Done and Dusted

Well we arrived back from our hull blacking this evening (April 7th) at around 5.30pm, having moored overnight at Bridge 100, in windy and tricky conditions. Fortunately we managed to back Quidditch on to our pontoon unscathed!

The return journey from Welford was uneventful, and we actually managed to complete both the Braunston and Crick tunnels without any oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, at the Watford Gap Flight we were held up, for what seemed an eternity, by a painstakingly slow hire boat coming up the locks! The hull blacking was completed according to schedule and as expected we also had to replace the tiller bearing, as it was absolutely shot.
As ever Les did an excellent all round job and when we arrived back from our hotel, having enjoyed excellent food, jacuzzi, sauna and swimming, Quidditch had already been re floated and was ready to go.

I also have to make comment on the cruising conditions of the Leicester Section of the Grand Union, which was literally a pig to navigate. With the water levels a good foot below what I believe to be the normal level, I found myself making constant tiller adjustments to stay in a straight line, on several occasions we were almost grounded. No one's fault, simply due I would imagine to the recent lack of rain.

Also a big hello to Del and Al, NB-Derwent6, who we passed coming through Braunston. Having had a brief hello in passing it appears they are both readers of our blog. Both Dee and I thought your boat was absolutely beautiful and good luck on your travels.

**Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday emails, cards and text messages, there very much appreciated.

Welford in a Day?

With the dry dock booked for hull blacking this Thursday at the Welford Arm, we set off from Wigram’s yesterday evening and moored at our favoured bridge 100, this would give us a good start this morning.

Setting off at 9am under a cloudless blue sky we managed to complete the Braunston Flight of six locks in less than 90 minutes. Although the flight are double locks we went through alone as the canal was remarkably quiet. The next step of the journey was the Braunston Tunnel. Opened in 1796, to bore through the Northampton heights, the tunnel is 2042 yards long. Its construction was hindered by quicksands, and a mistake in direction whilst building has given it a slight S bend, so navigation is intersting. We almost managed to make it through without any oncoming traffic until literally 100 yards from the end, when two boats headed in.

We made a steady pace and took the turn at Norton Junction onto the Leicester Section of the Grand Union Canal around 11.30am, and headed for Watford Gap Locks. Here we have to contact the lock keeper before proceeding as the six locks consist of a staircase of four, and the traffic either way is alternated.

We passed through without delay and then took the Crick Tunnel around 1.30pm, note to self: put a brolly up! 1528 yards long, this tunnel was opened in 1814. All tunnels built in this area suffered great problems in construction. As with the Braunston Tunnel, quicksand’s caused the route to be changed and greatly affected work. Stephenson also found similar difficulties when building the nearby Kilsby Tunnel for the London to Birmingham railway.

After emerging from Crick we made steady progress and finally moored for the day at Bridge 27, Mountain Barn Bridge, at 3.30pm. We may even have continued on, were it not for a lack of power, this due to the propeller having a substantial weed build up, probably due to this stretch being quite shallow at present. After mooring I took a nice walk through a local wood, and Dee had a nap, having worked most of the locks alone she deserved it too!
Anyway, only six miles to complete in the morning, and a great effort to get this far in such a short time!