Slow Motion

 Friday 17^th July 2020

After getting Eileen home last week, we decided we wanted to have a break, a long weekend. We weren’t going to be able to go very far in that time, so we decided to take the contrary approach and go not very far, slowly.

Loulie dropped me at the marina in the morning, and I brought Eileen up to Keckwick for loading. After lunch we put the dogs on board and set off through Moore and Stockton Heath. Around Walton we were caught up by two plastic cruisers, moving much faster than us, as they do, and I let them past. One had a family on board and the second a man on his own, but they seemed to be travelling together.

Soon after we went round a bend and saw the second cruiser drifting oddly at an angle to the bank; the guy seemed to be holding a towel on his head. As we approached slowly we could see the other boat starting to come back, and we could also see that the towel was to mop up a lot of blood on his head. We offered to help but he said his friends were coming back and that he would be fine. Apparently he had hit his head hard on the top of the doorway down into the cabin. A good deal later they both came past us again, so he was clearly OK.

As I said we intended this to be a slow leisurely cruise, so we didn’t try to push on too far for the night. About 18:00 we moored up between Grappenhall and Thelwall, with fields all around us, very nice. There were a few dog walkers coming past, but not too many, and it was a very relaxing spot.

Such a great picture, I had to put it in again

TODAY: 4:30 HOURS. 7.7 MILES. 0 LOCKS.

Voyage: 4:30 HOURS. 7.7 MILES. 0 LOCKS.

 

Off again

So we are off on another adventure, and if things go to plan this will be our longest journey in Eileen, two full weeks. We're going to do the Cheshire Ring, clockwise, and probably a couple of side trips too - the Peak Forest to Whalley Bridge is one we're definitely looking at.

Today though was very familiar waters, as we ready ourselves for the run through Manchester tomorrow. We didn't want to wind up having to spend the night in the centre, so we have positioned ourselves close to the urban area as a jump-off point. We didn't set off from Keckwick bridge until about half two, because we were only planning on about four hours cruising, up to our favourite spot at the Bollin Aqueduct. This took us through Stockton Heath, where we stopped at Thorne Marine and filled up with diesel - she took 180 litres, which is far more than we have ever got into her before.

We have an extra passenger on this trip, at least for the first week. Blossom the Labrador is with us, while her owner Shirley is at Pony Club Camp, where they can't take their dogs. Fortunately our pack already know Blossom, and she is Minnie's best friend - they are very alike. Blossom seems to have settled down pretty well to shipboard life - she was sleeping on the stern with the rest of them before we had gone too far.

After that we carried on through Grappenhall and Thelwall to Lymm, which was looking very picturesque in the sunshine. It is strange - when I approached it by road I never found Lymm very appealing, but arriving by canal seems to put an entirely different face on the village.

It was a beautiful evening, we opened the sun roof, which isn't very often possible. We carried on until just after seven, when we reached our target at the Bollin Aqueduct. To our delight there was nobody else on the stretch, apart from one boat at the far end, half a mile away. There were a fair number of walkers coming past though - one couple who have three dogs and a boat themselves photographed our stern because it is such a good design to keep the dogs aboard. Another couple had a Labrador with them, and we let ours off to play with it for quite a long time. We're off to bed now - we expect an early start, as the sun wakes the dogs, but in any case we want to set off early and get as far as we can through the city.

TODAY: 4.5 HOURS. 11.5 MILES. 0 LOCKS.

VOYAGE: 5.5 HOURS. 13.3 MILES. 0 LOCKS

(Not) running on empty

We are setting off to do the Cheshire Ring tomorrow, and as we will be starting off northwards, towards Manchester, it made sense to bring Eileen up to Keckwick Lane bridge, close to the house, so we could load up more easily in the morning, and at the same time have a half hour head start. So I set off with the dogs to walk to the marina, a bit more than two miles, thus exercising them and at the same time going to collect Eileen.

We got aboard and prepared to set off. I was a little surprised when I started her, that the fuel gauge seemed to be on zero, as I was sure we had plenty of diesel. However as I pulled away from the pier the engine stuttered and died - clearly the gauge had been spot on. I was just too far gone to get back on the pier, so we drifted across the marina and up against a pier with liveaboard boats. By very good luck we happened to end up at a spot where there was a gap just big enough to take Eileen, so by a little manoeuvring with the pole I got her tied up, explaining to someone on the next boat why they suddenly had an unexpected neighbour.

