Back to Boats Yee Har!

[Big and Bashful]

At last, the wee boat is back in the water, I saw the weather forecast on Monday night, got leave agreed for Tuesday and took my knee length cargo skirt for a sail to enjoy our Summer, which lasted all day!
I 'sailed' down to Rothesay, had lunch and a few pints in the Black Bull, all skirted, no comments, I am getting used to that now!
I then 'sailed' back, changing into a Macabi to stop the Sun burning my knees. A brilliant day out, more of a breeze would have been nice, but I didn't mind motoring, at least the weather was nice, bright and warm.
Still, Summers over, back to rain, wind and cold. It was good while it lasted, and at times there was a good sailing breeze.

[crfriend]

Still, Summers over, back to rain, wind and cold. It was good while it lasted, and at times there was a good sailing breeze.

Oh, come now, B&B, it can't possibly be that bad. The winds do blow all year 'round, you know, so you just need to be prepared to take the wind when Mother Nature has it on offer.

Good show with the skirts, though. Kudos!

[Kirbstone]

Well done, B&B.

We also had our early Summer last Tuesday, too. Nice day but no great heat out. Wed. was back to rain/drizzle & showers. Today it's blowing a severe gale. No surprise there when the SW wind backs SE just prior to the next nasty front 'cummin' in' from the West. Best to be ashore today.

T.

[Kirbstone]

Great news for me today. I had thought that I'd get no real briny-water sail this year, but today came an invite from my former partner in 'Vivienne' which he bought all the rest of us out of, to go for a shakedown week-long cruise following her extensive refit prior to his much delayed departure round the World.

He has invited the former partners (& usual suspects) also & We pick her up from a boatyard at Crosshaven Co. Cork on Sun. 30th June and sail her for a week along that coast, leaving her in Kinsale (near the 'Old Head') on Sat. 6th July. There will be five of us.
Considering the prevailing winds the plan is to beat her upwind as far as Crookhaven, just near the Fastnet Rock for the first few days, then have a gentler passage back for the rest of the week. It'll be a 'Boys only' trip, which means that we'll probably drive her hard and splice all the mainbraces thoroughly with each passage of that Orb past the yardarm.
Exactly one year before in 2012 I spent the first week in July sailing along the S. coast of Turkey. It'll be interesting to see the difference in dress required to sail off S. Ireland!

T.

[crfriend]

Great news for me today. I had thought that I'd get no real briny-water sail this year, but today came an invite from my former partner in 'Vivienne' which he bought all the rest of us out of, to go for a shakedown week-long cruise following her extensive refit prior to his much delayed departure round the World.

That's great news, Tom, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

I may be getting my first crack at the (more or less) open water this coming Friday which should be fun.

Then there's another cross-Massachusetts Bay jaunt from Boston to Provincetown in early July that's "beyond the horizon" for me at the moment (the "horizon" -- time-bounded -- seems about two weeks at the moment). Work is not going well.

Exactly one year before in 2012 I spent the first week in July sailing along the S. coast of Turkey. It'll be interesting to see the difference in dress required to sail off S. Ireland!

My money's on stuff to fend off "colder" and "wetter".

[Big and Bashful]

Great news Tom, I hope the weather doesn't treat you too badly! Today I heard of snow being scraped off a car or two, in May! in Scotland, near the West coast! This is getting silly! I am on my Summer holiday in less than a month, maybe Englandshire will be slightly warmer, as long as the Kennet and Avon canal isn't frozen I will enjoy it! Not planning to do it skirted, but I will take a couple just to give me the option. I am still not sure my Sheffield mates would be as open minded as the people back at home and I will probably take the low stress route and conform.
Unless I don't!

[crfriend]

I am on my Summer holiday in less than a month, maybe Englandshire will be slightly warmer, as long as the Kennet and Avon canal isn't frozen I will enjoy it!

Narrowboats do not come with ice-breaker bows? It does, after all, get cold every so often.

Not planning to do it skirted, but I will take a couple just to give me the option. I am still not sure my Sheffield mates would be as open minded as the people back at home and I will probably take the low stress route and conform.
Unless I don't!

Do not conform. At the very least, take the Kilt!

[Kirbstone]

Great for you too, B&B. I lived in Englandshire near the Basingstoke tunnel on the Kennet & Avon, which in my time was restored and re-opened, Ca. 1982? Being a 'contour' canal it has practically no straight bits and is very scenic as a result.
I can attest that you are unlikely to be hindered by ice floes in the Summer. Just once, in Feb. 1984 it froze like hell and we skated on it near Odiham for almost two weeks.

Re: dress, conform if you will, but I'd pack a kilt, too.

T.

[Milfmog]

I am on my Summer holiday in less than a month, maybe Englandshire will be slightly warmer, as long as the Kennet and Avon canal isn't frozen I will enjoy it! Not planning to do it skirted, but I will take a couple just to give me the option. I am still not sure my Sheffield mates would be as open minded as the people back at home and I will probably take the low stress route and conform.
Unless I don't!

Are you planning on travelling the entire length of the canal? Many years ago (late ‘70’s?) I helped out as a volunteer chipping rust off the paddle wheels of the Claverton pumping system which raised water from the Avon to the canal just east of Bath. I also spent a few Sundays wheel-barrowing mud and sludge out of lock 8 (or was it 9?) before the two were combined into a single deep lock to fit around a new road. My mum still lives in the area (just north of the Semmington aquaduct), and I have walked the section between Bath and Bradford-on-Avon many times. *

I can’t speak for the people you take with you, but the folks in the pubs and others I’ve spoken to along that route have never raised any issues over my choice of a skirt.

