Closing the loop

Sunday 4^th August

And so we come to the final leg of the circuit, on the fourteenth day of the trip. This was over familiar waters, through the remote countryside between Middlewich and Northwich, and then round the latter town, through Wincham, Marston, Anderton and Barnton. The main point of interest is the time we will hit the Saltersford tunnel, because there’s a window of only twenty minutes in each hour that you can set off north. I had some idea we might get there for the 13:00 sailing, but that started to look infeasible, which was a good thing really, as it meant we could take things easy.

Nearly Home

Thin House at Anderton

As we went through Wincham we passed a group of youngish people (by comparison with the average canal population) on the bank next to three plastic cruisers (GRP – Glass Reinforced Plastic) or margarine tubs as they are known to those of us sailing something more solid. Much later, after we had gone through the Saltersford Tunnel, they came up behind us very fast (gosh, perhaps ten knots or more). We pulled over to let them pass, which they did, though I think they could probably have slipped past regardless. When you are used to 57 foot and 17 tonnes of solid iron, these seem incredibly nimble – they are typically only about 20 foot or less, with an outboard motor – they can spin in their own length, accelerate instantly and manoeuvre with ease. They soon vanished up the canal ahead of us.

On Lookout

As usual we took two hours to go from Saltersford Tunnel to Preston Brook Tunnel, and when we arrived the Margarine Tub Club were waiting to go in – their extra speed hadn’t enabled them to get an hour ahead of us. The stop lock was tough to work, because the Trent and Mersey was higher than usual, so even with the water overflowing the bottom gates, there was still a bit of a height difference at the top gate, which made it hard to move. I managed it in the end, and when they saw me there the GRP boaters came back to help.

In Preston Brook Tunnel

We followed them through the tunnel, and then as usual we went up to Keckwick Lane to drop off the dogs. I then winded and came back to the marina, where I moored very nicely – I am getting more confident with experience. I greased the stern gland and we unloaded into Loulie’s car and went home – tired but also sad it was over.

Map at 4-8-19 - the Ring complete

TODAY: 8:05 HOURS. 20.1 MILES. 1 LOCKS.

VOYAGE: 88:45 HOURS. 115.9 MILES. 92 LOCKS. 8 BRIDGES

Ants in our pants

Saturday 3^rd August

The end of our journey is definitely in sight now – we are on waters that we have cruised before, and by the end of the day we will be in very familiar territory (wrong word – aquatory?). We need to decide whether we want to get home on Sunday or Monday – if the latter then we will need to dawdle very deliberately. Probably it will be Sunday, though the weather may decide.

A Crowded Stern Deck

It was warm and sunny this morning, and we made a fairly leisurely start from Wheelock, getting under way at about 11:30 – Loulie went ahead with the dogs to give them a good walk before we reached Middlewich. Having reached the bottom of Heartbreak Hill, which is 26 locks with only small breaks between them, we had four more to do before reaching Kings Lock in Middlewich, but these are well spaced out over about four miles. Although we set out ahead of them, Just Joe came up fast behind us and I let them through – we later overtook them, moored above Kings Lock. At Ettiley Heath we passed a canalside property I always envy – a long stretch of bank and gardens full of shrubbery, with about four benches to sit and watch the passing traffic.

We met a few boats going the other way at the locks, just enough to help keep things going, including three old folk who were doing the Four Counties in a tiny boat less than 20 feet long. However once we got down into Middlewich, and the three locks in the centre, it became very busy, because Andersen Boats, just below those locks, were setting off a number of hirers on their first experience. This wasn’t too bad for us – we crossed a boat in each pound, and there was plenty of help at each lock – but there was quite a queue of boats at the bottom, waiting to go up.

Loulie doing Big Lock

We stopped at the water pint in the centre, below Andersen’s, and did some shopping, then carried on down Big Lock and out into the wilderness north of Middlewich. The Dane where we crossed the aqueduct was pretty swollen, but it was clear from the mud that it had been much higher flooding the fields – much of the rain which we experienced in the past week will have flowed into the Dane up in the hills. It started to pour with rain, and we tested an umbrella that Shirley had bought me as a present – with a very fetching design of Yorkshire Terriers in purple.

We didn’t go much further – Bramble cuttings had four boats, and our regular mooring just beyond it was occupied, so we went a little further and stopped at a remote spot. We moored up and fed the dogs, then we realised that there was a red ant nest right at the spot where we stepped off the stern. Ruby was stung on the foot, and they were swarming on Bridget’s leg. We moved a few yards, but there was another nest, so we went a couple of boatlengths and found an ant-free spot. However that left our bows sticking out too far for my liking, so I hauled us back a bit and we finally found a mooring which suited us all. The torrential rain returned, and the towpath is flooded, but we are safe and dry on board.

  

Map at 3-8-19

TODAY: 6:00 HOURS. 8.5 MILES. 9 LOCKS.

