BCN Marathon Challenge

[Odana]

Team BB and Team Cat (well, the remaining members, at least) and another boat currently awaiting arrival of BW at Ryders Green bottom lock to try and make the gates close. Did early-rising team Tawny Owl sabotage something this morning ...?

 

Michele - should've come introduced yourselves - we were wondering where you'd got to!

[Tim Lewis]

What time did you get in.

 

I left at about 6.30 and they were considering sending out search parties, but couldn't find volunteers due to the cold beer

 

We got so far behind schedule on the Saturday doe to a weeded up Bradley Arm and the bottom being too near the top at the bridgewowks at Wednesfield that we gave Walsall a miss, the organisers were aware of this.

 

Photos to follow but don't hold breath as I took far too many and I've run out of round tuits for the time being!

 

Tim

 

BN Fulbourne

[Proper Job]

We got so far behind schedule on the Saturday doe to a weeded up Bradley Arm and the bottom being too near the top at the bridgewowks at Wednesfield that we gave Walsall a miss, the organisers were aware of this.

 

Photos to follow but don't hold breath as I took far too many and I've run out of round tuits for the time being!

 

Tim

 

BN Fulbourne

Serious respect that you did the Bradley Arm. We did it, but only just. The weed and lack of depth was a serious challenge. It was a bit tight turning 70' at the end as well

 

No wonder you were a tad behind schedule. You were coming the other way somewhere around Sneyd Junction (it was all getting a bit hazy by then) when we saw you.

[Magpie Val]

What a great weekend, and not just because of the weather! The BSN canals were lovely - the Curly Whirley and Rushall could have been in the middle of the countryside - twas like another world. Feeling remarkably fit after working 55 locks:)

Many thanks to John (Black Beauty) for organising the route and letting us stay on his boat (which drew many admiring remarks - especially from little girls!)

[Tim Lewis]

Serious respect that you did the Bradley Arm. We did it, but only just. The weed and lack of depth was a serious challenge. It was a bit tight turning 70' at the end as well

 

No wonder you were a tad behind schedule. You were coming the other way somewhere around Sneyd Junction (it was all getting a bit hazy by then) when we saw you.

 

I will admit that we didn't actually get to end of the Bradley arm, we gave up about a quarter of a mile passed the last winding hole after stopping three times in a hundred yards to clear the prop (Fulbourne doesn't have a weed hatch - Sob), we then had to stern haul it back to the winding hole as the weed made it pointless trying to use the engine.

 

We almost turned back at Wednesfield as we were finding it impossible to get past the site of a new bridge being constructed but were eventually pulled through by a combination of Atlas and a small private narrowboat. Oh the shame! - A bit later we passed a dedger on its way to clear the obstruction :-( but even they were struggling.

 

Tim

[Michele]

Team BB and Team Cat (well, the remaining members, at least) and another boat currently awaiting arrival of BW at Ryders Green bottom lock to try and make the gates close. Did early-rising team Tawny Owl sabotage something this morning ...?

 

Michele - should've come introduced yourselves - we were wondering where you'd got to!

 

We were just making our way back from the finish line when we saw you coming in (don't know if you saw me - I was taking photos of you, wearing denim shorts, blue top, blue walking boots, black hair) We didn't stop because OH had hurt his foot - think it's broken - so he was in a fair amount of pain and wanted to get home to rest it and get some cold beer pain relief!

Glad you had a good time, though.

We are planning to come to the next Friday night social in Brum. (Is it last Friday of the month? which pub is it in?)

[Nine of Hearts]

I just put our route in your route planner and it came out with 63 miles, 45 locks, 221 points. Plus extra points for 70 foot boat?

 

I didn't think that the mileage was that high, are the legs rounded up to the nearest 1/2 mile?

 

Unless it's got it's knickers in a twist (which wouldn't be the first time in a web page what I wrote), it should add up the miles as stated in the planner issued by the BCNS. I think they were rounded to the nearest 1/2 mile, and I think that's what they're allocating points based on.

