Saturday 24th March 2007
Lower Shuckburgh - Crick (13½ miles, 13 locks)
The weather was overcast with occasional rain and a bitterly cold wind. We made an early start and stopped at Braunston to eat breakfast while filling the water tank. An hour later, it was not yet full, but we couldn't afford to waste any more time since Watford Locks would close at 3:30pm. After a quick bit of shopping, we set off to join the queue up Braunston Locks which we shared with another Ownerships boat. This was our first trip along this stretch and Jen was surprised at how heavy the lock gates were and the state of the paddle gear compared to the Napton to Birmingham stretch of the Grand Union Canal. I was also taken aback by the strange wiggles in Braunston Tunnel. In theory, two boats can pass in the tunnel, but I would not like to attempt it along certain stretches.
At Norton Junction, we turned north along the Leicester section of the GU and arrived at Watford Locks at 2:30pm. A notice stated that you must first check for boats coming down and you mustn't enter the flight after 2:45pm and must be clear by 3:30pm when the gates would be locked. There was no lock-keeper on duty.
We set off through the first two conventional locks but then agreed to let two boats come down the staircase section before we went up. This would also allow us to observe the operation of the strange paddle and side pound arrangement between the staircase lock chambers, of which we knew the theory but not the practice. Unfortunately, a Napton hireboat, Voyager, had started to come up the locks behind us without checking what was happening ahead. This led to some interesting manoeuvres in the small pound at the bottom of the staircase as the other two boats came down.
For the uninitiated, a staircase lock has a single set of gates between the lock chambers, acting as both bottom gates for the upper chamber and top gates for the lower chamber. In a conventional staircase, all chambers must be full except for the bottom one before travelling up, and empty except for the top when travelling down.
At Watford and Foxton Locks, each set of gates has a red and a white paddle. Opening the red paddle starts to fill the lower chamber from the side pound. Once the red is open, the white paddle may be opened to empty the upper chamber into the same side pound, thereby conserving the water from the upper chamber. The levels in both chambers end up the same as the level in the side pound and then the gates can be opened and the red and white paddles closed. The reminder for the sequence of operation is "Red before white and you'll be alright, white before red and you'll wish you were dead". If you get the sequence wrong, the side pound will overflow and water will be wasted.
We cleared the top lock by 3:29pm, followed closely by Voyager, then we both stopped to fill with water. It took us another forty minutes to fill the water tank which must have been practically empty when we picked up the boat on Friday. There was no sign of the lock-keeper coming to lock up so we needn't have worried so much about the time.
I spotted two hares in a field cavorting around in "mad as a March hare" style - it must be the mating season. By the time I had fumbled with the camera, switched it on in the wrong mode and forgotten to take the lens cap off, the moment was lost and all I got was a picture of them disappearing into the distance. I need a better camera, or perhaps the problem lies with the operator....
At Crick, all the visitor moorings were full apart from spaces marked as for winter mooring permit holders until the 31st March and 48hr visitors from 1st April. I hate bending the rules, but we had no alternative and we were told by the locals that BW wouldn't mind.
We walked into the village for some shopping and asked if there was a takeaway since we wouldn't be able to eat out with Tess. We were directed to The Royal Oak which sold delicious takeaway Chinese food.