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A big thank you to Hairy Neil

Chertsey

By Chertsey
in General Boating

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Chertsey Veteran

Chertsey

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Who not only turned out to help diagnose what had gone wrong with Chertsey's engine on the tidal Trent the other week (worn key and shaft on the high pressure fuel pump), and helped fix it, but then volunteered to move Chertsey from Torksey to Stretton on the Shroppie. We were already committed to moving Bakewell last week so had been trying to move Chertsey in advance of that, to get through Fradley before stoppages kicked in yesterday. If it hadn't been for Neil's crazy offer, Chertsey wouldn't have made it back to the mooring before late December, and only then if it didn't freeze. Neil and his mate Paul (total previous boating experience: one day) left Torksey on Wednesday the 2nd, cleared Fradley with mere hours to spare, and were at Brewood by Monday night, and managed to take in a healthy number of pubs along the way (including, I believe, five in one evening). Chertsey was introduced to her new life partner at Stretton (we arrived with Bakewell on Monday morning) on Tuesday morning.

 

So many, many thanks Neil and Paul.

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bargemast Influencer

bargemast

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Who not only turned out to help diagnose what had gone wrong with Chertsey's engine on the tidal Trent the other week (worn key and shaft on the high pressure fuel pump), and helped fix it, but then volunteered to move Chertsey from Torksey to Stretton on the Shroppie. We were already committed to moving Bakewell last week so had been trying to move Chertsey in advance of that, to get through Fradley before stoppages kicked in yesterday. If it hadn't been for Neil's crazy offer, Chertsey wouldn't have made it back to the mooring before late December, and only then if it didn't freeze. Neil and his mate Paul (total previous boating experience: one day) left Torksey on Wednesday the 2nd, cleared Fradley with mere hours to spare, and were at Brewood by Monday night, and managed to take in a healthy number of pubs along the way (including, I believe, five in one evening). Chertsey was introduced to her new life partner at Stretton (we arrived with Bakewell on Monday morning) on Tuesday morning.

 

So many, many thanks Neil and Paul.

 

 

What a man that Neil, to help you out like that, he deserves a HUGE thank you.

 

Peter.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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In the future, you wouldn't like to get Chertsey holed up at a few other locations when you are not able to move her yourselves would you ? :rolleyes:

 

You might just find some other volunteer boat movers!

 

(That said I have no personal experience of the tidal Trent, so probably wouldn't have been up for that - and I suspect Sarah would have made polite excuses too!)

 

Seriously though, very, very well done to Neil. I know Sarah had serious doubts about getting Chertsey through in time, and it seems like Neil and his mate have done a stunning job.

 

I assume we can take it the Petter fix has been successful ?

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troutrunner Engager

troutrunner

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Here are a few photy's from the baptism of Fire that I went through (more to come) and I didn't fall in once.

 

Enjoy.

Dunham Bridge in the morning, recovering from the Dutch courage of the previous night (Springhead, Roaring Meg).

CHERTSEY006.jpg

 

CHERTSEY005.jpg

 

CHERTSEY007.jpg

 

Oh! thought i'd put one up of our night out.

 

CHERTSEY001.jpg

 

170 photy's in total, but I won't bore you with then all unless you ask.

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bargemast Influencer

bargemast

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Here are a few photy's from the baptism of Fire that I went through (more to come) and I didn't fall in once.

 

Enjoy.

 

 

170 photy's in total, but I won't bore you with then all unless you ask.

 

 

I'm not asking for all of the 170 photos, but if you have some more photos on which we can see CHERTSEY, I would be very happy.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter.

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Chertsey Veteran

Chertsey

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Posted (edited)

Do they look good together now you can see them side by side.It sounded like an epic journey that both boats had reading your blog and the post on waterlily's blog.Well done all :cheers:

Yes, though I feel with hindsight I should have gone through some ritual of introducing them before tying them together. And I forgot to take any photos of them together!

 

Oh... AND Neil polished the brass!!!

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sueb Veteran II

sueb

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Here are a few photy's from the baptism of Fire that I went through (more to come) and I didn't fall in once.

 

Enjoy.

Dunham Bridge in the morning, recovering from the Dutch courage of the previous night (Springhead, Roaring Meg).

