Arrived at
H.N.A. at 0930, beating Ian Maclachlan by about 45 seconds!
Harold, dedicated as ever, also arrived to see us off, helping
to wind Spirit outside the H.Q. something not normally done.
Event-free travel down through Cowley with Philip learning the
ropes & doing very well. Although according to a Michael
Essex-Lopresti lookalike near the Slough Arm, he was making a
pig's ear of it!
Mr. Grumpy
well astern, we pressed on in the gathering gloom & to my
first strip-off of the day to unravel a length of the ubiquitous
blue rope from Spirit's prop. Why is it always blue? It's as bad
as belly-button fluff! Ian breasted the boats so as not to lose
time whilst I grovelled in the bowels. Arrived at The Fox about
18:30 & settled down gratefully to some Adnam's & Timmy
Taylor's Landlord.
A surreal experience as a man of mystery appeared before us,
dressed in a long leather coat & black headscarf, worn
bandana fashion down his back. He told us awful tales of
doom-laden warning--something about a surge tide threatening to
wash Spirit & Star clean away if we weren't 'begone' by
21:00!!!
We were--& in pitch darkness followed Star's rear navigation
light all the way to Brentford. At the gauging lock we ran into
a small problem-- it was shut & unpowered!
Brentford
Gauging Lock Building
Oh no!!
I had advised Barry Trimmer, he of the Linslade jaunt, to meet
me at Thames Lock, also Di, Phil's wife had similar
instructions. After trudging around to Thames Lock & finding
Sam the lockeeper who was earmarked to let us out on Sunday at
05:30 he assured me that the gauging lock would come
online at 05:00 & then we could easily make the optimum
tide-time from his lock. After a lot of to-ing &
fro-ing on my part, everyone was appraised of the situation
& we finally swapped Phil for Barry & settled down for a
couple of hours kip at 23:45.
Sunday 14
December
A fitful
night ended abruptly at 04:45 as my alarm sounded simultaneously
with a frantic rapping on the roof from the 'Star Children.' Sam
was as good as his word & by 05:15 both boats were in the
gauging lock. Harold's carefully constructed navigation lights
proudly displayed on Spirit's front roof, we all too soon were
on the tideway & speeding down river towards Limehouse.
Star's more suitable propellor soon left us way astern. So much
for assistance if we broke down! It was only after a frantic
phone call to Ian re our heavy smoke-making & sluggish
progress that they agreed to slow down & we finally saw them
again as they passed under Tower Bridge. Spirit then
suffered the indignity of a police raid boarding party where we
were asked our identities, ages, purpose of trip, details of
H.N.A., length of boat--you name it--they wanted to know
it! This perhaps was to make up for the fact that we
asked permission to navigate Westminster Bridge via a phone call
to a number supplied by the P.L.A. only to receive no reply!
As our unexpected guests left us, we followed across river to
enter Limehouse Marina--me having phoned from Tower Bridge to
ask for the lock to be set for us. With no more ado we entered
the lock &, on sailing in to the Marina, tied up &
inspected the weed hatch--not much to show for all the earlier
smoke when Barry & I were in the middle of what seemed to be
a four-pump fire--I gave all that up last week!
Oil & water also were at normal levels, so after some
abortive fishing we pushed on up the River Lea. After five
locks, two electric, two manual & a hybrid we called it a
day just above Enfield Lock. The exhaust was blowing really
badly & the engine compartment was covered in soot. We have
been subjected to sooty smoke all day & my eyes were
stinging badly. There was a substantial loss of power due to the
blown exhaust & called Harold to pick his brains. He in turn
suggested I call Tim who told me that Harold & himself would
try to work something out with regard to a rescue mission.
Still, we did manage to get the heating
going--lovely!
Monday 15
December
Awoke to a
very frosty, icy morning. The stern deck was like a
veritable skating rink. The weed hatch was literally freezing my
fingers as I confirmed that no rubbish was around the prop.
