28th March 2021 - Well, we are “oit and aboit” on the cut. After 9 months (we took ownership of RoJo on 14th July 2020) we have departed the marina passed through three locks, rising 16’ - 3” (5m), and travelled the Grand Union Canal a total distance of nearly 400 metres before mooring.
The forecast for today was for winds of gale force 8 and narrowboats having relatively high topsides and very little below the water line can be a handful to control in strong winds for an expert, and a total nightmare if you have as little experience as I.
A pal, Paul, a very experienced and expert helmsman offered to help us through the locks and as our stern deck is big enough to allow social distancing we decided not to put off moving out of the marina but to go no further than necessary before mooring and waiting for the wind to moderate, moving on perhaps Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.
As we thought it was - er! shall we say, interesting leaving our mooring. We had to reverse out and the wind on the starboard side forced us to turn through 270˚ in order to circuit the island and exit the marina. Once out on the cut we had to keep to the left of the canal in order to enter each lock while the wind was trying to pin us to the canal side. Still we made it without damage and are now moored above the Calcutt Top Lock.
The forecast for Monday 29th March, the day when non-liveaboards can take short day cruises, is much the same as today so we plan to stay put until at least Tuesday when the wind is due to moderate and the sun to shine.
RoJo moored above Calcutt Top Lock
And yes we know we should not have left the marina before today but we won’t tell anyone if you don’t.
Monday - 29th March 2021 - We have spent our first day out of the marina, OK we were moored up just a few metres from where we have spent the last nine months but what a difference a few metres make.
It is so peaceful here with just a couple of walkers passing by throughout the day and although under the rules in force from today (see last blog entry) boats are now allowed to move for pleasure purposes only one boat went past the mooring the entire day.
The sun shone all day enabling the solar system to fully charge the batteries and as that sun set we stood in the cockpit and watched a most magnificent sunset enhanced by a bat flying display swooping and soaring as they caught insects on the wing.
Magical - exactly what we came for.
Tuesday - We had our first solo cruise today leaving our mooring near Calcutt Top Lock around 10.10 am we we travelled around a half mile south on the grand union canal before turning onto the Oxford/Grand Union Canal and travelled north east. After an hour we had reached a bridge that we crossed many times in the car. It is just 5 minutes drive from the marina. After another hour we reached the Braunston Turn and turned left onto the North Oxford Canal where we traveled for a further two hours before mooring near Hillmorton Locks. According to Google only 23minutes by car, but who had the better time the car driver or us?
We may, sadly, have uncovered a bit of a problem with the boat. Traditional stern glands, where the propellor shaft passes through the hull are normally packed with a string like substance that is tightened just enough to allow no more than a slow drip when the boat is under power this drip is generally taken up by squeezing waterproof grease into the gland when the engine is turned off for the day to stop the drip while the prop staff is not turning.
When we stopped today after our cruise I lifted the engine bay cover and discovered what I thought was more than a slow drip worth of water, and looking under the prop spied a very quick drip, almost a dribble. A couple of terns on the stern greaser quickly stopped it but I cannot see how the stern stuffing gland is tightened.
Oh well! I suppose thats what we pay River Canal Rescue (the canal equivalent of the AA/RAC) if it gets worrying we will give them a ring and see what they say.
Wednesday - Our inaugural cruise continued today from last nights mooring at Hillmorton to tonights at All Oaks Wood Visitor Moorings a total distance of just under 8 miles taking 4 hours and 10 minutes it included 3 narrow locks; we have never done locks by ourselves before and never even previously seen narrow locks but we managed without any drama. Six small aqueducts or under bridges, never seen those before either - so weird to look down and seeing your boat is on a bridge with a river flowing below. We also transitted our first tunnel, not much of one it must be admitted - Newbold Tunnel just 273 yards (250m) long, but a tunnel nevertheless.
Our first narrow lock
they are at least 7’- 0”(2.1m) wide and the boat 6’ - 10”(2.08m)
We had one tiny mishap. The bridges, so far, have all had reasonably high arches so we had left our chimney stack in place. One bridge was considerably lower and crumpled our flue terminal, but when we stopped for the day I was able to bend it back into shape and refit it.
Almost gone! The inset shows how it should look.
The Oxford Canal, on which we have spent the past two days,was part of a scheme to link the Thames, Mersey, Trent and Severn rivers and completed in 1790. It suffered from competition when another canal was completed in 1805 and between 1828 and 1834 many of it’s loops and branches were removed. It’s length was thus cut by around 14 miles, the engineers being Marc Brunel, grandfather to the better known Isambard Kingdom Brunel and William Cubitt, an eminent English civil engineer and millwright employed in many of the great engineering undertakings of his time. The coming of the railway in 1840 brought a further decline in the Oxford Canal’s profitability although it did remain in profit, issuing shareholder dividends, until nationalised in 1947. It is today, with recreational boats, one of the busiest canals on the system.
