Spark Bridge, Rufford

Today's Canal - Rufford Arm

Our plan for the day started as dropping down the three remaining locks and then going into Fettlars Wharf Marina to fill up our diesel tank and replace a gas bottle that ran out since leaving here a week ago. After that we planned to get down to Tarleton by lunch time with a short stop at the service block by Spark Bridge. This would leave us time to bring out the anchor and life jackets.

If only things were that simple! It was not far to the first lock and by now we knew what to expect - tough! But as long as we took it steadily it was not to exhausting. Locks never like to be hurried and these are no exception.

Alongside the next lock we could see a field of leeks being irrigated from the canal. Once set up it seems that the process proceeds automatically. The rate of progress of the sprayers looked as if it would take a couple of hours before they needed further attention.

The next pound was a little longer than those so far on this arm but a swing bridge gave an intermediate break.

We met a boat coming the other way and from a brief exchange we understood that they were not able to cross over to the Lancaster - it seemed that Thursday's crossing had been cancelled but that tomorrow's was OK.

We continued to the last lock before the end of the arm.

Immediately after the lock we turned into the marina where Colin very cheerfully filled and supplied as needed! We bade him farewell, expecting to see him again at the start of August.

Just after turning out we realised that we had a received a voice mail as we were filling with diesel. Christine checked the message and it was the local CaRT office telling us that we would not be crossing tomorrow - it had been cancelled because the staff had Covid and there was no back up.

After passing though another swing bridge Mike called the phone number in the message where we had further confirmation of the bad news. Furthermore, all those booked this week would only be offered a replacement passage at the next available free date - in our case that is now the end of August. In addition there are escalating problems at Poolstock in Wigan with only two days a week bookable slots to return back south - the route to the Leeds and Liverpool across the Pennines was already closed. We already knew that July was largely booked. We took what was offered on the basis that we could cancel if we could not make those dates work with our other commitments. We also managed to get dates for Poolstock that would allow us a trip south and back in time for the revised Ribble Crossing date (it later turned out that one of these was entered incorrectly anyway!)

Christine called Berni at Fettlars Wharf to see what availability there might be to leave the boat there - we had booked and paid for a fortnight but that was meaningless in the new context. She was really very helpful and offered to accommodate whatever seems best for us. 

Time for lunch and a Council of War! After checking and re-checking diaries etc and discovering that the situation at Poolstock is rapidly deteriorating (during the day we received a Notice that said that it was now completely closed) we feared that even if we could get a passage south we may well not be able to get back in time for the end of August!

The upshot is that we will stay in this locality for the next week - we have the car so can explore the area - and then go back home leaving the boat at the Marina for five weeks, returning just before the rescheduled crossing. At least we are not going to be stuck in Wigan for an extended stay!

To add to our troubles, earlier in the day our fridge door came apart - at least it still closes and opens and keeps food cold but we need to sort out a repair as soon as we can. Researching what that might entail took a good chunk of what remained of the afternoon. Whilst Christine tracked down a possible spare parts supplier Mike walked back along the towpath to the marina to bring the car close to where we are now.

3.1 Miles - 3 Locks