On to Plank Lane (broken) Bridge

Wednesday

The flipping alarm woke us at 6:00 this morning! OK, I had set it for that, but that's no excuse! We left at 7:15, giving ourselves more than enough time to get to Plank Lane Bridge before 2:00pm. There was no knowing what might happen to delay us, and we really didn't want to risk missing today's bridge opening, and have to wait until Friday for the next.

Our first delay was at the first lock, just 15 minutes after we'd set out! I'd forgotten that this lock is padlocked closed between 8:00pm and 8:00am each day through the summer months (whatever they are!), to “preserve water” (CRT).

So we made hot drinks, and sat back and enjoyed them until the CRT man arrived and unlocked the paddle mechanisms.

Five more locks followed, and, as I said on our way in to Liverpool, these must be the worst locks on the system. There are broken paddles that can't be opened, and heavy gates that either wouldn't open more than half way or were extremely heavy and difficult to move. And then there's the total lack of gangplanks across the lock gates, so that you have to use the footbridge – and even a major road bridge in one instance – at one end of the lock to get to the other side. All of these contrived to slow us down considerably. But we'd allowed plenty of time, so that wasn't too big a deal.

We met absolutely no other boats until we got to Plank Lane.

The nicest thing about the canal through Wigan, I have concluded, is the Elsan Disposal point at Henhurst Bridge Lock. Just above Poolstock Locks is a CRT notice promoting the “flashes” which we would encounter over the next few miles. We moored at Pennington Flash and later at Scotman's Flash a few weeks ago, and they're lovely. This sign has “Wigan Flashes” in big letters across the top. Wigan flashes? Flashes?? It doesn't even glimmer!

We arrived at Plank Lane at 12:30, and joined the queue of those waiting for the bridge to be opened. NB Gerty was two boats ahead of us. Boaters stood around, chatting happily, and we joined in. We were all glad the weather was fine.

We had lunch, and were ready to move at 2:00. We we now sixth in a convoy of nine going east through the bridge. Fourteen boats were waiting the other side to go through the other way. By the time we got to the raised bridge, there was a long line of cars waiting on both sides. The convoy was fun. It really looked as if we were all at a canal festival or something similar.

We pulled over for the night at Pennington Flash while the other eight boats carried on.

After another very windy day...

All boaters ought to know about Weil's Disease, a water-borne disease caused by bacteria in the urine of rats. It can be fatal to humans if left untreated. It can be contracted by exposure to the bacteria through open wounds, which is why I went on Weil's alert when I fell off the front of the boat two weeks ago. What I didn't report on the blog then was that I somehow managed to dig quite a sizeable hole in my shin when I fell, and I've been waiting to see if I develop any Weil's symptoms, which are very much like flu.

Weil's takes up to two weeks to incubate. Any illness which is flu-like needs to be taken to a doctor, GP or hospital, for treatment with a particular antibiotic. There is a problem with this, though, because Weil's is rare. After all, it's a very small proportion of the population who are regularly exposed to rat urine, and who, therefore, live with the risk of contracting it. There are many doctors who have never and will never see a single case of it in their entire career.

Because of this, Grace and I have a document with wording taken from the website of the Historic Narrow Boat Club.

Should we ever experience the symptoms, we would go with some haste to see a doctor, and take this with us. That should guarantee us the correct treatment with appropriate urgency.

I'm glad to say it looks like I won't be taking this to a doctor this time around (though officially I still have a week to show symptoms). And the hole in my shin's healing pretty well, too.

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When we bought Kantara, there was a vacuum cleaner on board. It died very soon after we started using it, so we went in search of another one suitable for use on a narrowboat. The one we purchased did the job well, but, small as it was on the domestic scale of things, it turned out to be still too big for the narrow spaces of the boat cabin. Consequently, we found ourselves using it rather less than we ought to have been.

While we were in Liverpool, we addressed the problem - nearly five years on! Grace had investigated on the web the relatively new generation of vacs made by Dyson, and seen regularly on TV.

picture - www.johnlewis.com

We went to Liverpool's John Lewis, close to the docks, to see and try one. We tested several models, asked lots of questions of the saleswoman, ummed and ahhed, and bought one. It's perfect for the boat! Cordless, small, easy to store, light, easy to use, and very effective. It's no chore to use it for just five minutes daily to keep carpets and hard floors free of the bits and pieces they get scattered with after a day's cruise.

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It's been another very windy day. I was awoken at 6:00am by the boat rocking in the wind, and knocking on rocks below water level. It rained first thing, and then spent a couple of hours cloudy and threatening. But that cleared, and the sun came out. But the wind just kept on. It really made driving the boat difficult at times, though not nearly as difficult for us as for the GRP boats we saw out, zig-zagging about the canal like drunken geese.

For the first time ever, we ran our water-tank empty today, just before we left our mooring this morning. Fortunately, the tap was vacant at Burscough Wharf, and we filled up there. We want to replace an empty Calor Gas bottle soon, too, and top up our diesel - neither because we're desperate, but so that we avoid getting to that point!

We finished the day's cruise mid-afternoon back at Hoscar, the Ring o' Bells mooring we were at two weeks ago. And finally, the wind died down, and the afternoon was hot and bright.

We've had conformation that Plank Lane swing bridge will be manned at 2:00pm on Wednesday - they're only providing that service every other day - so we're aiming for that window of time. Tomorrow, we move on to Crooke.