From Long Itchington to Braunston today in one hit - easily done, but we just meandered a bit on the way down.
The trip was hugely eventful!! First, the flight was very shallow indeed. There had been more early boats going up the flight of 9 locks than there had been boats going down. So the bottom locks were being filled slowly by the ones above, each time reducing the level of the water as the locks at the top were bringing no water from the pound at the top. By the time we reached the middle pound, the water level was almost half a metre too shallow. British Waterways was on the case, going up to the top to open sluices and get more water in, helping speed the top lock work to get boats down and slowing down the bottom locks work to stop the locks emptying before time. It was fascinating to be involved in and to be part of the water management.
Far more eventful to us was the behaviour of a hire boat family. Ooooooo. A list:
1) When we were waiting in a lock for the BW engineer to tell us when we could leave, Elizabeth went to the lock below (and behind) to let them know the BW plans. She found the boat managed by children, with no adult in sight. She told them to wait the boat until told, but worried...
2) At the same time, the adults were at the bottom lock gates of the full lock above where Bella was, with Pete at the tiller. The upward gates were open, clearly waiting for us to travel out of them. As the upward gates were open and Bella was in the lock, the adults started opening the bottom gate sluices to drain the lock so they could set it for themselves!! A sharp STOP from Pete and they realised....
3) After the Calcut locks, just before Wigrams turn, there is a long straight stretch of canal near Ventnor Farm Marina. Said hire boat was moored up and the three children and father were swimming. Swimming. In murky, filthy, somewhat toxic canal water. A dear canal boater friend of ours has been in hospital twice on serious antibiotics afer an open cut was exposed to canal water. It is not nice stuff. Yet, forgetting that, the canal is narrow (even when double width). We could see them from a distance as could the boat coming the opposite direction (!). They saw us both and didn't move (!!!). They finally swam in close to the boat to let both boats pass. The westward travelling boater told them he hoped they had lots of penicillin on board and we explained about our friend. Reluctantly, they clambered back on board.
Finally after all this, they were speeding so much that, having overtaken us when we moored to walk Josie (oh - about a 5 minute stop), we passed them travelling west OUT of Braunston as we travelled east into the village.
We had to call the hire company. So Monday, Elizabeth made the call. In the midst of the call with the hire company ("we tell people NEVER to swim!!" "We tell people never to leave a boat with children in charge!" "They did What at the lock??"), the company manager realised that the boat had not yet returned but should have been back and serviced by the time of the call. We do hope that the whole family did not end up in the hospital....
