Thursday, September 28, 2017

Five on a boat to Oxford - part 3

Wednesday gave us a beautiful, post-storm morning. We'd not even been slightly disturbed by passing Aileen, though there were nearby fallen branches, and a lot of ripped-off leaves.



We left under blue, sunny skies. The canal gets very winding at this point, and the water was rather shallow, so we didn't travel fast. Nervous novices navigated the hairpins with extreme caution. We felt sorry for them as they came around the blind bends and found themselves almost nose to nose with us. But there were no collisions, and they passed with triumphant looks on their faces.

Topless Fenny Compton Tunnel was another point of possible problems, but there was just one boat approaching up the narrow channel, and we continued unhindered after they'd passed. We didn't ask why they had their tunnel light on!

The one real problem with boating on the Oxford Canal is the shortage of decent moorings. Most of the towing-path side bank is reinforced with either rocks or cement bags, both of which make pinning impossible, and would be injurious to hull paintwork if that were not the case. Having found a short stretch of armco for our lunch-stop, when it came to us needing an overnight mooring, we travelled on and on, looking for a similar spot. Eventually, we arrived at Claydon Top Lock, and there was just one space available, though that was too short for us until the owners of the boat behind saw our problem and came out to move their craft forwards a few yards. We moored with a sigh of relief, and chatted with the couple for some time before going down for a much-needed cuppa.

I took no photos that day. I'm waiting for the delivery of an SD card-full of pictures taken by the rest of the crew, and I'll add some later.

On Thursday morning, we were the last to leave the moorings. As we approached Claydon Top Lock, it was clear that there was something of a hold-up. The boat two in front of us was skippered by a lone woman who was using a walking stick. Mobility was patently a problem for her. She had taken her boat into the lock, lowered it, and was trying to bow-haul it out. I hurried to help her, and between us we succeeded. Once she was back on board, the obvious thing to do was for me to take her down the flight, manning all of the locks for her while Christine and Dorothy did the same for Kantara; Mike was at the helm, with Grace supervising.

This worked very well, and the descent was pretty quick. The limping lady was met at the bottom by a friend who would go with her for the rest of her journey to Banbury.







We stopped at Cropredy for our visitors to do a bit of sight-seeing, and for lunch, shopping and an overnight stay. The rain, which had conveniently held off so far, came with a vengeance while Christine and Mike were on their way back from the little shop, and they got drenched to the skin. Mike said something about feeling like a bit of a drip!








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