There was nothing for it but to get some fuel, but first I had to get the dogs home - on foot. They were very confused when I got them off the boat, because the way to land was now forward, whereas we had approached from the stern when we arrived. It took a lot of tugging to get them going in the right direction, very tricky on a narrow wooden jetty with four confused and eager dogs.

After walking them home I drove to Thorne Marine in Stockton Heath, and bought two 10l containers, which were then filled with diesel. I also had a long discussion with the man about how to bleed the air out of a diesel system which has run dry, and get the fuel running again - involving undoing each link in the fuel feed and getting the liquid running through.

Back to the marina, and I decanted the fuel into the tank. While doing that I inspected the locking filler cap, because it was clear to me now that we have had the diesel stolen - the logbook shows that the last time we ran her we finished with half a tank. Sure enough the locking cap isn't locking - even with the key in the on position the cap still unscrews. I don't know whether it has simply deteriorated, or if the thief broke it, but either way we will need a new one.

Once the fuel was in I thought I would give the engine a spin to see if it might start, and to my surprise it caught instantly - as Loulie said when I rang to tell her - "What a great boat!" I squeezed back out of the hole I was in, with some difficulty, and then cruised down the canal to Keckwick, as planned but rather later. I moored up, and we have already put some supplies (mostly liquid) on board ready for the start of the trip tomorrow.

Eileen moored opposite Daresbury Labs

Mabel Seaman Secker comes aboard

We have a new addition to the crew. Mabel is a Jack Russell, a "sort of" rescue. She is four and a half, and was a breeding dog, but her third litter had to be delivered by Cesarean, so her owner decided he couldn't breed from her any more. She went to a new owner but after a month he had to give her back because his work circumstances changed. We heard about her through Posie's trainer, and she has just joined us.

She's a lovely little dog, but very nervous, so we wanted to introduce her to shipboard life gently, especially as she will have to sleep with all the others - at home for now she is sleeping away from them. So I collected Eileen from the marina and brought her up to moor opposite the laboratory near Keckwick Lane. We brought the dogs, minus Ruby, up to the boat and kept them there for a couple of hours, without the engine. Mabel seemed entirely happy, indeed more relaxed than at home, so we decided that we would have a voyage the next day.

We left Eileen moored overnight, then took all five dogs up and set off. Again Mabel seemed entirely happy, and there was very little aggro from Ruby. We went up through Stockton Heath and Grappenhall, to Thelwall, where I dropped Loulie and all five dogs for a walk. I took Eileen on to the winding hole beyond Thewall, turned and came back to pick the girls up. We came back down and moored in the same spot by Keckwick.

All in all we were delighted by Mabel's reaction to the boat and the others on board - she is very happy, more so than Ruby, with shipboard life, and seems to come out of her shell a bit. Maybe it's because she doesn't feel so much that she is intruding into the others' territory. She was hopping on and off the bank very happily, and once she even came down the stairs into the galley, though it was a bit of a tumble.


It was fairly late by this time, so we left Eileen overnight again, and went back up in the morning. We just took her back to the marina - it was a bit cold for pleasure cruising. We moored on the water point to fill up, then reversed into our mooring. We walked back from the marina to home, so the dogs had plenty of exercise again. All in all a very successful first cruise for our new Able Seaman Mabel.

Look before you leap

After our epic dash yesterday we had earned ourselves a leisurely start today, with not too far to go to reach home. Even the dogs seemed to realise this, and for the first time ever we were woken by the alarm at 7:45. It was another lovely day, and after breakfast we took the dogs for a walk down to the Bollin, where as usual Bridget chased at least 20 sticks (actually the same stick 20 times) into the fast flowing water. It doesn’t bother her at all, she seems to be excited by the moving water. The other Labradors got thoroughly wet too, and even Ruby toddled down the steep paths and back up again with no complaints.

Mooring at the Bollin Aqueduct again

We got under way at about 11:15, but within a mile we came to the Old Number 3 moorings, and the water point was free, so we decided to stop and fill the tank. There is a small group of about half a dozen boats there, and while we were filling up a supply boat arrived. This sails up and down the Bridgewater, providing coal, Calor gas and diesel – they have a little pump on the deck.

