Along the way, not long after we started off, on a bend we met Twin Sister coming the other way. Waving madly we called out to Keith, who instead of waving back, looked completely startled, even more so when A.B. ran straight into the bank behind him, L having got distracted looking back and waving. Sadly, I think he'd forgotten all about us and just wrote us off as more mad nutters on the canal - who can't steer a boat :)
The Staff &Worcs wended its pretty away across the countryside
Twisting this way
And that
and over an aqueduct marked by stone walls,
until we reached Hatherton Junction where a momentary lapse of concentration by all on board had us following the boat in front of us up a dead end arm.
With Lawrence shouting where are we meant to be going I grabbed the guide but my left and rights got jumbled up, so Tim came to the rescue but he did no better as he was reading the map from left to right, which in this case was the wrong way round. Meanwhile L was backing up and had A.B. doing a complete 360o whilst Tim and I figured it out. "Left" we shouted, "Go Left".
Lawrence, feeling rather traumatised, called a halt not long after that little debacle (I really should call today's blog Debacle Day because this was the first of four). About 11.00am we moored up just after Long Moll's Bridge (no.76) for tea and fruit loaf (raisin bread in Aus).
While recuperating we made a plan. Moor up before the water point at Gailey Wharf, have lunch and two more showers before moving onto the water point.
This we duly did after moving on from Long Moll's Bridge. We moored again at 12.00, lucky to find a vacant mooring above the water point and while Tim made a salad to go with the Sainsbury's lasagna heating in the oven, I rinsed out the clothes I had soaking and hung them about the boat to dry and Mike dove in for a shower.
Lunch followed and then it was L's turn in the shower after which we moved onto the water point. Only problem was there was a boat moored right in the middle of the water point and as we moved in behind him a boat shot out of the lock and onto the mooring in front of the boat. The man from the moored boat then detached his hose from the tap he was on and moved it back to the tap we were about to use. So we then had to wait til he had finished filling his boat. As it was a slow tap it took ages and as A.B.'s engine was still running I could no longer could find a reason for not getting out the vacuum cleaner to hoover up the dried mud, leaves, pollen fluffs and other assorted debris that accumulate while cruising along the canals, especially during a wet couple of weeks. The lads did the rubbish and bashed the mats and by the time we'd filled the tanks we had A.B. looking smart again.
We again had to wait while some new boat hirers where given instruction on how to work a lock. At last it was our turn, as Lawrence pulled out from the water point to head for the lock appeared from
Sitting pretty, waiting for Mike and I to ready the lock as two more boats come up close behind A.B..
The lock took longer to get ready than we had anticipated and a wind gust pushed A.B. way off centre toward the yellow boat so he had to come into the lock at an extreme angle and jammed, with not enough room to back up, he jammed again. On the third try with some bumping and scraping and shoving he managed to get in.
In the lock at last, phew. Gailey Lock marks the end of our journey at 340 feet asl along the pound from Compton. From now on we will be descending through locks. The round building is the original toll clerks office and Watling Street - the Old Roman road we crossed on the SUC crosses the canal on the bridge at the end of the lock.
Wind turbine next to Boggs Lock
Exiting Boggs Lock
Exiting Otherton Lock
Waiting to pick up Mike and Tim
Swan family departing Otherton Boat Haven (I kid you not).
The third woopsie occurred 100 metres back up the canal from the pic above. With boats moored on the offside of the canal we endeavoured to moor up on the left side behind another boat. Once again the wind struck at precisely the wrong moment. L had just nosed slowly in to let Tim off at the front with the bow rope and as he slipped into neutral (and therefore no steering) a strong gust hit and blew the stern across the canal. To try and straighten the boat L had to use big blasts of forward and reverse the latter of which took him very close to the shiny new boat across the canal much to the horror and annoyance of the lady on board but much to the amusement of a guy painting the roof of his boat down near the entrance.
By the time Lawrence got Aqua Beatha straight again her bow was in front of the boat on the left, and with his confidence somewhat dented he decided not to try backing up and opted to moor in front of the boat. As we did so, this time without mishap, much to Tim's horror the bloke painting his boat shouted out to Lawrence that he'd only scored a 3/10 or words to that effect, but it was exactly the right thing to say and instead of making L feel worse it made him laugh and yell back that 3 was too high and I could see the tension drain from him.
BUT this is not the end..... Upon inspecting the mooring our Captain decreed we were moored to close to the marina entrance and had to move. Long under the breath groans from the crew as we set about unshackling ourselves from the armco. The bloke on his boat yelled cheer up, there's a really good pub just a mile further on.
On we went to find the moorings all taken at the really good pub. So down through two more locks and past full moorings, until we found a spot where we could just squeeze onto the end of a line of moored boats. With the last woopsie of the day being entirely my fault by placing the armco pins on the wrong side of the bolts, so we had to untie, pull out the pins, move them and stick them in again about 3 times until I got it right - all under the watchful eye of a bunch of boaters!
To get over the day of debacles we decided to go to the Boat, a gastro pub (which is a big step up from 'good pub grub' - caramelised cauliflower mash for instance, Rhonda, as opposed to mushie peas) only to find it doesn't serve food on Mondays :( :( Instead it was a cup of soup and toast for tea.
7 1/2 miles, 7 locks, 7 hours
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