July 13th 2011 - Thank you British Waterways

Unusually of late, today's first 8 miles was lock free! Weather the same as has gone before, cloudy and threatening but no end product. BW were out and about:

BW out and about:

I went past Inglewood and no name, they obviously keep sensible cruising hours. As you approach the bottom of Buckby locks, the railway is 50 yards to the left and the M1 50 yards to the right! It's a bit noisy. There's a stack of boats coming down the 7 lock flight so I don't have to work too hard, especially as the BW boats above are following me up and also give plenty of help. I'm informed that resevoir levels are unusually low for the time of year, this being the case I'm surprised there aren't more restrictions! I learn from a descending boat that a narrowboat was sunk at Watford locks yesterday, I check with BW, they know nothing, I check the stoppages later (I want to go that way tomorrow) and still nothing, guess I'll find out tomorrow morning. I reach the 5th lock of the flight and tie up under the railway bridge to wait as there are two boats coming down. The lock begins to empty, there's a lot of shouting, paddles are closed and the lock refilled. Looked from where I was that one of the boats had caught on the cill. So I wait a bit more and eventually impatience gets the better of me so I stroll up to see what's going on. Ah, the top gates wont shut, that's the problem. So super experienced Tim advises them to leave the problem gate open and open the bottom paddles, then start to shut the gate. Shut it does with a huge bang, but it's shut properly and normal service can be resumed. Of course, we sort this out just as the following BW guys come round the corner, they must have stopped for tea or something! The remaining pounds seem to be quite low but eventually the top lock and the adjacent New Inn appear and todays locks are done.

Top Lock and New Inn:

Of course I take the opportunity to stop and have a well earned couple of pints and a spot of lunch. I return to the boat with the intention to set off for the bottom of the Watford flight, but can't be arsed and promptly fall asleep. Lightweight eh!

Today:   10 miles -     7 locks -     6 hours
So Far: 506 miles - 401 locks - 254 hours (crumbs, supposed to service the engine every 250!)