 

What a fab weekend though, was great to meet everyone. The Cat is now sporting her commerative plaque, thanks to the delay at Ryders locks, and much to John's amusement.

[Tim Lewis]

Anyone planning to come up the Cannock Extension?

 

We got up there, unfortunately having to drag Fulbourne through every bridge hole made us late so we abandoned getting to Walsall!

 

Tim

[RLWP]

Spruuu. Wibble, Urrgggh

 

Who am I? What's that??

 

It's all a weird blur...

 

swearing boaters, Typhoo basins, breaking into Star City, empty pounds on Perry Barr, Gorgeous gorgeous Rushall, competing in reversing challenges in Angelsea basin, jumping ship on the Cannock extension, finding a boat at midnight somewhere in Wednesfield in a DJ, Dawn starts on the W&E, Bow hauling while PJ cuts a jacket off the prop, steady as she goes on the Bradley branch (and breaking into a BW yard), Fish in the Old Main Line, trolleys on the Titford, cutting a FISHING KEEP NET off the prop while being bow hauled, Robert going swimming, diagonal bricks on the Spon locks, smooth as silk down Riders Green, Mark enjoying the Graffitti, Drag racing Nine of Hearts in Walsall, dramatic entrance to Walsall, Beer, chips, cheese sandwiches, idiots jumping off roofs, Black Beauty, Odana (don't break the coconuts, I have), Nine-of-Hearts, a mile to the chip shop, Banter, Banter, sleep, traffic jam on the Walsall, ramming Nelson because he asked me, splicing on the back deck, Sweatshirt round the prop, Kingfisher and shopping trolley on the Ridgeacre, Mark on the Bridge by the mailbox, North Stratford canal, Proper-Job and his boots, Anne, Anne, David, Sue, Hairy-Neal and the Other 60 miles, Mark and the Blue Book, Robert and all the Technology....

 

And loads of lovely canals.

 

Richard

 

BCN. Go there, it's great. Just wait 'til we get the 1500 pictures sorted....

 

Is it bedtime yet???

 

What burning tent?

[stort_mark]

Highlights of the BCN Challenge

* finishing

* bow-hauling a 70' boat from Horsley Jn to Chillington at 7am

* bow-hauling a 70' boat slightly more slowly from Oldbury Bottom Lock to the Aqueduct in the heat of the sun

* Robert deciding to swim the Old Main line instead of bow-hauling

* getting to the end of the Ridgeacre, after the Challenge

* no seriously. The very end. TNC-style with the stern inserted into the culvert.

* being asked how much the boat cost by a teenager and watching his disappointment when we said seven quid

* the dogging couple at Anglesey Basin; obviously in search of privacy they chose to "dog" in full sight of the canal, a major A road and the M6 Toll, so proving that there is indeed a shallow end of the human gene pool.

* being rammed sideways by NB Kerchez at Catshill

* the tent on fire at Wednesbury and passers-by just ignoring it; clearly this is nothing unusual hereabouts

* a man telling his kid "No, it's not a narrow boat. It's a barge"

* learning how to splice a rope

* debating whether an object recovered was a fender or a dildo (jury still out, but now on Tawny Owl anyway)

* the mince and potatos

* the beauty of the Rushall, Curley Wyrley, most of the Old Main Line, the upper part of the Titford, most of the Walsall

* the grammar and spelling of the graffitti artists ("We will not be stoped! Yes you will!"; "WV2 Crew. No-one will wath us"; "Lena is a slarg")

* the semi-naked anglers rising like prairie dogs from the reeds as we approached

* the bloke who asked us if we had seen "a fat bald bloke fishing"; errrr...all of them?

* Richard asks "what can go wrong down the Ridgeacre?" and the three of us who don't own the boat say nothing

* seeing Que Sera Sera being steered by Elvis and towed by Shergar

* sunset over Goscote

* Phil Lynott lookalike bellowing orders around the Walsall basin as boats arrived

* everything actually: great crewmates, great boat, great canals, great event. If you weren't there, you missed a huuuuuuge event!!

 

Ha ha Richard - just remembered the coconut.

