TeeELL

10 Sep 2010. Having survived the night on an unoccupied ‘residential mooring’ – we discovered the sign obscured by undergrowth whilst exercising the dog this morning – we moved across to the water point and topped up. We had used more water than usual as the ‘studio’ washing machine had been in use. Mo having washed her hair was using the hair dryer and, out of casual interest I though I would check the voltage indicated – to my surprise 10.3 volts were registered!! Engine running to boot, when she finished the volts recovered but not as much as expected. In the end it was 09.40 before we moved off. It will come as no surprise to learn that I kept checking the voltage throughout the day. Those of you familiar with the eastern end of the K&A will know it to be an idiosyncratic canal with its character regularly changing – nothing has changed, rest assured. At 11.30 we had reached Burghfield lock – there was a SLuG ascending, at last I have decided there is a use for them – they can clear the canal – we had travelled down parts barely wide enough for a narrowboat. At 12.30 we arrived at Fobney Lock – all very black and white, BW was supervising the painting of the lock – and one of the lads, having carefully painted the white bit on the end of the counter arm, picked up has sandwiches and promptly sat down – yes – he sat on the wet paint. As we passed through Reading we decided to go around the back water and have a look, by the ‘Bel and the Dragon’ restaurant and Museum. We reached Blakes lock at 14.00, it was unmanned so we ventured onto the Thames and moored outside TESCO. Whilst Mo went and bought the provisions I checked the electrics – the inverter had switched off as the batteries had reached the ‘min voltage’. My digital multi-meter registered 13.4 volts across the bank so I was getting a little confused, one source suggested all was OK the other quite the opposite. Well, I then realised there was a battery low warning on the multi-meter – the battery change revealed that the multi-meter now agreed with the battery management system!! When Mo returned and we put all the provisions away, we discussed our options. We decided that we should phone ‘Bel and the Dragon’ and ask about their shore power points, we were advised that they were serviceable and would be turned on for us (I explained the problem). It was getting towards dusk as we returned through Blakes lock and moored on the moorings at the restaurant. The shore line was plugged in and all became ‘normal’ once again. By coincidence, there was another narrowboat moored the other side of the pontoon and I mentioned our problem – my heartfelt thanks are extended to the crew of ‘GREYFISHER’ who gave me the name and number of an engineer (described as excellent – can fix anything, I was assured). Text messages crossed the airwaves with an assurance that he would be at the boat at 11.30 the following morning. On time he arrived and started diagnosing the problem – our main alternator had given up the ghost. It would be 2 days before he could obtain a replacement so I asked if the ‘small’ alternator could be wired to charge the whole bank. The engineer went through his spares box, found a suitable length of cable and went on his way to the next job. All for £5.00 what can I say, other than another massive thank you. With the battery bank fully charged from the mains and the small inverter connected to all 6 batteries, we started off once again. We cast off at 12.45 with minimum electrical power usage. Blakes lock, still unmanned, was negotiated at 12.55 and I was a bit more chilled out about what was happening in the engine bay. Those of you who have travelled on the Thames may know that is well ‘policed’ by the Environment Agency with their blue light motor boats, it is therefore essential to make sure you obtain the temporary licence at the earliest opportunity. Thus we pushed towards Caversham lock where we could pay an astronomical sum for a £15? Day licence. 13.25 and the lockie is at lunch!! 14.00 as we ascend the, now manned, lock I pay my due and receive the temporary licence. We leave the lock and, can you believe it, an EA launch passes us scrutinising our shiny new licence. If you have read previous journey logs (specifically the ‘Cancer and Chemo Cruise of 2 years ago) you will know that back in 1978ish Mo and I hired a Foxton Boat Services NB called ‘RICHMOND TOO’ and we last saw it on the GU. Well, I can’t be absolutely sure but I think we passed her (now called RICHMOND) near Reading Marine Services. For your future navigation notes Mapledurham lock has lost elsan and pump-out but now has H20 hose (these are 1” bore and fill the water tank in moments unlike some of the sad examples of the BW system). At 17.00 we selected a nesting place in the river bank adjacent to Beale Park. I would have thought that mooring places would have been easy to find given the recent festival, but we had to cut down the undergrowth to make access to the boat easier.

Tue 7 Sep. We have made the classic error – ‘drinking on a forecast’ !! Last night we over indulged because today was supposed to be dreadful – in fact it is anything but and we have to face more locks whilst nursing hangovers. We left the mooring at 09.25, passing through Hungerford lock and reaching Dunmill lock at 10AM. I have a note about the Pill box situated there, clearly designed for a gun of some reasonable calibre, rather different from the ‘run-of-the-mill’ pill boxes along the canal. We decided to stop for lunch by lock 79. An early stop was called for and we moored in Newbury, above the Newbury lock. Have you been down to the adjacent sculpture when the lock is in action? Thur 9th Sep. We had a day off!! Setting off at 08.35 we reached the lock moments later and, accompanied by ‘CELTIC DREAM’ we passed through and on to the boat yard for fuel. This was 85ppl!! I think it worked out significantly more costly on a 60/40 split than going to the nearby Sainsbury and buying white!! I didn’t buy much. They also wanted a quid for water. Again the day was a series of short cruises between locks, so I will jump forward to mid afternoon when we stopped at Aldermarston lock for water and to empty ‘the other thingy’. In due course we set off once again and finally moored at half 5 just beyond Tyle Mill lock. On reflection – what a difference, one yard selling diesel at 62ppl and another at 85ppl, how can they even begin to justify a 23 pence mark-up? Oh, we moored on a clearly un-used ‘permanent mooring’ overnight and I didn’t feel guilty. Just as well really ‘cos as we found tomorrow we would have had to travel a fair distance to find a mooring.