Have fun and enjoy the break, just don’t count on sunshine or warmth, we don’t have much of that here at present either


Ian.

PS If you find yourself in the Basingstoke tunnel you need a new map…

* Pub recommendations:
The Cross Guns at Avoncliff
The Barge Inn Bradford-on-Avon
Somerset Arms at Semmington
The Barge at Seend Cleeve (I once saw someone given a hard time for being barefoot there, but nobody batted an eyelid at the Utilikit I was wearing).

[ChrisM]

Well, the same here: School is out, and in a week we will hit the road, drive 3000 km from New Orleans to Bellingham WA, and spend our summer aboard SUNDANCE.

We have no destination plans. We both have a desire to go to Barkley Sound, out on the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island, but on the other hand we also both have a desire to simply see which direction the wind is blowing and go nowhere special for a couple of months.

We have basically all of June and July to spend on board, and it will be lovely, even if the summer weather in the northwest is about the same as that in Ireland!

Chris

[Big and Bashful]

I am on my Summer holiday in less than a month, maybe Englandshire will be slightly warmer, as long as the Kennet and Avon canal isn't frozen I will enjoy it! Not planning to do it skirted, but I will take a couple just to give me the option. I am still not sure my Sheffield mates would be as open minded as the people back at home and I will probably take the low stress route and conform.
Unless I don't!

Are you planning on travelling the entire length of the canal? Many years ago (late ‘70’s?) I helped out as a volunteer chipping rust off the paddle wheels of the Claverton pumping system which raised water from the Avon to the canal just east of Bath. I also spent a few Sundays wheel-barrowing mud and sludge out of lock 8 (or was it 9?) before the two were combined into a single deep lock to fit around a new road. My mum still lives in the area (just north of the Semmington aquaduct), and I have walked the section between Bath and Bradford-on-Avon many times. *

I can’t speak for the people you take with you, but the folks in the pubs and others I’ve spoken to along that route have never raised any issues over my choice of a skirt.

Have fun and enjoy the break, just don’t count on sunshine or warmth, we don’t have much of that here at present either


Ian.

PS If you find yourself in the Basingstoke tunnel you need a new map…

* Pub recommendations:
The Cross Guns at Avoncliff
The Barge Inn Bradford-on-Avon
Somerset Arms at Semmington
The Barge at Seend Cleeve (I once saw someone given a hard time for being barefoot there, but nobody batted an eyelid at the Utilikit I was wearing).

We pick the boat up at Bradford on Avon and I think East is the way to go, Bradford is near the West end is it not? I am sort of looking forward to the Caen Hill flight ( I think that's what it's called!), it would be brilliant if they were narrow locks, wide locks are relatively slow to operate and very heavy, but it will be great to be on a canal I haven't been on before. I can suffer wide locks for that!

[crfriend]

We pick the boat up at Bradford on Avon and I think East is the way to go, Bradford is near the West end is it not?

A quick look from above (Thank you Google Maps "satellite view") seems to indicate that Bath is west of Bradford Upon Avon, but if you head east you will hit the Caen Hill flight of locks, and it looks like there are 16 of the beasts on the main climb up the hill (travelling eastbound) with several more on the approach to the main flight. It looks like they can take two narrow-boats abreast, so I don't know if that qualifies as a "narrow" or a "wide" lock.

Be ready for some work.

Some of the "works" between Bradford and Bath look interesting including a couple of aqueducts that jump the river and some railroad tracks.

[... I]t will be great to be on a canal I haven't been on before. I can suffer wide locks for that!

Whatever the lock geometry is, I am sure you'll have a rollicking good time. Please do file dispatches every so often so we can track progress from afar.

[Big and Bashful]

Will do Carl. Yes, the locks are wide locks, as in wide enough for two narrowboats to go through side by side. In the UK narrow locks are only a few inches wider than the boat.

You can see how narrow the old traditional locks are in this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEmSgtZESgk

You can have anywhere from 2 to 6 inches of clearance depending on the canal, great fun slotting a seventy foot long narrowboat into these locks, especially with the side currents you can get from bypass weirs.
I am looking forward to this years trip.

[Kirbstone]

I have a good friend the former Thames lock-keeper at Sonning lock who owns a 52 footer narrowboat with hydraulic drive, but only one prop & rudder at the stern. She can be quite a handful in a crosswind, never mind the current. I would recommend all 70-footers to be equipped with a bow thruster. Maybe some of 'em do?

Have a great time, B&B and I expect it'll be lots of gorilla work getting through all those conventional old-fashioned locks.....but that's part of the charm.

Here on the Shannon-Erne waterway all 31 (wide) locks are operated automatically by smart card. Perhaps that takes some of the fun out of it, but it doesn't half save time & sweat!

T.

[crfriend]

You can see how narrow the old traditional locks are in this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEmSgtZESgk

Oh, thank you for that clip B&B! It was most instructive. I guess that most boats are equipped with bumpers along their sides for the occasional -- and likely inevitable -- "brush" against the side of the works.

My intuition says that the sound was sped up consummate with the video, so the whine was the pilot modulating the motor according to conditions. If this is a fallacy, please speak up; the audio was rather interesting even if it didn't give lots of clues as to whether the thrust was forward or astern.

I am looking forward to this years trip.

I am positive you will have a good time of it! Enjoy!