Northampton Arm, Grand Union Canal - 17/4/18

[gbclive]

3 hours ago, David Mack said:

The bridge beams look to be softwood, so unless they are well injected with preservative they aren't going to last very long. Balance beams are usually oak.

To my untrained eye, the grain did look notably course.

Potential for an interesting discussion with lawyers if someone had been hurt?

Perhaps something to do with the fact that they where intended to be mainly a cosmetic feature, but were actually capable of being operated?

[gbclive]

10 hours ago, john6767 said:

In my opinion the Nene gets better further  down, below Wellingborough 

This evening we are just above Wellingborough on a stunning and remote FOTRN mooring near Great Doddington.

Dificult to believe it can get any better!

And the weather has been perfect 

[Peter X]

In the first picture gbclive posted there are what look to me like woodworm holes. This suggests to me that maybe the wood was softwood which had been stored with inadequate ventilation prior to being installed. I say this because when I bought my first house in 1985 which had some woodworm in the suspended (softwood) floor in one room, the surveyor said it was because the airbrick had been blocked up and woodworm prefer a place with no air movement. But I'm no expert; I think there are different species involved, including death watch beetle which does attack oak, and maybe they like different conditions?

[MoominPapa]

20 hours ago, gbclive said:

This evening we are just above Wellingborough on a stunning and remote FOTRN mooring near Great Doddington.

Dificult to believe it can get any better!

And the weather has been perfect 

Great Doddington is good, , but it goes a bit downhill 'till Wellingborough., after that is the best bit.

 

MP.

 

[mark99]

21 hours ago, gbclive said:

This evening we are just above Wellingborough on a stunning and remote FOTRN mooring near Great Doddington.

Dificult to believe it can get any better!

And the weather has been perfect 

Nice one. The Neen, Nen, is on our list. Ever read the BB book "A Summer on the Nene"?

 

BB was a great British Author.

Edited April 21, 2018 by mark99

[gbclive]

1 hour ago, MoominPapa said:

Great Doddington is good, , but it goes a bit downhill 'till Wellingborough., after that is the best bit.

We have found most of the Nene wonderful so far - the amazing weather has been the icing on the cake.

Blood pressure at an all time low except for the few moments when the river reminds you not to take it for granted 

It helps to be well prepared, so a big thank you to Gazza!

Here are views from our 3 moorings so far:

[rusty69]

Great pics. We stopped at a great fotrn mooring last year, wonderful spot,had it all to ourselves

 

 

Edited April 21, 2018 by rusty69

[gbclive]

47 minutes ago, mark99 said:

Nice one. The Neen, Nen, is on our list. Ever read the BB book "A Summer on the Nene"?

Thanks for that Mark, I’ll save up my pocket money as it looks like a good read.

I know that like us you realy like the Wey, but trust me, the Nene is very special 

[gbclive]

4 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Great pics. We stopped at a great fotrn mooring last year, wonderful spot,had it all to ourselves

 

Thanks Rusty - becoming a member of FOTRN is a complete no brainer.

[rusty69]

5 minutes ago, gbclive said:

Thanks Rusty - becoming a member of FOTRN is a complete no brainer.

Yep.Have added pic, but can't recall where it is.

[gbclive]

Back briefly to the original subject of the post.

I learnt today from another boater, that apparently the current lifting bridges were reinstated by the IWA Northampton Arm but with CRT oversight. They were just part of an ongoing project to improve the arm.

[mark99]

Bads news Clive as you prob know BB books are very, very collectable and hence expensive.

 

He was born in Northants in a vicarage. 

 

 

[gbclive]

1 minute ago, mark99 said:

Bads news Clive as you prob know BB books are very, very collectable and hence expensive.

I did see the prices, but there is probably a good reason they are expensive, so I will ask for one for birthday 

[gbclive]

42 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Yep.Have added pic, but can't recall where it is.

You must be psychic Rusty!

That’s our plan for tomorrow - It looks perfect 

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, gbclive said:

You must be psychic Rusty!