Mon 6th Sep. We awoke to a pleasant morning and had a leisurely breakfast. At about 09.10 Mo went to set the lock, the crew of a boat moored ahead of us had, in fact, already done it so Mo enquired as to whether the other boat moored ahead of us was also moving off – ‘No – not for about 10 minutes’ was the reply. Thus we continued preparing to cast off. 09.25 we cast off and started off towards the lock – suddenly pandemonium broke out in the boat ahead – the engine was started, ropes untied and as we passed them they applied full power to race off the mooring. ‘Where are you going?’ was shouted across to me ‘dunno wherever get to’ was my reply. ‘Are you going into the lock?’ (this was rather a dumb question I thought) ‘Yes’ – ‘We are with them’ came back across the rapidly reducing gap. Well I can smell ‘bull sh!t’ a mile off and the air was heavy with it – however, I had better things to do than argue so I backed off, we moored again and had a cup of tea. Funny old thing, in their haste, they forgot to check the paddles and left one up – amateurs. We reached lock 63 at 10.15, now you are probably a bit surprised as I have not been giving a blow by blow account of our times at locks. BUT this one was different, why? Because the extra reduction gear was missing – and do you know what, raising the paddle was both quick and easy, an absolute joy. Of course it can’t be all plain sailing – having opened only one gate to enter the other swung open – not just a little bit but fully!! Late morning we stopped at Great Bedwyn for water, we are adopting a policy of keeping the tank full this trip, for no particular reason. Off again and we arrived at lock 65 taking 10 mins to pass through. Now, for some reason I have a list of locks and times – I’ll not pad out my tale with those details. However, we finally moored early (15.10) above Hungerford lock.

Sat 4 Sep. Well dear reader, I made light of yesterday’s incident with the throttle but, cast your mind back just a couple of days and imagine, if you will, that situation occurring whilst we were on the Severn Estuary ……….. ‘ELEMIAH’ ~ The Angel of Inward Journeys and Protector of Water Bourne Travellers, makes you wonder? A very short report today, we spent a few hours in Devises, in particular I wanted to track down some suitable R clips to replace the split pin (got an assortment box of the blessed things – at home of course). Clutching another assortment box the split pin was replaced and we left our mooring at 12.45, stopping for water a short while later. My notes are woefully short of information, I guess partly because I have reported this journey in the past and partly because I forgot to note any events!! All things considered it has been quite quiet on the K&A. It was about 7PM when we finally moored near Br 110. Sun 5 Sep. Today we will be aiming to visit some people who befriended us on our ‘Chemo’ cruise. 09.55 and we finally set off , again an even more blank sheet means I am clutching at events – to no avail!! We arrived at Crofton Pump House at 14.20 and decided to walk into Wilton for something to eat at the Pub. Excellent beer and excellent food, we finally finished and I enquired of the people who had befriended us n- ‘they have moved to Devizes’ we were told. However, by coincidence Mo had met someone who happened to live next door to the people who had moved so we called in there for 15 mins before returning to the boat.

Friday 3rd Sept. Dear reader today started overcast and misty and we didn’t set off until 09.15. You are possibly surprised that I didn’t know where we moored last night well, to correct things, after 5 mins cruising we passed Bridge 163. I must admit that I have completely forgotten to use Water Explorer to update our position although my internet connectivity is rubbish this year. There is no denying that the K&A is an iconic waterway and we are cruising through the part that is recognised as being the prettiest part. We were surprised at how few continuous moorers/residential boats slowed down our progress – I had been under the impression that this end of the K&A was marred by such boats. But we are in no hurry anyway and prefer to enjoy the scenery. 10.25 Our troubles started as I undertook the docking manoeuvre before swing-bridge 156, having slowed the boat down I attempted the final flourish to bring the stern into the mooring point so Mo could disembark – nothing!! The Morse moved but the engine didn’t respond, we were stuck out of gear. Fortunately we were close enough to the mooring to be able to pull the boat in and investigate. It transpired that the split-pin holding the end of the cable into the Morse quadrant had failed (worn through perhaps?). A rummage around the boat found a number of options – none of which worked! But, a few hundred yards away was a farm (of sorts) and so I set off in the hope they might have something I could use – why is it that a boat toolkit is capable of having everything but not something you need. My adventure was successful and, clutching 2 split pins I returned to the boat. In the meantime Mo had been at the bridge to open it for any boats – after all we had temporarily hijacked a bridge mooring. It took a little while to persuade the split pin to fit, let’s face it working in the confined space of a cupboard where one can only get one arm and work by feel is always an ‘interesting’ game. However, at 11.25 I was finally able to start the engine and prove my work – success. At that point a very strange vessel approached – an 18ft rectangular margarine tub crewed by 2 Americans so we proceeded with them behind. With Seend locks and a plastic tub to contend with, life was a challenge as I had to rope ELEMIAH to prevent us crushing the little tub. However we managed and moored for lunch at bridge 150. The Americans had only arrived late the previous night and had yet to provision their boat, so we fed them. Lunch finished we continued towards Devises and ‘the Caen Hill Flight’ Half an hour’s cruise saw us at Lower Foxhangers Lock and having negotiated the preamble locks we reached the bottom of the impressive Caen Hill flight at 4PM. Steeling ourselves we started the climb. I had phoned a friend who lived nearby in the hope he and his wife would come and assist – he came, but in a Slingsby Firefly aircraft!! I’ll not go into detail over the ascent other than it was relatively painless and we had a fairly good system going although I couldn’t assist as much as I would like because of the plastic boat. We reached the top of the impressive bit (lock 44) after 3 hours, which included a tea break while we waited for a descending boat to negotiate 2 locks that were ‘in their favour’. It was just after 8PM when we moored above lock 50. (Please note – there is a nearby petrol station with a small store and the Americans went there to buy some essentials)

