Being, not doing

For most of us, the largest part of our lives is spent doing, so I really enjoy those days that can be spent simply being. Yesterday was like that, and the day before, when there were few locks or swing-bridges or lift-bridges or any other kind of distraction, and our time is spent simply chugging along at 3 mph - less when passing moored boats (and we've passed a lot of those!) - enjoying the canal and the countryside, the peace and quiet.

Tuesday was the same. After another cold night, the morning was mild and sunny as we ascended the last two locks up into and through Stoke Bruerne Wharf. We met no other craft in Blisworth Tunnel, and the journey on through Blisworth, Gayton Junction, Bugbrooke, and Nether Heyford was simply beautiful and beautifully simple.

One of our favoured moorings - just before Stowe Hill, opposite a farm and its camping site - had only two other boats, and we happily tied up there.

It rained hard overnight and into the morning, torrential at times, and with a strong wind. Our hatches were already battened down. We stayed where we were, and pitied the hire-boaters who hurried past, who didn't have the luxury of time to spend moored up, who had to be back at their base by Friday regardless of the weather. We remember it well. Been there, done that, T-shirts were unavailable.

Several boat owners, however, landed on our stretch over the next few hours, furiously banging in pins and fastening lines, and longing to get inside to dry off, warm up and recover.

And after a day of on and off winds and teeming rain, it all cleared away to reveal a newly-washed sky pierced by a bright sun and adorned by scraps of cotton-wool cloud.

All that, and I didn't have to do a thing.

Buckby flight (cruise retrospective)

Early morning Tweets included reports of snow in the north of the country. We'd escaped that, but did wake up to a hard frost. We were eager to get moving, so we set off straight away up the two remaining Stoke Bruerne Locks. The frost was melting under a bright sun, and we were hopeful of a warmer day, but this was not to be. That first moment was the best of it, and it soon got dull, windy, sometimes raining, sometimes hailing, always cold. Very cold.

We raced through Blisworth Tunnel in a mere 26 minutes, and maintained that pace as much as we were able for the rest of the day. Blisworth, Gayton Junction, Bugbrooke, Heyford, Stowe Hill, Weedon. The countryside is lovely, but it would have been even more so if it had been bathed in sunlight.

There's an ancient church in Weedon, right next to the canal. A good mooring's provided for visitors. We've passed it several times now, and keep saying that we'll pay it a visit "next time", but the desire to keep going won today. It's not a long drive by car from yelvertoft, so we'll visit at a later, warmer date.

photo - www.rootsweb.ancestry.com

[Time shift]
Today, 1st June, Grace and I visited Weedon, and the church. And we're glad we did.

It's worth noting that the mooring by the church is a good one, for several boats. There's a path from it down steps and through the churchyard to the village, where there is a good OneStop shop and a "Post Office"
[End]

I've been collecting a list of the silliest boat names we come across. Today, I added to it. Beneath Moose Drool, Laughing Gravy and The Slowness of Cows, I added Tegg's Nose! This turns out to be the name of a park in Macclesfield, but it's a flipping odd name for a park, too, isn't it?? As Moose Drool is, for a beer? And Laughing Gravy for a film, a restaurant or a band? And The Slowness of Cows for a song? But, hey - I like odd!

After a quick sarnie shortly before the Buckby Flight, we moved on to the bottom gate, quite expecting to be faced with the same problem as we've had here twice before - the water coming over the top gates faster than it can leave the bottom sluices. But no, we got in fine, joined by a boat with two new boaters under instruction from an old tar from Willow Wren Training. They'd been out for a while, and now just wanted to ascend this lock, wind, and return back down it.

At the second lock up, we met another boat on the way down, and enjoyed the fact that each lock after that was empty, in our favour. So we climbed the flight quickly, and moored finally not far below Top Lock.

As I write, the wind is rocking the boat considerably, rain is thrashing on the roof. And it's May the day after tomorrow!

Photos from our windows

On the move...

Thursday was altogether brighter, sunnier and warmer from the start. There were more boats on the move, we thought. I heard from a fellow boater the evening before that Stoke Bruerne Bottom Lock is being repaired, and wouldn't be passable until some time on Saturday. This will slow our progress a bit, but it's a good place to spend time, so we wouldn't mind. We continued our descent of Buckby Locks, solo all the way down, and I was glad to be doing the locking, and walking from lock to lock. It was warm and still. Daffodils lined the hedgerows and verges. Birdsong filled the air. Perfect.

The locks were straightforward enough until we came to the second to last one (don't remember what number that is). As the chamber emptied slowly, it became quite clear that neither of the sluices was fully closed, despite the paddles being right down. I checked them, just in case. The sluice in the wall on the towing-path side was the worst, but both continued to pour water into the chamber at such a pace that we didn't think it was going to empty enough for me to open the bottom gates. Eventually, very slowly, it did, and Kantara made her way to the bottom lock.