CHERTSEY006.jpg

 

CHERTSEY005.jpg

 

CHERTSEY007.jpg

 

Oh! thought i'd put one up of our night out.

 

CHERTSEY001.jpg

 

170 photy's in total, but I won't bore you with then all unless you ask.

Neil you have had a haircut :D

Sue

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Ange Veteran

Ange

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We passed Chertsey with Hairy Neil at the helm when we were coming out of a lock somewhere between Burton-on-Trent and Shardlow on Saturday (can't remember which one, but we had to use both gates because neither would fully open). I was walking to the boat in a little world of my own and only registered it was a working boat when I waved politely. Neil woke me up when he shouted "Ange, it's Hairy Neil" and pointed at the name on the boat!! Paul admonished me for doing the locks when I should have been steering and letting Dave do the hard work :)

 

Well done Neil - it's a shame we didn't meet at a point where we could have shared a few beers with you & Paul :cheers:

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Guest

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We passed Chertsey with Hairy Neil at the helm when we were coming out of a lock somewhere between Burton-on-Trent and Shardlow on Saturday (can't remember which one, but we had to use both gates because neither would fully open). I was walking to the boat in a little world of my own and only registered it was a working boat when I waved politely. Neil woke me up when he shouted "Ange, it's Hairy Neil" and pointed at the name on the boat!! Paul admonished me for doing the locks when I should have been steering and letting Dave do the hard work :)

 

Well done Neil - it's a shame we didn't meet at a point where we could have shared a few beers with you & Paul :cheers:

 

Probably Stenson lock.

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Ange Veteran

Ange

Posted
Posted

Probably Stenson lock.

 

Thanks Martin - that was my hunch but I wasn't sure. That was the lock we knew we had to get past before the stoppages made getting to Nottingham more than a little bit difficult. Hopefully they're going to sort those gates out!

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bargemast Influencer

bargemast

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Here are a few more.

 

 

Thank you very much for these photos Paul, and just by coincidence photos of a stretch of the river where I've been walking in the beginning of May, on the way back from the Skipton Waterways Festival, I only went as far as the drydock, just after the next lock.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter.

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wrigglefingers Experienced

wrigglefingersDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Leaving the trent for Nottingham and Beeston.

 

CHERTSEY048.jpg

 

CHERTSEY049.jpg

 

CHERTSEY050.jpg

 

CHERTSEY052.jpg

 

I will try and be a bit more selective with the rest, I'll put a link to my Photobucket file. :cheers:

 

Great photos, Paul, and a big slap on the back for you and Neil being such good people! (Actually, I'm very jealous!)

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Hairy-Neil Veteran

Hairy-Neil

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We passed Chertsey with Hairy Neil at the helm when we were coming out of a lock somewhere between Burton-on-Trent and Shardlow on Saturday (can't remember which one, but we had to use both gates because neither would fully open). I was walking to the boat in a little world of my own and only registered it was a working boat when I waved politely. Neil woke me up when he shouted "Ange, it's Hairy Neil" and pointed at the name on the boat!! Paul admonished me for doing the locks when I should have been steering and letting Dave do the hard work :)

 

Well done Neil - it's a shame we didn't meet at a point where we could have shared a few beers with you & Paul :cheers:

 

Well at least Dave had recognised me after doing a double take. "You're not Sarah! Hey, hang on.... You're Hairy-Neil".

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Hairy-Neil Veteran

Hairy-Neil

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It was a pleasure.... :cheers:

 

 

The dedication to finding good beer as well as moving the boat was what really impressed me.

Bloody brilliant the both of you, great photos and serious drinkers to boot. Remind me to get into training before our next jaunt.

 

IIRC, if you count those we went in twice we visited 20 pubs in the six days, though there were three we looked in at Barton Under Needwood (one CAMRA GBG) that had nothing to suit us. Barton is a wonderful place if you're into Marston's Pedigree, with all six pubs stocking it, and three outlets in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide too. However, The Waterfront had the best choice of ales by far and I believe if we had gone there first we would have happily stayed there all evening..... :cheers: We did manage a few hours kip (though, moored nect to the A38 trunk road, Paul would say otherwise as he's yet to discover earplugs) before getting on our way again.

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