Who said life was boring on the canals especially as a certain person takes a dive!

Groan....last night we found ourselves at an angle although totally unaware of the fact until I got up to pour another drink around 9pm. Nearly fell backwards onto the Shiraz (sacrilege) and that was when we realised!

A walk back to the lock showed the problem, leakage through the bottom gate and one of the paddles not down properly. To stop us leaning over even more we just about managed to push the back end  until she levelled out.

This morning and once more we found ourselves doing the drunken walk. Yep, more water had disappeared so top gates leaked as well.

So Ian phoned C&RT and guess what...with only 3 staff on to look after the stretch between Milton Keynes and Berkhampsted there was no one to sort out the pounds! "We will notify the team" was the reply Ian received!

On the phone to C&RT

With the situation quite bad I was flummoxed when I noticed a lady who had been moored opposite walking down with windlass in hand. Out of all the boats in the pound, hers and one other stayed floating. The lock in question needed filling so I asked if she could wait until C&RT had sorted the water problem but no. "I have to leave now" was all I got. She would not reconsider and when she kept repeating no, I'm afraid my language back was more than blue but it had to be said! Off she goes just as another lady walks down with windlass in hand.  Her boat too was ready to set off down the locks so it stood to reason that they would leave together. It would have gone like clockwork except for a teeny tiny problem. Another lock full was already been drawn by the first lady, boats were beginning to lean even more so guess what? That second boat was now stuck fast!

Ian armed with boat pole walked over to help.

Then who should turn up but C&RT. Good-Oh the calvery had arrived.

But hopes were dashed when he told Ian he had no knowledge of the water shortage mentioned and that the phone call would have been relayed to the those C&RT at Bullborne. In the meantime, water had been run down from the lock above by the lady from the Blacksmith boat. This helped raise levels enough to move the bow but the stern was still stuck fast.

Ian, another boat owner who came to help and the lady owner. Her husband, who we found out was called Brian, was on the bow.

 So with so much pushing power, the inevitable happened! To date, Ian is unsure as to how he ended up in the cut. One minute he was pushing for all his might and the next......

 Getting out was not easy. The water was so low which meant the bank was too high for him to pull himself up onto. And of course, he has two dodgy shoulders, half his shoulder had been removed due to cancer 12 years ago and the left shoulder buggered when he fell at Langley Mill!  But that chap that came to help had the idea of using the plank and pole so Ian could gain some leverage and with the determination that only my man that can has, managed to pull himself out.

How his glasses stayed on I will never know because almost all of him was submerged. And whether his phone ever works again only time will tell. The old trick of placing it in rice to absorb the moisture is now being tried. Update on that tomorrow!

Oh, and another snippet of information came from that C&RT guy. Lock 71 gates are so damaged that they very much doubt if one gate can be made to work. That made our decision easier. We go back to Braunston, down the Oxford and come out onto the Thames at Dukes cut. 

And a fishy theme today.