. It is quite incredible really that this camaraderie exists on the cut and nowhere else and so many boaters remark upon it frequently.

Stronghold was exactly as I left her, all safe and sound and I soon had the gas and power back on, but had to pay a visit to the Co-Op to get something to cook later, via The Old Swan, which is a 16^th  century coaching inn; well what a let down: the beer was limited to Banks’s bitter and mild; there was only one small main bar and two other rooms; no food and basic seating, with about six customers.

Tuesday 11^th September

A more consistent shopping expedition was now in order to keep me going until I reached Rugby. Unfortunately it was raining fairly heavily and continued until about midday, so I was unable to make an early start unless I got soaked, which I was not prepared to do. There are two outlets of the Co-Op in Atherstone, so I went to the nearest and the smaller of the two, which was of course very limited, but the larger one is not much better. Despite the logo advertising “Good With Food”, it is just not true and I would have fared better in Aldi.

After lunch I did let go, heading for The Anchor again in Hartshill. Surprisingly there were a fair number of boats moored up there, but there always seems to be spaces. I had forgot about Tarmac’s yard opposite, which starts up at 07.00 with a fork lift or similar clanging about and probably loading trucks for delivery.

Wednesday 12^th September

I let go for Sutton Stop this morning and arrived in good time to bag a decent mooring just above the water point on the Coventry canal. After a good hot shower, I went to The Greyhound to meet up with Terry and Chris Rigden for a meal in the restaurant. I had previously bought a painting by Chris of Nuneaton and Brighton cruising past their property in Bedworth at the Braunston Show earlier this year and said that I would be passing through at the time. We had a very pleasant meal as always at The Greyhound and I learned more about their boating activities. They also invited me to stop off for a meal when I was  passing next, which I thought was most generous, but it will almost certainly be next year now.

Thursday 13^th September

Mostly a day relaxing on board, though I did go foraging for blackberries later. The best of which were to be found along the towpath of the North Oxford. I did eventually pick a pound and a half. I also bumped into John and Myra on Tramper II, who I met initially at Sawley some two years ago. It was they who sold Tramper, their first boat to my mate Colin, thus the initial reason for asking about the name and meeting them.

In the evening I met up with my eldest daughter and fiancé in The Greyhound for the last time this year, but this time it was for drinks only. Another great evening in one of my favourite waterway pubs.

Friday 14^th September

Heading off this morning for Newbold moorings, I encountered another boater holding in Papillon and his wife hanging on to her boat. It transpired that Papillon had come adrift at the stern end, so I stopped to lend a hand, which meant driving mooring pins in, because there were no rings. Papillon had been there about six weeks to my knowledge and already had two CRT tickets attached for overstaying the time limit. The stern mooring pin turned out to be a thin tubular steel broom handle, which someone else must have used in emergency, because the steel mooring pin was hanging on the end of the line at the back of the boat and had obviously not been seen. I drove it in tight to the steel piling, hoping that it would not pull out, because the ground was extremely soft at that point and quite unsuitable for mooring there. Whoever moored up originally, quite obviously either did not care or were just ignorant – maybe both. The front door had also been broken into, so it may even have been stolen.

Arriving at Newbold  after about five hours cruising, I moored up and was congratulated by the lady on the hire boat in front about the slick method that I use. There are plenty of rings available here, which does make it easy and I clip on the centre line to a ring, before attaching a tiller string to keep the boat straight which then springs her into the piling. With the boat held in position on tickover and in gear, I can now attach the bow and stern lines and suitable fenders and another spring line from the bow to stop any lengthways movement when other boats pass by.