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Excited and slightly worried!!


rbrtcrowther

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Well I shall be popping down to our little boat tomorrow to make preparations for our maiden voyage.. Its currently at gayton marina and in about a week and a half we plan to make the trip to Welford to our mooring.. We've checked for stoppage's ect and all is good. Apparently there are 14 locks between gayton and Welford. And we'll have to do the flight near Watford... And quite a big tunnel... .. I worked 20 years on lumpy water boats.. But never set foot on a narrow boat till we bought this one!... Arrrgh!!!! scary excitement...

Edited by rbrtcrowther
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7 minutes ago, rbrtcrowther said:

Well I shall be popping down to our little boat tomorrow to make preparations for our maiden voyage.. Its currently at gayton marina and in about a week and a half we plan to make the trip to Welford to our mooring.. We've checked for stoppage's ect and all is good. Apparently there are 14 locks between gayton and Welford. And we'll have to do the flight near Watford... And quite a big tunnel... .. I worked 20 years on lumpy water boats.. But never set foot on a narrow boat till we bought this one!... Arrrgh!!!! scary excitement...

Good pub at Welford :D

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5 minutes ago, rbrtcrowther said:

Well I shall be popping down to our little boat tomorrow to make preparations for our maiden voyage.. Its currently at gayton marina and in about a week and a half we plan to make the trip to Welford to our mooring.. We've checked for stoppage's ect and all is good. Apparently there are 14 locks between gayton and Welford. And we'll have to do the flight near Watford... And quite a big tunnel... .. I worked 20 years on lumpy water boats.. But never set foot on a narrow boat till we bought this one!... Arrrgh!!!! scary excitement...

Slightly!  First time out on my boat I was absolutely cacking it, mind you it was my first time on a narrowboat or in fact any boat apart from the Holyhead Dublin ferry.

Enjoy it :)

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4 minutes ago, rbrtcrowther said:

I did spot the pub when we went for a look...... ..hope the foods good...

:o Let me explain. PUBS are for good beer. A secondary use but by no means a necessity is the provision of food. I have however eaten there and iirc it was fine. I can state quite categoricaly that the beers were even better :D

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This is how it will go.

 

bugger, it’s windy.

ok how do we get on?

ok, no fridge!

ok, electrics erm

ok water? Fuel?

shit, gotta start up

oh bugger, can I make that turn?

dont worry, there’s another windlass

whats a BW key?

handcuff keys?

whats that smell?

wheres our new marina berth exactly?

well, that was easier than we thought, a nice job

 

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8 minutes ago, rbrtcrowther said:

Well I shall be popping down to our little boat tomorrow to make preparations for our maiden voyage.. Its currently at gayton marina and in about a week and a half we plan to make the trip to Welford to our mooring.. We've checked for stoppage's ect and all is good. Apparently there are 14 locks between gayton and Welford. And we'll have to do the flight near Watford... And quite a big tunnel... .. I worked 20 years on lumpy water boats.. But never set foot on a narrow boat till we bought this one!... Arrrgh!!!! scary excitement...

 

A word of advice. Dunno about this time of year but the flight is 'manned' by CRT staff and chained up out of hours. You have to get there before about 3pm to be allowed to enter. AND you have to find a locky and sign in rather than arrive and just wait patiently. Guess how I know this...

 

1 minute ago, rbrtcrowther said:

I did spot the pub when we went for a look...... ..hope the foods good...

 

You need a restaurant for good food. It's BEER that pubs are good at. 

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3 minutes ago, NB Lola said:

This is how it will go.

 

bugger, it’s windy.

ok how do we get on?

ok, no fridge!

ok, electrics erm

ok water? Fuel?

shit, gotta start up

oh bugger, can I make that turn?

dont worry, there’s another windlass

whats a BW key?

handcuff keys?

whats that smell?

wheres our new marina berth exactly?

well, that was easier than we thought, a nice job

 

Brilliant..... I spent 6 years rebuilding a 1950 scammell explorer... Its first trip out was a 120 mile round trip as our wedding transport.... I'm used to comedy pressure...

Edited by rbrtcrowther
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6 minutes ago, NB Lola said:

This is how it will go.

 

bugger, it’s windy.

ok how do we get on?

ok, no fridge!

ok, electrics erm

ok water? Fuel?

shit, gotta start up

oh bugger, can I make that turn?

dont worry, there’s another windlass

whats a BW key?

handcuff keys?

whats that smell?

wheres our new marina berth exactly?

well, that was easier than we thought, a nice job

 

Don't forget....THE BATTERIES :D

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3 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

A word of advice. Dunno about this time of year but the flight is 'manned' by CRT staff and chained up out of hours. You have to get there before about 3pm to be allowed to enter. AND you have to find a locky and sign in rather than arrive and just wait patiently. Guess how I know this...

 

 

You need a restaurant for good food. It's BEER that pubs are good at. 

Watford Locks are not restricted anymore, outside of the hours CRT\volunteers are there they remain open.

Details here https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/10260/watford-locks-summerwinter-volunteer-lock-keeper-availability-times-for-201718-leicester-line-grand-union-canal

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Just now, Rob-M said:

If you miss the lock keepers there is a sign board explaining operation.

 

This is good news!

I'd also suggest it is infinitely more enjoyable to operate the flight (any flight) yourself than have vollies work you through.

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9 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Don't forget....THE BATTERIES :D

I have a dead and F#£@ed domestic battery as they were left on during the sales period.. I can pretty much blamed the wanky gas alarm for running it flat..... It would appear to have a split charge relay as the domestic side comes to life when the ignition is turned on... gonna sort it out tomorrow..

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On 11/15/2017 at 19:15, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

A word of advice. Dunno about this time of year but the flight is 'manned' by CRT staff and chained up out of hours. You have to get there before about 3pm to be allowed to enter. AND you have to find a locky and sign in rather than arrive and just wait patiently. Guess how I know this...

 

 

You need a restaurant for good food. It's BEER that pubs are good at. 

I thought I read a post that out of "hours"  Watford flight was open/unlocked & "DIY" operation only Foxton is required "loccy" operation at all times

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19 minutes ago, X Alan W said:

I thought I read a post that out of "hours"  Watford flight was open/unlocked & "DIY" operation only Foxton is required "loccy" operation at all times

scroll back up...

Its a lovely easy cruise that you you are doing OP, i also purchased my boat from Gayton and cruised back up, but diverting off at the junction and heading up the oxford.

The first lock you hit is outside Whilton marina, i remember the long straight leading up to it, it just seemed to get bigger and bigger as i approached, once inside i crapped it, but some fella was sitting outside the lock cottage and pointed us in the right direction.

Relax and enjoy it.

 

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