A Day of Characters

This character description assassination was supplied by Brenda :-

Today I shall tell you about "Nutty Noah" and "Half Nelson". NN turned up at Stone lock as I prepared it once we had filled Jannock's water tank below the lock. He watched me prep the lock and acknowledged G onboard and then asked me if we were going his way and did we want the lock.  -?-

I was given the full shipping forecast when I asked if he thought it was likely to rain. We ascended the lock with his help, then he spotted another boat approaching from above so he ran along the towpath to inform them that it was quite OK for them to "proceed into the lock that was ready for them and he'd hold his crew back" - that's alright then.  Before the next lock he was called back onto the boat for breakfast. A lock or two later he returned, the soubriquet was confirmed as he was now wearing a pair of ancient flappy wellies, a full length oilskin type coat and was now astride a bicycle. He then proceeded to regale us with tales of his breakfast that included poached smoke cod, bacon, egg and sauteed mushrooms.  Cornflakes anyone?

 

We first met Half Nelson yesterday. He's a newbie with 3 weeks of a months hire under his belt and a sweet man. He has a gammy eye, knackered knees, walks with an odd gait and admits to 78 years. Onboard his Black Prince hireboat he had a severely disabled wife. He is considering buying a boat. I hope he doesn't. He's a danger to himself, let alone his wife and other boaters. He'd invited hints and tips from us yesterday, so when I saw him pull out in front of us as I prepared to check/empty the lock, I carried on with a mind to help him anyway. He jumped aboard, neither of the gates were open and there was no chance of me getting there first unless I ran. I ran and just got to the second gate open as he charged into the lock. I suggested that running at shut gates like that was a risky strategy. He advised me that the hire base had said he could do it. I asked if he'd been sure it was properly empty and he said he had seen a boat come down it some 10 minutes ago. He's obviously not come across a leaky lock gate then. I pointed out that he'd been unable to see if anybody was lockside. That puzzled him! He said that people were kind and helpful if they were there. What about any children playing/sitting/standing near the balance beam as he rammed the gate I asked? Another puzzled look. So I suggested that they might get pushed or bumped into the canal. Quite a fall, a shock even for a swimmer. He simply said that the boatyard had suggested he go into locks that way. I asked if he were rich as I could imagine the law suit. He said he only had his pension - so don't let him drown your nearest or dearest, you can't even sue!

 

I also wonder how the pair of them would cope if he fell in or got injured - his wife seemed boat bound. In a lock accident she'd have no chance. Please don't sell this man a boat!

We did a solo trip through Harecastle during the last slot of the day and felt like I was in a fridge due to the bitterly cold wind being dragged through the tunnel by the fans.

Fashion tips for late May bank holidays in England - match your thermal vest with thermal gloves.

Graham (for Brenda)

www.jannock.org.uk

A rude awakening

Our early start was prompted by Brenda being a light sleeper! At 7am she heard a strange noise on the boat and quickly realised that Jannock's new lock wheeling bicycle was being liberated from on the roof. She yelled through the window at the thief and sent me out the back door to deal with him whilst she took photos of him through the window.  The perpetrator of  the crime (pictured here) had obviously had a chemical breakfast and claimed that he had found the bike laying in the hedge, and look! - there are the marks in the grass where he'd found it. I explained that we had just heard him remove it from on top of the roof and even if it had been in the hedge, theft by finding is also a crime. He lost the will to argue and quickly ambled off along the towpath towards Rugely.  In someways it was a shame he didn't try and ride it as the stem bolt had been loosened in order to allow the handlebars to be turned to lay flat on the roof. It would have been quite funny watching him try to cope with that on a bumpy grass towpath. We will send a report and his photo to Rugely Police just in-case they meet him again. The previous rooftop bike security has now been beefed up .

Once the adrenalin had subsided we set off North and passed through Colwich lock following another boat. As the day progressed the Easterly wind became stronger and stronger causing Jannock to crab along the exposed bits of canal. We moored for the night on the new visitor moorings below Stone lock, only two boats away from nb Raven, ex Dave H. and star of many old Hudson adverts. Raven now sports a full sized motorcycle parked under a tarpaulin on the tug deck and the brasswork  is starting to tarnish.

The strong headwinds experienced during the car shuffle back to Alvecote sometimes knocked up to 6 MPH off the Di Blasi's normal speed.

