22 Locks

It is always a risk when you take small helpless creatures with you on a boat, that one of them will fall overboard and have to be rescued. And so it proved today, as one of our passengers fell into the gap between the boat and the bank. The only surprise was that it was Loulie. And even more surprising, she hadn’t even started on the wine. More on that story later.

We made an early start from home, hoping to be aboard and away from Nantwich by ten or soon after. Our best laid plans ran into problems in the shape of an accident which had closed the A49 at Cotebrook. Unfortunately the diversion was along narrow country roads and the heavy lorry ahead of us caused severe delays. In the end it was 11:30 before we were able to start the engine and sail away from the mooring in Nantwich.

The very first manoeuvre proved challenging, as we had to turn very sharp right onto the main line of the canal, out of the basin. Probably we should have turned left, the easy way, and gone down to the first winding hole, but we were just able to get round, putting our bow into the opposite bank and slowly swinging the stern around. It was very tight, I don’t think a 60’ boat would have made it.

So off we went through Nantwich, and the first challenge came in a few miles, the two locks at Hack Green. Loulie is still reluctant to pilot the boat so she is doing the heavy work on the locks, though in fact we had an easy start. Someone was coming out of the first lock as we arrived, so we could sail straight in, and the one above was also in our favour. As we left that lock we could see in the distance a boat which seemed to be approaching, so we thought we might leave the gate open. However it was behaving so oddly that in the end we closed the gate and pressed on. When we got closer all was revealed – it was a boat full of novices, who hadn’t got the trick of which way to pull the tiller. They were bouncing from side to side, and we squeezed past with inches to spare. Looking back we could see that they had become stuck right across the canal, with several moored boaters going to their rescue. The great thing about the canals is that since everything happens at a maximum of 3 mph, it is very hard to injure anything but your pride.

The two locks at Hack Green were a mere hors d’oeuvres for the main event of the day, and perhaps the whole voyage – the fifteen lock flight at Audlem. One thing that must be said for the locks in this flight – unlike the ones further north, at Beeston or down into Chester, they are small (single boat) and well maintained. The size means that they fill and empty quickly, and the paddles are generally quite easy to raise. Nevertheless it was three hours of steady work, for Loulie at least, I just had to keep the boat in the right place. Hanging in the short pounds between locks was tricky; without steerage way the boat has a tendency to veer, and this is where the bow thrusters really come into their own.

After a few locks which were set in our favour we came up behind a small queue of boats going our way, which slowed us down. We discovered that the head of this queue was a boat crewed by three women, with no engine. They are crossing the country begging for tows and pulling the boat themselves if they have to – apparently to prove that “the Lord will provide”. Very noble I am sure, but it doesn’t half slow you down, getting stuck behind a boatful of zealots.

Looking up the Audlem flight

 We finished the Audlem flight in about three hours, which is pretty good and better than we feared. We stopped for a short while to rest Loulie’s legs and allow me and the dogs to stretch ours – Minnie of course had to take a dip in the canal, and the puppy copied her. The boat has been everything we hoped for the dogs – they can’t get out over the stern rails, which means they don’t have to be shut down below at locks and other tricky situations.

Dogs in a lock

 After the break we pressed on to do the five-lock Adderley flight, which was much like Audlem – tight locks, quick to fill and empty. It was after 6pm by now, and there were no other boats going up or down. After the locks we looked for somewhere to moor for the night. We had a couple of failed attempts, as the bottom shelved out from the side and we couldn’t get within two feet of the bank. In the end we moored about a mile short of Market Drayton, and we had to accept a substantial gap between boat and bank. Not a problem for the dogs, as we rigged the gangplank, and of course humans could comfortably step across the gap.

Or so you would think. I was cooking supper, and draining some water into the canal, from the stern, while behind me Loulie was stepping off the boat to get the dogs. Suddenly I heard behind me “Oh! Ah! Help! Splash!”. I turned around to find Loulie standing between the boat and the bank. She was in no danger of drowning – it didn’t reach her waist – but she had bounced off the side of the boat with her thigh and then her elbow, both of which subsequently developed splendid swellings and bruises.

The objective reader will instantly see what a disaster this was. I was facing the wrong way, so I did not observe the details, and even worse, there is no video record of the event. Can you believe when I said I was going for my phone to take some pictures, Loulie demanded that I pull her out first, without taking even one photo for the record.

Our mooring for the first night. Note the handy gap between boat and bank.

A milepost at our mooring. 10 miles today.

Our neighbours. It was rush hour.

So an eventful first day on our new boat. We’re delighted with the space to eat in the saloon, and the double bed is fabulous, according to Loulie who has already retired there. If we could only keep the crew on board, it would be perfect. By the way there is no mobile signal where we moored tonight, so this will have to be posted tomorrow.

Today: 7.5 hours. 10 miles. 22 locks. 1 Crew Overboard