The forecast for today suggested an improvement after about 10 am with dry, if overcast, thereafter, Alas, following a reasonably dry start, damp conditions soon prevailed, much less pleasant than expected.
We promised yesterday to say a bit more about the sloping sided towpaths which restrict mooring opportunities. As it happened, the next stretch from our overnight stop was predominantly the first style of bank improvements - concrete piles held together with solid steel bars. In general, this type of construction seems to have lasted well although the disadvantage for boaters is that there no general way of making the boat fast against it. The bars start off flush to the piles although over time some gaps do appear. Aften - as happened when we stopped in Rugby to visit Tesco, it is best to look for a rope loop which a previous moorer has left behind.
For several decades until recently, almost all bank repairs were made with steel piles held together with armco bars, the most common crash barrier style. These have the definite advantage that the corrugated shape of the piles leaves regular gaps through which moorings can be made, altogether much to be preferred to banging in mooring pins!
There are two popular ways of attaching mooring ropes to armco - mooring clips (aka nappy pins) and 'goat' chains. The first are about 250mm in length, made from bent and formed steel rod in a shape that sort of resembles a nappy or safety pin. One end is closed through which a rope is passed whilst the other end is open and is hooked onto the armco. It works surprisingly better than it looks as if it will! The other type is a short length of strong chain with a different sized ring at either end. The smaller ring is dropped down behind the armco and then passed through the larger ring and used to attach a rope. Although we have both types, the goat chain is our preferred option. It also has the added bonus of being much less susceptible those members of society that enjoy setting boats free from their moorings. Once happened to us in Burnley in the middle of the night when a group of revellers pulled out our pins and tossed them into the water!
From the entrance to Dunchurch Pools marina much of the bank reverted to the sloping stones. The problem with this kind of towpath edge is that the slope extends some depth so that the edge of the boat cannot reach the bankside and the bottom corner of the hull grates against the stones.
Also, as the stones become loose they drop into the main channel and expose the towpath to serious erosion from the wake of passing boats.
We met the Bywater pair of hotel boats - must have been a special charter as no trip was listed after 10th October from Oxford to Banbury. They were closely tied together but this was not immediately obvious as they were coming around a bend. Moored boats on our side were an added complication - between us we just made it without an incident! But we were too 'busy' to take a photo until they were well passed us.
The final section into Braunston mostly has the bank protect by armco. The difference is evident on the Waterway Routes maps - after a section with almost no places marked as suitable to stop, there are frequent options leading up to Braunston.
We stopped at the first service point in Braunston to fill with water and make the usual disposals. A branch of Midland Chandlers is alongside and we took the opportunity to stock up on Elsan Blue and Marine 16. They were out of stock of their cheaper (aka less expensive) nets of logs and Christine decided that the ones they did have were unnecessarily expensive!
After passing under the double branch junction with its iconic cast iron bridges, we were technically still on the Oxford Canal, the link between the north and south parts. This was built first but after the Grand Union arrived there was an agreement to share the canal for boats passing from the southern to the northern parts of the GU from London to Birmingham and widened when the rest of the GU allowed wide beam boats.
It was coming up to lunch time and we were not feeling too comfortable in the cold and damp, but we had to go a little further as the Oxford Canal origins show up with yet more sloping stone banks. After a while some good armco appeared (and marked on our map) and we happily came alongside. We also decided to take the afternoon off from cruising! (Well, we do have a relaxed schedule this week) At the moment it looks likely that we will take our time, aiming for Leamington Spa on Saturday when we meet up with Andrew for the rest of the trip to Cropredy.
4.9 Miles - 0 Locks
No comments:
Post a Comment