That’s our plan for tomorrow - It looks perfect 

See if you can get my mooring pin out ,if it's still there would ya. Next to the offcut tree with boat names carved in. Ta

[gbclive]

23 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

See if you can get my mooring pin out ,if it's still there would ya. Next to the offcut tree with boat names carved in. Ta

I will imbibe a suitable beverage in order to “Refreshes the Parts Other Beers Cannot Reach” -  then give it a go, as I do like a challenge.

[rusty69]

19 minutes ago, gbclive said:

I will imbibe a suitable beverage in order to “Refreshes the Parts Other Beers Cannot Reach” -  then give it a go, as I do like a challenge.

If you manage to remove excalibur, as I named it (if it's still there), you will be proclaimed Clive, King of the East anglians. The throne of  Fotheringhay will be yours! 

Edited April 21, 2018 by rusty69

[gbclive]

8 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

If you manage to remove excalibur, as I named it (if it's still there), you will be proclaimed Clive, King of the East anglians. The throne of  Fotheringhay of will be yours! 

Thank you my lord, that’s brilliant!

Then I’ll be able to say “Do you know who I am?” I’ve always wanted to do that 

Just in case you have not seen this...................

 

[rusty69]

22 hours ago, gbclive said:

Thank you my lord, that’s brilliant!

Then I’ll be able to say “Do you know who I am?” I’ve always wanted to do that 

Just in case you have not seen this...................

 

Well, did King Clive successfully extract Exalibur from the roots of the mighty oak to take his place as king of the Britons?

Edited April 22, 2018 by rusty69

[gbclive]

9 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Well, did King Clive successfully extract Exalibur from the roots of the mighty oak to take his place as king of the Britons?

Sorry - no 

The short version........

Whilst reversing into the narrow river against the flow, all was going swimmingly well until a brisk crosswind picked up.

(That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it)

To say I got into a bit of a pickle would not do justice to the complete Horlick that ensured.

First I got pinned against a moored Narrowboat whose owners were having a BBQ.

Then I got stuck diagonally across the small river between the bank and the boat.

Then, after nearly wiping out the FOTRN notice, things got even worse when I got stuck at right angles across the main river with the wind and current taking it in turns to be dominant.

The embarrassment was so extreme (yes there was an audience) that after two heroic bow hauling sessions by my wife, I felt compelled to get as far away as possible, so we ended up in Oundle Marina.

So sorry Rusty, I’ve let the side down - perhaps I should take up golf instead?

Postscript - much much later, whilst recounting my utter incompetence to a very pleasant gentleman at the bar of the most excellent Oundle Cruising Club, I was mortified when I eventually cottoned on that he was both the founder and Chairman of FOTRN  

file

[rusty69]

10 minutes ago, gbclive said:

So sorry Rusty, I’ve let the side down - perhaps I should take up golf instead?

You should have just lied and said it wasn't there

Sorry you missed out on a great spot. Maybe on the way back eh? 

It was quite blowy today though!

Edited April 22, 2018 by rusty69

[gbclive]

Perhaps ........if I get the boat repainted and renamed in the meantime so that I won’t be recognised.

[rusty69]

3 minutes ago, gbclive said:

Perhaps ........if I get the boat repainted and renamed in the meantime so that I won’t be recognised.

Just paint it a hideous turquoise colour and name it mr rusty. If it happens again, you can blaim me! 

[gbclive]

Just now, rusty69 said:

Just paint it a hideous turquoise colour and name it mr rusty. If it happens again, you can blaim me! 

[mark99]

Just when you think you got is sussed, along comes either wind, current, nonchalence or all three <plus an audience> and it's a reminder that no matter how good we think we are we ain't.

 

We went past a spot yesterday when, years ago,  we managed to ram across the canal junction blocking not only one canal but two. It was a horrendous feeling, we got out of it on our own but it does make for good memories. Eventually! 

Edited April 23, 2018 by mark99