Thursday - We decided to have a “lay day” today as we are close the the village of Brinklow (not as near as we could have been before Messrs Brunel and Cubitt straightened the canal as it now by-passes the village completely) and our guide book states that it is “ . . . a pretty village with the remains of a 12th century earthwork castle as well as a butcher, baker, deli, post office and convenience store . . .”.
The castle mound was interesting with an informative history board but of the butcher, baker and convenience store we could find no trace but the post office was there as was the so called deli. I would call it a kaff as looking through the window we could see no sign of a deli counter only a couple of women sitting at a table, oh and a very posh wedding dress shop. If your guide book says good things about Brinklow it’s telling lies!!
Friday - We left Brinklow this morning not knowing quite where we were going when we reached Hawkesbury Junction - left to Coventry City Centre or right towards Marston Junction and the Ashby Canal. After around a 1/2 mile or so we stopped to open a swing bridge across the canal and while stopped topped up the water and got rid of our rubbish in a CRT (Canal and River Trust) waste disposal centre which are provided throughout the system as part of the licence fee, as are the water taps and sanitary stations.
When we arrived at Hawkesbury Junction we decided to go to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marston Junction and the Ashby Canal. It is said to be a pretty canal and is within a weeks holiday reach of a good many narrowboat hire companies so from the 12th April it is likely to be a very busy canal. Coventry City Centre, while still as close to as many or more hire companies (one I understand operates from the Coventry Canal Basin right in the city centre) it’s not on many holiday makers “Must Go To” list. So perhaps next time we are this way?
Hawkesbury Junction is where the Oxford Canal meets the Coventry Canal it has a “stop lock” which has a rise and fall of around 6” (150mm). These stop locks were installed by Canal companies to keep the water in the canal separate, as it was, and of course still is, a very precious resource. From the stop lock we had to turn 90˚ to the right through quite an awkward turn which passes under a narrow bridge then through another 90˚ right turn into another narrow (around 8 foot) canal. The stop lock went very well but it was then that things started to go wrong. I started the turn to the right and realised I had started to turn too early so reversed back a little and continued. Sadly I was by then too far to the left and if I continued to go left I would have clouted the back end of the boat so I went forward as far as I thought possible and started to turn. Guess what!! I clouted the back end. Then of course could not easily continue into the narrow section which I clouted multiple times on both sides of the boat as we struggled through. Just under 3 miles later we reached the Marston Junction where we were to turn right. It is a very tight turn which we almost got round without clouting - almost!! 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱. Just after bridge 3 we found a super mooring spot for the night, with right in front of us the biggest display of May Blossom We have ever seen
The photo sadly does not show the full splendour.
Saturday - We had all the “wobble” checks done by 9.30 this morning, and no it is not a reference to how much my belly moves it is a series of daily checks that help, in theory, to ensure you don’t have engine problems :-
Water - Check the level of coolant in the header tank and at less frequent intervals (certainly prior to winter) check anti-freeze levels.
Oil - All oil levels should be checked in both engine and gearbox together with a general check for leaks.
Batteries - Resting voltage of engine battery should be between 12.7 and 12.6 volts levels. Lower voltages could signal alternator problems or battery failure.
Belts - Check the tension on all drive belts, 1/2” push (V belts) or 90˚ twist (link belts).
Listen - This is when you start the engine and listen for rattles, squealing excessive ticks or knocks. Put the engine in gear and check for unusual or excessive vibration.
Examine - Check the engine bay, cables etc., etc., for leaks, wear or anything untoward.
We were on our way by 10.00am, planning to go about half of the way to the current end of navigation where there was a farm shop around 7.3/4 miles distant around 3 hours or so journey time. The trip was interesting and the canal quite pretty but by jabbers was it cold! We made two stops one when the propellor started violently vibrating after going through a large patch of weed. I tried giving the engine a burst in reverse to try to throw off anything wrapped around it, this didn’t work so I was forced to stop but when I got my arm down the weed hatch it was totally clear. Our last blip of reverse as we came alongside the bank must have done the job. The other stop was forced on us by not having “remove chimney” as part of the checks described earlier. We were just about to pass under a bridge that was quite obviously lower than the chimney, but fortunately I was able to reverse back and while Sue checked we were not going to drift into anything I nipped along the gunnel and removed the offending item. Despite the small problems and the bitter cold it was an enjoyable cruise.
We didn’t actually need anything at the Spinney Bank Farm Shop but hoped they had a cabbage to go with our Sunday roast tomorrow. They not only had a cabbage but also some great looking venison loin chops so our cabbage is going to join those along with the roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes on our dinner plates tomorrow while the beef stays in the freezer.
Well today marks one week - seven days - out of the marina and our fourth day of travel. Four different canals and a total distance of 40 miles we have enjoyed it all but particularly the first three days of travel when the weather was warm and sunny.
Well thats the first week on our narrowboat out of the marina. We hope there will be many more to come.