& that oil & water were O.K. Tim phoned about four
times all told & we arranged to go to Rammey Marsh Lock to
await a mechanic. By the time we reached it the sun
was out & I fished in glorious heat--no hat--no
gloves--amazing! One more phone call from Tim
revealed that no mechanic was forthcoming & could we limp to
Springfield Marina, about four hours downstream where they
promised to look at the exhaust?
We had to ascend Rammey Marsh Lock to wind just above it,
finally setting off back towards home at 12:35. Barry had
cleared the air filter of accumulated crud & with some deck
boards lifted to air the engine, power was in abundance &
the exhaust smoke down to tolerable levels. So much so
that I decided we could make a run for home without troubling
Springfield Marina, save a courtesy call to report that they
were not needed. Whilst there I picked their brains to find that
The Anchor & Hope half a mile downstream didn't do food
but the Princess of Wales one mile downstream did. We
arrived outside the pub at 17:20, tied to the railings,
staggered gratefully the 25 feet to the bar & had a glorious
meal that didn't consist entirely of bacon & eggs!
Tuesday 16
December
This
morning Spirit wore a sparkling coat as frost & ice lay
thickly upon her. Apparently it was - 4 last night although,
perversely, we were both as warm as toast, compared to the
previous night. Up & 08:20 & attempting to fish as the
river bubbled & popped--akin to heavy drinker, having had a
skinful the night before, along with a large curry, relaxing in
the bath. Despite the activity in the H20, there was
none on my hook. After a pointless piscatorial probing & a
few friendly chats with passers-by we left the very pleasant
mooring hard by Lea Bridge Road, having recorded for posterity
the site on our cameras.
Lea Bridge, Clapton
The Lea maintained an oily besmirched
appearance all the way to Duckett's Cut where the contrast was
astonishing. The water was very deep & gin-clear, allowing
one to see the detritus on the canal bottom. On into
the Regent's Canal we moored above Old Ford Lock for some more
piscine playtime but unfortunately with a familiar result.
Pushing on, we reached Battlebridge Basin which contains The
Canal Museum. Threading our way through the many moored craft we
came broadside into a 71 foot gap with all 70 feet sliding into
place like a hand in a glove--easy!! Pausing
only to include ourselves on the museum's newsletter website we
came on through to St.Pancras cruising club's site where Dave
kindly let us moor for the night. We were able to gain
towpath access via the all-important BW key & thence to an
excellent fish supper at the Royal Fish Bar in Royal College
Street, followed by a pint in The Constitution. On returning to
the boat we then exited the club via the Camley Street entrance
& had a walk around the vast Channel Tunnel Rail Link site,
emerging into King's Cross where we 'happened' upon the
Waterside Inn in Crinan Street off of York Way where we indulged
in another pint before returning back to the (very hot) boat via
the canal towpath by 23:20.
Wednesday
17 December
Mainly
because of the boat's heating last night had made the cabin as
hot as a tropical rain forest, sleep came easily to us both
&, even on waking, the temperature didn't seem too bad at
08:20. Full advantage was taken of St Pancras' facilities--I
used the loo (heaven) & we, after both showering, filled up
both water tanks. Before the showers I had to pull Spirit out of
the way of the 'Floating Classroom' a wide, rectangular boat
making its way to the Canal Museum. Any other boat
would have got into the lock with no bother but this boat
was big! As the sun came up blindingly over the
gasholders astern it was unbelievably warm as I fished
unsuccessfully once again with no coat, hat or
gloves--astounding!
Around 11:00 we made our departure thanking Dave of St. Pancras
once again for allowing us to moor overnight. We threaded our
way carefully through the bridge works associated with the rail
link & set course for Little Venice. Camden's three locks
were negotiated with the smallest number of gongoozlers I've
ever known desite the weather being glorious if a little
cold. Upon reaching Little Venice we took the arm
into the wonderfully re-furbished Paddington Basin & moored
amongst a plethora of skyscrapers.
