Date - 30/08/08 Day - Saturday Start - 0800 Chirk Bank End - 1800 Froncysyllte
Harnser's present position http://tinyurl.com/Harnser-s-route The first boat went by at 6 30 and by 7 am. 4 had gone by, we set off at 8 am. and had quite a clean run across Chirk Aqueduct and through Chirk tunnel. we passed several Black Prince Hire Boats still moored up and when we arrived at their marina it was packed solid and they were struggling to get them all through the entrance, so we think they must stagger the return times. At Froncysyllte lift bridge, Diana lifted it but was able to leave it to the three boats coming towards us to close it. I think this is the only lift bridge on the system that is operated from the towing path side. We went round the bend to the aqueduct just as the third day boat had just crossed. It was full of girls and already (9-30 am) the wine was flowing freely, after we told them which way to put the tiller they were on their way. Straight across the aqueduct and hard right towards Llangollen, we bounced along the bottom at the end of the concrete channel and met several Canal Time boats coming down. We had a clean run through both the narrow sections arriving at Llangollen at about mid day. The BW jumped out of his little hut just before the facilities block with his book of tickets asking me how many days I wanted to stay for at £6 per day. I told him we would only be staying a couple of hours as I considered that I had already paid to moor on the towing path when I paid my licence fee. We had lunch and did a bit of shopping in town, it was absolutely heaving with people as this weekend is a balloon and music festival. By the time we left there were probably twice as many boats in the BW marina and lots of the towing path moorings taken. We cleared the first long narrow section with no problem but had to stop in the first layby on the second section for 2 boats coming up, they where followed by the 70 foot trip boat so I thought it prudent to pull Harnser back round the bend to the wider section. From here it was plain sailing back to Trevor Basin where there was one boat waiting to cross the aqueduct and only one coming across towards us. At the Froncysyllte end there were several hire boats trying to work out what was happening and hanging on ropes, once through the lift bridge a Canal Time boat had moored that was causing more problems as the Black Prince boats were trying to get to the bridge and a row of us were coming down. The couple onboard seemed oblivious to the problems they were causing. We carried on for about another half mile and moored for the night with even more Black Prince boats going by, goodness knows where they will all moor tonight. -- Brian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Join SOW and help save our waterways http://www.saveourwaterways.org
