Day 37 - Sunday August 6th - Napton to Aynho
27 miles 2 furlongs, 26 locks, 16 hours
Birthday today, so I thought I'd treat myself to a long lie in. Then I
remembered all those boats moored up pointing at the Napton flight, so I
changed my mind and treated myself to queue free run up the flight. Set
off at 5.20am, and chugged slowly to the bottom lock. All the locks up
to Adkin's lock were empty or almost empty, the penultimate lock full
and the top lock half full. Cleared the top lock at 8am, so all in all
a good run up the flight. None of the boats moored in intermediate
pounds got off ahead of me and in fact I didn't see another boat moving
until I was up on the summit level. A black prince hire boat had set
off from the top moorings in front of me, but waved me past as soon as
he could. Slight mishap at bridge 122, where the sunlight in my eyes
caused me to misjudge the angle. Realised I wouldn't make the bridge,
so hard reversing to stop didn't prevent me from colliding with the
bank. The collision was sufficient to dislodge a tin of paint from a
shelf, and on landing on the floor the lid popped off. Fortunately it
landed on a piece of cardboard that I usually kneel on when attending to
the weedhatch. Most of the paint stayed pooled up on the cardboard, and
I was able to get most of it bagged up for later disposal without too
much mess. Met a boat in the bridge hole of bridge 131. This is the
bridge on the summit where the canal changes direction almost 180
degrees. We managed to avoid each other, and on passing through I told
them there was a boat fairly close behind me. Passed Fenny Compton
Wharf at 10.30am, and caught up with another boat near the end of Fenny
Compton Tunnel. The hire boat behind me was itching to get past, but
decided it would be bad form to do it in a queue of boats, so hung back
a bit. Arrived at Claydon top at about 11.40 am to find I was fourth in
the queue for the lock. There was only really room for three boats
between the bridge and the lock, and I could see a boat almost ready to
leave the lock, so I reversed back from the bridge and indicated to the
hire boat what I was doing. He started to pass me and found an oncoming
boat in his way. When that had cleared I went through the bridge on to
a now vacant bit of bank. The hire boat said they thought I was trying
to moor. They were hoping I was going to moor more likely. Claydon
flight never really got working properly, I suspect there was a
particularly slow locking boat three or four in front, as there was
always one or two boats waiting each time I got to a lock. Eventually
cleared Claydon Bottom at 1.50pm. The next four locks down into
Cropredy were somewhat more efficient, the offending boat had probably
tied up for lunch. The boat immediately in front of me stopped also for
lunch after Broadmoor lock, but as I got there another boat pulled out.
Win some lose some. At Cropredy lock there was a grass snake swimming
just below the lock. I don't know what it thought about me opening the
paddles while he was there, but it seemed to survive the experience.
There was one space left right by Cropredy Wharf Bridge, so I was able
to moor briefly there. There was a boat winding just beyond the bridge,
so I was able to dash into the shop to get some more milk. Back to the
boat, and the boat had just about finished winding, and the one behind
me was still in the lock. Excellent, a shopping trip that cost no time.
Passed Virgo (she looks very smart Guy) and The Black Pig breasted up
on Jannock's mooring to the south of Cropredy. Through the next few
locks to Banbury, I kept on catching up a new boat. They'd only had it
for about eight weeks, and this was their first major outing in it. He
was getting her to do all the locking while he stayed on the boat. I
had to guide her through the basics of locking, and she began to get the
hang of it by Banbury. She was still winding down Banbury lift bridge
when I came round the last corner, so she kindly stayed there and wound
it back up for me to go straight through. They were waiting for another
boat to go down the lock, so it didn't slow them down at all. They were
planning to moor up somewhere on the outskirts of Banbury where it was
nice and quiet. :-) I was through Banbury lock by 6.20pm, and decided I
would make for Aynho which I should be able to get to before it got
dark. I eventually found the couple on the new boat. They had gone
through Grant's lock and were moored up just before King's Sutton lock.
They said it was still too noisy here, and they were planning to eat
and then move on to a better spot. I declined to point out that from
here on it was either the motorway or the railway all the way to Oxford.
Through King's Sutton lock by 7.55pm, and Aynho Weir lock by 9pm, I
set off looking for a mooring near the bridge. Someone commented that
it was a lovely evening to be boating. I replied that I was looking to
stop and have a couple of beers. No chance here he said, the pub's
shut! Indeed when I eventually passed it there were no lights on at
all. :-( Passed Sean Neill's Laplander moored there, but by then I had
gone too far. The only space left was for the winding hole. "Oh well"
I thought there'll be some space the other side of the bridge. Fat
chance, it's all given over to long term permit holder moorings now. It
really annoys me when BW do this. Most of the prime mooring spots in
Cropredy, Banbury and Aynho are given over to permanently moored boats,
mostly unoccupied, leaving next to no space for the passing boater.
This seems to be a particular problem on the South Oxford. It's great
for BW doing this, they can charge more for a permanent mooring in a
prime spot than one in the middle of nowhere - maybe that's just me
being cynical. I ended up mooring in the dark at 9.35pm, just beyond
Souldern Bridge.
Weather - Sunny
Tomorrow's Forecast - Cloudy
Terry Streeter
NB Arun - Aynho
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