1 Sep 2010. Accompanied by a family friend we spent the morning looking round Bath, I hadn’t visited since the 60’s and Mo the 80’s so things had changed. I bought what must have been the most expensive sausages in the country!! (Mind you they weren’t bad). What surprised me was the imposing entrance to the baths (imposing to a 15 year old) was anything but. We left our mooring at one PM and cruised the short distance to Bath bottom lock which, at 19’ 4”, is a close second to Tuel tunnel lock, but without the need for a lockie to work it. However, we had a long wait as BW had to sort a problem at both top and bottom gates. The removal of a discarded compressor sorted the top gate problem and, ironically, the use of a compressor sorted the bottom gates – we had lunch! At 14.20 we finally entered the lock but had to wait as the pound above had been drained. Thirty minutes later and we ascend the lock; in the company of a hire boat (with an experienced crew) we continue our ascent reaching the top of the flight at 15.20. We stopped for water little realising that is would take 50 mins to fill the tank due to the poor water pressure. Due to the time we decided to apply our ‘time to find moorings’ criteria and, true to form a little under an hour later we found a mooring adjacent to bridge 183 near Bathampton. 2 Sep 2010. The morning was sunny as we left our mooring at 09.45 reaching Dundas wharf at 11.10, we continued our cruise and moored in Bradford-on-Avon at 12.25. We spent two and a half hours looking around B-on-A leaving our mooring at 14.15 and reaching the bottom B-on-A lock, with 2 boats ahead of us. We passed through Hilperton and stopped at The Boat Yard where I uploaded diesel at 61.9 ppl (basic price). Such a happy bloke there as well, he explained that he had specified the tank/pump unit and because of the capacity could order fuel in a cheaper bulk band. (What a change from the rip-off prices we had seen previously and would end up having to pay subsequently!!). We moored at 18.05.

31st Aug. We are up bright and early as we have booked passage on the first ‘lock of the day’. Promptly on the designated time the lock gates open and we enter at 07.50 and now we have to wait, with us a couple of fishing boats – the SLUg having already left catching yesterday evenings tide for a night passage up to Bristol!! At 08.20 we are spat out of the lock in the wake of hastily departing fishing boats ‘watch the mud bank and aim for the right hand wind turbine’. The instructions from the pilot are spinning around in my head, but all is going weel because it is another clear blue day with little wind. But no, oh no disaster looms on the horizon – out of Avonmouth dosk’s lock comes an 8000 ton freighter picking up speed as she makes her way into the estuary. Whilst we will miss the ship there is no way to avoid the wake – so I turn into the waves and we encounter the ‘roughest’ part of our journey. I’m so glad I didn’t decide to remove the various blanks. Turning into the mouth of the Avon we start our cruise up to Bristol – the Portishead lockie having phoned ahead (although I had also phoned the previous evening). We had been ‘all at sea’ for 20 minutes. Dear reader, our experience of travelling from Sharpness to the Avon belies some of the comments made by others on this forum (ie Don’t do it). In some respects the whole event was a bit of an anticlimax but that is because we were fortunate in having probably the most ideal conditions imaginable. The tidal Trent last year put up greater waves than the Severn Estuary and, to be honest, the wake from the freighter was not anything to cause concern. So, if you are undecided – go for it, when all is said and done the pilot WILL NOT put you or your boat (and his life) at risk. Anyway back to the Avon – by now we have passed under the M5 bridge and we are cruising up towards Avon gorge and the Bristol suspension bridge. It takes 45 mins to reach that bridge and it is but 10 minutes later that the ‘Entrance lock’ looms. We have to wait 25 mins, with nowhere to moor, until the tide is suitable for the lock to be opened and the outbound boats released. We enter and tie on to massive loops suspended from chains at 10.05, there are 2 other boats scheduled for this ‘lock’. 10.25 and we are all aboard, the gates close and we take a little less than 5 mins to rise to the upper water level. To our delight the massive swing bridge is opened (admittedly not for us – but what the heck, we can pretend). We make slow progress through Bristol (we are ahead of the other boats ‘cos we could go under the next swing bridge whilst they had to wait). Looked at the various boats/ships therein, particularly SS GREAT BRITAIN. We progressed along the Avon towards Bath, stopped at a less than sanitary sanitation station accessed by a floating pontoon. On the approach to Bath we determined that it was time to moor for the night – we find that we generally have to make the decision an hour prior to tying up! This was to be no exception and the visitor moorings we did see (quite by accident) were totally overgrown and unusable – indeed the signs were barely visible. So we continued into Bath, passing the Sainsburys and close to the city center. Now, if TESCO had built the supermarket I would all but guarantee that mooring would have been created to allow boaters a shopping experience. We finally moored near the city centre – using the railings as mooring posts. There were no access points in the fencing, so a bit disappointing all in all. It was getting dark so time for a sherry and something to eat.

