Whitsun Break - Return to Base

(Boat Chalice - posted by Alan/Cath)

Grove Lock - one before it got really busy!

Not a lot to report today, really - a pretty standard run back to our home mooring from the Leighton Buzzard area - not particularly demanding, but, being a Sunday, I guess, caused it to be fairly busy.

At Church lock we actually ended up being the last of about 6 boats waiting to lock uphill.  This is a very shallow pound below the lock, with the only accessible bank lined with moored boats, and I had already advanced well past the start of the line, on a very windy day, when it became apparent I had no chance of getting to the side anywhere to wait for the lock.

I therefore practiced my "skills" at trying to stay in the channel, without ending up wrapped against other boats, or being totally blown onto the offside shallows.  I think if I were being judged, I'd not have been awarded more than about 6 out of 10 if I'm honest!  Not my finest hour, but the wind was in gusts, and quite unpredictable.

By Ivinghoe most of the boats ahead had given up the struggle, or gone to home moorings, but a boat who had been working ahead of us with another, that then dropped out, turned a lock they had just been through for us, once they realised we were now another boat on our own.  This meant we could catch them up quickly, and start to share.

They proved to be very good company and efficient, (we have actually shared with them before), and, almost too soon, we were back at base, with another trip completed, (our first to feature two boats together, if only brieffly in the middle).

Old Linslade to Cook's Wharf
Miles: 8.5, Locks:10
Total Miles: 95.2, Total Locks: 46

Whitsun Break - Mostly Lock Free

(Boat Chalice - posted by Alan)

Emu passing through Yardley Gobion

We were a bit slow getting ready to go (again!) and several boats had already passed.  But not to be missed was the totally distinctive beat of an approaching Bolinder engine.   We managed to find a camera just in time to capture the passing of South Midland's "Emu".  Truly magnificent, as so many of their boats so often are.

Emu heads on towards Stoke Bruerne

I know this fleet are very much part of the historic boating scene, but I am not close enough to it to really understand the circumstances under which so many are able to operate in such a well turned out manner.  Perhaps someone can explain South Midland" and their boats to us over a pint at some stage - I'd be interested to learn more.

Mike Askin's "Victoria" loaded with 17 tons of I'm not sure what!

Much of this part of the trip is featured by the many near lock-less miles, and the trip around and through the Milton Keynes area.  You get a small lock at Cosgrove, and a really small one at Fenny, but real locks don't kick in until a few miles before Leighton Buzzard.  What we did see were about half a dozen different boats that passed belonging to Canal World members.  Most seemed bemused by those waving at them, and in only one case whilst tied up for a Wolverton shopping stop did I actually manage a conversation.

There are useful rubbish, water and toilet emptying facilities here too.

Fenny Stratford lock has a rise of only just over a foot.  It's other unique feature, in Grand Union terms, is a swing bridge that actually crosses the lock chamber, and which has to be left swung shut, on leaving the lock.  It seems to confuse the hell out of some boaters, and could do a lot of damage if you try and enter the lock before you have swung it!

Their tent did rather look like a Police forensics site!

Once at "Three Locks" the Milton Keynes branch of the Inland Waterways Association were raising money with a "lock ambush".  They work you through, and take a donation from you.   We played the game, but I jokingly remonstrated with one of the paddle winders, (who were very reluctant to lock us through at anything approaching our usual speed), that I actually quite like working locks, and hadn't really had a crack at many others that day.  His riposte was to "apologise for ruining my day".

We tied up part way along the "Jackdaw Pound" towards Leighton Buzzard.  It was fairly windy by this stage, and we had no particular need to carry on into Leighton and Linslade on a Saturday night.

Yardley Gobion to Old Linslade
Miles: 20.7, Locks: 6
Total Miles: 86.7, Total Locks: 36

Whitsun Break - Starting to head for home

(Boats  Sickle & Chalice initially, then just Chalice - posted by Alan)

We delayed our departure from Blisworth for the very short run down to Stoke Bruerne for a while, completing a few additional maintenance tasks.  We did notice that the canal had become very busy, with boats passing very regularly - the large numbers of big new marinas built in this area are no doubt a prime reason for this.