Workboat near the Old No 3

Soddum Hall

Water point at the Old No 3

When we had finished I took Loulie and the dogs across to the towpath side, and they got off for a walk. As I was slowly following them, the bow thruster suddenly started running, without me operating the controls. It kept running, with a loud howl, and it was forcing the bows to port across the canal. I reversed to bring the stern to the other bank, but we were now right across the canal with the bows up against a moored boat on the other side. I hurried along the side deck to the bows, opened the hatch to the thruster compartment, and turned the isolator switch. Fortunately I knew where this is – it is really for use when you are working on the motor, to isolate it and avoid any risk of shocks, but it came in handy to kill the motor in an emergency. Once I got the boat back in line and on the towpath side I had a look for any obvious faults but I could see nothing, and closing the isolator led to the motor starting up madly once more, so I left it off. The control panel on the poop rail shows that the motor is off, so I suspect now some fault at that end of the circuit.

Walking the dogs

Meeting a Jack Russell

Hesford Marine uses a beached boat as an office

At Oughtrington there is a bizarre collection of canal-side paraphernalia

I collected the girls and we went on into Lymm, where we moored for lunch, which I bought from a local bakery, hot sausage rolls and pies, very nice. After that we sailed on, under bright sunshine and with no wind, a great contrast to the gales and pouring rain we suffered going the other way last week.

At Thelwall we caught up with the supply boat again

Each time we pass Thelwall this cruiser has sunk a little further

We decided that Loulie would take the dogs back to the house up Keckwick Lane, so we could unload at the marina in peace. So I came in to the bank opposite the Daresbury labs, just under the bridge. However I was a little too impatient, and instead of reversing fully into the bank I jumped across the gap with the rope, to pull us in. However, rather like Loulie on the Home Run, my foot landed on a grass overhang, and slipped off. I might have got away with a wet foot if I had let go of the rope and used both hands, but I was determined to hold on and I slipped in entirely. Still holding the rope I swam a few strokes to catch up with the boat, which now stopped, bows to the bank, and then went to the bank and stood up in the water. The Bridgewater, unlike the Shropshire Union, has deep vertical banks, and I was about chest deep, and the towpath was at head height. I had a bit of a struggle to clamber out, because of the weight of water in my clothes and especially my shoes.

I still had the rope in my hand, so I pulled the boat in to the bank, as a large pool of water grew around my feet. Loulie was still on the stern deck with the dogs – she was trying not to laugh, they were wondering why Daddy was allowed to go for a swim while they had to stay dry. We now reverted to Plan A, she took the dogs home while I had a shower in the boat and a complete change of clothes. I then sailed down to the marina, where ironically I made a perfect entrance and moored on the dock with precision. I have been getting more confident with the navigation and manoeuvring during this holiday, and losing the bow thruster is not a problem, certainly when it’s calm. But I need to make the boat do more of the work, and not make up for a sloppy approach by jumping off and using physical force to pull her in.

So our journey to the deep North is over, and it’s been fun, and also an education. I doubt we will go down the Rufford branch until we are ready to cross the Ribble, but we certainly want to do the Liverpool Docks journey – we met several people who had done it and told us it was brilliant. The mooring near Gathurst was excellent, a lovely spot with an Indian takeaway in walking distance. We still need to find somewhere amenable to moor on the Leigh branch, otherwise we have to make the long dash through Manchester and Wigan on a single day. And we have also learned that there’s no diesel in Wigan, and that we should fill up whenever we get the chance.

Today: 5.5 hours. 13.3 miles. 0 locks. 0 bridges.

Voyage: 53.7 hours. 121.7 miles. 30 locks. 26 bridges.

Off to the deep north

We're taking a week away on the Eileen Dover. We've hired boats a couple of times in the past during October, and we've generally been pretty lucky with the weather - though I must say the signs so far this time are not looking promising. Our plan is to go north, up past Leigh on the Bridgewater and then onto the Leeds & Liverpool. The Wigan flight is still closed, because of the water shortage, so we will go west when we meet the main line of the L&L. Eventually that would take us to Liverpool, but we don't really have time to do that justice. You can go right down into the docks and cruise along as far as Albert Dock. However you have to book in advance, and you have to stay overnight at the end of the run through to Salthouse Dock. So we will probably turn around somewhere about Aintree, rather than going into Liverpool city, and leave that for another trip.

What we do intend to do is to have a look at the Rufford arm. That is a short extension which goes north from the main line, and links up with the River Douglas. That, in turn, flows into the Ribble estuary, and you can use that to get across into the Lancaster Canal. We won't be doing that this trip - you have to book a sailing with a convoy organised by C&RT, and have anchors and lifejackets for the open water. We intend to go down to the end of the canal navigation and have a look - the branch itself should be nice and rural, from the look of the map, so we'll probably spend a night there.

