Snail Sunday

More of those pesky lift bridges today and for once (never having done one) I said I would give it a go.  After all how hard can it be? Ian whips one up in no time at all. Just a few turns of the windlass and up it comes. But.... good grief...it was exhausting! I think this will be the last time I step forward to volunteer or I'm going to have to have several sessions at the gym to increase my strength, one or the other. And before you ask, it was no easier coming down!

A snippet of information came my way why this lift bridge was camouflage green. Turns out the owners of the house felt it was not in keeping with their property so wanted it disguised.

After Whitchurch lift bridge, we caught up with a day boat. Nice people all enjoying themselves but they caused mayhem when they pulled over after going through the bridge hole because another boat was approaching. Probably thought it a good idea at the time but with us having nosed into the bridge hole we couldn't go anywhere. Merlin was also behind us and the hirer's on the oncoming Black Prince boat couldn't do anything other than panic. Eventually, we all got sorted by doing a nifty reverse manoeuvre and as we sidled past the day boat they told us they wanted to wind. Well, as most boaters know day boats are tiny in comparison to narrowboats. The winding hole was huge so quite how they managed to hit the far bank is beyond me.

Huge winding hole

With a much nicer day weather-wise, out cruising was a real pleasure. We even congratulated ourselves that our timings were spot on and well on schedule for getting to Frankton by 3pm. We even stopped for a spot of lunch and this turned out to be a big mistake! Getting ready to leave two boats came from behind. We hate boaters that untie and pull out in front with that 'must get away first mentality' so we waited for them to come past. OMG, how we wished we hadn't!!! Viking hire boats the pair of them and going so slow it was painful. Why would they both stop when a boat came towards them?? So many times we nearly ran into the back and we were constantly going into reverse.  From before Cole Mere to Ellesmere a total of 3 miles took us over 2 hours to do! Ian almost lost the will to live. Ellesmere tunnel was a nightmare. Both boats put on the power only for the stern to 'bed in' making them go nowhere.  The Llangollen has a constant flow as it is fed from the River Dee so the more power one puts on in bridge holes and tunnels when going against the flow the more it stops the boat. Best to keep the revs down so the hull glides effortlessly over the bottom. Anyway, because of their high revs and because of the prop wash we were pushed hard against the wall causing the spout to come detached from the Buckby can and the front handrail to hit the brickwork. Ian was spitting wasps and very glad when they both pulled over to stop at Ellesmere. So the name Snail Sunday was thought of by Ian as he was sure we couldn't have gone any slower!

Stopped by the exit to pick up crew.

Merlin in the tunnel

So an hour later than expected we made it to Frankton. Moored for the night but may set off earlier in the morning in case we have the same problem again.