them to come through, then got my angles all wrong and cocked it up completely. More reversing was needed, ending up too close to the boats on my left to be able to make the turn to the right. I drifted slowly in and pushed the bow out, now I could get away. Having made the corner a boat owner who I had never seen before clapped. Either it was ironic or she was genuinely impressed I avoided hitting anything, I suspect the former. At last I was away. Departures in a narrowboat are slow. I waved so long I thought my arm would drop off!
After 100 metres I moored up for diesel...and waited. An hour later I was at last on my way and rising up the deep York Street lock. I saw Graham, the friendly British Waterways guy.
“I am off for good, I wont be back until August,” I told him, “I am heading for Oxford.”
“Once you have been there you might as well go down the Thames and along the Kennet and Avon Canal, then back to London and along the Grand Union, then up the Trent and Mersey, down the the Llangollen and back to here along the Shroppy.”
“Okay, but what shall do you suggest I do next week?”
The sun shone, it was still, a perfect summers day. Anglers was spread along the bank, joggers jogged and cyclist cycled. I gave then all a nod like an old timer.
Broken branches lay in the water straddling the canal. I passed over them and a branch became caught on the bottom, surfacing and visible near the bank, the last few inches above the surface looking like a scene from Jaws. I had to pull up and drag the 20 foot branch out, the thought of it around the prop didn’t appeal.
I felt comfortable heading through the locks single handed. Aoiffe was at my side but not fit enough to crew, but perfectly able to tell me I made a lousy cup of tea.
Lunch was taken outside Tesco, so I took the opportunity to stock up with heavy and bulky items rather than transporting them by bike. I started to wheel the loaded trolly down the slope to the towpath and the wheels locked up, the thing wouldn’t budge. A guy watching pointed, “There’s a sign there for trolleys not to be taken beyond this point.”
“That’s clever. How does it work?” I was impressed and fascinated.
“Look at the wheels, those black things stop them turning.”
“I know, but what sets them off?”
“It’s to stop trolleys being taken away.”
“Yeah, I know, but how does it work?”
“It’s stops people chucking them in the canal.”
“Yeah, I know, but how does it work?”
“It stops the wheels turning.”
Thankfully the conversation was stopped when his mobile phone rang. I walked off thinking, “What a thicko,” and I suspect he did exactly the same.
We moored up at Wolverley, then I dumped Aoiffe in the wheelchair and set off for the village, far more interesting than expected with some of the houses cut into the red sandstone cliffs. The cliffs also formed an old pound for stray animals which were held until their owner claimed them.
The journey had started in earnest. A good day, successful day, things could only get worse.
Wolverley to Stourbridge brought a few more locks. With Aoiffe in tow I utilised her by practicing my single handing techniques, so if the worst came to the worst, she could bail me out.
The lock procedure for single handing through locks is slightly different to having a crew and is really a quicker easier process when alone. All the locks were heading uphill. As we approached the locks I would check them carefully through binoculars and if I could see the lock was empty I would ease the bow up the gates and gently nudge them open, then add a little power of open them fully, nice and gently. Open them too quickly and the gates would bounce and start to close. As the boat entered the lock I would put the engine in neutral, turn the tiller 90 degrees to keep it out of the way, then hop off as the stern entered the lock, this saved climbing onto the roof and up the ladder in the lock. The boat would drift slowly in and nudge against the far gate. Once the lock was filled, the top gate is opened and boat taken out, then just as the stern slowly leaves the lock I would put the boat in reverse and hop off. Whilst shutting the top gate the boat would continue forward, stop, then start reversing arriving back so I could step back on and motor away. Aoiffe presence gave me peace of mind through this process as I am not sure I would have had the confidence to try it alone as the boat goes out of reach for a short while and I would have felt a little silly if it had not returned.
At Stourton we climbed through four locks. There was a distinct lack of power whilst leaving the third, then the engine stalled. I restarted it a couple of times, it stalled each time. It was fine in neutral, so I guessed something was jamming the propellor. This is not unusual when boating, but this was the first time it had happened to me, it was time to clear the prop through the weed hatch. After
about 15 minutes of reaching as far as I could, my head almost in the water, I managed to clear the remains of plastic bag and some string. Thankfully the engine ran perfectly.The Stourbridge Canal was definitely smaller and shallower than the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, so shallow I grounded whilst going around a corner. Reversing off and taking the corner wider solved the problem without the need to push and shove with the pole.
So we are nicely placed below the 16 locks at Stourbridge. Tomorrow will be straight into the flight. Single handed I guess it will take between four and five hours and will probably involve more walking to and from locks than boating. I suspect we will only cover two or three miles tomorrow. It will be my first lock flight so should prove interesting and give me plenty of opportunity to improves my techniques.
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