 

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

No queues at Fradley

We set off from Alvecote at 9am on Friday and were through Glascote locks in just over one hour. At the top lock, a couple from a Canaltime craft, that was moored just before the lock, were observing the passing of Jannock and the boat preceding us before attempting to try it themselves. They stated that they had viewed the on-board video twice and were still unsure what to do. At the main road bridge north of Fazely, we saw a mink that passed under the bridge on the offside, in front of us, and then dived into the canal and dissappeared from sight. No tell tale air bubbles on that one!

We turned left at Fradley and followed another boat up the locks without having to wait at all. I did have to turn all of the locks due to no south bound craft in evidence.

At Shadehouse lock a young lass was taking lots of photographs and she got very upset with Brenda who not only took a photo of her taking pictures but also kept looking at her as she was doing her picture taking. After she had protested about Brenda messing up her photos, Brenda replied with "well, it's my planet too!" She became very apologetic after that. Did anyone see any nice pictures of the Fradley area in Sundays Telegraph?

We travelled on through Handacre where we passed Granny Buttons moored outside the Plum Pudding. I hope Andrew got their permission to stay on the short term moorings there.

We finally moored for the night out in the countryside, north of Rugely, just before Taft bridge.

 

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

Sincere apologies to RSS Feeders

When I last logged into Blogger, there was a load of spam mail in the 'waiting to be published' queue. I decided to clean it up ready for  ...  wait for it  ...  me starting to blog with a blackberry again - Yes, my new employer have given me one to use for work which will allow me to post again whilst mobile.

However, I managed to delete several entries in the process and that is why you will have received them again, Sorry but I wanted to keep the displayed entries intact so I had to replace them.

Regards

 

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

It's 28degrees and rising Cap'n

As we moved off we became quickly aware of some heavy duty vegetation management that has been going on along here on the off-side. What a luxury to be able to see around corners without peering through willow curtains. How nice to be able to see approaching hazards and to not have to hang onto your hat or avoid getting your eyes poked out by low branches. Well done BW!

Around Atherstone the heavy scents of Oilseed rape and Hawthorne are replaced by Lilac blossom.

On the Atherstone flight we met a couple of ladies - Brenda named them Dotty and Lettuce, it suited them. They were in Portage mode having to stop at every lock for something. Two ladies, two cameras, so every combination of photo had to be posed for. They even had to stop for their second breakfast. Maps had to be consulted as well. We presume they finally got water-bourne as we never saw them again after lock 6.

Today's weather and countryside was all the ad-man at the English Tourist Board could wish for, mind you they never show traditional English sunburn, do they. We've seen enough of that today.

Brenda

www.jannock.org.uk

A day for new experiences.

Having arrived and opened Jannock on Friday night, we were up and away before 9 am ready for a long hot day. We arrived at Hillmorton top lock just as the rush started and found ourselves 3rd in the queue. Once through the 3 locks we had a quiet clear run to just before Stretton Stop where we met Quidditch, amongst the land slides, heading South towards Ricky. We paused and had a quick chat with Will and then continued on passing through the swingbridge and onto a weed-free section up to Sutton Stop. A sharp starboard turn brought us onto the northbound Coventry canal through Bedworth and Nuneaton to moor for the night in the woods adjacent to Springwood Haven.

Between bridges 24 and 27, we were following a tug from Atherstone which was pushing an empty barge. In order to avoid this pair on a sharp bend, a southbound boat went aground on the inside of the corner. We towed him off backwards much to the concern of the newly hired Springwood craft following him.

At Springwood Brenda heard her first Cuckoo for the year, found wild garlic and bluebells in the woods and heard a nightingale sing. After dinner we sat and watched the bats skimming the water catching insects and waited for the Rooks to quieten down before retiring to bed. What a wonderful place to moor.

 

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

You know you are getting old ...

... and your eyesight is getting poor when at the end of a hot day, you are enjoying the cool evening air sat on the towpath and you don't notice that the person cycling past you is:-

a) a man!

b) completely starkers!

He did not even have any luggage with him.

 

Brenda

www.jannock.org.uk

A Family Weekend Day#3

I had booked holiday today and so I started the morning by giving Jannock's

starboard side a wash. We then moved off and winded at Braunston turn to

return, right side on, for a self pumpout. Once this was completed we then

winded in the marina entrance and set off Northbound again. Onto the

northern Oxford canal and cruised until 13:30 when we tied up and I set off

to fetch the car from Cosgrove, on the Di Blasi. We had a very close near

miss with a Viking Afloat craft at one of those rickety (falling down

really) accommodation bridges. She was going like a bat out of hell and

didn't even get into reverse before ramming the piling. The boat following

said they had been bouncing from side to side all the way from Hillmorton.