Fingers crossed I will be able to post the next installments whilst on the boat. Going to get Vodafone to check my Nokia to see why it is now reluctant to play the 'modem' game.

Dear reader, there is something that completely slipped my mind but something that is fairly unusual. We were diverted, back on the 24th coming south out of Birmingham, yes diverted! There is a stretch, about 100 yards long of newly cut canal bypassing the original stretch which is being rebuilt due to development work. After that piece of incredulous information it will be difficult for me to get back to reporting ‘normality’. 29 Aug. A fairly slick start to the day as we planned to cruise down to Sharpness for a look-see. We stopped at a rather strange little place to pick up a full tank of fuel – the staff seemed more than slightly bewildered at working out the fuel costs (surely there must be a way of producing a programme for a ‘mathematical’ calculator to number crunch the price?). We arrived at Sharpness in blustery conditions, wound and moored a few hundred yards west of the site of the old Severn railway crossing. We spent the rest of the day pottering about and I made a few bits and pieces for the boat. 30th Aug. We woke to a beautiful morning, and a phone call advising us to make our way to the lock. We set off at 0925, wound once more and waited for the bridge to open allowing us to enter the Sharpness lock. Yes dear reader, we were off to the Kennet & Avon via the Severn Estuary!!!! With engine vents blocked and front deck drains likewise we entered the lock at 09.45, we had a 30 min wait for the tide to be right and finally at 10.15 the gates shut and, hanging on to our ropes, the paddles were opened and we descended. The lock – massive – as you would expect given that the Gloucester and Sharpness is a ship canal. At 10.35 we exited the lock and moved a short distance to the floating pontoon to await our pilot (as required by our insurance – and us for that matter!!) Carl the pilot arrived a short while later and suggested a further wait of 10 minutes for ideal conditions. A SLUg was also making the journey independently of us but left only moments before us – we set forth at 11.05. Entering the Severn we immediately went almost nowhere!! Our progress with 2200 RPM was only beaten by the snails that were overtaking us. Further out the SLUg was making some headway – impressing our pilot!! Initially we hugged the northern bank, with our speed gradually increasing as the tide abated, in due course we we crossed the estuary to the northern side in preparation for passing under the ‘old’ bridge, shooting the turmoil of water between the bridges and then the ‘new’ bridge. Between the bridges the water is disturbed by a huge ‘deep’ which causes the water to ‘boil’, creates whirlpools, areas of torn water and also areas of incredible calm, difficult to describe, and I daresay visualise. We passed under the old crossing at 13.00 with the boat describing an unusual rolling motion (for any aviators – not unlike Dutch rolling), and just 25 mins later we passed under the second bridge going sideways (well sort of anyway). We passed Avonmouth at 13.55 with Carl giving me a thorough brief on what to use to navigate the following morning – what to use, what to avoid and importently – where Not to go. We arrived at Portishead at 14.10 and spent 25 mins ‘stemming the tide’ (note posh nautical expression) until the tide/lock was ready to accept us. We entered the Portishead lock at 14.35 but it was an hour before we exited and made our way to out designated mooring. Once moored we paid off the pilot and I settled our mooring fee with the harbourmaster. I also purchased a card for the shore-line. Dear reader this was quite a day and I will leave my conclusion until my next report.

28 Aug. Today we have a relatively ‘easy day’ – we are going only as far as Saul Junction to meet with friends we made during the BCNS Explorer Cruise back in June. So it is a very leisurely 12.00 when we move from the dosks a few hundred yards down to Sainsbury’s for supplies. (We have run out of Limes – scurvy is a worry, or is it Lemons for our G&T? No matter ‘tis one or the other!) Can you believe it (yes you can) it is past 2 PM before we escape the clutches of the supermarket. Nothing to do now until we reach Saul Junction – the bridges are opened by the bridge keepers and all we have to do is obey the lights! It is strange to be passing under bridges/roads that, not many years ago, I was travelling to work over. The new bridge on the by-pass was nearing completion when I left Gloucester, the canal having been diverted slightly. I confess to being rather surprised that the ‘bit of canal’ on the east side of the bridge wasn’t full of continuous moorers or ‘bridge hoppers’, after all it is one heck of a bridge! To our surprise, mooring at Saul Junction was very straight forward. Gone was the rope/fender maker boat and butty and the other ‘permanent residents’ around the junction. Mind you, since we last visited there as ‘support staff’ for a Cotswold Canal Trust/Saul Junction ‘festival’ they have built a massive marina. (In this Marina were our friends, and finding then proved quite a challenge, as indeed was getting back having sampled some fine single malts!!)