Edited June 1, 2009 by stort_mark

[RLWP]

Highlights of the BCN Challenge

 

* no seriously. The very end. TNC-style with the stren inserted into the culvert.

 

That's where I left the stren. Just next to the Barbour jacket no-one wanted

 

Richard

 

Good to see you are back safe Mark. Thanks for everything.

 

p.s. Grey underpants with pink trim. You can explain...

Edited June 1, 2009 by RLWP

[stort_mark]

p.s. Grey underpants with pink trim. You can explain...

 

Tawny Owl is into the last mile, and already late. The exhilaration of the last 24 hours is dampened by the knowledge we are going to be late to the finish. We have passed through Darlaston (where the movie "The Beach" was filmed). Hairy Neil has run out of A35 anecdotes and we are reduced to reading the graffitti on the bridges: "Dave + Pete" and a picture of two willies; "Woody '09"; "Risk and Val".

 

We approach a group of stern-faced anglers; not for them the cheery wave, but instead that despondent look that suggests we are not the first boat through today. At the far end, a man rises. He is clad in nothing at all. Nothing, that is, except a pair of grey Y-fronts with fuschia pink trim".

 

Silence.

 

Followed by considerably longer silence.

 

And then a pause. It's like Salvador Dali meets St. Michael.

 

Then Neil says "Where do you buy grey underpants with pink trim?"

 

A legend is born: grey Y-front with pink trim man, homo sapiens pleckus pisci. Next year we will be using grey and pink racing colours.

Edited June 1, 2009 by stort_mark

[RichardN]

"Nenni", said the Cat.

 

I have an map. BCN Route Planner

 

Ohh very nice. Is that how the scoring works though? I thought the bonus is a multiplier?

 

Richard

http://indigodream.wordpress.com

[Odana]

Ohh very nice. Is that how the scoring works though? I thought the bonus is a multiplier?

 

Richard

http://indigodream.wordpress.com

 

Was it a multiplier? That would explain Tawny Owl's huge 500+ points claim. The Cat's Planner only got us 191. Multipliers raise the stakes - much more fun

[Odana]

Ridgeacre Branch and Bradley Arm - very impressed! That, plus Anglesea Basin which the captain and crew vetoed due to timings, are reasons to sign up again next year... I think in the past there were points for trying to get up all those obscure ex-arms. I like that idea, but maybe a canoe towed behind is a good idea for those.

 

Team Black Beauty had a marvellous time. I've lived on the BCN for nearly nine years and I was amazed by this weekend's newly-explored bits. Go there! It's great.

 

Highlights:

* the beautiful, beautiful, and so surprisingly tranquil northern BCN - start sending donations now to the Lichfield Canal Society so's they can get the link opened more quickly. Main line's not bad either!

 

 

 

 

*catching up with old friends, bantering and comparing route notes with Team Cat and Team Tawny Owl

 

 

 

 

*finally going under spaghetti junction by boat - it's a lot bigger at 4mph than 70mph!

 

 

 

*ONLY one weedhatch trip - we couldn't have been doing things properly.

 

 

Oh, and the BCN bollard-breeding pen at Perry Barr

 

Edited June 2, 2009 by Odana

[RLWP]

Just to say thank you to Black Beauty and Odana for beer, sandwiches, helping to find the chip shop and general good bantering.

 

To Nine-of-Hearts too for his bantering contribution. Hope you found your tiller and buy yourself some ropes! I wouldn't tie a coracle up with that bit of tatty string on your tee-stud.

 

And finally to Stort-Mark, Proper Job and Hairy-Neil for being a fantastic crew. Probably the most amazing part of the whole weekend was how we all quickly turned from a bunch of strangers into a team. A good team too.

 

Thanks one and all.

 

Richard

 

And if Hairy-Neil ever suggests that this would be a good opportunity to do a quick half-an-hour up some obscure branch - don't listen to him. Or Mark on doing the Wolverhampton 42. And make sure Steve takes everything with him when he leaves the boat. And....

