From sullivand@axxia.com Sat Apr 17 22:53:26 1999 Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 12:04:19 +0000 From: sullivand@axxia.com Reply-To: canals@blacksheep.org To: canals@blacksheep.org Subject: Winter trip - long [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] We moved our boat from Cowroast Marina to Braunston Marina after Christmas. Here's a short(ish) account: Tue 29 Left Cowroast Marina and found pair of working boats (butty Argus - didn't notice name of motor) waiting outside for me to come out. It's a blind exit and he was v. nice about me carving him up. After a while we saw someone walking through the Tring cutting - it was amazingly Peter Thompson who rebuilt our boat engine six years ago. We met the ex-Clayton boat Umea ponking its Bolinder in Marsworth locks. The water in the locks was unusually clear - lack of traffic? Went to Red Lion for glass of lunch. There were two enchanting collie puppies in the pub. I seemed to be the only person in the pub wearing shoes - everyone else was wearing wellies or walking boots. Saw Idleness, Colonel, Aldgate and Eridanus tied up. At two-below-Maffers there was a gusher escaping from the bank below the bottom lock - BW please note. Met Jim & Mig Macdonald's Elizabeth in Seabrook locks. Quite a lot of boats about. Met Brentford and Atlantic in the gloom above Slapton. Tied below Slapton. Finished "Black Holes & Baby Universes" by Stephen Hawking - intelligibility coefficient variable to say the least. Rather weird to read a paragraph of English and not understand ONE WORD! Very windy - both weather and dog! Who gave her beans? Continue reading Scarlet Pimpernel. American paperbacks seem to be as bad as French for breaking the spine when you bend the pages back. Wed 30 Filled with water at Leighton while shopping. Lunch at Bridge Inn, Fenny Stratford (beer UKP1.25 a pint!). Archimedes and Australia pass loaded with coal - v. nice. Pass Sefton, Draco appropriately painted red (Y Ddraig Goch Ddyry Cychwyn -good motto for a tug) and Thorn in deepest Milton Keynes. Tied for night between Black Horse and New Bradwell. A pair went past in the gloom as I was hopping about under a none-too-hot shower. Surprised by number of orange streetlights visible as this area appears totally rural by day. Three kingfishers today. Thu 31 Started 0730 in the dark(ish). Boating through Wolverton by the light of street lamps was a most enjoyable experience, perhaps like boating through the Black Country in its industrial heyday. Saw a hare at Yardley Gobion running up a field edge. No kingfishers today but two boats of that name at Yardley Wharf, one in the new stanked-off basin. This closed marina nonsense needs sorting out with a bit of common sense. Canal v. quiet - met our first moving boat at 1210 in Stoke Bruerne locks. Museum shop sold out of David Blagrove's latest book - saw the man himself on the wharfside. Boat Inn for lunch - draught Blacksheep ale UKP1.80 a pint. Asked my wife what day of the week it was - she didn't know and nor did I! Canal obviously working already! Met two boats in Blisworth Tunnel - the second of them had unaccountably stopped (why do people do this?) and so lost steerage and so I hit him a good clanging thump even though I was on the right-hand wall. Entirely his bl**** fault IMHO. Huge collection of boats tied at Wharf Inn Bugbrooke. Under new management which IMHO is a Good Thing - I've had some vinegary beer here in the past and it was pretty pricey and they wouldn't let the dog in. Huh. Tied near Bugbrooke as far from the railway as possible at 1630 in the rain. Kept falling asleep so went to bed before midnight and missed the Leap Second. Jan 1st. Let go 0740, met our first moving boat at 1040. Passing between a clattering train and the roaring motorway we saw a kingfisher dart arrow-like through bridge 18. Lunch in New Inn Buckby. Canned music, beer handpumped through aerosols and the guvnor sitting in the bar smoking and drinking - IMHO not Good Things. At least they let dogs in and there was free grub on the bar and they retained the skittles table. And so to Braunston. Tied outside shop and bought DB's book and lace plate with "Of places north south east or west it is Paignton I love the best" on it. UKP14.95 - a complete rip-off IMHO but I'd fallen in love with it. I bought two lace plates before Christmas for nine quid (I bought a v. nice one for a quid earlier in the year!). Turning into Braunston Marina at the entrance nearer the bottom lock I hit the prop on something - first time this has happened in eleven years. Luckily the clutch is apt to slip and it instantly fell out of gear before anything broke. Tied outside marina shop behind Bullfinch. They will move the boat up the other end of the marina when a free spot reveals itself. Boat looking quite scruffy - rust showing on metal bits, paint peeling from wooden bits. I can see that 1999 is going to be the Year of the Paint Pot. A hugely enjoyable trip. Particularly liked boating in the gloom and the dark, which I'd not really done before. Very few boats about - if you like the canal to yourself this is definitely the time to do it. Dave Sullivan