Cruising with Waimaru

Tuesday 24 April


We decided to take both boats to Acton Trussell, and then leave Sanity there and go on in Waimaru to Midland Chandlers and then Penkridge. We had an uneventful trip with no further antics from the white water swan. Waimaru proves to be a very nice boat indeed. She handles very nicely, as you'd expect from a Mike Christian hull, and she has the same Beta 43 engine as Sanity. Some of the controls are a bit stiff, and the tiller is a couple of inches too long, putting the steerer's knuckles at risk from the edges of the back doors.

When buying a quality narrowboat (as opposed to one that's been mass produced) it has to be remembered that it's not like buying a car. The whole thing has been painstakingly constructed, bit by bit, starting with sheets of steel and wood, and there are bound to be some snags that need sorting in the first few hours of use.

Penkridge is a lovely village to shop in. To wind, you work up Penkridge Lock, go beyond the service block and turn by some moored boats. As we were doing this, the local schools came out, and a bunch of kids of around GCSE age, I guess, came and foregathered by the tail of the lock, where the abutment of the road bridge makes a sheltered spot. They were pretty noisy, but didn't seem terribly threatening, and in fact apologised when I asked to get by to open the bottom paddle. As we've said in comments to an earlier post about the BCN, the trick in these situations is not to assume the worst, but to engage in eye contact and chat.

Just as the boat was sinking in the lock, and her roof was level with the lock sides, one of the smaller lads ran across from one side of the lock to the other via the roof. Interestingly there were shocked (and admiring, natch) comments from his peers, but no attempt to emulate him, and indeed again apologies were offered along the lines of "that's Dean, mister". Dean then returned from where he'd shot off down the path, removed his school bag and coat, and after some hesitation, proceeded to clear jump the now empty lock, passing over the heads of John and Nev on the back of Waimaru, who remained unaware of his feat until told about it.

I f you can't take risks at the age of 14, when are you going to?

Getting back to Acton Trussell by about half five, we went back on board Sanity, where I knocked out the last blog and Sheila showered before returning to Waimaru for curry with all the bits and bobs.

Wednesday 25 April

 Sanity was of course pointing the wrong way still, but there's a winding hole at Acton Trussell, so my first job was to head up there, turn and head back. The weather was still quite cold and blowy, enough to make the winding interesting.

We chugged back to Great Haywood, and had some fun getting onto the Anglo Welsh service point - it's a layby just on the Staffs and Worcs side of the junction, and approaching in the direction we were, it meant poking Sanity's nose into the junction bridge hole, then reversing and turning to back down alongside the hire boats all lined up stern to the bank.

The wind, of course, chose the most difficult moment and direction to get up, and Sheila ended up walking down the gunwale to the centre to fend us off from a couple of little dayboats sitting in the corner. Eventually we got her sorted out and against the next boat, and filled up with 90 litres at 49 pence a litre, which isn't bad these days.

More fun was had getting out again, and we found a mooring just above Haywood lock. A quick trip to the shop got a paper, then we had lunch. A phone call to John and Nev established that all was going smoothly at Ben Harp's, but they would need to go on up the canal to wind, as we'd done two days before, so that he could sort the other window. Then they too needed diesel, the boat having been supplied with about a third of a tank full, and all told, it was liable to use most of the rest of the day.

This seemed like a cue for us to stay where we were, and for us all to have a meal in the local pub, the Clifford Arms, before going our separate ways tomorrow. Just before half five, Waimaru appeared, and we worked her down Haywood lock to moor below, coincidentally next to some other friends of ours, Graham and Jan on Huff 'n Puff. We'd been show boats together at Crick three years ago, and keep in touch because they moor at Fradley so we see them about every six months.

A very good meal was duly had at the Clifford Arms - good value, well prepared, and with cheerful and friendly serving staff. The evening ended on Waimaru, giving us a chance to appreciate how much Nev had achieved already in getting her shipshape and sorted out.