To Stoke Bruerne in the rain

16th & 17th May

We've now settled down into steady cruise mode, aiming to get to Crick at the end of next week. Yesterday we set off at eight on a damp and cool day which gradually became downright cold. After three hours steady chug through Milton Keynes, we'd reached Wolverton, where a brief stop was made for Bruce to do a bit of shopping, leaving Sheila gratefully on anchor watch. She hates the open iron staircase that leads up from the towpath to the roadside here.

Then we set off again for the last little stretch to Cosgrove, tying below the lock in time for lunch.

In the afternoon we made a start on getting Sanity into something like show condition. We used Astonish paste to clean the starboard portholes, these being the ones that didn't get the Incralac treatment last year. Having done that, it was necessary to wash that side of the boat before retreating inside to the warmth of the Squirrel and a quiet evening.

Today we made another prompt(ish) start. Just as we were getting ready to go before 8.30, we saw another boat doing likewise from just a little further down the towpath. This proved to be Autumn Venture, and we shared up the lock with her before setting off to follow along the pound from Cosgrove to Stoke Bruerne via Yardley Gobion and Grafton Regis. The East Midlands has some of the most amazing village names.

This pound is always either much longer or much shorter than you expect. Today it was in short mode, and well before I was expecting it, the bottom of Stoke flight came into view.

The flight was very busy, and we waited a little while for a couple of boats to come down the bottom lock. The one above was thus with us, but just as I set off to get it open, I saw someone raising the top paddles to turn it. There's no point shouting and screaming in these circs, tempting though it can be, so we just waited until the bottom lock was full and the top gates open before going up to the next.

The boat coming down proved to be a wide beam craft, Tamesis, and by the time Jan off Autumn Venture and I had got there, he'd got the top gates open and the boat was coming into the lock, steered by the woman on board. We were a bit took aback when the bloke shouted to Jan to drop the offside paddles he'd left up, then a bit mollified when he crossed over to help her shut the top gate.

To our complete amazement, he then got back on the boat and left us to work it down the lock.. It does seem a striking piece of chutzpah to not only pinch the lock from in front of you but then expect you to work it for him. In a way it makes it easier to avoid having a fit: such behaviour surely must stem from complete ignorance of canal etiquette (I hope).

Things were much better for the next lock – there were another two boats waiting to come down, but not only did they not turn the lock in front of us, they opened the bottom gates and helped us work up before going in themselves. In the meantime, an Alvechurch boat had come down the lock above, and had to squeeze out onto the lock landing to let us in.

This one was covered with Wey and Arun Canal Trust banners, but her crew didn't seem any more clued up than the typical Alvechurch hirer ( i.e., not totally bemused, but not especially skilled boaters either)

We finished for the day in the long pound below the top two locks, leaving Autumn Venture to carry on by themselves. The weather was again looking a bit gloomy, and by the time we'd had lunch it was raining off and on, so a quiet afternoon on board seemed indicated.

Sheila is still working on doilies for Crick, and I improved the shining hour by washing the port side of the cabin to match the starboard side. This will make it easier to give both a quick wash and then a good polish next week

We ran a washload whilst this was going on, then went for a short walk between showers, just up to the tunnel mouth and back to stretch our legs. I'm currently researching the availability of handheld GPS to improve the variety of walks away from the boat we attempt. I'm tempted by the Garmin eTrex HCx, but almost all of the software is for Windows machines, not Macs. There is some Mac stuff in development, but for Mac OS 10.4 and above, and I've resisted the temptation to upgrade from 10.3.9 so far.

Tomorrow we go on through the tunnel and for a longish plod (the 15 mile pound, even) to Weedon.