VOYAGE: 80:40 HOURS. 95.8 MILES. 91 LOCKS. 8 BRIDGES

Down the hill

Friday 2^nd August

We awoke this morning to discover we were still afloat, and indeed when I ran the bilge pumps nothing at all came out. That meant that there had been no leakage since I had greased the gland, but I was fairly sure that this was subject to change once we got under way, and the prop shaft started spinning. And indeed so it proved – when we had been going an hour or so, running the pump produced several squirts of water – nothing huge, but a clear sign that there was now some leakage where previously there had been none. This was not an issue while we were travelling – the pump will simply expel any excess – so I left it to be looked at once we were moored.

A fallen branch which has almost blocked the canal

The challenge for the day was simple – the rest of the locks on Heartbreak Hill, twenty left to do before we reached Wheelock. We got away from our moorings just before some people we had seen the day before, on NB Just Joe, which was good news – as I had explained before, following someone through a series of locks is irritating, as they are always against you.

As it was we found almost all of the locks set in our favour, so I only had to fill one chamber completely. Sometimes it worked perfectly so we met another boat coming up and could leave the lock open for them, while they did the same for us. Although they are mostly quite deep the locks are fast and well maintained, and also well designed, with a single gate at the top end and bridges or walkways at both ends, which means you never have to walk twice the length of the lock to work the gates. We met quite a few boats coming up, exchanging a few words as we worked the locks and then said goodbye.

Seems some cows like paddling in the floods

We essentially kept going all the way down. We planned to stop at one point, but there was a boat coming out of the lock, leaving the gate open for us, and we couldn’t resist. We let the girls off for a tiddle just above a lock, and they disgraced themselves, racing off down to the lock and carting about. Minnie even jumped into the water and had to be hauled out before the boat coming up could go past. I got the bicycle off, which meant that I could finish working a lock and close the gates, and still be down at the next lock ready to let Loulie in. We stayed ahead of Just Joe all the way, though they had two people working the locks. Quite a few of the sets on this flight are duplicated, but this didn’t help them, as they were typically finding both locks set against them after we had passed through. It was a nice warm days with plenty of sun and only high clouds – all in all very pleasant.

We finished lock 66 at about 16:00, and we were immediately in wheelock. I dropped Loulie off at the Barchatta restaurant to make a booking, and sailed on a few hundred yards to moor. There are plenty of boats around us (Just Joe is right behind) and houses with dogs opposite but for some reason the dogs have been very quiet all evening.

Once we had moored Loulie took them for a long walk (all except Ruby) while I stayed with the boat. I opened the engine hatch and it was immediately obvious that the stern gland was dripping fast, almost trickling, so I needed to grease it again. Last night I sat on the engine to get down to the gland, but now it was hot after a day’s sailing, but I discovered I could lie on the deck and reach down far enough to get at the greasing screw – helped of course by the fact that it was daylight and I didn’t have to work by the light of my head torch. I put in more grease and happily the dripping stopped dead. So the grease will solve the problem, but only until we turn the prop shaft – presumably the motion and heat drives the grease out of the gaps in the gland and allows the water through. That means I will need to make greasing a part of my end of day routine every day, until we can get it fixed.

We decided to leave the dogs on the boat when we went for a meal at the Barchetta, which allowed us to eat without worrying that they were bothering the other diners. They were quite happy sleeping down below until we came back. It was a very nice meal – the restaurant is in an old canal-side warehouse with floors at various different levels and gaps to allow goods to be hoisted in and out of boats. Back to the boat, and a nice quiet end to the evening.

Moorings at Wheelock 2-8-19

Map at 2-8-19

TODAY: 5:30 HOURS. 5.5 MILES. 20 LOCKS. 0 BRIDGE.

VOYAGE: 74:40 HOURS. 87.3 MILES. 82 LOCKS. 8 BRIDGES

Dive dive dive.

Thursday 1^st August

There was a marina/hire boat centre, Heritage Narrowboats, a couple of miles down the canal from our moorings, so we made our way down there and stopped to get a pumpout, diesel and water, so we were up to date on all our services. It is always nice not to have to worry for a while. The pumpout was particularly important, as last year on the Home Run we found a couple of pumpout places broken down, and there are none in any case all the way down from Red Bull Locks in Kidsgrove until you reach Middlewich.

Ramsdell Hall overlooking the Macc

We pressed on then, down to Hall Green Lock, which is actually the end of the Macclesfield Canal and the start of the Trent and Mersey, although you are still about half a mile from the main line of the latter. Apparently when the Macc was built in about 1830 the Trent and Mersey company were concerned about controlling the link and so they built the arm up to Hall Green, where there were two matching stop locks and to end. Nowadays there is just the one (with a drop of one foot four) and then a long narrow channel where the other lock used to be.

After that you sail over the Trent and Mersey main line, turn sharp left and go along parallel, past two locks which bring the main line up to the same level. You then turn sharp left again, which brings you out to a T-junction on the main line at Hardings Wood Junction. To your right is the entrance to Harecastle tunnel, but we turned left to start the long descent of Heartbreak Hill, 26 locks down to Wheelock.

Joining the Trent and Mersey main line at Hardings Wood Junctions

We still had the laptop to sort out, so after the first lock we moored and I cycled up to the computer place, only about half a mile now. I couldn’t get the exact power lead I needed, but they had one which will provide a trickle feed to the battery, so I can power it up over time. I set off back, and as I did so the heavens opened, again, and I was soaked by the time I got to the boat.

