WELFORD JUNCTION
Jan. 22
At 7 am this morning it was 23*F, and we were
frozen in place. It will not be an early start if at all. David is restless and
nervous about the prospect of being stuck. He has been pounding the ice encircling
the boat trying to break it up and running the engine to try and circulate and
warm up the water in front of Mike’s boat. Stay tuned.
We received a surprising email from David
Dare two days ago. We had always planned to return to the marina on the 31st,
and David had worked out an itinerary that had a few open days built in just in
case of unforeseen difficulties such as ice.
The unexpected email stated that we were instead due back at the marina on the 28th not the 31st at 10 am
with a tidy and scrubbed vessel. That news threw us for a loop. David contacted
our renter and explained that icy conditions had slowed us down, and we would
do our best. Dave found out that The
Duke and The Duchess were rented for the month of February, so an earlier
arrival was necessary, for sure.
The ice has been relentless. When we first
experienced it in Birmingham, it was a bit of a thrill cutting our way through
it. But after days of ice breaking, it has lost its charm. The noise is jarring
at times. Through the thin ice it sounds a bit like maracas and chimes, but the
thicker it gets, the more unpleasant. It sounds like a bulldozer scrapping its bucket
along gravel or asphalt. It destroys the tranquility which often surrounds us.
Navigating through it is very taxing on David.
When we shoved off yesterday morning Diane
and I had a swing bridge to operate. We found the key hole frozen. David
brought over hot water and poured it over the mechanism, and we were finally
able to turn the key and swing the bridge. When we reached the Foxton Locks the
bottom lock had a massive chain and padlock. There was ice in the locks, and we
feared that they were not going to open that morning.
The people in the bottom lock café told us to walk up to the Top Lock Cafe where we would most likely find the lock keepers in their escape room from the cold. We huffed and puffed our way up the ten locks on icy walkways. The waitress in the café yelled up to the lock keepers who were upstairs and eventually one came down. To our relief, there was no hesitancy to open the locks and let us through. Phew.
Again, the lock keepers were most kind
operating most of the paddles for us. It was a bright sunny Saturday and there
were lots of onlookers as we made our way through the lock staircase. A gaggle
of pre-teens were recruited by my lock keeper partner to help close and open
the gates. He was so patient with them and explained all the aspects of a
working lock. They were genuinely fascinated and curious. I loved that about
them.
I learned a new word from the lock keeper that morning, “Gongoozler”. A Gongoozler is a person who enjoys watching activity on the canals in the UK. It is also used as a description for those who harbor an interest in canals and canal life, but do not actively participate. There were plenty of Gongoozlers at the Foxton Locks watching us, for sure. Some might have “groupies”, but we have Gongoozlers.
Diane managed a quick trip to the museum next to the locks while we were still bringing The Duke through. On her boat there are plaques displayed of different places along the canal. She found a wonderful blue oval plaque for the Foxton Locks and bought one for us. It is my favorite souvenir.
Going through the locks was a rather festive event with all the Gongoozlers, some eating ice cream and drinking coffee while taking in the lock action. As we sailed through the last gates, we waved farewell to our adoring fans and headed back into the icy waters.
At one point we had to maneuver between two boats moored near a marina. The opening left us only inches on both sides as David expertly glided through. Midway, I spotted the owners of one of the boats at their window. The man was videoing us with his phone and the wife was shaking her head with immense disapproval. I had seen that same look from my mother a time or two.
Perhaps they were concerned about ice
damage to their hull as we passed, but if they were that concerned, they should
not have moored in a spot that created such a challenge for passing boaters.
We passed another boater shaking his head
through his window at us. We recognized him as the one who days before yelled
at us about taking all our blacking off our boat by choosing to cut through the
ice. When we were in Birmingham with the ice, David Dare told us not to worry
about the blacking. He knew it needed to be redone before we had taken off. He
advised us to just push through the ice and not worry.
The blacking is a protective paint about
the consistency of tar that is applied to the hull to protect the steel frame.
We have added our share of scratches, and scrapes to it along the way. One time
in a lock, David said something to the volunteer about the condition of the
hull and he replied, “Oh, I’ve seen a whole lot worse.”
We pulled over after both of our boats were
yelled at by a grumpy old man worried about the ice harming his blacking. We
passed him at a snail’s pace. He had nothing to worry about but was upset to
say the least. After we tied up another boater came through and Diane and Dave
helped scoop away the ice from the bank so they could dock. The grump as he was
walking down the path yelled at them, “Is that your boat? Why would you mess up
your blacking like that?.” As he passed me
on the path, he muttered. “He’s stuck. Good”
It wasn’t long after that The Squire, our
sister boat from the same marina, approached, and we needed to move our boats
forward to make room for them. It was quite the show. I am sure grumpy pants
was thrilled to have his little private mooring invaded by all these “foolish” boaters.
I probably should not be so critical of boaters who have made it clear to us that what we are doing is not good for the exterior of the boat which it clearly is not. I am sure that having blacking done to your boat is costly, so I understand their concern for their own boats even though we have caused no harm to them. Yelling at us is not the "Canal Way".
The boaters on The Squire shared that they had called David Dare and asked if it was wise to continue through the thick ice for the sake of the boat and themselves. He encouraged them to press on and not to worry. About a half hour later, they continued down the canal. Apparently, they were trying to meet up with friends. Now Diane is suggesting we follow them since they were blazing a trail for us. David already started dinner so not sure where this will lead.
Mike took his drone out and followed the
Squire. Seems they did not get very far in this thick ice. They stopped about a
half mile down from us. Looks like we will be staying put for the night. Who
knows what tomorrow will bring. We are told it is supposed to warm up tonight.
70 degrees would be nice. Not a chance.
GUNG HEY FAT CHOY!
We ended the evening with appetizers on The Duchess and a steak dinner provided by Mike and Diane on The Duke. A couple of cribbage games later, Mike and I are 3 games ahead.
Life is good.
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