From mhoulston@argonet.co.uk Sat May 1 11:26:58 1999 Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 16:33:26 BST From: Michael Houlston Reply-To: canals@blacksheep.org To: canals@blacksheep.org Subject: KESTON TRIP (LONGISH) Hello all. 'KESTON' is back at Bradford on Avon after a nice three week holiday when we somehow managed to catch the good weather with even less rain than last year. So here I sit with my suntan starting to peel while a do a little report for those unable to make any trips this year. Sunday July 26th 1998. Late start as yesterday was grandson Joshuas first birthday and the party was not to be missed. Grandad, me, was put in charge of the B-B-Q and kept well suppied with bottles of thirst quencher. Off we set with slight panic from eldest son, who stays behind, when I woke him up to say goodbye. I gathered from mad rush and scramble with whispers to mum that he had forgotten to write and pass on an essential birtday card. Naturally I pretend to ignore all this as it's me having a birthday while we are away. Barry Sims from Wilts Marina Services had checked the outboard for me during the week after I had problems when the engine suddenly refused to run at less than half speed the weekend before. Problem solved, looked like a bit of dirt in the air line somewhere, and no charge. The mans a gentleman. Having unloaded all the clothes and spare bedding at the marina it was off to Trowbridge for the bare necessities and the petrol for the outboard. Quick shudder at the bill, nothing to do with the gallons of liquid refreshmants I'm sure, and away off up the canal. Having just made and fitted a bike rack on the stern its a pleasure cruising along without having to peer around the bikes on the roof. I should see a lot more than last year. Now where can I put Lindas flower pot!. Got to Caen Hill at 9.00 pm. Monday morning at 9.30 saw us off up the flight sharing with 'Fingle' from Dundas and 'Potemkin' who is due for a name change at painting time. 2.30 saw us at the top of the flight at Devizes. We passed a hire boat just setting up their B-B-Q. They had decided not to share the locks with us and 'Potemkin' as they thought we would be a bit slow. Bit cheeky after 'Potemkin' had apparently waited for them at locks on the Sunday. They could only have got up the flight about fifteen minutes faster as it happened. After a top up of petrol at the nearest garage we were away again. Started the Croften flight on our own then met up with 'Fingle' again. Water levels were very good after the low levels last year. We kept meeting up with 'Fingle' but finally lost track of them near Hungerford. They were heading for the Oxford canal but the wife had had a fall one evening and was badly bruised. We will keep an eye open for them around Dundas next time we head down to Bath. Hope they finished their trip OK. Plenty of trench digging with the fibre cables going in along the towpath. Looked a bit rough in places but some of the tow path always was very rough to start with and the guys seem to be trying hard to at least give a level surface. No sign of any dumping soil in the canal as some have mentioned. Seemed to be having great difficulty pulling rope through in one place. Roumer has it that different groups had put the rope through a different one of the pair of pipes!!. Still not many boats around and weather getting better although the wind is a bit cold. Slight excitement at one lock when I got back onto the boat to find my legs and shoes covered in ants. Shopping at Hungerford, always a pleasent few hours, then on passed Newbury, more shopping. Its no wonder David is so tall the food he packs away. Still no sign of the steel girder bridge being raised so its still the turning point for a lot of high bridge boats and David has to duck. A couple more pleasant days and we finally arriving at Reading about four in the afternoon. As we had headed to Henly last year, it was turn left and up the Thames. Stopped at Reading Tecos, beside the Thames, to stock up with more essentials. By now I am firmly convinced we have a leak in the boat and thats why the liquid refreshment keeps vanishing so fast. For some reason remainder of crew have other ideas. The weather had been improving all week and it was nice and sunny when we went in to Tescos but as we left to come out it was monsoon time. Luckily David had decided to help and ran up from the boat with a couple of umbrellas. Decided that as it was so wet we would moor for the night outside Tescos. Two nights later we were sat in the evening sun at Oxford watching assorted groups practice rowing, skulling and punting with various degrees of sucess and failure. We had intended turning up the Oxford canal at Oxford but every time we mentioned our plans people said, will you get to Lechlade, so we decided to carry on up the Thames to that far flung spot. Stopped at Redline Hire late one afternoon to see about more petrol, always a problem with outboards. Petrol station apparently 15 minute walk up the road so off we went, son and I for a stroll. Very sorry, out of unleaded, Rats. Back to boat, onto the bikes and cycle a mile and a half the other way. Wind dropped and its a hot and sunny evening.Am I glad its nice and flat around there. Full tank and back off towards Lechlade. And I thought the Broads was cold and windy !!. The high pressure was just moving in but, being such a flat open area, the wind fair blew away the cobwebs. Even with the sun out it was cold for a few days. August the 5th saw me sat on the bows at 7.30am reading a book in wonderful warm sunshine. Remainder of crew finally appeared after a long lie in and finally put me out of my misery with cards and presents. Is it that day already ?. Amazing how you loose track of dates when your on a boat. Having gotten the day wrong for Linda's a few years ago when we were on the boat I didn't lay it on to thick. Next day saw us finally arrive at Lechlade. Naturally there followed the usual hike to the outskirts of town for the petrol station. Found a very nice bread shop with wonderful bread and jam doughnuts. David was not so fussed but he's been brought up on all the white bleached stuff. We actually got as far as the Round House above Lechlade, a very pretty spot, but a tree across the canal prevented us going any higher. It was time to turn back anyway. It was nice to finally head back down