Basingstoke Assault 8.

I have had complaints from my eldest daughter that there are not enough photos of people on this blog, so here are a few just to satisfy her and any other readers who are tired of looking at pictures of engines and machinery.

Chris says "I'm so cold I think it might snow".

Terry says "I just snorted something and it got stuck".
Valerie says "What's he doing with a Tampax up there"?
It was really half a toilet roll to stop a nose bleed!

Danger, men at work!

Stronghold took up the tow at 2pm amid a fair old flurry of snow. Many cameras were in action as we headed for the closed swingbridge, which was opened just in time. Once through we picked up speed on a 20ft snatcher, with Jane steering and David on the bow of Rowan.

                                                                 Away  we go in the snow.

The snow got heavier and was quite unpleasant as it was in our faces. We arrived at Deepcut Top Lock in an hour and only had one black sack around the blades, which was smartly removed by chucking back in reverse, at the same time keeping an eye on the towline so that it didn't catch in the blades. Close to the lock, I slowed down and then cast off Rowan to come in to the mooring. It was a little faster than intended. This is always a tricky maneouvre to begin with, towing a strange boat, but with experience, I will be able to judge it better in future. I placed Stronghold in a position to wedge Rowan between my boat and the bank if need be to bring her to a halt, but David already had the centre line off and slowed her to a stop. That then, was the easy bit. Tomorrow we begin the 17 lock descent, but with Basingstoke Canal Society members lockwheeling for us, so hopefully we can sail into the open locks without having to stop and moor up.

At 7pm Roger Cansdale arrived at the lock in his car to return us to Potters for a celebration of the whole trip, with all the staff of Basingstoke Canal and volunteers who had helped us through so far. Speeches were made thanking all concerned with the succesful vogage and a splendid evening was had by all there.

Speeches Were Made...........

.........And The Band Played.