No other boat sightings to report and a very short cruising day today. This

year is a complete weather change to 2007's Mayday holiday - see our very

damp trip report for the Lee and Stort to see how cold and wet it was last

year.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

A Family Weekend Day#2

Monday morning started with passage through the Blisworth Boat Wash. The

Jannock system of Brenda blowing a whistle as the bow passes under a

torrent, thereby allowing the steerer to minimise his soaking six seconds

later, worked very well and all but one waterfall was avoided by the

steerer. Unfortunately we were passing an oncoming boat at one point which

placed the stern immediately under a serious one that I could not avoid.

Then the long drag through Bugbrooke, Heyford and Weedon was performed under

rapidly clearing skies so that it was blazing when we arrived at the locks

at Whilton. We shared this flight with another Alvechurch boat and found

that we worked very well together. The abundance of lock crew from Jannock

meant that Brenda could work the locks and I was left to steer. During this

flight both boys managed to each break the lock wheeling bicycle in their

own unique ways. Simon broke the back mudguard by getting a stick caught in

the back wheel and then Matt managed to totally trash the frame by

performing trials rider type 'bunny hops' on it and bending the hinge plate

that USED to allow it to fold up. Now the pedals hit the ground if you try

and ride it. The cheeky bu$$er even accused me of having the wrong size

crank pins fitted to the bike until I managed to get a look and identify the

problem. We passed through a dryer Braunston tunnel and then shared the

flight with the same Alvechurch boat that we had ascended Whilton with. As

we passed the Admirable Nelson, Kate rushed out and hailed us from the

garden whilst John P. waved a greeting from the bridge. We then passed

Pilgrim moored outside the marina and Malcolm said he needed to speak to me.

We took on water outside the StopHouse and then moved forward thirty metres

to moor for the night. After dinner, Simon, Phaedra and Matt departed to

head back to Salford and Brenda and I went for a walk to visit M & B on

Pilgrim. They were not there and the boat was empty so we walked across the

marina and were surprised to find Prairie Crocus at her mooring. After a

visit with Ken and Claudia, we returned to Jannock to have John P. visit us

for a chat. All in all, a very sociable day (although I'll have to see

Malcolm another time)

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

A Family Trip Weekend #1

This weekend we had three days on Jannock. On Sunday, we met up with Simon,
Matt and Phaedra in Braunston and then transported them to Jannock so that
we could take them back to their car by boat. This is the first time for
several years that we have had the whole family cruising together. Simon is
celebrating the achievement of being in full-time employment after 20 years
of full-time education and Matt wanted a break from his exam revision ( we
believe he really wanted to test drive his soon-to-be short term
accommodation). Once Jannock was unlocked and ready to move, Brenda walked
up to Cosgrove lock to prepare it whilst I untied and asked a passing
Alvechurch hire craft if they minded us sharing the lock with them. They
agreed and we joined them only to discover that Philip Ridel (BW Finance
Director who had dealt with our Cropredy mooring increase complaint two
years ago) was on board. Brenda advises all to consult him before going
cruising in future as he obviously knows how to arrange good weather
although we were concerned that he remembered and recognised us after all
that time. Due to the latish start we had a target destination of Stoke
Bruerne where we ascended the flight on our own and moored up in order to
celebrate Simon's employment status with a meal in the Boat restaurant. We
all heartily recommend their fixed price three course dinner, the selection
was good, they were flexible on choices when requested and the quality was
excellent. We returned to Jannock where a traditional Sunday night game of
Soddit was played whilst the boys devoured all the spirits we had on board.
They definitely DON'T take after their Dad.

 

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

Soddit Cruise 2008

This year the crew for the Soddit Cruise were very smartly wearing uniform. We were provided with some T-shirts advertising our favourite brewery that Brenda personalised for each crew member. Friday night we ate fish and chips en-route to the boat and then had 4 games of Soddit once on board. During this time we also had a beer tasting as I had collected some bottles of Purple Moose beer from North Wales recently. Saturday morning we set off from Grove Church, just below Linslade and headed North for a weekend trip shortened due to my work commitments.   We passed through Grove lock where 75% of the crew posed outside the closed pub waiting for the photographic laggard to re-join the boat.

 

Having passed through Linslade with a quick sortee into Tescos for a paper, we continued on and shared Soulbury with the Wyvern boat Snowdrop, whose crew of two were so impressed (or embarrassed) that they shared Stoke Hammond lock with us as well. As we were approaching Bletchley a lunch/fishing stop was called for where Pete and I got our own back on the fishists! I had brought Mini-Jannock with us on this trip so we had fun playing model boats while the others fished. 

