Canalway Cavalcade - Finale

On Tuesday and Wednesday, nb Stronghold, nb Leo No.2 and nb Winging It stayed put, as we were going on the St Pancras Cruising Club outing to the Thames Barrier on Saturday. However, the weather forecast predicted winds gusting up to 30mph on the day, so we all agreed on Thursday that it was too risky to go under the circumstances and we would return to the Wey via Bulls Bridge and Brentford, which we did, stopping for the night at Bulls Bridge. The following day we got on to the Wey and Kathryn and I continued to the moorings at Warren Farm, where the Byfleet Boat Club have exclusive rights to moor at weekends. It is in a quiet backwater below Newick lock and in sight of Newick Priory - almost in the middle of nowhere really, although there is a mobile home park at the back through the trees. The commodores BBQ was the event at the time, which seems to be a club tradition after a new commodore takes office. A huge open log fire was in full swing, with an awning suspended from trees and a windbreak that caused so much wind turbulence that those behind it were in tears from the backdraft of smoke. It was a very enjoyable evening as the wine and beer flowed in abundance in the usual Byfleet Boat Club tradition. What a way to end an extremely enjoyable cruise. I would do it all again tomorrow!

Canalway Cavalcade 6.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny again and for me it was to be the day of the boat handling competition. One of the organisers had already phoned me to check that I was still entering and I was quite impressed by that, although I had no rules or map of the route. I got those immediately before it was my turn in the competition after Kathryn. 

On the way to Warwick Road Bridge.

It involved steering from the Horse bridge to the Warwick Road bridge, then stopping, getting off and shaking hands with the judge, before reversing back past the island and turning round in a clockwise direction for 360 degrees. A buoy represented a man overboard and had to be lifted up with a boat hook by my bow man, David and approved by the judge. The next manoeuvre was to pull in to the island pontoon, stop and shake hands with another judge, before departing down the Paddington Arm. I was very happy with my performance, but not worthy of a prize. 

Reversing back to the island.

360 deg. turn. (all photos by Betty Smith)

Kathryn, however, gained a prize for runner up, whereas last year she was top dog. Not bad for two years running.

Walking back to my boat later that afternoon, I stopped to chat to the crew of nb Take Wine as they were setting up lights for the illuminated boat procession and got involved with helping for a while. The crew later invited me to cruise with them in the procession, which was very welcome. We were hanging about below the Horse Bridge for some time until it was fully dark, then off we went with 21 other boats. I was totally amazed at the number of people assembled on the bridge and around the pool to watch. I had a seat and a glass of wine on the stern, until it became obvious that the foremost temporary mast was not going to clear the Horse Bridge, so I volunteered to go forward and remain on the cabin top during the event to lower the offending mast if necessary. After three glasses of wine, this was probably not a sensible thing to do, but it all worked out well. Rodney and Kathryn accompanied the captain, Victoria on the counter, giving advice where necessary, as steering in the dark without a head light is difficult enough, but with all the illuminations on top, it was doubly so. Back at their mooring, the malt whiskey was passed around to celebrate a very successful event and we talked all things boating until one in the morning. My thanks to the captain, Victoria and her crew of Peter, Tony and Linda and the two K9's for a wonderful evening.

I have to say that trying to place pics on this blogger is a nightmare and has taken so many attempts that I am seriously thinking of abandoning it entirely, but what else is there to take it's place?

Canalway Cavalcade 5.

Saturday was the day for the Pageant of boats and each boat was decorated in individual style, competing for the coveted prize. I had new bunting that I had never assembled on the boat, but had already made up the means of support. Assembly was a trial and effort affair and I was very pleased that I had bought along various bungee cords on the off chance. It worked out well eventually and I decided to add my green plastic bottle windvane that I made on a Spanish camp site about twenty years ago.

A rare outing for the wind vane, which was well photographed.

 The mounting was very makeshift and it blew over in the gusty wind as soon as I came out into the Pool, but I had to carry on down through Maida Hill tunnel and wind the boat at Cumberland Basin, two miles further on, where I pulled in to make modifications. It was a very enjoyable experience cruising through "Blowup Bridge" and London Zoo and back to Little Venice.

Looking good, but no wind vane!

On return to my mooring, the engine stop cable broke, but I managed to rig up a length of Kevlar to do the job temporarily. On mentioning this to other club members, I discovered that Dick King had a spare one, which he offered to sell to me. This was gratefully accepted and with a few modifications to the end part, it worked better than the original, as it did not stick in the up position. Such are the advantages of cruising with the boat club, as if something goes wrong, there is plenty of help to hand.

