Canals@rigdenage
Maximus
Capacitus Dec 22 - Jan 3th 2003 (part two)
Route : King's Bromley - Alrewas - Fazely - King's Bromley
How we set new records for the number of people on board Max, and loved every minute of it.
Saturday 28th: Kings Bromley - Alrewas
We had a late start as Tim & Caroline were feeling a bit poorly and they decided to go home. I spent the morning doing odd jobs on the boat and introducing myself to Jean, the marina manager. It was bright but windy when we set off and I provided more entertainment as we pulled out of our mooring slot. I can see this is going to need practice.
Fradley
was chock-a-block with Ownerships boats (probably refugees from Barton
Turns on the Trent). The new walkie-talkies I had been given for Christmas
came in handy here. I lurked in the lock tail until Chris had the next
lock ready. Normally we would do that with hand signals but we couldn't
see one another with all the boats in the way. My attempt to land just
after keepers lock didn't go well - and worse, I was seen by a cutweb
member. We kept in touch with the rest of the gathering fleet via Communications
Officer Beeky.
We noted the new winding hole just past the Old Boat pub at Alrewas - with the BW maintenance barges moored opposite about 4' off the bank. Chris got off and went ahead to suss out the mooring situation and radioed back to say one was just being vacated. We pulled in next to the Chapmans on Quidditch, where Harbourmaster Will welcomed us to the rally and briefed us on dinning arrangements.
Uncle Mort (flagship of the Beeky Chuggers Canal Carrying Company) showed up a few minutes later with Captain Beeky himself at the helm. He moored just behind us with just a few millimeters of water under the stern. Andrew and Sheila invited us on board for a tour of inspection, and we were treated to a demonstration of vintage chuggery before getting into deep discussion about tiller stowage.
Lord Toulouse arrived with the Dykes and Millins aboard, which completed the party. At 7pm prompt we formed up on parade and after inspection by the Harbourmaster we marched (in loose order) to the William IV for and excellent meal and a good boaty chat (for some reason the Beeky special Swan Dive was off the menu). Afterwards, Chris invited everyone back to Max for Christmas cake and port, all 11 of us. Then next thing we knew it was midnight and folks were taking their leave, an excellent evening.
Sunday 29th: Alrewas
It rained heavily all night and continued all the next day. The plan had been to drop down the lock, join the Trent briefly, and wind either at Wychnor or Barton Turns. I was worried about the river level and didn't want to be stuck the wrong side of a flood. (Having been rescued by a fellow owner when we were iced in last year I couldn't afford another stranding.)
So I took a stroll down to the lock and found another boat (Oddessy) on its way up. They were having problems with one of the lower gates - "something" was preventing it closing properly. It felt firm but resilient when prodded with a boat pole, a body maybe? (But no bubbles surfaced when prodded so we thought it unlikely.) We tried flushing it out with some success but the gates still didn't meet properly so I inserted the boat pole down the gap between the gates, which shut off that leak. But a lot of water was still passing on the hinge side.
All this flushing had dropped the pound a bit and Uncle Mort had taken on a dramatic list (that's the second time I've got Andrew on a list). The water level in the lock rose to within about a foot of the top and stopped. This called for brute force, and after suggesting they secure any crockery I had Oddessy back up a foot or two and nudge the gate. When the gate bounced off the stop, a log was jammed in the gap. This let more water in and Uncle Mort leaned even more as did Lord Toulouse (shallow-draughted Maximus was unaffected). Now we just had 3" to go to fill the lock, and another light tap with the boat got the gate open enough so 4 of us could hold it with the boat pushing, and then they were clear.
About an hour later another boat appeared so once again it was a case of "Pass me your boat pole and stow breakables......." . While this was going on two chaps from BW appeared with a very long rake. Once the boat was out they cleared whatever it was, just as third boat showed up.
Once LT and UM were on a reasonably even keel and we'd had lunch, we decided to back the boats up to the winding hole about half a mile back, past a fishing match. Mr Dyke had it easy with his bow thruster so he went first. The Captain went next, removing Will's Christmas lights with his ropes on the way.