Dear reader, I thank you for your patience but yet, I am still 2 weeks behind myself – how can I possibly catch up? I will do my best, fortunately some parts of my journey can be glossed over. 26 Aug. It is a Thursday, just about sums things up – not really the week and not really the weekend. To cap it all it is a miserable day and it has taken us until nine thirty to muster the enthusiasm to cast off and continue on our journey. We still have a fair few miles to do and another 21 locks!! I’ll not bore you with a blow by blow account of times at locks etc. Nonetheless I peer at each lock/bridge combination in the hope of recognising the photo I took on my first ever canal boat holiday (horse drawn) back in 1960! We pass the entrance to the Droitwich canal and can only wonder how long, this already over-long, project will be before completion. A good friend – boat owner for goodness knows how many years – has had to retire off his boat having not witnessed the reopening of this link to the Severn. I wonder if I will have the chance to take him, on ‘ELEMIAH’, through the route? 17.00 and we arrive in Diglis basin, to our surprise crews of hire boats are winding to make a return journey up the W&B – it seems the Severn is under threat of flood from the previous few days of rain! We hadn’t factored THAT into our itinerary!! Ho hum, we find a mooring, having done the water and ‘other’ stuff and decide to see what will be in the morning ‘que sera, sera’. 27 Aug. TGIF, we rise with the Chris Evans show on Radio 2 and have a leisurely breakfast, after-all there is no rush ‘cos the river Severn is going to be burstin’ its banks and we are going to be revising our plans. We decide to go take a look at the swollen torrent that we had planned to navigate……….. Hmmm? Looks OK to us professionals of the Thames and Trent. We meet a BW chap on our walk back to the boat and seek his advise ‘Oh, it’s about normal should be fine’ – pity those poor hirers making their way back up Tardebigge!! So it is back to ‘ELE’ and down through the locks, in the company of another boat and on to the Severn. A left turn towards Gloucester and we are in plain sight of the new bridge across the river and the first ‘river lock’. The Severn is a strange combination of river and navigation – we are flowing towards the mouth of the river but it is often quite ‘intimate’ with banks in relatively close proximity. Sometimes reminiscent of the Thames (but NEVER the Trent, thank goodness) we leave the other boat behind and cruise, alone for many miles before, finally another boat – a Tupperware job – finally catches us up and passes. It is with some consternation that we see a large ‘tupperware job’ appear from nowhere, at a great rate of knots, in front and across us. Fortunately, with James Bond at the wheel, the boat heaves round to head up-river as we realise we are passing the entrance to the Avon. Shortly afterwards I spot ‘nipple’ hill, usually used when I am navigating an aircraft (a hill with unique clump of trees on the summit a 10 miles to the east of Gloucester) so we are closing on our destination. We pass the lock and are now on what can be ‘Tidal Severn’ – constantly on the lookout for the ‘Severn Bore’ we press on, giving Gloucester Docks a call to advise of our arrival. With a group of other boats we enter Gloucester locks and spot a very long term friend waiting our arrival (he works in an office overlooking the docks). 15.50 and we tie up at the end of the ‘herring bone’ moorings. My mate and his missus will join us later and we will eat at a hostelry in the local area. For now, a shower and brush-up is the order of the day and a quick look around Gloucester.

I know, I know, I know – I am nearly 2 weeks behind myself and I realise that you have been waiting for the next enthralling instalment. Well, dear reader I left you at the Brindley Place mooring right next door to the Sea Life Centre. 24 Aug. We decided to avail ourselves of the proximity of the Sea Life Centre and pay a visit (pay is the operative word, a pricey venue!). To be honest it is quite amazing and was well worth the visit and if truth be known, well worth the cost. Thus we started our days cruise at 12.55 – not a long cruise initially as we went to the far end of Gas Street Basin to take on water and undertake other essential tasks. So it was that 40 mins later (very slow tap) we set off for our destination – Alvechurch. I still don’t know how two chocoholics do it but once again we cruised past Cadbury mecca – the dogs nose twitching (and ours to be fair). An aside, fellow chocoholic – have you tried Giant Buttons recently? We have and they taste different somehow, not ‘Hershy bar’ different but not good old milk chocolate flavour either!! We were meeting old friends at Alvechurch but they came out and joined us on the boat at Hopwood for the cruise into Alvechurch. To our surprise moorings were readily available and we turned off the engine at 17.45. The planned ‘quick visit’ turned unsurprisingly into a bit of a session and we returned to the boat at some time later. 25 Aug. Despite the late night we were up and about quite early and in fact set off from Alvechurch at 08.30, reaching the top of Tardebigge just over an hour later. I have to say that, although we were in fairly good order (all things considered), we were obliged to stop for a coffee break at lock 49. In fact we had been gradually catching the boat ahead, despite having to fill the locks. So our 15min break allowed us to get back into the swing of things and again we gradually caught up with the boat. We decided, an hour later, to have a lunch break as we were now in the lock immediately behind the boat ahead. This break was for 35 mins and we started again at 13.05. We reached Tardebigge bottom lock at 14.00 taking 4hrs and 10 mins (with 50 mins stopped) to descend. Those of you familiar with this canal will know that there are still a lot of locks to go! In fact, we only travelled as far as Stoke Top lock were we met friends on their boat, so we stopped engine at 14.10 and prepared for another heavy night. Athy, there is a world of difference between A Gardiner, RN, Lister etc and the Japanese generator engine fitted to 'ELEMIAH' - there is nothing 'cool' about the din of a 4 cylinder Yanmar/Barrus Shire