We did finally get going, having sorted logistics for Blisworth Tunnel.  I would lead, alone, on Sickle, David would steer Chalice through behind, with Cath also on Chalice.  Sickle is still running with a less than ideal temporary tunnel light - the bulb ordered for it's proper light not having arrived before our journey started.  The temporary light had to be taped on, and switched on as we left Blisworth, as I was on my own, and the switch is in the engine room!

However at the very first bridge there were around half a dozen boats in slow procession coming the other way.  As I pulled up with Sickle, the nose swung hard to the left, blocking their approach, just as the engine decided to die on me - not ideal!  Fortunately somone came to my aid, and once I had sorted myself, six boats took an impressively long while to negotiate just one bridge, (perhaps two of them might have done better if not distracted by using CB radio!).

A rather different ice boat to Sickle, but still a beauty.

In the tunnel the lamp proved to be pointing too high, and too much to the right. I was in no position to alter it, but at least it wasn't going to dazzle oncoming steerers!  The noise from Sickle is "impressive", and I had chosen to use the "tall pipe" to throw the exhaust higher, but was surprised how near it came to the tunnel arch on a couple of occasions.  Boats coming the other way were passed OK, a bit of a relief, as I had not passed boats in a tunnel with Sickle before.

We found satisfactory mooring spots after the tunnel, and mixed further painting with a quick trip to the pub to give it time to dry!

Sickle cleared and locked up.

Eventually it was time to leave Sickle, and continue down the locks with just Chalice, to start the main trip back home.  We transferred much of what we needed to Chalice, and were joined by another boat that we worked down the locks with.  Being later in the day, nobody else was moving, and any queueing was avoided.  We made our overnight stop at the very tranquil Yardley Gobion.

Sharing the bottom lock at Stoke Bruerne

Blisworth to Yardley Gobion
Miles: 6.8, Locks: 7
Total Miles: 66.0, Total Locks:30

Whitsun Break - Another Very Short Day

(Boats  Sickle & Chalice - posted by Alan)

Tied up at Bugbrooke - Some primer in evidence.

Continuing the same theme - move on a bit to try and recharge the batteries a bit, and to make some much needed hot water.  But spend time tied up, trying to get on with a bit of maintenance.

One bugbear was that throughout the towpath has remained on the left of the boats, giving little easy opportunity to work on the right hand side of either, (although Sickle would turn across the width of the cut in many places, assuming enough depth at either bank).

No chance of doing anything very complex but general cleaning, (there is a lot of brass will need polishing!), some paint touch up, plus trying to tighten a few things that are in danger of falling off!

"The fleet" tied up at Gayton service area.

One near crisis was averted, fortunately.  On the outward trip with Chalice we had badly needed to empty the boats toilet waste tanks, but when we arrived at the Gayton facility, we had found it locked, out of order.  There is no further public facility before Whilton, so by the time we arrived back at Gayton, we really hoped the problem would be fixed.  Fortunately it was, but we had only survived by breaking out a new "cassette" that was an emergency spare, and had never before been pressed into use.  Sorry to go into "toilet matters", but the ways of dealing with this on boats is one of the more argued about boat matters amongst actual boaters!  Those who favour a large "pump out" tank, rather thanthe "cassette" system we rely upon will be smirking at the fact we were nearly without a working loo!

Sat on "the patio", Chalice (behind) acting as support vessel.

At Blisworth Cath and I worked hard on various tidying work, and thought we would treat ourselves to a meal at the local pub.  Sadly it proved to be a case where the canal guide says evening food is available, but the reality is that it no longer is.  Anyway Charlie got a walk!  One of the uses of Sickle's boarded deck over the hold is that it can become our "floating patio" area.  Firstly I found that the wireless internet we use in Chalice had enough range to allow me to sit on the front of Sickle with my laptop, in the evening sun.  But of course it is also a perfect venue for a meal with a glass of wine or two.