[Nine of Hearts]

To Nine-of-Hearts too for his bantering contribution. Hope you found your tiller and buy yourself some ropes! I wouldn't tie a coracle up with that bit of tatty string on your tee-stud.

 

Honestly! I had so many objections to my bow-rope over the weekend and no-one noticed the delightfully flemished 30' of pseudo hemp on the roof. That there tatty bit of string on my T stud has served me loyally, and I'm not going to repay such sterling service by chucking it out because it's a bit old, frayed and barely competent at its job. What if everyone conducted their business in such a manner? We'd all be carted off to Switzerland at the first sign of a cough, and most of us would be sacked forthwith.

[RLWP]

Honestly! I had so many objections to my bow-rope over the weekend and no-one noticed the delightfully flemished 30' of pseudo hemp on the roof. That there tatty bit of string on my T stud has served me loyally, and I'm not going to repay such sterling service by chucking it out because it's a bit old, frayed and barely competent at its job. What if everyone conducted their business in such a manner? We'd all be carted off to Switzerland at the first sign of a cough, and most of us would be sacked forthwith.

 

That loyal servant on your tee-stud is barely six foot long and is slowly unravelling to two strands! It's the bit of cheap tat that they put on your boat when they sold it to you.

 

Go mad! Buy a couple of nice ropes. Stop your boat feeling ashamed by the bit of tatty string hanging off it's tee-stud. Otherwise it may break the nasty thing and run away!

 

Richard

[Hairy-Neil]

Brilliant weekend!

 

Thanks to all who made it so enjoyable, particularly our hosts Richard & Sue who made it all possible and No. 1 son for the taxi ride. Also to Stort Mark for confirming I'm not the only old cynic about.

 

More later. Need to catch up on some sleep now.

[RLWP]

Brilliant weekend!

 

Thanks to all who made it so enjoyable, particularly our hosts Richard & Sue who made it all possible and No. 1 son for the taxi ride. Also to Stort Mark for confirming I'm not the only old cynic about.

 

More later. Need to catch up on some sleep now.

 

Hurray! Hairy-Neil is still alive!

 

Richard

[Odana]

To Nine-of-Hearts too for his bantering contribution. Hope you found your tiller and buy yourself some ropes! I wouldn't tie a coracle up with that bit of tatty string on your tee-stud.

 

S'OK, that's probably the Cat's only outing this year, and there are few natural hazards (other than Canada Geese) at Hockley Port. So the tatty string should suffice till the next Challenge. Maybe keeping it alive and in service should be a challenge in itself...?

 

Hope the Best Mate's bruises are healing and she now has new shoes

[dove]

but judging by the reaction every time we mentioned it, I suspect our 55 locks in one day will remain unbeaten... (and not a lard sandwich in sight )

 

Beat ya, 66 locks on Saturday.

 

Ho, and sorry if I chopped off the heads of Tawny owls group pics, no glasses, lots of beer.

 

Andrew

[Tim Lewis]

We got up there, unfortunately having to drag Fulbourne through every bridge hole made us late so we abandoned getting to Walsall!

 

Tim

 

 

Having regained my sense after being absolutely knackered from the weeksnd I realise that it wasn't the Cannock extension we went up but the Anglesea Branch. It did mean that I got to see my second favourite bridge name of the weekend:

 

 

Why do they bother?

 

Tim

[RLWP]

 

I wish I could remember what Hairy-Neil was telling me here, but extreme tiredness was setting in under my hat, aided by IPA.

 

Richard

[Nine of Hearts]

Hope the Best Mate's bruises are healing and she now has new shoes

 

My excellent first officer is well on the road to (a slightly purple) recovery, and Dr. Nine's special medicine (bottle of wine followed by a few Brandys) appears to be helping the patient along tremendously. The shoe situation is being addressed this Saturday.

 

My much maligned bow rope is now enjoying a happy retirement in the Sunshine Home for Spent Haberdashery and El Gato is sporting a replacement, you'll all be happy to hear. Although I'm still not uncoiling my 30' hemp to tie her up in a sheltered Port. So there.