Boating the New Normal Way

Well I'm pretty sure that the Oxford canal on Monday and Tuesday was as busy as I have ever seen it!  For our first post lockdown jaunt we took Herbie from Wigrams Turn up to Fenny Compton and back.  Queues for the Napton locks, particularly at the top,  meant longish waits but people didn't seem to mind, everybody just seemed glad to be out and about in the sunshine.  

Like us, a lot of boat owners were on their first outing post lockdown.  As for hire boats, the largeish Napton Narrowboats fleet were all out except for one 70 footer and there were plenty out from Black Prince and Calcutt too.

Now, about social distancing and all that.  It seems that on the canal at least, the new normal is pretty much like the old one. We soon began to realise that keeping safe is not that hard on a canal.  Of course when you're on your boat you're automatically socially distanced for outsiders, but even at locks we soon realised that although people socialise when helping each other out, it's quite normal to keep a couple of meters apart, the usual conversations take place across the lock don't they? So people were as chatty as usual and no-one seemed over worried.  The main precaution we took was to sanitise our hands after handling each lock.  We've mixed up our own sanitiser from 90% pure isopropyl alchohol and a bit of hand lotion.  That'll kill anything.

Perhaps the biggest joy of the short trip was our first pub meal and a pint, courtesy of the fabulous Mark at the Folly at Napton.  He and his team have obviously worked very very hard to provide a safe and  welcoming environment.  The pub building itself is out of bounds but the big beautifully kept garden has been transformed.

As you can see, lots of distanced tables and a number of open sided marquees.  You fill in a contact form (a hand sanitiser sits alongside to pot of pens), then follow a one way system to order your food / drink, keeping well away from the staff, then the goodies are delivered to your table on a tray by a gloved waiter / waitress.  Food and drink containers and wooden cutlery are all single use disposables.  I must say we felt very safe.  Should the weather turn chilly, they've made a big fire pit in front of the main marquee. 

A lot of thought and planning (and expense) has obviously gone into setting it all up, and it seems to be paying off.  On Sunday evening I counted over 70 punters and on Tuesday at 6pm there were 50 or more.  People who know the Folly will know that the food and drink is always good and Mark the landlord is  a real gem.  If you're out that way, they deserve your custom.

As for the rest of our cruise, I have first to sing the praises of Grace, our 12 year old  granddaughter who did hours of steering and the majority of the locks (she steered the boat beautifully into the rest).  Then a bit of a grumble about the volunteer lockie at the bottom Napton lock who insisted on opening the paddle a only tiny crack until the lock was half full.  No wonder there were queues.  Our general practice is to open the paddle half way until the boat rests against the top gate then  opening fully.  That's quite safe enough and twice as quick as his method. I bet he's not a boater. 

The summit pound, sad to say, needs topping up - we grounded  on a few of the bends, a deeper boat might struggle.  The main thing that cheered me was mile after mile of raspberries-and-cream coloured mixture of rosebay willowherb and meadow sweet on the offside bank.  Really lovely.  Wildlife of course has probably benefited from the lack of human activity in the great outdoors.  While tied up at Napton we watched at close hand a pair of green woodpeckers digging for worms and grubs.  People might think these birds feed on insects in tree bark, but the green woodpeckers are regular ground feeders.  The ones you hear hammering in the trees are the spotted varieties.

Lastly, the towpath gossip is alive and well.  We hear that the third pool at Cropredy Marina is going ahead and the diggers are already at it.  That's another 100 boats' worth I believe. which I think will make it 350 in all.  I also hear that they are instituting a stricter no liveaboards policy there. Maybe that was a condition of getting planning consent.

Next outing?  No idea.