Not a bad mooring here at Calveldon even with the railway nearby. Could hardly hear the trains but oh the rain overnight....lashed it down it did so much so that sleep was interrupted many a time. And what about the so-called day of rain today? I found a lovely quote in
quotegarden.com which is oh so true.
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it. ~Patrick Young
I had planned to bake a cake in readiness for our visitor's arrival tomorrow but put that off as it turned out much to nice a day to stay inside.
 |
| Looking back at the moorings. |
I thought I would see if Sean, manager of Anglo-Welsh, was about. I found him trying to squeeze a tumble drier into a private boat. Unfortunately, he discovered the dryer was a tad too wide to fit through the rear doors or side hatch and as the boat was in the style of the Canal Time hire boat, there was no access from the front. Having been offered a cup of tea and chatted about Merlin continuing in the fleet, I left him still trying to find a way of getting the dryer in the boat.
 |
| Anglo-Welsh yard. |
On the way back I spied a small ball of fur on the towpath. On closer inspection, I realised it was a vole, a very small vole, possibly a youngster. Hardly moving I was concerned for its welfare especially as walkers could easily tread on it. So I moved it to a safer place in the long grass, hopefully away from stomping feet and preditor eyes. I hope it will survive but am not holding my breath.
 |
| Tiny ball of fur. |
Sean had kindly allowed us to bring FS onto their private moorings so after Ian had watched the England v USA Rugby match (England won) and after I eventually made the cake, we moved roughly a mile nearer to the Anglo-Welsh yard.
A post box had to be found so I could post our son Colin and Grandson Oscar birthday cards. Ian had a great app on the phone showing all the postboxes in the UK and one showed up at Bunbury. On route to the postbox, we pass by Bunbury lock. A lone hire boater had just entered and was about to close the gate when Ian pointed out that there was another boat coming from behind. Now, these locks are broad staircase locks (two boats can fit in side by side) and one lock empties directly into another without a pound in between.
 |
| Bunbury staircase locks |
A quick rule of thumb on these locks. Going downhill, top lock full, bottom lock must be empty. This is so the top chamber can be emptied into the bottom chamber equalising the water. If the bottom chamber is still full when the ground paddle is drawn in the middle, the amount of water would cascade over the sides and down the towpath. The boat then enters the bottom chamber, middle gates closed and paddles dropped. The ground paddles raised bringing the boat down to the lower pound. Going uphill the reverse happens. Bottom lock empty, top lock full. Middle paddles are drawn allowing the top chamber to flow into the bottom chamber raising the boat. The boat moves forward into the top chamber and the middle gates are closed and paddles dropped. Top lock ground paddles are then raised bringing the boat up to where it can exit onto the top pound. Instructions on how to operate are on a huge board at the top lock so there should be no excuse on getting it wrong!
So now you know the procedure this lone boater puts his windlass on the middle spindle ready to raise the paddle. I point out the error of his ways saying he must empty the bottom lock first. We then go off to find the post box. On our return, both boats are in the top lock and the middle paddles are being raised. But....guess who left the bottom paddles up!!!! Both Ian and I shouted in unison to quickly drop the paddles and luckily the person from the second hire boat rushes down to do the deed. Last year this same scenario caused a boat to be stuck on the cill and nearly sunk. To read about it click this link
boat sunk in Bunbury lock
Tomorrow it will be our turn to descend the locks but not until the afternoon. That's when our friends arrive to take Merlin.
And wildlife, a duck theme today.
No comments:
Post a Comment