The problem here was at least in part caused by the previous lock. I found the top gates closed, the chamber full, and the pound above it so full that water was pouring over the top gates into the chamber. Against that weight of water, I found it difficult to open the gates to let Kantara in. Once she was in, opening the bottom gate paddles started to lower the water in the lock. As you would expect. But then the lock above us, refilling because of the faulty top paddles, started to overflow at an alarming rate. And the level of the pound below rose to the point that the water again started to overflow our top gates and refill the chamber. Kantara rose slowly, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I was joined by one of the crew from a pair of boats who were now in the faulty lock above. It took him a while to grasp the situation, and it was amusing to watch him try to open a bottom gate against a huge weight of water. The time came, though, when the level of the top pound had dropped enough for it to stop filling our lock, and allowing the water to fall again. The bottom paddles were fully open, remember.

All seemed fine at last. The two boats left the lock above us and chugged down to wait to enter our lock in their turn. The lock they'd left would have to fill up again before it could overflow the gates, reflood the pound below, overflow our top gates and repeat the problem for us. All was well.

Until it became very obvious that the crew of those two boats had failed to close either of the bottom gates. So yet again, the water rushed over the top of our top gates and... you get the picture.

Eventually, after half an hour in the bottom lock, we escaped and continued a now lockless journey to a lovely mooring opposite some very grand houses just around the corner from Stowe Hill Wharf. It was a beautiful, mild evening.

Looking back at the offending lock

Stowe Hill

The next day, Gayton Junction was the first place of any importance, being the entrance to the Northampton Arm of the GU. When we've wanted to use the services here in the past, there have been other craft moored there, and we've had to wait – where there isn't really anywhere to wait. That day, the moorings were vacant – and we didn't need them! Ironic.

Blisworth village has a small but usually useful general store, which was totally useless to us on this occasion, so we moved on to the tunnel. Two working boats were behind us as we approached it, and we allowed them to pass before entering. The extreme flooding we'd seen on YouTube had subsided, leaving behind grassy banks in muddy disarray. But the amount of water falling from the roof of the tunnel, throughout the 35 minutes we were in it, was soggily amazing.

Finding a good mooring in Stoke Bruerne shortly after exiting the tunnel, we tied up for the night. We like it here.

Our week with Michelle - return journey

Thursday's travel started with Blisworth Tunnel. This time we encountered just one boat coming in the opposite direction, and two going our way.

We stopped at Gayton Junction services, then moved on to a vacant spot on the long-term moorings for lunch.

The journey to Nether Heyford, where we stopped for a quick bit of shopping, and on to our mooring just beyond, continued hot and sunny, through beautiful countryside.

Normally camera-shy, Michelle allowed me to take one photo of her.

On Friday morning, we moved on to Buckby where, after the bottom lock, we paired up with NB Windsong for the rest of the flight. Pip and Roger were very good company, and we moved along at a good pace with them, with lots of chat on the way. At the top lock, Pip told Michelle that the lock-keeper's cottage there is featured in the book "Lock, Stock and Barrel", a title which Michelle recalled seeing on our bookshelves. It's a signed copy, given to us by brother-in-law Rod - I'll have to read it soon.

Windsong and Kantara left the top lock and made off towards Norton Junction, turning right there onto the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union. Pip and Roger took the last remaining mooring straight after the turn, and kindly invited us to breast up to Windsong, which we did. We all needed lunch! 

Within the hour, the boat next to Windsong moved off, and we hauled Kantara back into that space, where we stayed for the night. When Roger told us that there was a good satellite TV signal at that location, we tried our FreeSat (which we had finally got working back in the marina). Nothing! Roger came along and helped us, but all to no avail, and we concluded that the tuner in the TV has an intermittent fault. We have a standalone tuner in the house, and there might be one still in the marina lounge (subsequently, I found that it had been taken by someone else), so it's not too much of a problem.

Saturday morning, Windsong left before we got up, but I saw them leaving Watford Top Lock as we arrived later, and I went up to sign in with the lockie. Unlike our descent the week before, our ascent was speedy. The lockie took it upon himself to do the locks for us, thus depriving an enthusiastic Michelle of her last locking session of the trip. We had lunch above the top lock, then left for Yelvertoft, arriving there in the sunny and hot weather we had been fortunate to have throughout the whole week. 57 miles and 42 locks.

Michelle treated us to a meal at The George that evening - excellent as usual - and left for home the next morning, feeling relaxed and refreshed. Thank you, Michelle, for sharing the week with us; for your company, the laughs and the fun - and your help on the locks!

She sent me the following photos the next day; her favourites of the many she took during the week.