Left Paddington at 0600 this morning (did I know there would be problems?) Weather the worst its been to date, grey with grey bits and frequent showers.
The North Circular Aquaduct:
An uneventful cruise as far as Southall where we saw a heron with a rat in its beak, it kept trying to adjust it in its beak and it kept escaping. I never thought to pick up the camera. The rat finally got into some bushes and the heron gave up. Dave turned the boat onto the main Grand Union canal at Bulls Bridge Junction, and made a fine job of it in the pouring rain. We cruised up to Cowley Peachey (junction with the Slough Arm) and turned into it. Why? I refer you to line 1 of todays blog, it's there and I want to do it. It was fine, a little shallow and weedy, but we were making good progress (I'd estimated 4 1/2 hours for the 10 mile round trip). It's a bit dull, quite straight and not much to see, so the turtle was a bit of a shock! And again I didn't reach for the camera! We 'tickovered' by a million moored boats between bridges 6 and 7, and encountered the BW weed cutting crew.
BW weed cutter:
The 'straight' Slough Arm:
Then we went under the last bridge (12) and could see the terminus about 600 yards away. We had 200 yards to go and we got our first prop foul, it had been problematic a few times, but bursts of reverse had kept us going. But this was terminal. So for the second time in the boats history I lift the weed hatch and remove about 300 tons of blanket weed. On we go for another 50 yards and yes, you've guessed it, I lift the weed hatch for the third time! I restart the engine, put it into gear and it fouls again, immediately. Ok, lets haul and pole to the end and turn round. This we do, then we start to haul and pole it back. The entire canal is filled with blanket weed and within this is embedded plastic bags, boat props collect these with ease! We haul back to bridge 12, interrupted by a call from my Mother to find out where we were! Slough I said. You haven't got very far she says (we were in Maidenhead the previous Sunday!) I try to explain, but she rings off at the we're stuck bit. In the bridge hole we raise the hatch for the fourth time! Then gingerly engage gear and proceed at tickover. We move forwards very slowly, but we are moving forwards. This we continue to do and we get to the better bits and increase speed. We eventually get back to Cowley Peachey nearly 6 hours later. All I can think is "thank goodness I don't ever have to go down there again" So I can't wait to get home and colour it in on my map!
We lock up through Cowley Lock, fill up with water and stop at the first available mooring. Thai curry ala Tim and a welcome shower after a 12 hour day.
Today: 28 miles - 1 lock - 12 hours
So Far: 432 miles - 311 locks - 209 hours
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