How does the saying go? The left hand doesnt know what the right hand is doing.

And how true is that! After returning from a super steak meal at Wetherspoon last night,we noticed two more boats moored behind us. Apparently they had a booked to go through Tuel lock for 9am this morning. Strange that we had to wait until 11am instead of going with them but knowing how notorious the Rochdale is for lack of water it seemed obvious to stagger the locking. Especially as Tuel lock is very very deep. In fact it is the deepest lock in the UK with a rise and fall of nearly 20ft. So this morning, those on the boat behind, sent their crew to empty the first lock. Bit pointless really as (a) it fills up as fast as the water goes down due to top gates leaking, and (b) the padlock was still on the gate preventing it from opening. The skipper off the second boat walked up to see if the lock keeper had arrived. After 30 minutes he returns with the news that the lock keeper was having a day off!!!! So a bit of head scratching and cries of 'Now what do we do'. It was straight onto the phone to C&RT. 'Ah', says the lady, 'we had better send out a replacement lockie'. 20 minutes later two C&RT guys arrive. They look at the 4 boats, gets onto the phone to one of there bods and then tells us there is no record of the two 9 am boats having booked. They did have a record of ours and Nb Andael (It  turned up this morning). Having sorted out who was who, we expected them to unchain the lock and start all of us moving. Thats when the next problem arose. They couldn't operate the lock as they weren't lock keepers and it was more then there jobs worth to do so. 'But rest assured' said one of them 'Someone is coming from Manchester to open the locks'. With time on our hands I decided a quick trip to Lidl was in order. On the way I had to pass Tuel deep lock. Who should I meet fiddling with his keys? Yep...... another C&RT guy. I jokingly say to him 'Could you wait until I'm back at the boat before starting  us up'. He stares at me blankly. I say to him 'You are the lock keeper aren't you'? No was his reply. Just a volunteer. God give us strength!!! He had no idea that 4 boats were waiting to come up and to top it all he didn't even have the right key to unlock the gate to the office or the lock gates!! The wait continued for quite a while. I had just put the kettle on when FS started to move. The lock keeper from Manchester had arrived. Within 45 minutes he had all four of us up and on our way. His last parting comment was 'Stick in the middle as the water has dropped by over a foot'.

First two boats in (The 9am-ers)

Andael first

Well he was not wrong! We scraped bottom for the three miles it took to get to the next lock.

So we arrive first at Edward Kilner lock. A big notice by the lock landing warning boaters to go in one at a time. It's all due to the lock sides starting to bow in. I was on lock duties again owing to Ian's swollen ankle and I brought FS up very slowly, probably to the annoyance of our locking buddies on Andael. But no way was I going to have FS hit the wall sides just in case!.

Joined by these critters at Brearley Upper lock while waiting for Andael to catch up

 

New winding mechanism perhaps?

The rest of the way low water wasn't to much of an issue and we arrived at Hebden Bridge just before 4pm. There is a lovely park right by the mooring so I took Echo and Jade for a quick walk. When I returned Ian looked a bit pensive. Asking what the matter was, he told me there was at least 3" of water in the dry bilge.( He stores all his man stuff in there) and the only way to remove it was a empty milk container fashioned to a scoop. He thinks that when Tuel lock filled, the  turbulence pushed the water up and into the air vent. So now he is busy bailing out and trying to dry all the stuff that was laying on the bottom, his drills included!

Cant believe the stuff he carries!

At least 3" of water although it is difficult to tell with this picture.