Dear reader, I can only apologise for my delay in starting this year’s cruise diary. A lapse in motivation is the pathetic reason. But enough, this is not the story you wish to read. This year we found ourselves with just 5 weeks available for the 2010 ‘Grand Cruise’. We had considered going east and doing a run to Cambridge but a combination of dry weather and negative reports caused us to review and thus change our plan. The cruise sort of started the week prior to departure - we loaded the car with all the clothes, linen, drink and non perishable food and headed north to ‘ELEMIAH’. What a difference to be able to load the boat, fix all the jobs and have time to reflect on what else we needed to do, buy, fix etc for the following week. The most important jobs were the replacement of rotted marine ply decking with phenol clad ply and some noise proofing to try and make the engine quieter. In addition I had made storage boxes for the front cratch area. So moving swiftly on, we roll forward a week and once again lay some rubber down on the M5. We drove up on the Sat 21st and found we still had a car load – having stored everything away we decided to wash the boat…….. Now if you have followed previous cruise diaries you will recall that ‘ELEMIAH’ is based on the Daw End branch of the ‘Curly Wyrley’ at the top of the Rushall locks very handy for boat washing, painting etc and a very quiet stretch of canal. Imagine our surprise then, when looking down the canal, in the distance was not one but 2 boats making their way towards us!! So it was another hour before we were able to wash all the bird droppings off the boat by which time we decided to delay our departure until Sunday.

Thank you for the advice. Fear ye not - Mo and I do not take venturing into the 'unknown' lightly and have no intention of risking life or boat - indeed they can forget about 'Force 3' - we will consider dead calm!! Lol. We have every intention of booking a pilot. The forum topic was a boat that had, indde, taken a pilot for their transit and I knew I should have bookmarked it, but as often happens, got distracted and logged off without so doing.

Hi all, this years cruise on NB 'Elemiah' is planned to include a transit from Sharpness down to Avonmouth and home via the K&A. By chance, couple of weeks (or so) ago I read a topic on this forum about a boat that was just about to make the same journey. For the life of me I cannot find the topic and my efforts with the search engine have proved fruitless! I am hoping that one of you can help me and give me a link to that topic so I may contact the boaters concerned for some info. Cheers TeeELL

OK, first and foremost here are the statistics for our holiday. I must admit that we are both very surprised that we covered less mileage and worked fewer locks than last year. Although, to be honest we did do a bit more sight seeing this year (and NOT the inside of the great Western Hospital, Swindon ). So here are the stats: Mileage 590mls (give or take a mile or so) Locks 395 For those of you following the secondary tail of aviation - I have now qualified on a Slingsby Firefly II and I am scheduled for another flight tomorrow (Mon 21st Dec). I have also flown an Airtest flight on a Strikemaster jet aircraft.

Firstly, I must apologise for not submitting the mileage and locks for our cruise - I worked it all out and have now misplaced the result!! I'll sort out the conclusion soonest. On a really wonderful, if totally OFF TOPIC, note - I am now in posesion of my Private Pilots Licence, I have completed my 'Skills Test' and it is now onwards and upwards (so to speak). The water in the bilge (dry bilge under the floor) is all gone and I can find no trace of the source the water in the shower drain (where the 'Gulper' cannot extract it) remains so I must assume, for the time being, that it is historical and stems from the time before I properly seales the shower tray surrounds. next job, then, is to resolve the fuel state/engine starting running problem. Narrow boats can be such joy!!!

I now have the total mileage and number of locks negotiated so you only have a day or so to guess/calculate the answer before I post!!

This has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with narrow boating or our cruise - other than I had the first inklings from a phone call as we exited Crick tunnel. Today Thur 22nd Oct 2009 I went for, and passed, my aviation medical examination. My application for the renewal of my Private Pilots Licence was popped into the letterbox this afternoon - to be collected who knows when? So fingers crossed, I might have my licence in a couple of weeks.