Canalway Cavalcade 4.

The boats left Bulls Bridge at 10min intervals, so as not to clog the entrance to Willowtree Marina, where we were to have lunch. Fortunately, they were warned of the mass arrival and there were sufficient moorings for all boats to get in. They had even moved the four hire boats outside on the canal bank.It was another gorgeous day, so we could all sit outside to eat in the sun.

Aperitifs before lunch in the sun. (photo by Betty Smith)

Lined up in Willowtree Marina

 Some time in mid-afternoon, we all moved off towards Little Venice and were well spaced out. After three hours on this very long pound, we caught up with the queue waiting for moorings - well, that's what we assumed. It turned out that this was it and these were the moorings, apart from those with allocated moorings in Browning's Pool and Rembrant Gardens who were directed forward. All in all, I was not impressed with the arrangements and I was not alone in thinking that. In other years, moorings were allocated to all participants, rather than a free for all. I took a walk as far as the end of the Paddington Arm and found a couple of people I know from past boating events and was surprised that some of the working boats were so far away from the Pool.

Canalway Cavalcade 3.

We were up early to catch a bus to Brentford to assist the remaining BBC boats through the gauging locks and then up through the other ten locks to Bulls Bridge. Our timing was just right and we were each on one of the two locks to get the fourteen club boats through in just less than an hour. As each lock could accommodate two boats and were electrically operated, it was not hard work. Originally, these locks were where the loaded boat would have been gauged with a rod that measured the freeboard and so calculated how many tons each boat was carrying, as tolls were measured by the ton per mile. I hitched a lift on nb Nancy Bell to the next lock and then with nb Yum Sing to try and get ahead of the pack, but it was not to be and I ended up working the locks for them and nb Take Wine, but I could at least walk up and set the next lock once we reached the Hanwell flight, so speeding up progress. It was a very sunny day and hard work, but rewarding at the same time.

A well deserved break whilst waiting for another lock to fill. (photo by Betty Smith)

Ian and Betty plied me with sustenance and beer, which was very welcome.

There's more than one way to open a pair of gates! (photo by Betty Smith)

We reached Bulls Bridge mid-afternoon and were moored up four abreast. Although there was no pub within easy reach, drinks were taken on the towpath and the days events discussed in detail, before we dispersed for a well earned rest.

Canalway Cavalcade 1.

Although I have been to Canalway Cavalcade a few years ago, this was to be my first time by boat and the second long trip with the Byfleet Boat Club this year after the mass assault on the Basingstoke canal at Easter 2013. I was travelling with Kathryn Dodington, who was on nb Leo No.2, which was to be her home for the next six weeks after selling her house in Brookwood and waiting until June to move into the canalside house in Stoke Bruerne.

nb Leo No.2 on the Thames.

We departed Pelican Wharf on Tuesday, with the intention of getting to Bulls Bridge ahead of the main club contingent so that we could get back to Brentford on Wednesday morning to assist them up the eleven locks to Bulls Bridge, which included the Hanwell flight of six locks. The weather forecast was looking good for the next few days and we deserved some pleasant cruising after the extremely cold Basingstoke trip. Kathryn had already reversed out of her mooring and my engine was running after a single attempt at starting, which was unusual after the cold mornings when it needed a cocktail of additions through the air intake to encourage it to start at all, but I speak too soon, because as soon as I engaged reverse gear, it stalled! Up with the hatch to investigate and only then did I realise that the fuel cock was closed. This was to discourage a minute diesel leak in a union after changing the fuel filters and not something I would normally do.

Waiting at Molesey Lock.

It was such a beautiful morning and we had plenty of time, so opted to do the scenic route around Desborough Island, rather than through the Desborough Cut which is far quicker. It was a very pleasant run through Sunbury and Molesey locks to Kingston, where we moored up for the night. It was a very quiet night too, after some of the weekend nights previously spent there. Although mooring across the river from the waterfront bars, it is still close enough to hear the drunken bums shouting the odds until well into the early hours of the following morning.

Basingstoke Assault 10.

We We were the first to enter St Johns top lock and again with help of volunteers, we made a speedy descent of the five in an hour.

Ready For The Off At St Johns Top Lock.

Butty Steerer Extraordinaire. (Photo by Kathry Dodington)

There was a better class of weed down here, which did not choke up the prop, though there was still plenty of rubbish in the cut. Luckily, the blades were clear for most of the way into Brookwood three locks. Good progress too in the long pound towards the Woodham flight and it was a pleasure to be in deep water once again. Slowly past the houseboats of course and on to the last flight of the trip, where Sarah and her volunteers were waiting with the top lock open for us to sail in.

