Wednesday 30 March 2016

A bit strange…

 

IMG_3100After pulling pins at o8.30 we soon reached the top lock of the Watford locks on the Leicester section of the Grand Union canal. There are volunteer lockkeepers on this flight so you have to contact them to book your passage down the locks.With one boat nearly at the bottom we had to wait for about 20 minutes for our turn.

IMG_3103Come on Curly ! Put your back into it and close that lock gate..She’s pretty good for a 9 year old.

IMG_3105Both the lockies had other jobs to do so asked us if we minded locking ourselves down which we didn’t mind doing .Nearly at the bottom of the flight and there were 6 boats waiting to come up. The lockie told us that the boaters at the bottom were getting very frustrated and fed up about having to wait in a queue and had complained to him. It seems a bit strange how not one of the boats crew members came up and helped us to lock down. This is the first time we have ever seen this happen, as at most busy lock flights everybody chips in and helps each other out which is all a part of boating. OK so it was a bit windy and cold, but that’s no excuse .Lets just hope this experiance was a one off…

IMG_3160At Norton junction we turned left and paired up with the crew of NB Grebe to share the Buckby flight of locks down to Whilton. As always if you get two crews working well together it makes locking so much easier.

IMG_3224After a stop at Wilton for Carolyn and Curly to visit the farm shop we carried on towards Weedon Bec passing on the way the man at Bedazzled . Curly said that he reminded her of me. Just cant see it myself.

We will have a night at Weedon with a visit to the local Chinese takeaway before making an early start in the morning, as long as Curly can drag herself out of bed.

                                                                                      Happy Days

4 comments:

  1. Always good to see Curly (Abbie) on board. It's another sign of Spring. "Curly said that he reminded her of me." Gary, it's the wine bottles by his right hand. She didn't say you looked like him, just reminded her of you. :)

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    1. He doesent look anything like me ... Much

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  2. Yeah. We encountered a bit of grumpiness last year at Watford locks. Someone even said they were "in a hurry". Clearly they were in the wrong place in the world. Seems to happen when people have to wait! Is there more selfishness creeping into the boating world, reflecting society in general? I do hope not. We would run out of places to escape to.

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    1. Hi Jack, Like you we hope it doesent become the the norm. It's not just helping locking but meeting people and having a good old natter and a laugh..

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