Went to the boat on Sunday, sure in the knowledge that the bilge would be dry, the dehumidifier having done it's work. Far from it, as it turned out!! The DH was full and the bilge had about half an inch depth of water - pump followed by 10 nappies saw the water away. This time I gave my spare keys to friends on a neighbouring boat, you can imagine my dissapointment when I received a call yesterday telling me that water continues to pool at the rear of the boat. Litmus tests continue to reveal alkaline content, so I remain happy (happy!!!) that the water is from the shower tray/outlet pipe/whale gulper. I will be publishing the mileage and lockage later this week.

RLWP, I tested the water in the bilge and the result was alkaline, a test of the canal water was neutral (just in case I've taken a torpedo hit!!). Water with a mix of shower Gel etc also tested alkaline. When I pumped the water out it produced a little foam, items immersed had a 'slimey' feel but I couln't detect a positive 'shower gel/hair shampoo' smell. I have concluded that it is issuing from the shower - to pour a measured amount of water into the shower and see what happens. Phoenix, you are right of course, if you are the only person to submit then you would be the winner but lets tighten the odds =/- 50 miles and =/- 20 locks.

You are most welcome Ali. What oubout the rest of you - any guesses? I have worked out the basics I've just got to add the diversions etc and determine if the result includes flood locks! Off back to the boat later today (Boat Club Committee Meeting!) but I also want to try and find out what the source of the water in the dry bilge is. I've ordered some litmus paper - hopefully it will detect alkaline in the water = it is from the shower. If that is the case then I will have to dismantle the bathroom to get to the shower tray and find out where the leak is coming from. That is not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination!!

Does no-one what to have a go at guessing how many miles we travelled and locks we operated?

Fri 9th Oct 2009 Hello Dear Reader, welcome to the very last few hours of this years epic journey. Bide with me awhile as I glide you through the last miles and locks. An uneventful night spent on the Thame Valley canal, a stones throw (but not literally) to the south west of Wednesbury. We certainly didn’t have any problems with boats passing. When mooring last night I had fortuitously spotted a piece of rope float in the water near the stern (back end), on pulling it out of the water a couple of meters of 10mm nylon type rope appeared – now that would have been a great start to the morning wrapped around the prop. 09.15 and in a cool but clear morning we set off, a check of the indicated voltages shows that the alternator has decided to join us for the final leg of the cruise. The Tame Valley canal has few endearing qualities in this neck of the woods – other than being dead straight for a couple of miles. The title belies the fact that, for the most part, the canal has a commanding view over the surrounding ‘countryside’/urban spread and in the final half mile before Rushall Jn passes over the M5 to M6 north/M6 to M5 south links. We stopped and watched the traffic from our lofty position – I wonder just how many motorists have any idea they are passing under such a historic transport system? Moments later the canal is running level with the M6 but the safety fencing prevents the majority of passengers from seeing us – only the cabs of lorries and saloons of coaches having sufficient height. Ahead it is possible to see the bridge over the Rushall canal at the junction that we reach at 10.05. Thus we turn onto ‘home waters’, to our surprise the towpath is being worked on by an ‘in partnership with BW’ company – it has been cleared, levelled and resurfaced prior to tarmacing!! I guess the non-contributing cyclists and walkers/runners will be benefiting ‘cos fellow boater you and I won’t be – it is all but impossible to moor along the Rushall canal!! (And that includes lock moorings). Don’t get me wrong, the Rushall isn’t a bad canal, it is just a ‘remainder waterway’ and would benefit from a significant increase in boat traffic (once the Litchfield and Hatherton opens we might see that increase.). We have our own pet flight of locks – the Rushall flight (imaginative don’t you think), our friend Albert (the 'hobbler' of Water World fame and a genuine ‘boat family’ person) reminds us that the 7 locks that are in close proximity are ‘the Ganzi 7’ known because of the wind that blew across the open field necessitating the wearing of a boaters ‘Gernsey’. (The 2 locks immediately prior to Longwood Junction were called after the lock-keepers family name – but I’ve forgotten it, sorry Albert.) So, at 10.30 we entered lock 9 and started our ascent and all went swimmingly well until lock 8!!! Here all attempts to close the bottom gates failed, what also failed was my attempt to contact BW, in the end hydraulics won the day – I positioned the stern (back end) of the boat over the obstruction and used a blast of power to shift whatever it was. It took us 20 minutes in all to resolve this little problem. We left the Ganzi 7 at 11.55 and shortly afterwards passed under Gillity bridge and there, a mile ahead loomed the final 2 locks of our journey and Longwood Boat Club, our moorings. It took 15 mins to complete the final locks and we moored at the sanitation point for water and ‘other things’. Now I have to confess that this is quite the worse sanitation point we have ever encountered so come on BW it needs some money spending on it rather than a new motorway towpath for Sustrans. If you come this way then you have to cruise up to Brownhills for the TESCO and the truly luxurious Sanitation Station – as the kids would say ‘it is, like, wow – know what I mean’. That’s all for now dear reader, but I will add some additional bits of information, facts and figures etc. Last year I did a bit of a competition and I offer you the chance to try again this year, so here goes: How many miles have we travelled? How many locks have we negotiated (excluding flood locks, all of which were open)?

