Had a text message last night from Margaret and Dennis, Nb Icing, and good friends of ours to say they were moored at Shobnall fields. What a surprise as we thought we would meet them at Willington. So the first port of call this morning was to find where they had moored.
Jim left first, and we watched Dire Straits crabbing as he battled with the wind. Blustery was an understatement it was blowing that hard, 40 mph wind had been predicted for our area, and the met office for once were not wrong. Wind was blowing in across the canal from left to right so it would be interesting to get moored by Icing at the field.
On arrival a space was available, Ian steering and trying to get us in...well long story short, Ian got FS's stern to the bank but the bow was right across the cut. I whipped the stern line through a ring to hold her there and raced to Ian who was hanging on for dear life on the centre rope just to help with the pull. She came in eventually and Margaret came over to grab the bow rope. Anyway we spent a very pleasant hour and a half in the company of Dennis, Margaret, their son Steve and wife Sharon and best of all, I got my doggy fix from Bonnie the GSD.
Leaving the field, well we didn't need to push off. Ian on the bow ready to release by feeding the rope through the ring and I ready to do the same at the stern. Who needs bow thrusters when you have a side wind to push you out. She literally eased herself into the middle of the cut where I then put the on the power to get her heading straight. So apologies to those boat owners as we sped past but it was the only way I could get FS to behave.
 |
| Farewell Icing. |
Had hoped to get on the facilities at Horninglow but with one boat just having left, a boat trying to back in and a boat wanting to come through the bridge, we decided to pull over to let them sort themselves out. Ian did manage to get the cassette emptied. Had to walk with it across the road bridge but at least our toilet requirements aren't at critical level any more.
At Willington and blast, a boat was already on the facilities. Rubbish and water will have to wait until we reach Sawley now. Good job the cassette was emptied at Horninglow.
 |
| Approaching Willington |
A short cruise further, and we found Dire Straits moored opposite Mercia marina.
Time of arrival was 12.45pm. Jim and Jenn walked to the co-op and on the way back came across this! Time 1.45pm. Blimey, had we not left Dennis and Margaret when we did, or made such good headway with hardly any moored boats to get past, we could have been stuck on the wrong side. And even worse (God forbid) we could have been cruising under it when it came down!
About 4ish we had another knock on FS. Jenn stood there saying a C&RT guy was at the tree armed with a long reach pole saw. Of course nosy me had to go see and what I found was a boat being utilised by that C&RT guy to saw as much of the tree branches as he could reach. His aim was to open the navigation to a boat width. I asked why he was on his own. His reply? 5 of his guys were busy on the Erewash trying to sort out lack of water. Yep the little darlings had done it again and managed to open the paddles to drain the pounds! Which pounds he couldn't tell me, but we guess it was Dolkholm and Long Eaton. These are always being targeted. So glad we are not going up to Langley Mill until after the weekend. Water levels should be restored by then!
 |
| Pulling that boat toward the bank. |
And on my return our aerial for the WI-FI was on the ground. Ian had warned me this might happen but the internet was dire, and we tried everything to increase the signal. In the end moving the dongle to the starboard side of the boat did the trick.
 |
| Hmm, bent beyond help? My man that can said not! |
Oh, and this on C&RT website.
Location: Between Bridge Bridge ? 23 near Willington and Bridge 22 near Mercia Marina - Trent & Mersey Canal
Starts At: Bridge 23
Ends At: Bridge 22
Friday 25 September 2020 until further notice
Type: Towpath Closure (Wrong....Navigation Closure it should have read)
Reason: Vegetation
Original message:
Due to the current strong
winds, a large tree has come down on the Trent & Mersey Canal
between Bridge Bridge ? 23 near Willington and Bridge 22 near Mercia
Marina.
The tree is blocking the navigation.
Our contractors have been contacted and will attempt to clear the tree this evening.
Boaters are asked not to travel along this section until the tree has been cleared, and we will update our website as soon as the job is completed.
Thank you for your patience during this time
| And wildlife | |||
No comments:
Post a Comment