I have Friday off work, so we decided to spend Thursday night aboard and get a good start for Friday - rather than wasting half the day packing. So I brought Eileen round to Keckwick Lane, close to the house, and we loaded our provision and the dogs. We got under way about 17:00, but we hadn't gone far before the heavens opened. There isn't really any good place to stop in Stockton Heath, not one where we can let the dogs out safely, so we pressed on. Eventually I was rewarded, as the clouds cleared behind me and the setting sun shone through, producing a magnificent rainbow. We went on through Grappenhall and moored in semi-darkness; a great spot, with fields behind the towpath, where the dogs can roam freely. We have got them illuminated collars - different colours, with batteries that recharge using a USB port. These make a huge difference - a black Labrador is a tricky thing to spot in the dark, but now we can see where they all are at a glance.

Today: 2 hours. 7.6 miles. 0 locks.

Day out

Owning Eileen Dover is not just about epic journeys around the Four Counties Ring - we also intend to take small trips out, overnight or even just for one day. This was the first such, just a short jaunt up the Bridgewater towards Manchester. We have been this way before, but it is somehow different when it's your own boat.

Loulie took me down to the marina and we loaded various stuff onto the boat, then she went back home for the dogs. I took the boat out - it all went well at first, as I reversed out of our mooring neatly without fouling any other boats. I was pleased, because it is pretty tight. However, as I went forward and turned towards the exit I misjudged the curve as the wind pushed me towards the piers, and bumped against the stern of a boat before I could get away. It could have been worse, stuck on a lee shore, but I need to allow more room for windage in future. Most of the canal network is fairly sheltered, with trees and cuttings, but the marina is a large open space and the wind has more chance to make itself felt.

After that it all went fine, as I left the marina and turned north on the main line. I picked up Loulie and the dogs at Keckwick Lane bridge, and we headed out. We had no very firm plan, basically just head for Lymm and see how far we got before we needed to moor. We also wanted to get a feel for how long it would take to get to various landmarks. As it turns out we got to Grappenhall in two hours, and Thelwall (where we moor for the Little Manor) in two and a half. Loulie took the helm for a while on the approach to Lymm, but handed it back to me for the tricky bit through the middle, with boats moored on both sides.

It took us about three hours to get to Lymm, and on the other side we stopped to feed the dogs, and give them a walk. After I had picked up the crew we went on for a short while, past the Old Number Three, and moored close to Dunham Massey, just before the aqueduct over the river Bollin. Off the towpath there's a steep (but not dangerous) slope down to open rough ground - perfect for the dogs. It's an ideal mooring - we can just let them off, and the worst thing that can happen is that Minnie will go for a swim. We decided we should not feel we have to eat out every time we're on the boat, and so we just had spaghetti on board, rather than a meal at the Swan.

Moored near Dunham Massey by the Bollin Aqueduct

As usual, we were woken much earlier than we would have liked, especially on a Sunday morning. It did mean we could take our time, and we went for a walk with the dogs. We went along the aqueduct, and then dropped down to the River Bollin below. Bridget loved this - she seems to like water that is moving, like the river or the sea, and she bounded around like Tigger.

We were facing east, and we had to travel nearly two miles that way before we could find a winding hole and turn to come back. The bow thruster stopped working properly while we were winding - possibly there is something like weed blocking it. This and the wind which had got up gave me some concerns for mooring when we got back to the marina.

That was some distance away though, and we pottered slowly back the way we had come yesterday. We moored in Lymm to get some food, and the dogs had a walk, then we continued. There are a lot of day boats on hire on this stretch at the weekends, from Preston Brook, Stockton Heath and further afield, and they don't stick to the rules very well. You can usually spot them by the speed they are doing, and when I met one on a bend in Grappenhall he seemed to have forgotten which side to pass and tried to go down my starboard side. Fortunately he understood my frantic hand signals before we met with a crunch.

I dropped Loulie and the dogs at Keckwick Lane and carried on to the marina, with some trepidation. However it all went very well, despite the lack of bow thrusters. The trick is to take everything dead slow, and reverse and re-approach if necessary, rather than trying to do the whole thing in a dynamic swooping move. A narrowboat has no grip, and wind and the effect of banks and shallows mean that she doesn't always follow the line you are expecting. I lined her up carefully into our moorings, and slid slowly between the other boats without touching anything - very nice.

Voyage: 9 hours. 29.4 miles. 0 locks.