Paddington
Basin 
Once again I drowned a few
maggots for no reward whatsoever but gazed in awe at the
surroundings, trying to picture them next summer when the
fashionistas will promenade in the achingly-hip piazzas.
at
14:30 we puttered slowly out of London's newest place to see
& be seen & returned to the lowly canal route to Bull's
Bridge in Hayes. The temperature meanwhile plummeted &, as
darkness fell, we actually carved our way through thin ice! at
Bridgewater Road bridge on the outskirts of Wembley we almost
collided with some painters working under it on a system of
pontoons & planks! All I could(eventually) see in the gloom
were several pairs of legs! There was a warning
notice on the towpath. The trouble was it was dark & we were
unable to read it until it was almost too late. Painters retired
to one side, we slid under their planks with at least three
inches to spare! I don't know what we were worried
about!
45 minutes
later saw us gratefully tie up at The Black Horse, Greenford
& some pints of Pride & good food.
Thursday
18 December
08:20
again & the sun struggled weakly over the Black Horse to
feebly eradicate the frost & ice on the water. With us both
abluted & cerealed we slid away at 10:30 for a slow run down
to Bull's Bridge & a hot spot for fishing--until today!! I
gave it an hour before moving on to Tesco's where Barry
disappeared for hours to get milk & bread. His excuse was,
the sheer range of goods on offer! He was like a child in
Hamley's, wide-eyed with wonderment. The grotty section between
Hayes & Cowley was given added interest by the spotting
& retrieving of four floats& a spinner. Bearing in mind
I was one float down on the deal because I carelessly placed the
tiller bar on my 'running' float the other night. This meant
that to be in profit I'd have to find at least two new ones! So,
four & a spinner was adequate reward for the day. We thought
we'd spotted the mother of all floats on a branch but it turned
out to be merely a kingfisher.(!)
As we were
engaged on float-gathering, Harold phoned & told us that
Star was at the Horse & Barge & could we please bring
her back to H.Q in concert with Spirit? You betcha! A boat
each--it just gets better & better!
We decided
to make a sojourn down the Slough Arm to the basin & what a
spectacular trip it was! The ice lay up to an inch thick in
places & only reluctantly screamed & shattered as Spirit
made her inexorable progress to the basin adjacent to
Shaggy Calf Lane & the Stoke Poges Road.
17:30 saw us gratefully moor up in thick ice at the basin.
I could only get one pin in the ground & so secured the
stern. The rest froze in overnight!
Friday 19
December
Awoke in
time for the 8 o'clock news, having been as warm as toast during
the night. The reason was apparent as soon as I stuck my head
out of the door. We had cloud cover in abundance & the ice
had relaxed its grip on the canal! Make no mistake--it was still
there in vast quantities but we're talking Don Estelle rather
than Windsor Davies.
We set off
after a cuppa, effortlessly pushing large, if not thick, slabs
of ice aside as we went. On the journey back to Cowley, the
float coffers were topped up along with a couple of jointed
plugs from the overhanging trees. Cowley lock had a sprinkling
of gongoozlers as we started the ascent of the canal which only
finishes atop the Chiltern Escarpment at Tring.
Passing
the moorings at Uxbridge I saw Mick & Martin--two firemen
from Ealing who have just purchased a narrowboat there & are
starting to get it up to scratch.The first firemen I've seen
since retirement & they're into narrowboats--the omens are
good!
After
Denhan Deep & onto the long straight stretch that leads to
Widewater I looked through the binoculars to see Star moored,
not outside the Horse & Barge, but apparently just outside
the lock. On getting closer I realised she was in the
lock. Faithful Harold had grown bored waiting for our arrival
& so put Star in the lock to save us some time. Once Spirit
was safely in alongside Star I left Barry with the helm whilst I
steered Star home to Coppermill. I realised just how used to the
blowing exhaust we'd become when Star sounded as smooth as a
Rolls Royce! Barry had never imagined that he would be in charge
of a 70 foot narrowboat, but here he was doing just that,
negotiating the tricky fast water just outside Coppermill Lock
like an old campaigner. With Star now breasted up to Spirit, we
tied up outside H.N.A. & killed the engines at 16:30. A
great 6 day adventure
over!
