Friends at Foxton

 

We pulled pins from Debdale marina at 11.10 and passed the winding hole on the other side of the bridge heading back to Foxton . Good job we didn’t want to turn, mind you this boat moored in the winding hole might have broken down so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

After mooring back at Foxton it was over to the pub to meet up with friends Bob and Jan from Nb Small Dreams. It was good to have a few hours in their company and catch up with what we have all been up to. The meal was very good as well. Hopefully we will bump into each other somewhere again on our Summer cruise.

Yet again we picked up the mooring we had a couple of days ago opposite The Foxton Inn. Its always good to sit in a pub and look out at your home.

The following morning at 10.30 we pulled pins and then filled with water and dumped the rubbish before we moved through the swingbridge and onto the Market Harborough branch .

We picked up this mooring just before Main street bridge in Foxton. Its very handy as Carolyn can catch the bus from here for the trip into Market Harborourgh, which of course she did. Its only a 10 minute bus ride and MH has some good shops so Carolyn was happy. We will have a few days here looking around and killing a bit of time before we go back to Debdale for our hull work to be done.

                                                                                                            Happy Days

Hull inspection

 

We pulled pins from just below Foxton locks at 09.15 and made the short journey to Debdale marina for our hull inspection.

After a bit of a wait we eventually got lifted out for the very helpful staff at Debdale marina to look at our hull.it was discovered that there is a slight problem with our epoxy blacking so It was decided that we would have to come back in a couple of weeks and get lifted out again and spend a few days having some remedial work done on the hull. We will be able to stay on Inca while the work is being carried out which will be good. I will go into a bit more detail on the hull when the work is completed.

This is one of 4 sacrificial anodes we have welded to the hull of Inca. Being lower on the periodic table of metals the idea is that they wear away instead of the steel of which the hull is made of. They are OK at the moment ,but I would have thought in a couple of years and they will need replacing, although with our metalized hull we shouldn’t need anodes but I think I will keep using on them.

With it getting late we stayed at the marina for the night with the added bonus of shore power electric. Its amazing what a difference it makes as you can put the TV on in the day, not that theres anything on to watch .With a bit of daylight left and being able to get to both sides of Inca Carolyn gets stuck in cleaning the windows.

After a night at Debdale marina it will be off in the morning towards Foxton. We now have to spend the next couple of weeks in this area which isn’t such a bad thing as there is plenty to see and do plus its only a short bus ride from Foxton village into the town of Market Harborough where there’s plenty of shops for her ladyship to peruse.

                                                                                                          Happy Days

PS . This is the 500th blog I have posted…

Foxton locks

 

After a couple of days on the summit of the Leicester branch of the Grand union canal we pulled pins at 13.30 after the rain had stopped from our mooring in the Laughton hills and made our way towards Foxton locks.

While we filled with water Carolyn went off to find the lockie and book our passage down the flight. It turned out that there where 3 boats on their way up and we would have to wait for them before we could enter the top lock.

Foxton locks are ten canal locks consisting of two "staircases" each of five locks, located on the Leicester line of the Grand union canal about 5 km west of the Leicestershire town of Market Harborough and are named after the nearby village of Foxton.

To conserve water there are side ponds that feed the locks. Last year a 79 year old lady fell into one of the side ponds and was sucked through the pipe and into the lock. Luckily there was only a short boat in the lock at the time and she popped up in a clear bit of water from where 3 men dived in and rescued her.She was then air lifted to Coventry hospital with a head wound.

There was talk of a fence being put around every pound ,but in the end they fitted these grills so that a similar incident could never happen again.

Just because you are stood next to one it doesen’t mean I’m going to buy you one. You only get an ice cream as a reward for working up the locks not down. Don’t worry we have to come back up at sometime and then I will treat you to a small cornet.

After a 45 minute wait we finally get onto the flight. Its the same as the Watford flight of locks Red before white and you will be all right ..White before red and you are in big trouble !.

A date for your diaries. Should be a good day out.

After completing the first 5 locks we cross the centre pound and try not to be pushed into the side by the flow of water coming in from the right.

