1st August 2008
We've just been to Claydon and back (back is Calcutt). We took my mum.
Getting off the pontoon in the wind was its usual challenge but we didn’t hit anything and got out on to the canal quite well. This is Jo tying up, pleased with her steering and Mum looking relieved.
Calcutt locks have been subjected to the recent spate of notices about cills.
Above the locks there is a boat in which I have always been interested. Apparently it is based upon a Tom Pudding with the false bow, jebus being the name of the false bow. You can see more of it at
http://www.jebus.co.uk.
We stopped at Napton visitor’s moorings for lunch and then set off up the flight. We had one interesting moment with a hire cruiser ramming us head-on on our side of the canal. I couldn’t do anything except to try and stop as I was within a foot of the boats on the canal side so couldn’t turn. I explained the rules of the road and she said she was trying to get out of my way. There was a certain amount of incredulous conversation with the on-lookers at the lock.
At the Marston Doles water point the boat refused to start! It had previously refused to stop at Hillmorton and we had got it going again but didn’t quite know what we had done. This time I set about tracing the problem more thoroughly and found, inside a water proof cover, a multipin connection, two single wire connection and an unused wire. One of the single connections had separated. It started OK but when we came to moor it refused to stop. The multipin connection was now undone. It is just a friction fit with no clips so I taped it together, seems OK!
We had lunch at the Wharf at Fenny Compton the next day, turned beneath Claydon locks and moored for the night. I was a little tired.
It was quite uneventful on the way back, I always like Fenny Compton Tunnel so took a couple of snaps.
We went down Napton locks in the evening against all the hire cruisers coming up. It only took one hour ten mins as all the locks were ready for us to drive in.
All the visitor moorings were full with crews having barbecues and drinking wine, we stayed the night near the old brickworks. It was quiet with a field of black sheep opposite, why don’t they get hot?
We joined a 5 boat queue to get down Calcutt locks and Jo got straight in to the marina in one go and we backed onto the pontoon. All with no bowthrusters, we may be getting the hang of this.
Posting this trip from the past is a bit poignant as my dear old Mum is now in a home and really not with it. A recent development in her illness seems to be that she has become very happy so that is good.
Cheers Graham
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