Bugbrooke to Blisworth
Miles: 5.0, Locks:0
Total Miles: 59.2, Total Locks: 23

Whitsun Break - Boating with Two Boats

(Boats  Sickle & Chalice - posted by Alan)

Cath steers Chalice past historic boats "George" and "Mary", also "Phobos"

Well the plan now was to do something very alien to our normal boating style.  Well, boating with two boats is unusual for us, but even more unusual was the concept that we were only going to move a few miles a day for the next few days.

Our reasons for this was to allow us to have longish periods tied up, so we could start to sort one or two things out, such as repairing cosmetic damage to paintwork.  Sickle has been bought very smart looking, but we have already added a few scratches and chips, such as on the "tunnel bands", the brightly painted panels on the rear of the counter.

The steerer's view from Sickle

It's a strange feeling to suddenly find yourself following the boat you have been boating in for the last six years, rather than to be on it!

Both boats handle completely differently of course, and adjusting from one to the other will take time.  Sickle has huge amounts of power, so one needs to refine ways of passing moored boats slow enough, as even "tick-over" represents a fair pace.  We are getting adept at taking her out of gear, but of course you don't get a lot of steering once you do this, so have to pick your moments carefully.

Alan insists it's still his turn at the tiller!

I think I would have been happy to carry on boating like this for a while, but we actually planned to do no more than about 5 miles.  In fact for much of the time David was keen to try out Sickle.  He handled her well, but I did have to suggest from time to time that he needed to go a bit more gently, if he was not to "nudge" his mother's boat from behind!

David steers past the sadly near derelict "Edgeware" and "Balham"

There continue to be lots of interesting boats being passed.  The George and the Mary, pictured above, were the very first prototype boats that eventually culminated in the Grand Union canal carrying Company building nearly 400 new boats in the 1930s, of which Sickle was just one, (albeit of a rather different type).

Some of the boats on this stretch have lain in poor condition for yeras, but I'm told their owners are not receptive to requests that they should be sold on to somebody who might put them back into good order.

Cath continues to be the lead boat

Too quickly our quota of miles for the day was up, and we forced ourselves to settle down to more mundane maintenance tasks.  Actually this slow moving is quite therapeutic compared to our normal boating style.  If only Cath didn't still have a full time job, I suspect we would linger much more often than is our normal style.

Sickle at rest as the sun fades away

Near Weedon to Bugbrooke
Miles: 4.8, Locks:0
Total Miles: 54.2, Total Locks: 23

Whitsun Break - Chalice and Sickle Meet

(Boat Chalice, initially, joined by Sickle later - posted by Alan)

Today's task was to get up to Whilton, where Sickle had been left, get one or two things sorted, then commence moving south with both boats.

Small Woolwich "Planet" - Not one I ever recall seeing before.

We had deliberately left a couple of locks to do, and these were quickly despatched.  One thing we had been considering was how both boats would get moved back South through Blisworth Tunnel.  For no particular reason Alan has generally taken the tiller in the longer tunnels, and nobody else has much recent experience of them, (David chooses to steer only infrequently anyway).  We decided David should take Chalice north through Blisworth, to build up his skills.  I found sitting on the front for a change quite fascinating.  You see all kind of detail, side culverts, signs, etc., that you miss as a steerer.  There are at least 3 different things in the tunnel marking distance through, as it turns out.  David did very well - without the lapses of concentration that often leave me fighting to stay away from a tunnel wall!

Trevor Maggs' "Corona" looking fantastic after a recent repaint.

It proved to be a bit of a "working boat spotting" day, so I hope people will not mind a selection of pictures of some of the more interesting boats passed.

I guess some of the boats already congregated at or around Stoke Bruerne will be attending the Gala Day there, the weekend after next.  There are usually a selection of interesting boats, but there were ones I have not seen before on this passage through.

"Large Woolwich" Butty "Bordesley" in superb BW colours

"Lone butties" was also a bit of a theme.  Several boats are now around that look immaculate, externally at least.

"Little Woolwich" "Cygnus" - yours for just shy of £30,000!

The butty "Cygnus" has been up for sale for a while.  It looks good, but is quite a lot of money!