Breasting Up In A Lock. (Photo by Kathryn Dodington)

Thanks to them and all the other volunteers arranged by Kathryn Dodington and Martin Leech, without which the trip would have been so much slower and more difficult.
The turn into the Wey went very smoothly, despite the bridge 'ole immediately after, but getting into Pyrford marina was not so straight forward. David wanted the tow line very short; the same as the Woodham turn, but that took all the wash from Stronghold, thus countering the amount of power to pull Rowan round. I wanted it a little longer to avoid that. Whatever was the best option, we shall never know, as Stronghold entered cleanly through the entrance, but Rowan was unable to make it by 3ft and struck the piling hard. Who should be watching at the time? Steve Hughes, the marina manager. Why is it that when something goes wrong there is ALWAYS an audience? Whereas, if all goes well, it's like wetting yourself in a dark suit......you get a nice warm feeling, but nobody notices!
Inside the marina entrance, we breasted up to turn, but because of the difference in length between the two boats, it was not so easy and David and Jane shafted Rowan for the final few yards into her berth to await the arrival of the engineer.
They entertained me to lunch and we said final goodbyes, before I cruised back to the boat club, where I was greeted with warm cheers of welcome.....very much appreciated and thank you.
The day was rounded off with a Chinese takeaway and the usual humorous rowdy debriefing, before we gradually crept off to recover from a strenuous, but another very satisfying cruise.

Ray The Tug.

Basingstoke Assault 9.

Roger Cansdale tuned up at 8 am on the dot and took us through the lock 28 at the top of Deepcut, which was full of stringy weed and immediately wrapped itself around my propeller blades, so there was a lot of "chucking back" to try and clear it. Most of the weed collected behind the bottom gates and choked the blades again when we tried to exit the lock, so similar reverse revolutions again, but this time the towed boat was on the move threatening to ram Stronghold up the rear end. This is OK if the stem hits the stern fender, which will stop the tow, but if the steerer misses the fender, the towed boat slides down the side and puts both boats across the cut, causing havoc. There were fourteen locks in this flight and the same thing happened in all of them, so progress was slow. Extra canal society volunteers turned up to help, which was very welcome and there was no waiting for closed gates or locks to be filled. After the first few locks David, Jane and I developed a good routine of releasing the towline as the bow of Stonghold slowly entered the lock, which allowed Rowan enough speed to get in, but not so fast as to strike the lower gates. Pounds between locks were short and shallow, so the propeller was churning up the debris and often picking it up and slowing us down. Several times the weedhatch had to be lifted, until eventually I caught a wire coathanger round the blades, so lifting the rudder at every revolution. Unfortunately, the boat was now uncontrolable and both boats blocked the cut, so no one could get past until a volunteer took a centre line and pulled us towards the towpath against the wind. Evenually, we were moving again, but several boats had passed us and we had to wait for locks, necessitating trying to stop and causing more chaos. We were now the "tail end Charlies", but a mooring had been reserved for us at the front, so we could be first away in the morning down the St Johns flight of five, which were due to be unlocked at 8am. David and Jane invited me to a home cooked meal, which was delightful, before we walked to The Rowbarge for drinks. The perfect end to a difficult and tiring day.

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.

Basingstoke Assault 7.

I was so exhausted last night after sawing up a load of wood, that I fell asleep after a meal and missed the BBQ and bonfire. Oh well, I had nothing to BBQ anyway.
There was an extremely bitter north east wind blowing, so I had go below several times on the journey back just to get warmed up. The ghoul hanging from the high bridge had now gone, so I can only assume that someone had climbed out on the concrete girders to retrieve it. It was far too high to poke out with a stick. I caught up with nb Watoo Watoo to go through Ash lock together and not long after that, I had a bladefull of plastic sack that put the boat totally out of control. I was at the mercy of the wind and ended up at the bottom of someone's garden (I did consider dressing as a fairy), before I managed to remove the sack.

Passing Through Mytchett Lake.

Otherwise the trip was uneventful and I arrived at Mytchett in good time to moor alongside nb Nancy Bell, which had been there for the last three days with a broken engine water pump. Fortunately, Dick had an electric waterpump, which he hopes will enable him to do the return journey back to the Wey. I moored next to nb Rowan, with the broken crankshaft, which I will be towing back to Pyrford over the next three days. I am hoping that my Narrow Boat Trust experience of towing and locking a pair of boats will pay off, but towing an unknown boat will be a challenge for the first mile or two and lock I expect.