A tale of wood and water

7th & 8th March

Having been up and about early for the previous two days (when there was no good reason to be so) as we wanted to be away in good time yesterday, we naturally slept in a bit. Some of this was down to leaving the cover over the Houdini overnight, as it was wet and windy, so that we didn't get the benefit of the dawn chorus.

In any event, as we wanted to get through Saltersford Tunnel on the nine o'clock slot, we made a quick start and were away just 45 minutes after coming to. For new readers, or those unfamiliar with cruising the northern end of the Trent and Mersey, I should explain that the three tunnels involved are only wide enough for a narrow boat, so passing in the middle is impossible.

In the case of Barnton, it's not a big deal, as you can see from one end to the other quite easily, and it only takes ten minutes to go through.

Saltersford, on the other hand, though a little shorter than Barnton, is distinctly kinked. You used to have to just sound your horn on entry and trust to luck, but now there's a restriction on entry times to avoid mid tunnel encounters.

Preston Brook is perfectly straight, but takes around 20 minutes to pass through, so again there's a timed entry rule. In both cases, heading North you can enter on the hour, and going South, on the half hour.

We had a very pleasant run through all three tunnels and the linking canal, going into Barnton just after eight, and waiting twenty minutes in the pool between it and Saltersford.

There followed the rural cruise along the contour overlooking the River Weaver, arriving at Preston Brook just on 10.30. There was an old unconverted motor occupying most of the mooring reserved for boats waiting for the tunnel, part of the BW heritage fleet by the look of it and full of wood.

It was there in order to unload into a pick up. I wandered along and chatted to the guy staying with it, who told me that the wood was from a tree that had come down in the pool between Barnton and Saltersford. Whilst we were waiting for the eleven o'clock slot to go through Preston Brook, another bloke came along, a BW worker, I reckon, who assuaged any irritation we might have been feeling about his boat being in the way by presenting us with a couple of substantial branches from his hoard.

After passing though the tunnel, we chugged on to just short of Moore, where there's a nice opportunity to tie by a winding hole. As soon as we were out on the broad and deep Bridgewater, the GPS showed how much Sanity appreciated it, with her making an easy 4 mph or more on the engine speed that normally delivers just over three on a narrower or shallower canal.

The downside of the Bridgewater is its lack of facilities. It's not a BW cut, of course, but now belongs to Peel Holdings, having been acquired with the Manchester Ship Canal. We'd checked that we had around 65% of a tank of water before setting off, so didn't make the detour up the Runcorn Arm to the only water point we'll go near during our stay on the Bridgewater this time.

We had a quiet afternoon, cutting up the new wood, doing internet stuff and just generally loafing about.

This morning, Sheila checked the water again, and found that we'd got through rather more than we expected. In addition, the supply of clean socks was running low, and on current plans, we wouldn't be in a position to run a washload until next Wednesday when we plan to water back at Anderton.

35% just wasn't enough for comfort, not to mention the prospect of smelly feet, so we winded and spent around half an hour going back to the junction and up the Runcorn Arm to fill the tank. Naturally, the wind had got up overnight, and manoeuvring was a little tricky. The water point is a bit beyond the entrance to Preston Brook Marina, and there's not another winding hole for some time, so there's nothing for it but to reverse back after watering, go astern into the marina entrance and then head back towards the junction.

There's a new housing estate on the opposite side of the cut, so that the wind funnels and bounces around as you are doing it. It's one of the very few times when I would use a bow thruster if I had one, but in the event, we didn't need what we hadn't got, and managed without any big dramas.

Once done, we had an uneventful motor back through Moore and on to Stockton Heath. There were just a few boats tied here, and we had no problem finding a space. It was just on lunchtime, so I nipped down to the Sainsbury's Local for a paper and some fresh bread. We've still got half a loaf of slightly stale stuff, so I suspect I'll be serving bread pudding to the Masons tomorrow night.

The weather has been pretty grotty today, windy and with fierce but short lived sleet showers, so we've spent the afternoon tucked up in the boat again. Tomorrow we need to go on a bit further to wind, then come back here to tie ready for our guests.