Week one of 2010 Summer \voyage

Sunday 23rd May 2010

It dawned bright and sunny and probably not for the first time I regretted painting the boat black.  Hey ho I imagine that all steel boats were hot that day.

It took us an hour to get from the pontoon to the Marina entrance via the three locks!  My crew obviously were not the fasted on the block but they were willing and available and they had a thoroughly enjoyable time.  They said it was like being abroad.  Part of the slowness was we rescued a water vole hanging onto the lock ladder.  I got it onto the dustpan but it panicked when I lifted it above my head to the lock side and it fell in the water and swam out under it's own steam.  I didn't get a photo but it was cute cute cute.

Serendipity has been the watchword of the trip so far.

On saturday when I went to ask permission to park in Osberton the person I asked turned out to someone I knew 20 odd years ago in the horse world and have bumped into on the odd occasion since she was able to phone the owner and vouch for me.

I fetched the cat Sunday evening and once it had cooled down she soon settled and I let her out a bit early the next morning about 5.30am.  She did manage to find the smallest space to crawl into as soon as she got on board and in the photo all you can see is her face with a bit of tail.

Next day we moved on to Forest Locks and I chose to moor on the Middle Bottom one which has the lock landing on a little island perfect for timid cats.  To make sure we weren't in the way I hutched right forward so my front end was over the bywash.  I still managed to get a comment the next morning from one boater but what do you expect on a canal so shallow that you simply cannot moor anywhere but on a designated mooring.  Everybody else was fine about it.  The second boat I curried favour with by helping with the lock gates turned out to be the boat that had just been craned in the day before mine that I spoke to when I did the recce back in November!

Took 4 hours to boat to Forest Locks from Osberton, 40 minutes to cycle back and about 5 mins to drive it.  Himself came back from his trip to France/Belgium on his BMW bike (30+yrs old) and it had sort of broken down so he left it with the recovery people in Portsmouth and they lent him a hire car.  However they told him that the bike was being brought up on Tuesday and the car was to go back.  His car is off the road waiting for it's MOT etc so he needed mine.  Therefore instead of working on Tuesday (I did make a start) I suddenly had to drive to his house, pick him bring him back to the boat for supper and then wave him off again.  Bonus no need to keep bring car with me but how to get to work on Friday?  I had a brainwave and phoned work and asked to borrow the company car.  I picked it up yesterday and drove to work as normal today.  I now have the car for the week but I don't need to keep fetching it as I have a cunning plan.

Anyway I thought it had been bad from Ranby to Forest Locks with the shallowness and the weed but worse was to come from Forest Locks to |Retford.  I was cursing ever having helped restore this canal, despite actually seeing the weed cutter out and about it certainly isn't keeping the weed under control and it seemed as soon as I had de weeded the propeller, de stuck the boat it would be fully weeded up again.  This canal desparately needs dredging as not only is the bottom too near the top I think the top is too near the bottom (looks like the canal could go up a little) my bottom was scraping along the supposed deep bit most of the time and any slight deviation meant no motion at all!

Oh yes the other bit of serendipity was as I was cycling back to fetch the car at Ranby the towpath pops out onto a bit of road leading to some houses.  I stopped as there was a Van coming up and as it went past I read the signwriting and it was my client that I had just sent his year end accounts too.  He said he had just put my cheque in the post!  Do you know I had been in two minds whether to put the books in the boat to return to him.  Nevermind they can wait.  Small boy hopefully is banking the cheque for me today.

Shopping in Retford was easy from the boat although having gone into town first and bought stuff that wasn't on my list I did think I was going to struggle to get it all back to the boat from Asda in one hit but I managed.  I am so heroic.  I now have a dinky clothes airer whirly gig that collapses smaller then most.  I really must bite the bullet and run the washing machine but I am scared scared scared!  I am also running out of clean clothes.  Maybe I will risk it on Sunday when I have crew to run the boat whilst I watch the machine closely for drips, floods and other natural disasters.

As I was chatting on the phone to small boy I realised I was approaching my first double solo lock so I put the phone down and looked behind me and there was another boat!  So I had to share.  Anyway I was glad they were there in the end as when it was my turn to enter the lock things went bang and I was stuck on the bywash/weir.  I went down the weedhatch and they very sweetly pulled my boat into the lock.  Whilst I was struggling with a green denim jacket and a pair of jogging bottoms they operated the lock.  By the time the lock was open I was done and dusted so I left the lock first but then reversed back so they could overtake.  I moored behind them at the Gate pub (closed) Clarborough but didn't get to speak to them again as they were battened down and they left early the next morning whilst I was making my cup of tea.  They were on a hire boat so probably had to get it back.  She said they normally take their cats on board and they aclimatise very quickly.  I presume they hired so they could tick the Chesterfield Canal off their list without having to do the Trent.


From hardly leaving the boat whilst it was on its lovely lock landing and in the lovely weather the cat couldn't wait to leave the boat at Clarborough in the rain and near a busy road.  She went out at 9pm and didn't come back until 3.17am.  Dirty stopout.  We had had a brief chat at 10.30 when I was going to bed but she wandered off again and I wasn't going to chase her.

Last night she went in and out several times but I drew the line at about 9.30pm and put the glass back in the porthole and she banged her nose on it.

There will be pictures but I forgot the cable for the camera and this net book doesn't have an sd slot.

My eyes are going doolally so I will sign off this weeks adventures.