stream again with the wind, mostly, behind us. Mind you, the way the Thames twists and turns in that area you seem to go around in circles half the time. Finally made it back to Oxford and onto the Oxford canal for a day and a bit. Linda was quite pleased as she had been feeling a little sick with all the extra motion on the Thames. The Oxford canal is very pretty at that end and we plan on going up it next year as we had originally intended this. We actually cruised a bit of the other end a few years ago when we hired out of Coventry. Major hickup of the trip as we headed back down the Oxford, passed Dukes cut. Came up to a lift bridge that was half up. Son decided that we would not quite get under so I reversed the engine. High revs from the engine and nothing else. Switched off expecting the usual plastic bag clearing job. Oh dear, family amused at look on face. No propellor. Pulled boat into side and prodded around in four or five feet deep brown soup with the boathook. Wonders will never cease !!. It feels like a prop in the soup. Son David gets into swimming trunks. I'm a) Not stupid. b) Not moving the pole away from what feels like a prop. c) he's a lot taller than me if that mud is very soft. d) Rest of crew think my swimming trunks are naff. First attempt with sons feet yields a tin lid. Well he did have old trainers on. Convince him that coldness is just a state of mind plus promises of extra pocket money. And refuse to allow him back on board in his wet muddy condition. Next try and suprise suprise, the missing prop. No sign of the plastic boss with locking nut however. While David gets a good wash down and shower, I'm not that cruel, I hunt around for some prop fixing on gear. Plenty of washers but no locking nuts or split pins. Sure I had a load of split pins on board somewhere. Decided not to risk the good prop and instead fitted the old one that has half a blade missing. Eventually packed things on with a few washers and a piece of fence wire as a split pin. Seemed to work but I then added knotted string between the washers to get everything nice and tight. It was a bit rough running with an out of balance prop but we got all the way back to home base with it. I did get hold of a proper split pin from a boat yard. New plastic boss now on order plus a couple of spare split pins. Plus of course, after over a week of vibration, I'm seeing about having the old prop refurbished. Back on the Thames again and off to Reading. Two nights later join rather long queue waiting for locks just above Reading. Apparently its normal on Sunday evenings in the summer as everyone heads for home. Bit like the M25 on a Friday. Gentleman in small boat we had passed earlier ignored our reply of 'this is a queue' when he asked if there was a problem, and then proceeds to weave for the front claiming he's unable to go slow. Even complained about a couple of gin palaces getting in his way !!. Lock keeper made him wait then allowed everyone else out before him. As he had been weaving all over the river while his young son sat on his lap and steered, causing complete chaos, we were glad to finally get passed him again. It was nice to get back on the K&A at last and the canals more normal speed. A small boat came up the the first few locks from Reading, then as we reached a straight stretch, opened up full blast and vanished in seconds. Totally stupid behaviour and we were amazed. They apparently turned off into one of the weir points before the next lock because they appeared again behind us a bit later, still on the same level, then headed back towards Reading. Lucky they had not met another boat. Hit a steel one at that speed and they would have been matchwood or fibreglass splinters. If it had been a weekend the fishermen would have throttled them, always assuming they could stop them. Coming back there were still not many boats on the move but the water levels were getting a bit low on the Crofton flight. Only two of us going over Crofton this time from the Reading end. The water level seemed higher than last year but as we really slowed a bit in places, feeling as if we were towing a bucket, I can only assume that although the water surface is higher there is a lot more mud below the surface. Our Beaver draws very little water and the steel narrow boat we shared the locks with was also having problems in a few places. New PortaPoti point at Pewsey, Stainless steel thing hidden, not very well, behind a wooden screen. Naturally someone has daubed, amoungst other things, 'The Turdis' on it. As its on the wharf next to the canal it does rather spoil the look of the wharf. As usual we met lots of nice people and had some good chats going up and down the locks. There seemed to be a lot less boats on the move this year and the general opinion from shops and marinas seemed to be lack of visitors due to the high pound. Its also cheaper for British holiday makers to go abroad. The poor start to the summer weather was not much help either. Amyway, we had good weather and a very enjoyable three weeks. Not so good on the fishing front this year so I can only assume that Tom the Angler beat us to it and well fed the fish before we could dangle our hooks According to one of the lock keepers on the Crofton section it will only be a couple of years before the old Wilks and Berks canal is open again so we would be able to go from Semington to near Abingdon instead of having to go via Reading. As much as I like the K&A it will be nice to try a differnt route. Still it does look different every year and you always notice things you missed on the other trips. Plus all the different people you meet each time. We had to pay for the Thames this year and decided to pay £32.00 for a sixteen day licence rather that mess around with single day £8.00 + charges. We thought we would need four days with going to Oxford, two up two down, so that was the cheaper option. With our late decision to head for Lechlade it worked out well. So here we are back home again. Grandson, who had just started to walk, is now walking well and turning into a right chatterbox, most of it giberish at present. Eldest son managed to keep the grass cut and the roof on the house. Linda went back to work yesterday. Roll on next summer. Mike Linda and David. -- Mike Houlston. Wilderness Beaver "KESTON" Canals are more fun than working !!. mhoulston@argonet.co.uk