Thur 8th Oct 2009 Hello dear reader, I hope you have caught up with my postings and are ready for today’s update. We planned an early start so as to tackle the Wolverhampton 21 before any undesirables started walking the flight. We started of reasonably early (why oh why do I spend the night in a partial state of sleep waiting for the alarm to go off? – it’s not as if it is vital). The temperature in the cratch was 4degC and the canal was shrouded in mist. The plank, poles and lifebelt were covered in dew that, to my surprise, turned to frost/ice as soon as we started moving. So, at 07.25, we moved off with many layers of clothes on. As we passed the first boats of Wolverhampton Boat Club a Kingfisher flew down the right side of the boat. We had an interview to join WBC - I am not sure that being on a canal linear mooring on one of the busier routes would have been such a good idea. We arrived at Autherley lock after 25 mins and Mo had a ‘senior’ or ‘first thing in the morning’ moment and couldn’t work out what to do at the lock!! Finally sorted we turned south at the junction towards Audesley Jn. 08.10 and we are at the first lock of the Wolverhampton 21 we are climbing and it takes us the first lock to get into swing of our ‘system’. So, with Mo working ahead as I exit the lock/close paddle and gate we work our way up to the city. By about 08.45 the ice has finally disappeared with the ‘warmth’ of the sun and we make it to lock 14 for 09.20. Those of you familiar with this flight will know of the ‘butty van’ by lock 10 and fox’s bridge – thoroughly recommended and scrupulously clean we opted for a bacon and egg butty (me) and sausage and egg butty (Mo). Our ‘break’ was interrupted by the arrival of a hire-boat working down the flight, thus we set off after a pause of just 10 mins without an accompanying cuppa. What we have noticed is how clean and clear the canal water is; whilst not unusual it is surprising given that we approaching Wolverhampton. Just before lock 7 we encounter a second ‘Viking afloat’ hire boat and arrive at lock 7 (2 thirds completed) at 10.20. We encounter our third boat as we exit lock 2 and thus we reach the top leaving the top lock at 11.10. So we climbed the 21 locks + 1¾ miles in 3 hrs (less 10 mins for butties) not bad for a pair of olduns. We moored for coffee and set off once again at 11.40 – still the water clear and the aquatic plants visible in the bottom of the cut. An hour 20 of wending our way through areas of past and present industry and vast areas of cleared industry (lots of sites for TESCO) and we reach Coseley tunnel and very shortly after exiting we sight our first familiar landmark – the aerials on top of the hill above Netherton tunnel; we can see them from Longwood and we use them as a ‘nearly there’ reference when driving up the M5 to the boat. Having decided to return home along the New Main line we reach Factory Jn and the 3 locks at 13.25, the boat yard adjacent to the top lock has been cleared and a couple of new boats appear to be awaiting completion – one in a very strange colour scheme of undercoats! Our slick routine for descending locks came adrift when I dropped my anti vandal key into the lock – the magnet kept attaching to the ironwork of the gate so we waited until the lock was empty, gate open and I went fishing from the stern of the boat. I caught one screw, a rusted piece of iron and my key. It was 25 mins before we left the bottom lock and it took us half an hour to cruise to Dudley port junction where, as we approached 2 hire boats appeared, the first turning towards us and the second turning towards Birmingham. We ‘made a left’ at Pudding Green Jn at 14.50 but our progress towards the Ryders Green flight was delayed when I encountered a case floating in the canal – a 20 minute rescue operation ensued – shouldn’t have bothered. This is when you find out what the canal can really be like – disturb the bottom and black yuck smelling of chemicals and diesel is churned up and this is what the water was like when the working boats ploughed the route 50/100 years ago. 15.15 and we are at the top of Ryders Green flight of 8, for once the pounds are full although the locks are all empty – turning the paddle gear reveals no boat having passed this way since the last lot of rain. Apart from a bit of prop fouling, cleared by judicious use of reverse, all went well…… until, having exited the last lock and manoeuvred to pick up Mo the prop fouled – BIG TIME. We encountered the boat going backwards with forward gear selected ‘thing’. The water here was the same yuck as previously described – only more so. The weed hatch operation was undertaken wearing the arm length rubber gloves and a copious amount of plastic and vegetation removed. We turned on to the Tame Valley canal at 16.55 – this is getting seriously close to home moorings and we are having to force ourselves not to start talking about work (for Mo) and other back home subjects. There is an air of despondency about having to return to the real world. We moored just near to Hateley aqueduct, when I checked the charge whilst turning down the stern greaser I noted the voltage at 12.6 – engine running this should be 13.7 – 14. Fan belt tight and no change to the indicated voltage when the revs are increased to 1200. So, it looks as though we started our holiday with an electrical snag and we are going to finish with one – at least when we get back tomorrow we can plug into a shore line. I guess I’ll be taking the alternator somewhere to be checked. Mo have just served ‘Canal Pie’ – a bit like cottage pie but with added ingredients – silt, diesel heavy metals, chemicals etc. So long for today – I’m bushed!!