--- In [email protected], captain.be...@... wrote: > > > Thursday 30th April > We were mainly in Audlem > ------------------------- > > Forgot to mention earlier in the week saw a floating lynch mob. Half a > dozen mallard drakes taking turns to hold a hapless victim's head under > water ie drown him. Loads of ducks about but a general surplus of drakes > compared with ducks and few big families. > > With adverse weather forecast we set the alarm for pre 6am so we could > decide whether to go for an early start, if dry. It was "fairly" dry and > we chugged for ½ hour to reach Audlem top at 7:00am proceeding down 13 of > the 15, without seeing any other boats on the move, in about 2.1/4 hours. > > The first 4 or 5 were dealt with Mrs B prepping the lock and seeing UM > in. Myself opening the paddles to empty the lock and then the gates, > leaping onto the boat roof, tying on or finding a steady place to stop in > the exit of the lock whilst going back to shut the gates. The by-washes > here are quite prolific, some with white water plumes and one sucked Uncle > Mort into its flowpath and would not let go. We were jammed against the > channel and the only escape was to reverse back into the lock and come out > more vigorously. So we reverted to Mrs B prepping the locks then coming > back to close up whilst I got on with the next one down. She had to walk > twice as far, but I didn't mind. > > I am not a regular single hander, but the Audlem experience highlighted > many of the hazards, yet the flight seemed well provided with decent > bollards, steps and handrails. Though the chamber ladders have no toe > room, which makes them very dodgy. Damp conditions and recently cut grass > made slips possible, either on take off or landing. It's an H&S nightmare. > Then there is the risk of the boat working itself back to damage the > rudder on the cill, the stern rope fenders seem about an inch or two > short, and anyway sometimes miss the cill. Maybe I should get some of > those strings to keep the tiller pulled to one side. Must be a proper name > for those. > > Two silly paint dinks herself dropped windlass onto rope coil it > bounced off to chip a cant. I walloped the rear hatch with a windlass > whilst laying out a rubber mat just to prevent such damage. > > Finally some folk with fishy badges in the windows of their 60ft-er > demonstrated their optimism for varied boating fellowship. On successive > nights, arriving at 120ft spaces they first elected to leave space for > 10ft and 50ft neighbours followed by 20ft and 40ft the next night. > Obviously they were trying to keep us 60ft types out, or maybe just us ! > > We are moored on the approach to Hacks Green 2 locks, after which we will > be mithering the good folk of Nantwich prior to moving onto the Middlewich > section. > > Beeky
> We have now had the time to get the camera fixed so that your arrival at -- http://aqueduct.dnsalias.com/cgi-bin/guestimage.html -- will be viewable as it happens by the world at large. Regards Pete www.thecanalshop.com
