There are riots in North London and this is where we plan to go with our home. We will keep our ears to the ground and see how things pan out before tootling in between bricks and batons.
As for today, we got up late morning to discover all but two unoccupied boats had left the mooring site and continued through the lock. This meant waiting for another boat to come along so that we could motor through the locks ahead in duo (saving water as suggested by British Waterways). By chance a crew of BW boys were coming our way and asked how we were doing. I said we were waiting for another boat. One guy said that we should proceed alone as we could be waiting 3-4 hours for another boat as it was a quiet day and they hadn't seen another boat on route. Strange, Leigh and I thought what with all the notices to share locks, conserve water etc. But they are the controllers of the waterways so we decided to make a move.
We filled up the water tank at the local facilities in Kilby and dropped off the rubbish and headed along the canal.
It was our first lock of the day, Tythorn Lock (28) and the gates were open so Leigh dropped me off on the towpath edge and glided the boat in. It was here that we met with another of the boys in blue.
The conversation began with are you on your own? Yes. Then you'll have to wait. What? In 1 mile the voice of BW had changed from go on your own to wait for another boat. Confused? So were we.
And so a lengthy conversation ensued with us trying to get the BW guy to listen to what we had been told, for him to realise we weren't spinning a line and that in the end of it all we were more than happy to wait until a boat was on the approach. He made a phone call to set the guy straight down the line and stated that different regions don't have great communications.
So we waited...
and still no boat came along to join us in the lock.
As it happened there were a few boats on the way down the locks so as they would've had to fill up to move through we went up in the lock alone to leave the lock in their favour.
This was the case for the rest of the day. There were an abundance of boats coming down, so we waited for one lot to come down then entered the lock and filled it up to take us up a level and leave the lock ready for the next boats coming down.
Did I just repeat myself? It has been like that all day, approach lock, open gates, wind paddles, leave lock, appraoch lock, open gates, wind paddles, leave lock...
Seven locks and we had reached Newton Top Lock of Newton Harcourt.
It has been very noticeable how low the water level really is from the sandy banks showing and getting stuck when mooring up waiting for boats coming down locks. It should rain again tonight however and help to replenish the reservoir.
The weather today has been very overcast and windy, making maneuvering the boat a whole lot harder. Though Leigh has mastered working with the wind - of which I am still to learn. Sadly, in early August there are signs of the leaves turning...
We carried on for a mile stretch without locks and as it was 3.30pm, it made sense to moor for the night. BW's rules included locking up the paddles and gates of the locks on this stretch at 4pm and with another 5 locks to pass before the clearance of the restriction we'd never complete them. Plus this stretch is a lovely mooring spot...
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