That set the scene for the rest of the trip, heavy showers interspersed with dry intervals. We had our eyes on a spot that we used last year on the Home Run, a good mooring with rings on a narrow stretch near Church Lawton, six locks down. When we arrived there was space, though there were half a dozen boats there already. We like to be well away from others, but the alternative was to do another six locks with no guarantee of anything better, so we tied up at around half five.

As I said we were close to Church Lawton, and at eight the campanologists of the church started to practice, going on for the full hour. At the same time the dogs, especially Posie and Mabel, started seeing or hearing things, and barked incessantly to warn us. Perhaps they were particularly sensitive to bad bellringing. All in all it was not a peaceful quiet evening.

Mabel hiding

And it was to get worse. At half eleven we went to take the dogs for their final walk, and I could hear a constant noise. It was like the central heating, but that wasn’t on, and we finally traced it to the automatic bilge pump, which was running constantly. Normally it only operates for a few moments when triggered by a float.

Investigating, I found that there was a steady and fairly rapid leak in through the stern gland where the prop shaft exits the hull. Fortunately, and quite by chance, I had had a conversation with the engineer last week, while we were pumping diesel out of the engine room, so I knew where the greasing screw was, and also where our tube of grease could be found. Did we have the correct Allen key? Knowing Steve Dugdale (the boat’s previous owner) there would be one around somewhere, and indeed I found it.

The challenges were not over – I had to sit on the engine and work well down below my feet – undo the screw without dropping in, screw in the grease tube and squeeze in the right amount, and then get the screw back in place and nicely tight. And talking of nicely tight, I had to do all this after two beers and half a bottle of Prosecco. I was also by no means certain that this would fix the problem, and as I started to squeeze the grease in the drips of water speeded up. However they then suddenly stopped entirely – the grease must have been pushing the water out of the gland, and once it was full of just grease, the dripping stopped. I watched for about ten minutes (by the light of my head torch) and didn’t see a single drip – so we could go to bed confident that we would not wake up at the bottom  of the canal.

The prop shaft with the stern gland. The greasing screw is top centre on the gland.

Mooring at Church Lawton 1-8-19

Map at 1-8-19

TODAY: 7:00 HOURS. 5.2 MILES. 7 LOCKS. 0 BRIDGE.

VOYAGE: 69:10 HOURS. 81.8 MILES. 62 LOCKS. 8 BRIDGES

Relatively wet

Wednesday 31^st July

 We had very poor internet connectivity last night, which made it hard to get the blog done. We decided today that as we didn’t have any time pressure we would start looking for a mooring early, and make 4G a condition of where we would stop. The best laid plans ….

Shaw Brook valley near Congleton

We were a couple of miles short of Congleton, and we needed to get supplies, so we decided to moor there and walk into town. Congleton Wharf is about a mile or so from the town centre, mostly downhill, so we left the dogs (who had been given a good walk in the morning) asleep on board and set off. We found a Morrisons and loaded up with plenty of food and drink, especially drink. Now here’s the curious thing – the distance back up to the boat was at least twice as far as it had been walking down. Must be something to do with relativity, and the effects of gravity on the shopping bags.

We recycled our old bread through some local wildfowl, and then set off again, and pretty soon began to look for places to stop. The mooring on the Macc is mixed – half the towpath banks are heavily weed-grown with rushes and brambles, and no chance whatever of stopping. The other half are clean, with Armco shuttering which makes for good mooring, though some of these areas have a shelf. We tried a couple of places, but couldn’t get tight to the bank, then we found a nice straight stretch with deep water and good phone connectivity, so we dropped our metaphorical anchor.

Mooring at Oak Farm Bridge

So all was well, or so we thought. Then I realised that my laptop was not charging, although it was plugged in and the boat’s AC inverter was on. After a few tests we worked out that the charging cable was faulty, and none of the others on board would do. A bit of Googling showed to our surprise that there was a business in Kidsgrove, about five miles ahead, which might have something to do the job. It was less than half an hour from closing, but I jumped on my bicycle and headed off up the towpath.

This towpath, sadly, was not the smooth strip of tarmac that might have allowed me to make swift progress. On the contrary, it display every variety of challenge to make my progress slower and more difficult – mud, puddles, uneven surfaces, potholes, overhanging vegetation, tree roots, slopes tipping you towards the canal and ferocious wolves (all right, I made the last one up). Despite pedalling hard and finding the place OK, I was too late and they were shut and gone.

So I had to turn for home (boat), and again that strange relativistic force took effect, making the return journey much longer. At this point it was comedically necessary that the skies should open, and I rode the last few miles in the pouring rain, arriving back at our mooring soaked through. I was comforted, though, by Loulie’s sympathetic gales of laughter, and her comparison of me with Bridget’s obsessive pursuit of a stick.

Map at 31-7-19

TODAY: 4:25 HOURS. 5.3 MILES. 0 LOCKS. 0 BRIDGE.

VOYAGE: 62:10 HOURS. 76.6 MILES. 55 LOCKS. 8 BRIDGES