Wednesday, July 12, 2017

2017 Summer Holiday Day #12

Strines to bottom of Bosley locks

Graham was up and at-em before 8am, setting off towards Marple in much welcomed sunshine – warmth? – not so much but it got better as the day went on.

LocalRadio

We achieved the Bosley flight of 12 locks in 1 1/2 hours today, excellent (considering it took us 3 hours to ascend last Sunday) That said, I needed cheering up after a poo-plosion at the services by the top lock. M and A will be pleased with the knowledge that they are not the only ones to have to deal with that event. We decided to do a self pump-out at the sani-station before decending the locks. I thought the techno-gubbins at the disposal end of the pump system was leaking a bit but this was just an advanced warning before it broke completely sending it’s contents towards me instead of down the drain. It would appear that when needed, I can move quite fast.

Kingfisher

Our subsequent passage down the locks was very good, passing a few ascending boats on the way and most locks set in our favour. What a treat! Once down we moored up on the visitor moorings for the night alongside Tunnel Tug No. 1. A lovely old Black Country tug, owned by Tony who lives alongside the Basingstoke canal at Woking. We were then joined by the crew of nb Poppy – he’s a retired Radio Engineer who has worked on a lot of things that Graham is now involved in. An evening of techno-talk was had by all with a brief intermission whilst a recipe for Staffordshire Oatcakes was passed on.

TreeFellers

Whilst we were sat chatting, a very lovely boat came passed on which the steerers mate was looking very overdressed.Graham remarked that it was usual to see boat crew wearing collar and tie (and tan brogues) which were a little formal for boating. The steerers response was “he’s American”. Business suit or ballgown for your next trip american A?

Our hope was that we might see the moon rise like we saw here last Saturday evening, unfortunately it’s a lot colder tonight so we didn’t stay out long enough to find out.

Brenda

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