Viking confusion



tree stump art by the canal

We set off fairly early to make the most of the good weather and soon caught a Viking afloat hire boat doing the same. He was a  little bit slow but we were happy to follow him.
At the next bridge on a blind corner he told an oncoming boat that there was nothing behind him. They accelerated through the bridge believing it to be clear and nearly collided with us. We soon caught him up again and he waved us past, but the canal was too narrow with him in the centre of the channel. With the bends coming up we remained several boat lengths behind. The Captain declined which was just as well as a boat promptly appeared round the corner.

round weir typical of this canal

Having got past the boat the Viking Afloat hire boat charged for the bridge blowing his horn. A horn blared back throwing him into confusion. He reversed frantically, signalling us to go back. The Captain did even though there was plenty of space and ran aground. As he regained deeper water the Viking Afloat shot through the bridge hole.

approaching Gailey Lock

Having had the signal to wait we did. Nothing came through. Slowly we edged forward with me on the bow sighting through the bridge hole. The other boat was waiting by the bank with three more queuing behind him. Slowly The Captain eased our boat through and Lottie leapt off to go for a walk. I followed and ended up walking past the boats.
The boaters told me the Viking Afloat had forced his way through driving the boats to the side then yelled “there’s another one behind.” The poor boaters waited for us to zoom through the arch while we were waiting for them!

We finally moored at Lottie’s favourite spot above Gailey lock and watched the Viking afloat hire boat try to return to its base above the lock. It took them ages as the next boaters to come up the lock told us there were six cruisers and three narrow boats waiting to lock down. Of course one of those was the Viking afloat hire boat that was only trying to return to base three hours late.

hire boat base by the lock

After lunch we decided to join the lock queue and fill with water at the water point which lay between the lock pins and the moored boats. This is a good use of time while queuing as you can watch for the next boat round the corner and leave the water point before it arrives.

However by the time we reached the water point only one boat was queuing although the lock-side was bustling with volunteers.

boat ahead descending

The Captain was quick with his hose and by the time the boat ahead was in the lock the tank was full. I went to prepare the lock while the Captain coiled his hose. As the boat sank down the volunteers set to work on the top gate two people with white paint and two with black.

The boat ahead left the lock gates open even though no boats were waiting below.

“Aren’t you going to close up?” I asked the crew. They ignored me.

I struggled to close one heavy bottom gate and wondered how I would do the other as the only way across was blocked by busy painters. Thankfully one of the volunteers closed it for me saving me from walking across the half painted upper gate. He then asked me to pass him a windlass so that he could work the far paddle to save me crossing over.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon with enough cloud cover to give respite. After watching the long queue at lunch time it was surprising that we didn’t queue at the following locks. Better still we arrived at several just as a boat was leaving so were able to drive straight in.

We finally moored at Acton Trussell after completing six more locks.