Having just turned Sickle, Chalice is still pointing North

Not a lot else to report, really!  To get from Blisworth to Whilton is just a case of doing the miles, and occasionally dodging other boats in blind bridge holes!  Anyway, first objective achieved when we got to Whilton, and found Sickle still in good order.  We did a bit of sorting ourselves out, moving stuff between boats, for example, or proving we could start Sickles "Lister" diesel.  We then went and bought various things at the Whilton Chandlery, (why do I always walk out of these places having bought something expensive I didn't go in for?).

Environmental disaster caused by misfuelling an unfamiliar range!

We came to the stark realisation too that we have done far more miles on Chalice's last engine oil change than strictly we should have, (not quite as bad as it sounds, as we lost lots of oil in a recent incident, so a fair amount of replacement oil had gone in),  We decided to change the oil there, before starting the move South.

Both boats at Whilton, ready to head South.

Eventually we moved off for our first short stretch back Southwards.  David and me on Sickle, and Cath on her own on Chalice.  We didn't go far, planning to stop at Weedon, but it was our first ever case of moving two boats at once.

Long Pound, Stoke Bruerne
to Whilton then back to near Weedon
Miles: 17.1, Locks: 2
Total Miles: 49.4, Total Locks: 23

Whitsun Break - Day 2

(Boat Chalice - posted by Cath and Alan)

We got away from the Globe at Leighton Buzzard rather later than we had hoped - failing to wake up for the alarm did not help.  However, we knew that it was a day of mostly miles, with few locks, and that we would just need to keep going until we got far enough to be within striking distance of Whilton the following day.

Working through Three Locks

We got to Soulbury, Three Locks, aware that we were being followed by another boat, but a Springer, moored nearby, announced that he would come down with us.  The other boat arrived soon after and was told by Mr Springer that they would have to wait.  Mr Springer didn't tell us until he was in the top lock that he was winding in the wide pound immediately below the lock.  His right I suppose, but we ended up waiting in the second lock for Mr Springer to wind, and for the following boat to get down to us, while another boat coming up waited for the middle lock that we were in.

Rain was very much a feature of the day!

We could have worked through, however, as we approached the lock I recognised the BW man who was setting the lock for us - he used to work on Sickle, when it was in BW ownership, so I called out to him and asked if he had heard the news of our recent purchase.  Oh, yes, he knew, the Towpath Telegraph had been working well - so we took the opportunity to ask him if he would be at Braunston to give us a few tips.

After that we carried on with the pleasant cc'ing couple who had been behind us from the Globe onwards, although they pulled over when they got to Campbell Park in Milton Keynes. 

Even the mooring rings at Wolverton could have been better thought out!

It was a dreary day, raining almost constantly from mid-morning onwards.  We made a shopping stop at Wolverton, where the new development provides slightly better moorings, and a more direct bridge to the shops than previously.  On the face of it, the re-use of buildings from the old railway carriage works here looked promising, but sadly the development has been done in a way that preserves little more than the facade, and once inside, much of it is roofless, some of it no more than car parking.  An opportunity missed to hang on rather better to some of the rich history surrounding these works.

The "Long Pound" looking up towards Stoke Bruerne village.

After a late start, we had planned to go no further than the foot of Stoke Bruerne locks, but we made good progress, and decided it would be rather splendid to get far enough up the flight for an easy walk to "The Boat" for a pint or two, and our evening meal, (it's a dog friendly pub, and we like those Charlie can go to with us).  We made very good progress up the locks, nearly catching up the Narrow Boat Trust boats Nuneaton and Brighton.  We had not realised these were now ahead of us again - they could only have passed us whilst we went shopping in Wolverton.  We had already decided we would moor in the very pleasant "long pound" near the top of the flight,  We could stop a bit earlier today, and would then at least have a couple of locks the next day, on what would otherwise have been a lock-less day.

Boat "Chalice"
Cook's Wharf
Globe Inn, nr Leighton Buzzard
to "The Long Pound" Stoke Bruerne
Miles: 24.4, Locks: 11
Total Miles: 32.3, Total Locks: 21