We are the last boat to enter the locks today and in total there has been 6 boats with 4 of those being hire boats. 5 boats went up the flight and we were the only one to go down.

With the help of a lockie it only took us 47 minutes to come down the flight. We picked up this mooring just after the bottom lock and very close to the pub which will be handy. We were a bit surprised that there were hardly any boats here,still it gives us more choices of where to moor. We will have a day or two here before going to Debdale marina for them to lift us out and inspect our hull.

                                                                                                           Happy Days

Red before white

 

At the top of the Braunston flight of locks I noticed this sign on the cottage. Im not sure how a steam engine is supposed to be quiet.

From the top lock it is then only a short distance to Braunston tunnel .At every tunnel entrance you get a sign like this.

Entering the tunnel and it looks like there are no boats coming in the opposite direction which is good as it will give us a faster passage through.

This is our view as we travel through.You can just about see the other end of the tunnel. Its the small white dot in the distance. With no other boats we did the tunnel in 18 minutes.

Boaters Gold !!! Just after leaving the tunnel we came upon this little lot all cut into boat size lengths. We loaded the roof with what we wanted and there was still enough left for 2 or 3 more boats to fill up with.

After a few miles we take the tight turn left at Norton junction and then leaving The Grand Union main line we join The Leicester Branch and start heading North.

We soon reached The Watford flight of locks. These consist of 3 single locks and a staircase of 4 locks. With the sign saying lockeepers on duty Carolyn heads off to find them and book our passage up the flight.

Luckily there was one boat in front of us going up and one coming down, so after waiting 10 minutes for the one coming down to pass we were on our way.

After 2 single locks we reach the staircase which is 4 locks joined together with no pound in between them.

Instruction for the staircase locks.

There are 2 paddles on each staircase lock ,one red and one white. They have to be operated in a certain way and there is a saying to get it correct. Red before white and you will be allright.. White before red and you will wish you were dead.

We did the flight in just under 35 minutes with the help of a very good lady lockie, the average time for this flight is about 45 minutes so we did very well.

We picked up a mooring about a mile above the locks in a  rural location with this pair for company. Carolyn thought they were lovely. I think they will be even lovelier in a few months time on a plate covered in mint sauce and surrounded with gravy ,Spuds and veg… Yum yum

                                                                                                             Happy Days

Frosty cruising

 

With Curly back in Devon and Carolyn back from taking Curly back to Devon its time to pull pins from our mooring at Brownsover and start cruising again. We have now spent nearly two weeks here and its just far too long to be stuck in one place. We now need to head towards Debdale Wharf which is on the Leicester branch of the Grand Union canal near Market Harborough. Inca needs to come out of the water again as we noticed a problem with the very expensive hull treatment we had done less than 2 years ago.

So with the temperature at minus one and with a good frost on the solar panels we pulled pins at 08.30 and headed to the winding hole (turning point) and then headed back towards Braunston.

A leaky tap at HillMorton did this to the grass next to it.

Hard at work cutting back the hedges on the towpath are CRT contractors Fountains.There were in fact 6 men deployed on this job. Surely there has to be a more efficient way to do it than this.

What's wrong with my hat. It fits just like a glove..

Back into Braunston and a familiar sight. The elsan blocked yet again !

At about 10 feet long I have often wondered what this boat was used for .

With all the hire fleet back at base there is not a lot of room as we approach Braunston bottom lock.

With me left sat in the lock Carolyn just couldn't resist going into the shop (not like her). Anyway she did buy me a Kit Kat as a treat.

I've been past the dry dock in Braunston so many times and never realised this is how they use it.The dock gate is just lifted and then slid along out of the way… Simple is always the best way.

We now have the Braunston flight then the Watford flight of locks before getting onto the summit of The Leicester branch. But more about that in the next update.

PS.. Sad news from Wetherspoons . This coming Sunday will be the last time they will be selling their Sunday Roast. We and a lot of other boaters took advantage of the Roast and a pint for £6.59p as we travelled around the country. Spoons say that it is a commercial decision. But I think they will loose a lot of customers on a Sunday….

                                                                                                              Happy Days