Canals Part 3
June 25
Canals are not for everyone. It can be hard work and the canal bank can be muddy. It takes a lot of effort to open and close the lock gates which can be over two tons, but Merry insists on working them alone with rare exceptions. The weather is very unpredictable but with the right frame of mind, it is a magical place. We sleep well at night.
We normally pick a route that goes in a circle, but there was no circuit this time, so it was out and back the same way. We tend to travel at the modest speed of three miles per hour, which gives us time to enjoy every inch of the delightful countryside.
Our boat, Endeavour, can go from naught to four miles per hour in under sixty seconds, which is in another dimension from our Tesla. Distance means nothing, it is the journey and the company that matters.
From the moment we leave the marina, to our return a month later, we are “off the grid”. The engine will charge the batteries enough if it runs at least 4 hours a day. But if we stay in a town all day like we did in Oxford, we rely on three solar panels that work well in bright sunlight, but very little if cloudy or worse, raining. So we must be careful with electric usage.
I tell people it takes about an hour to go from one pub to the next, which is true, but in actual fact, we only go in one pub per day mainly for the food and try to pick different pubs on the way back.
Today, we made good progress back towards Rugby, our home port. We did get a delay when we came across an unattended moored boat that had come adrift from its mooring lines. We made sure it was located back to the bank and securely tied up.
We stopped for lunch at a funky little canal side cafe. It had a very limited menu but it was charming.
We continued on with two more locks and stoped well ahead of our schedule. Today was the warmest day so far this year at 81, sweltering humidity and no wind.
At night we watched England play in the euro football third game. 0-0 was enough to proceed to the next round top of the group.
June 26
Today we came across another boat stranded across the canal. Merry edged the boat close to the stranded boat while I went forward with the barge pole. To my surprise, the motor was running but no one answered when I shouted. I was concerned about what might have happened. Suddenly, the boat's owner came running down the towpath, jumped on the boat, and took charge. He later explained he left the boat to assist with the lock just ahead, but he said he had left it in gear, and it went loose from the inadequate mooring line. All sorted.
The boater was single-handed, so we helped him through the lock and then our turn. That is how boating works: We each help each other and laugh about our mistakes.
We stopped for lunch at another canalside cafe. Nice toasted panini's and next door for an ice cream.
When the locks are within 1/4 mile, Merry likes to walk ahead.
The afternoon was so hot, we stopped early and stayed cool [er] with the airconditioner.
June 27
We headed out early to beat the heat but within an hour, we were ready to leave a lock. The motor would go in gear but would not accelerate. We limped out of the lock and over to the bank to evaluate the situation.
I fiddled with the controls, removed some covers, and discovered the throttle cable was broken. We decided to try to limp the two miles to Banbury, civilization, at a snail's pace.
We went a little way, but a small current started and we stopped making forward progress. We moored up and called for help. Our insurance included an emergency callout (for a fee). They brought a throttle cable but it was too short. They fashioned the new one, just sticking out of the floor, so we could continue to Banbury while they looked for a longer cable.
To make matters worse, we no longer had power. That should have nothing to do with a throttle cable, but the repair man was not trained in electrical problems. This means no water pump, so no water, toilet, lights, refrigerator, or laundry.
I talked it over with co-owner Steve, and we came up with nothing helpful. We did make it to Banbury, where we did some shopping and had a bang-up dinner at a pub. We played tile rummy (rummy cube) until it was too dark to tell the colors. Luckily, it stays light around here until nearly ten p.m. I filled a large container of fresh water so I would have water for coffee ([the gas stove is still working].
June 28
Merry went into the town center while I got on the phone to find help. The local boat engineer in town started at 10 am, and he agreed to take a quick look at the electricity to see if it was something simple. He arrived at about 11:30 and diagnosed the 'Main Battery Switch' had failed.
He did not have time to make the repair until four days later, but he made a temp connection with jumper cables and provided the correct throttle cable we needed. We now have a working toilet.
Merry and I returned to the town center and bought a better jumper cable the engineer had recommended. Then, we had a nice lunch in a canalside cafe. The first engineer agreed to come back and fit the new throttle cable, and by 5:30, everything was working. Steve will arrange to replace the defective Main Battery Switch when we complete our travels in ten days.
They don't mention this part of boating in the brochure. It is one reason we plan our trips with plenty of time for all types of deviations, good and bad. We have no problem with the delays but are relieved they are now under control, and the boat put back together again.
June 29
We hit a few shops in Banbury because they are so handy to the boat and had an early canalside cafe lunch so we could head out to Cropredy. Just five miles and four locks completed the journey, allowing Merry to return to the church she visited two weeks ago.
We found a great mooring exactly in the center of town, and as we relaxed, we heard church bells ringing, and I mean the full eight-bell peals. Being handbell ringers, we decided to see if we could get a peek at the activity. When we arrived, we found out six churches were having a friendly competition. Each took it in turn, ringing the five-minute peal. When completed, a judge announced the winners. Cropredy came in second.
We returned to the boat to batten down the hatches for the night. Our boat is a convertible. The upper part of the wheelhouse has a canvas roof, and the sides fold down. The roof is great in rainy or cold weather, which is quite frequent in England. Steering is done using a standard ship's wheel.
Most canal boats are steered with a tiller at the rear and must be controlled outside, no matter the weather. The tiller must be turned opposite to where you want to go, which takes some getting used to.
June 30
Merry was unsure if the church service was 9:30 or 10:30. She went for the 9:30 service, and no one was there, so she went back at 10:30, and still no one was there. We later discovered a special service somewhere else, so there was no service there today. We had a nice Sunday roast at the pub, so Merry was happy.
At 5pm, England football were playing in the last 16 round against Slovakia, and this is the location where we got very poor TV reception, so we went back to the pub to watch the game.
The pub is very small but had three TVs set up, and it was crowded with the beer flowing. We squeezed in and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was a tense game, and England was losing but tied the game up 20 seconds from the end, so extra time with more pints flowing. England won 2-1 and went through to the quarterfinals.
We watched a Netflix movie in the evening.
July 1
We were invited to a handbell rehearsal at a church member's home at 10:30, and they said they needed help with the technique. They made space for us both to ring, and I was able to give them some pointers, which were well received.
They play on bells over 100 years old. Most are made at Taylor's Foundry in Loughborough, which has long since closed; the rest are Whitechapple. They play from number notation rather than standard piano music, which is much easier to learn and interesting to experience. We enjoyed playing with them and their friendship.
When we finished, it was almost noon, so we had lunch at the informal canal-side cafe that had a bazaar we enjoyed two weeks ago. It was delicious.
After lunch, it was time to move on. It was just one lock and two miles to Cropredy Marina, a huge marina with over 100 boats in long-term in the water storage. We needed to fill the gas bottle. This marina is part of the same chain where we store our boat, so we can stay the night at no extra charge. That worked out well as it started to rain after we arrived.
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