Sunday 29 Jul
Following an early rise, early for me, I found my self on morning tea duty. When we were both up and about we watched for departing boats on the other side of the canal. Eventually they did move and we were able to slide across and fill the gap. Well we couldn’t really stay there outside the pub, could we?
As the morning rolled on towards noon the Scouts came out to play with their canoes. Not just any scouts you understand, no they were French, including a French Arkayla (is that the correct spelling) in this case a very short dumpy one. True to form when you are messing about in boats and there is an audience something always goes wrong. One of the young girls and the SDO ended up in the water. Bones and I split our sides with laughter. As you can see from the picture the others were having a hard time getting SDO out of the water. After we finished our laughter and I took the pic we went to help. Bones and I together lifted SDO on to the bank and rolled her over to dry in the sun. We really did struggle to contain our laughter. One of the two English pack leaders was heard later to be explaining the situation on his mobile. "Yeah", he said, "SDO got wet and we pulled her out". No mention of us or the fact that a mere girl had done it, no smarty points for boaters. Dib dib dib, dob dob dob don’t admit someone else did the job.
Well anyway it kept us amused, for a while.
Wriggle Fingers was planning a visit so we dropped down a few locks in the direction of Semmington to meet her. Her daughter Ellen, redhead with glasses, was very cute and grown up for her 18 years, while her (WF) male friend, a wiz at all things electric is also good at knocking off door catches. Three times now I have had to fix those wet locker doors. Ellen is now a convert to a sweet perversion of mine, McVities chocolate digestives with Butterscotch.
Went out for dinner with K&J. There was a price to pay. We spent an hour or two dragging Ragwort out of a hay field. Not an unpleasant task but there was so much of it. Now I can spot a Ragwort plant in my sleep.
Monday 30 Jul
I met my brother Allan at Hilperton Marina while I was re-fuelled and de-pooed then we travelled to Dundas Wharf stopping to tie up a loose boat and again at the Lock Inn Bradford-on-Avon for a meal. While Allan did some fishing I took a walk along the bank where I caught sight of the 'bat' boat. Nigel Carton had turned this one around earlier this year. It's proper name Pipistrelle.
My sister Annette came to retrieve Allan after 9. You know the car park at Dundas Wharf? Well they lock it at nine pm and it’s a long walk back to the boat to get a BW key. Doh!
Tuesday 31 Jul
I had just set out this morning when I noticed a young lady sitting on the back of the 'bat' boat. I slowed down and said, "Hello", as you do. I mentioned that I knew Nigel and was invited for coffee, well you know me never one to turn down a cuppa so I stopped and introduced myself to Justine. It would appear from my conversation with her that of all the people moored along that stretch of the canal she is the only one to have had an epic journey on a boat. Most just moor in one place only going for water when required or up to Bath for a short trip out. Justine, a total newbie had brought the boat from Gayton Northampton all the way to Dundas. Fair play!
Once again on my way to Bath (aren’t swing bridges fun on your own) I stopped to let a hire boat through a bridge. He called out to me as he passed by that the boat on the other side of the bridge had lost a rope and was floating across the canal. So why didn’t he stop and make it fast? Yet another job for the Maffster, this is the second loose boat this week. As luck would have it after I got the boat properly along side his mooring pin was still attached to the stern rope so it was just a case of banging it back in. what got me was there were two or three local boaters, moored up nearby, who must have seen the boat and did nothing. Cheers guys! I blame speeding hire boats for ripping the pin out in the first place or am I being unfair? Yes because I have seen many speeding owners on this canal this week.
And so on to Bath. As lovely as that stretch is that Deep Lock is a bit scary!
Bath is fun, but, I would hazard a guess that it is more fun when the place is full of nubile young student babes. Some non English speaking visitors (young and female of course) were trying to take a picture with the boat as background I mosied on over and in the best sign language I could muster got them to stand on the stern deck and took a pic of them. They in turn wanted a picture with me and the boat. Cool babes too.
If you visit Pulteny Weir in the near future you will get a good shot of a tree hanging on the weir.
The moorings between the bridge and the weir are £6 a day payable at the sports centre. Er sorry but if they want my money they are going to have to come and get it! I stayed there a while, well until all the totty had all gone, and went back down and along the Avon. Just past Churchill Bridge there are moorings on the right hand side FREE! Sainsbury's isn’t very far away.
Derek and Dot are still stuck at Osney Lock for another week at least.
Kim and Jim had spent the evening in Bristol and came to stay the night. They both work in Bath.
Wednesday 01 Aug
Another month passed by. I did some much needed house work this morning; well I was going to have visitors tonight. A drunk decided to spend some time near the boat. I don’t understand what it is that makes these people tick. Yeah sure they have problems but the answer isn’t at the bottom of a bottle. How do I know? I've been there! He very kindly p*ss*d on the towpath before he left.
After lunch on the boat with Kim & Jim I set off for Keynsham to meet up with two old friends I have not seen for a long time. Dave and Carol were the parents of Kim's best friend, Bethany, when we moved to Calne in '94. It's about 10 miles to the Lock Keeper at Keynsham Lock I must have arrived about 5 pm. D&C arrived about 8. It was good to see them again after such a long absence, mine not theirs. They were impressed with the boat too.
Thursday 02 Aug
Oh God will these rains ever stop? Well yes actually about 1 pm. So off I went to Bath again. This is a nice part of the system. From Bath it's all river with the exception of the lock cuts. Some of the weirs are quite spectacular and the pubs too!
The boat club at Swinford is peopled by idiots. As I left the lock I sounded my horn merely to draw their attention to me. They took this to mean 'OK time to be stupid'. One rubber dinghy towed about six mirror dinghies out into the river across my bow. This was then superseded by an instructor and novice in kayaks crossing in the other direction, they then stopped right in front of me and out of my sight. Horn again, they moved over.
The instructor asked " How are you?, as I passed him.
"Not happy," I said.
"Why," said he.
"There seem to be a lack of common sense", I replied. "This is a 20 ton boat and it won't stop on a sixpence. If I hit one of these kids I will be in the shit".
No reply.
Later I passed three quite young kids in a canoe. Young as they were they made a point of keeping my eyes in their sight. So simple. So the right thing to do.
Idiots aside I did enjoy the trip back to Bath. I moored up near the weir and waited for Kim & Jim to visit. After they left I took Milly up to the weir, well as close as I thought was safe. With a few dozen tourists on the main road looking down I wasn't going to risk Gongoozelers Syndrome. I had planned to stay the night, but instead did the flight up to the top. At 18' 8" that deep lock really is scary. Good job I didn't have to go in it. Locks are for boats not people.
I breasted up to a hire boat that moored on the water point. The flow was oh so slow. It was dark by the time I was full so here I will stay. S**t happens. Moored just along the path is Tarifa, Tom and Sophie's wide beam. They were not at home.
Good night virtual world!
Friday 03 Aug
It has taken a long time, but I finally got around to taking off the side hatch doors and sorting out the stiff hinges. Stern tube grease is good stuff. Now when I push the doors open I nearly fall out of the hatch. Gently does it! It would have been much easier if Bones had helped.
Spoke to Tom on wb Tarifa this morning.