Last weekend Herbie came close to being stuck. On Sunday we decided to make the most of the hot spell and take the boat out for a couple of days. The short length of canal at High Line yachting where we are moored is now so weedy and shallow that we almost gave up trying to get through. The propeller was getting weeded up in a few seconds and there is so little water under the boat that she hardly is able to move. At one point Kath even resorted to taking to the bank with a rope and acting like the traditional tow horse! In the end we forced a passage and were on our way. Its really only a 50 yard stretch where the problem lies. The trouble is its exactly where we moor!
After cruise down to Tescos at Bulls Bridge for supplies, we headed North through 3 locks and finished up at Denham in a peaceful spot. Lots of wildfowl chicks are now around, many of them growing fast. Here are some cygnets that came to see us. Strange that one of them is white - I thought they didn't go white till next spring.
Now look at the canal in the picture. How wide would you say it was? Well I can tell you its 50 foot and half an inch. I fancied we might just turn Herbie there to save going up to the next official winding hole (turning place). Herbie is 50 ft long and when we were half way round the front was touching the far bank and the back was half an inch from the concrete edge! We would have made a convenient footbridge across the canal! So we got round by the skin of our teeth, much to the amazement of some other boaters nearby. I never seem to remember the camera at such times, maybe we'll do it again soon and get a picture!
This weekend its the boat electrics course at Reading. Maybe I'll be able to make sense of this
or this
We live in hope!
1 comment:
Sounds like you had a lovely time - except for the weeds!
Your boat's wiring looks cannily similar to mine!
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