Harold to the Rescue

Harold to the Rescue

Yesterday,10th June, we had a group of 36 OAPs that we took downstream as far as Uxbridge. Before that took place they were treated to a lecture by Tim about the history of the canals & how they came to be built, including a slide-show that lasted about an hour. The talk didn't tell me anything I didn't know already but it was the first time I'd heard it! In any event, the slides I hadn't seen before so it was a pleasant prelude to the practical part of the day.

I had been agonising over the shorts or trousers question when about to leave the house for Coppermill. I finally settled on jogging bottoms & was quite happy with my choice until I got to HNA where the air was heavy & very sultry. Still, as we set off the fresh air made it bearable.

Consequently, today I was confidently sporting a pair of shorts as the forecast was for warmer weather than yesterday. Again the group enjoyed a lecture by Tim prior to setting off only this time, with no Jenny in the kitchen like yesterday dispensing teas, coffees & biscuits--it fell to yours truly. Just as well I'd now heard the lecture as I missed most of it today!

Tim had fired up Spirit & when I came to do the same on Star-nothing. That all-too-familiar scene of an engine turning over but refusing to fire was the order of the day for the next 10 mins. or so with Tim pulling this & tugging that, occasionally scratching his head.

In the end, because the two boats were still "breasted up (i.e. tied together side-by-side) from their mooring up last night, Tim suggested that I take them up to the Stink 'Ole, wind, & then return to HNA, by which time Harold would be there to save the day. I set off upstream with Spirit coping well against the current & an unwieldy combined load measuring 14feet by 70 feet. It was a bit like drawing teeth & put me in mind of travelling the navigable feeder up to Horseshoe Falls on the Llangollen canal in Wales. Slowly but surely we approached the Stink 'Ole as I realised that this was a new experience for me. I'd often turned a boat round but never two tied together with only one engine in commission & no-one on either counter but me!
Harold Redshaw, in the engineroom of Pisces

Cometh the hour, cometh the man goes the adage. I backed the boats into the Stink 'Ole thus allowing the current to take the front of them neatly round to face downstream again. Never touched the sides! Several people commented on the neat manoeuvre, including some on Star that hadn't realised they were unpowered with no steersman on the back. I didn't tell them that it was a new experience for me too!

Back at HNA, Harold appeared, like a knight in shining armour silhouetted against the ever brightening sky, clutching various electronic gizmos in his eager palm. Murmuring smooth words of encouragement to Star under his tender touch, she initially resisted his caresses but eventually rolled over & compliantly burst into life after having even more parts tugged & pulled than Tim had covered.

Thus liberated from the clutches of "broke and down" the umbilical cords between Spirit & Star were untied & both boats moved off downstream through Coppermill lock & beyond for a trouble-free day in glorious sunshine. Harold, with quiet satisfaction returned to who-knows-where, probably to study engine manuals for the rest of the day!