Canal Cruising

NAPTON ON THE HILL REVISITED

January 7. 2023

We are resting here this morning listening to the rain and wind outside while we try to decide what to do. Diane is still fighting a persistent cough and the wet cold weather isn’t helping. One thing is for sure, we are not taking off anytime soon.

You would think a month is more than enough time to cover plenty of territory but when you realize that it took us around 15 hours to get to Fenny Compton from the Heyford Wharf, and it took only 1 hour for a repairman to reach us by car, it’s rather funny how slow our progress can be. We don’t have a lot of spare days to get to where we want to go and back again, but we don’t want to push ourselves, either.

Another early morning departure

We are stocked with groceries and supplies picked up in Banbury. For the first two days Diane and Mike were snacking off a care package we gave them and whatever else they smuggled into the UK.

On our last day in Banbury Diane spotted a Fish and Chips shop as we were searching out a place to eat. The waitress was very sweet and spoke to Diane about running, swimming, and exercising. I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. She told us a trip to California was on her bucket list. The owner who sent over free mushy peas for all of us to sample, came over as well to chat. We must have been a curiosity.

We had a 5 hour/14 lock day on our way to Fenny Compton. It was a busy day on the canal for us. There were boats coming downstream and using the locks. One was a cargo narrow boat delivering coal. We always seem to meet oncoming boats just as we enter a bridge, and they are often coming around a bend. It takes a wild amount of maneuvering to avoid each other at times. We even had kayakers paddling quickly through the canal and observed a woman picking up her kayak and carrying it past a lock and continuing. One kayaker’s eyes were glued to a nearby swan. He never took his eyes away from that feathery beast as he moved through the water.

Mike and Diane doing the work

David Dare sent a fellow out to do some repairs and replace the refrigerator on the Fullaway boat. Now everything seems to be in good shape. Their boat is shorter than ours, but I love their large galley and seating area. They have much more storage and workspace in their galley. Their bathroom entrance is quite narrow and inconvenient. You have to walk through the bathroom to get from the bedroom to the galley. Not a good layout in that respect.

Continuing our quest for the best Sticky Toffee Pudding, we ordered one at the Wharf Pub. It was smothered in warm custard. Oh, so good!

Sticky Toffee Pudding and Christmas Pudding with buckets of custard

Steak and Stilton Meat Pie

Yesterday we traveled around 5 hours through 7 locks. We are working on a more efficient system going through the locks with two boats one right after the other. Mike and David both hop out of the boats to help. Having the extra muscle to crank up paddles and open and close gates is so appreciated.

Diane continues to impress me with her gumption and skill. She ended up driving their boat through the locks and then docking it. She is trying to convince me to try it. She quipped, “You said you like bumper cars. Well, this is a bumper boat.” Dave has encouraged me to try all along our trip, but it makes me way too nervous. I am so afraid of rolling back on the cill which is a slab of stone at the foot of the lock gates. You can get your propeller stuck on it if you aren’t careful. I am afraid of hitting reverse instead of forward.

Captain Diane

At one point in the day, Diane and I found ourselves operating the lock just on “woman power”. We were quite proud of ourselves for handling it so well. As she was motoring out of the lock we were chatting, and I got out of sync. I forgot to close the paddles. When I went to the other end of the lock and opened the paddles to release the water back into the lock, it was barely filling. When I glanced back and saw the paddles up at the far gate, I was horrified that I had forgotten to close them. As routine as it becomes, you still have to pay attention. I later found out that David had done the same at another lock leaving one paddle open. It happens.

Diane was able to rest for most of the morning as we had miles of canal with no locks. We later found out that Mike was rocking out to oldies but goodies from his phone as he lead us down the canal. He shared, “You can sing as loud as you want, and no one can hear you.”

He's really on water not on land!

We made our way to The Folly Pub last night. We walked up to find a large group of young people standing outside the door in the rain. We thought maybe there was a line for dinner. They very politely made way for us to enter jokingly asking us for our ID. It was very crowded around the bar. The place has three very small rooms so weaving through the patrons was a challenge. We did find a table and had a delicious meal.

Mike tried “Faggots” which I had to look up. It is a midland dish of meatballs made from minced off-cuts and offal. He loved them. We won’t tell him about the offal. Again, we tested the Sticky Toffee Pudding. This one had some kind of chocolatey sauce and heavy cream. We think it’s the best so far.

Passing under a Wooden Ladder Bridge

I should not be surprised but I am struck by how quickly Mike and Diane have settled into narrow boat life. It seems they are so at ease with the whole experience. We are relieved that they seem to be enjoying themselves, but they do find the fun no matter where they are.