(Boat Flamingo - posted by Alan)
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| Very old hire cruiser I used to work with - note gravity water tank on roof! |
A fairly straightforward day, which somehow felt longer than the actual engine hours we recorded. Possibly this was because it has rained on and off for most of the day, at times making being the steerer rather less attractive than it would have been on a decent day.
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| Hillmorton |
The CRT volunteer unlocked the offending padlocks from yesterday a bit earlier than the published time, so we got going as soon as boats started moving. It is unusual to make a passage of Braunston tunnel in May and to not share it with any other boats, but we did. There was a very clear view right through the empty tunnel from the moment we entered it. We also managed to dispatch Braunston Locks a fair bit faster than tends to be the case - usually "sheer weight of traffic" hinders things a lot, but today it was pretty good.
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| Middle locks at Hillmorton |
We stopped briefly for a chandlers in Braunston before pressing on to Hillmorton locks, with Cath and me taking turns to get wet. There were no delays at Hillmorton either, other than several paddles taped out of use. We made a quick stop to replenish water, but I must remember the taps are slow, and try to avoid Hillmorton as a water stop in future.
Next stop was for the supermarket at Rugby. There were absolutely no tow-path moorings available, (probably for a 40 foot boat, let alone our 72 foot example), but unusually the offside visitor moorings were all empty, so we could use those.
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| It's a long old thing! |
We did consider pressing on to somewhere like All Oaks Wood in a bid to catch up some of the time we lost yesterday, but it continued to drizzle, so when we spotted a suitable full length mooring at Newbold, we decided to stop here. The catching up will have to wait for another day.
Once again we spotted quite a few "historics", including the lovely Thomas Clayton tar boat "Spey", only rarely spotted this far south.
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| Spey - well preserved wooden narrow boats are now quite a rarity. |
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| Vesta - the tug I'd love to own if I didn't own Sickle. |
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| Zodiac - A "Middle Northwich" like Sickle, but full length. |
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| Greenlaw |
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| Badsey and Angel |
Buckby Lock 8 to Newbold
Miles 16.3, Locks:11
Total Miles 22.1, Total Locks:16
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