About this time Kate & Tim Williams (Christine's sister and her husband)
arrived, so they were handed ropes while I did the reversing and Chris
kept the bow under control with a pole. Once I realised that the shore
party had to pull the stern back on line as soon as it goes more than
a foot off line we made good progress, and we were soon all moored in
a neat row just by the winding 
hole.
Tim went to reconnoitre the eating options and reported that the Crown did food from 7pm. Well they do, but only in the summer, and they hadn't updated the notice by the door, so there were 8 hungry boaters ready to eat and no meal. The Chapmans came to our rescue and mentioned the Chinese takeaway. Menus were obtained, orders were placed and Maximus was reconfigured for 8 diners. Another good evening's banter was enjoyed as we planned our getaway the following day.
Monday 30th: Alrewas - Whittington
Muster was at 9 am and crews were on station and engines warmed for a prompt getaway in convoy. Radios were distributed with the ground crew and on each vessel as the task force sailed forth. We discovered that the Trent had risen quite a long way in the night and was now closed for navigation. I'm really relieved we didn't venture on it.
It was a cold, raw day but dry and we all made good progress thanks to the efficient ground crew (Wendy, Sheila, Kate, Tim and Christine). We left the fleet at Fradley and headed off down the Coventry. After a very brief stop at Streethay for coal, we got to Whittington for lunch at the Dog before Tim & Kate got a taxi back to their car. We decided to stay put and have a quiet afternoon and evening after all the excitement.
New Years Eve: Whittington - Fazley via Curdworth
It
wasn't inviting out that morning, so I spent some time checking the engine
over. By the time we left it was bright but cold and we made a short stop
at Fazley to fill the very low water tank from the rather slow tap.
I fancied a look up the Birmingham and Fazley canal and so we went as far as the winding hole at Curdworth, but it wasn't worth the trip. The only thing of interest is the rather odd folly (Drayton Manor footbridge). On our return to Fazley it dawned on us that mooring opposite the pub wasn't a bright idea as they were setting up a disco, so we moved to the end of the visitors mooring.
Chris went shopping for provisions while I did some odds-and-ends on the boat. Chris did her wonderfully aromatic lamb in red wine & garlic for dinner. That night we were treated to a spectacular fireworks show over the town, but the disco wasn't noticeable.
New Years Day: Fazley - Fradley
We had an early start to get the best of the weather, but the promised rain didn't materialise. Very quiet on the canal - we didn't see another moving boat. Took it slowly to give time to charge the batteries, and arrived at the visitor moorings on the Coventry side of the junction just after 12.
As we moored up, half a dozen boats from the Lichfield Cruising Club joined us on their annual New Year run. We enjoyed some very pleasant banter with these folks before they set off back to Huddlesford, leaving us in splendid isolation again. Les Ellingham went past later and we had a short perambulatory chat as he limped back to base with a duff water pump on the engine.
Thurdsay 2 Jan: Fradley - King's Bromley
This was the final leg, and we seemed to meet all the idiots today. Someone on a Challenger boat thought the best way of getting off after running aground was full throttle forwards. Then there was a crew who "didn't see us" just a few boat lengths short of the lock they filled in our face; and then the folks that "helped" us through the last lock by whipping open the gate paddle first, and fast.
After that it was back into the marina to refuel and pump out before Chris showed me the easy way to park in our mooring slot - bow first.
Friday
3rd Jan
We didn't go anywhere as we had several of the other owners coming to join us for a "mooring warming" party to celebrate our removal from Gailey. We set a new record for Max, with 14 of us on the boat. It was great to get together socially as we normally only gather for the AGM, where the business tends to take over. All were pleased with Max's new home.
After they left, we had leftovers for tea and a quiet evening before the final pack up the next day.
Saturday 4th Jan
The usual pre-departure cleanup and packing took all morning, before we welcomed new owners Hugh and Alison to the boat and showed them all the knobs and levers before leaving them to it and heading home. Oh the joy of not fighting our way home round Brum on the M6 . . . Just a relaxed trundle down the A5 then the long drag down the A14 as the snow began.
PS - When I published this on the newsgroups, the nice people at Barrus noticed the problems I'd been having with the hour meter, and kindly sent me a new one free of charge. Now that's what I CALL customer care!