Monday, June 11, 2007

The Great CBA Part II

So where I left off it was Monday night, I think.
The next day, Tuesday, was rain, rain, rain again - but in the afternoon it came out sunny! So we took full advantage of the sun, sitting on the roof of the boat, cruising along - Michelle and I even practised our Charlie's Angels impersonations!

The sun was so nice that we decided to have a BBQ on the boat... except we weren't supposed to! I didn't realise this until afterwards, when one of the guys said "hey didn't the guy say we weren't to have any naked flames on the boat?".... hehehe...
Anyway, it was a lovely evening.Tuesday was supposed to be our turn around day - we had to return the boat to the company on Friday so because there are only a few key places on the canal where you can turn around, we knew we had to take advantage of the nearest turnaround point when we were halfway through the holiday. The problem was, with this being the first time the sun had come out, it seemed like such a pity to be turning around now and heading for home. So, we decided that we would head for the Braunston tunnel first thing Wednesday morning, as it wasn't too far away and there was a turn around point just after it. We would then turn and head back to Linslade.
So Wednesday morning, Erik and I are the first ones up. We decided to get the boat moving, head for the tunnel, and then we could moor up and all have breakfast the other side of the tunnel before turning for home. It started spitting but we tried to ignore it, and made it as far as the tunnel. I was steering at this point, so I steered us through the tunnel. This tunnel isn't as long as the Blisworth one, but it was made by two companies in the 1700s, and they kind of got their measurements wrong - so there's a big kink in it in the middle. Not a problem you say, but bear in mind, its pitch black in these tunnels, the only light is coming from a spotlight at the front of the boat (and well, all the lights in the boat as the regulations are that you have to turn all the lights in the boat on when in the tunnel - but this doesn't really give much light to navigate by - it just helps other boats to know where you are). So it was actually very difficult to steer. Fortunately though I did not hit the walls (and luckily no boats passed us whilst we were in the tunnel).


We got to the other side of the tunnel, and there's a problem. The turning area is too narrow for our boat. We can't turn! Hmm...
So, we moored up and pondered our plight over breakfast (yummy French toast cooked by Q). There was only one thing for it. We had to go on to the next turning point. The only problem with that was - there were 7 (yes, SEVEN) locks in a row just before the turning point - so we would have to go through the 7 locks, turn around, and DO THE SAME SEVEN LOCKS AGAIN!!!!
But there was nothing for it, we had to do it. Actually it wasn't so bad, its just that it takes some time for the locks to fill, so in all it took about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to go through the 7 locks. And then we had to go back through them.
So mid-afternoon and we finally turn around and make our way back. The thing is, its raining again - but by this point we really have got the driving teams sorted and actually it wasn't a hardship at all.
We drove as far as we could before sunset (bearing in mind sunset is around 9pm, so actually we made up some time) and then pulled off to the side near a cute little pub, where we had dinner.
Thursday. Wouldn't you know it, but there's sun. Our last full day. Actually the day was pretty uneventful, we made good time through the locks and made it back to Linslade in good time (the boat was due back at the marina at 9.30am the next day). Seeing as the sun was still shining, we jumped off the boat and went to the local tesco's to get more provisions for another barbie - only this time we put the actual barbie on the canalbank whilst we cooked the food. I made chocolate bananas, which were actually quite nice.
Friday. We got up early, had to clean the boat, then we motored the short distance to the marina, returning the boat in good time. Alas, again the sun was shining - just at the end of the holiday. You wouldn't read about it, would you?
After we returned the boat, we went to a nearby cafe for a final breakfast before making our way home. We tallied up the mileage we'd done in the boat and it was just on 100 miles. Not bad for a few days cruising, hey?
It really was a brilliant time and I can thoroughly recommend the canal boat experience to all.

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