The picture above shows the two Jannocks.

After a long lunch we continued through Fenny Lock and onto Great Lindford where we moored for the night in the park. A meal of Crayfish cocktail and Thai Chicken curry was followed by an evening of 'off-road' boule and then another 4 games of Soddit once it got dark. Unusually for a Soddit cruise, the beer barrel ran dry on Saturday evening (something of a record, even for us) and so we had to resort to more bottles.

Sunday arrived with yet more sunshine and so we set off after a morning fishing session to complete our trip. Once moored we lunched aboard and then headed home. It seems a shame to finish so early but I had lots to do ready for work on Monday.

I have taken a leaf out of Andrew's latest blog on Granny Buttons and have installed Windows Live writer to make it easier to post pictures on the Jannock blog. Thanks Andrew.

(Pity I can't get the text to wrap round the pictures though)

How to dodge the weather.

On Saturday morning I spent a couple of hours re-watering Jannock and preparing to leave the mooring whilst Brenda performed some essential retail therapy in Hemel. On her return we had lunch with Julian T. and then bade him farewell and set off North-ish at about 2 pm. Destination for this summer is Rufford wharf or thereabouts by July. The first three locks were in our favour as they all have to be left empty. We stopped for a chat with Debbi and Simon in Berko before continuing our journey in bright sunshine, this was the first public appearance of exposed Graham legs powering the recently overhauled lock wheeling bike for this year. The forecast had been for strong winds and showers but they were not in evidence. At Gas 1 lock (51) I was caught out by a booby trapped gate paddle left by a southbound boat. The paddle was fully up and the anti-vandal lock was on. I did not check the pawl (big mistake!) and the paddle dropped rapidly when I undid the padlock. After a short period of adrenalin stabilisation I continued to work us through the lock and up the flight. After Northchurch lock, I cycled ahead to try and identify a suitable overnight spot but the combination of Dudswell lock being set ready for us with the gate open and the short distance to the mainline railway urged us to continue through the lock. Above the lock the railway drops into a cutting and we found Fair Fa moored and so we pulled in behind her and enjoyed a very sociable evening with Pat and Sheila. Finally got to bed about midnight, just as the inconsiderate s@d moored behind us switched off his generator.

 

Sunday morning arrived bright after a very wet and windy night. Pat and Sheila set off to walk the dogs so Dudswell top lock had been prepared by them when we arrived. Onto the summit through Cowroast lock and we had a very short period of light rain accompanied by a well spaced club fishing competition. The participants were very friendly and did not mind the boats passing at all. Even when we met a South bound wide beam boat in one guys swim there were no rude comments or scowls. Must be an attitude brought on by everywhere else being closed to fishing at the moment. Along the summit Brenda spotted 6 different Kingfishers all flashing a brilliant vivid blue as they sped along in front of us. At the Bulbourne windy point we had to wait while a tug from Cowroast turned to return to his mooring. The fisherman there pointed out that the tug had peeled back the steel piling on the far side of the cut in his efforts to get round. It must be nice to have that sort of power available when you want it! We passed down the Marsworth flight solo passing three sets of Southbound boats ascending the locks. Into the Anglers for a wonderful Sunday lunch, nine different veg with my roast beef and we were almost back at Jannock when it started to rain. We sat out the worst of the storm inside Jannock and then continued our journey  once it had passed. I managed to complete the day by doing a car shuffle without getting wet when all around me were dark clouds and deep puddles. We managed to get home and had the car unloaded before the heavens opened again so I think we were very lucky to have a good weekend boating without getting drowned in the process.

 

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk

A new table for Jannock

Instead of venturing out in the howling gales over this holiday, I have been busy re-doing the cratch and table assembly for Jannock. This picture (left) shows how the old one was suffering from the paint cracking in lines where the board underneath was de-laminating and that was taken in 2006.

I purchased a piece of high quality marine ply, cut it to shape, and sent it to my friend Terry for decoration, with his wonderful roses, once I had painted the base colour on. He has completed the new roses in a different layout to the old ones and I believe they look better now.



He even included a few Forget-me-nots into the new design as he knows that Brenda loves them. Having received the panel back from him, I spent most of Easter applying several coats of clear varnish over the top of his handywork to try and make it last longer than the previous panel did.

Not sure yet when we will set off North but I hope it will be soon. It depends on the weather mainly as Brenda does not appreciate getting cold and wet when we have a perfectly good mooring and a warm dry house.