Phew, what a day!

Sunday, 30 November 2008 20:11

27th November 2008

2 hours 20 minutes, 1.12 miles, 1 lock

The sun was shining and we could see blue sky when we woke! It looked as if it was going to be a good day.  We were woken early by one of the grain boats coming down the lock and going towards West Drayton.

John spent some of the morning working on the transfer to a new server whilst I pottered doing a few cleaning jobs. A never-ending job when we have a multi fuel stove and the towpaths are wet At least it takes less than a hour to keep the boat reasonably clean, unlike a house!

We needed to wind - two bridges away, or reverse to the winding hole by the lock, so we could go up Cowley lock. The grain boat had been up to Uxbridge and back so the lock was open and set for us! John opted to reverse to the winding hole.

I walked up to the lock and John got off as he arrived with the boat, forgetting to take a rope! Epiphany eventually stole in, although John had to give her a little help by reaching down for the mid rope once she was in far enough!

Boy, were the gates heavy. My pushing power is a little hampered by my foot  - so John had to help with the top gates! We then immediately tied up for water and rubbish. On the Grand Union there are a number of water points on lock landings - OK in the winter when there are fewer boats but maybe a problem in the summer with queuing boats?

Our next stop was at Bridge 187, Mill road Bridge as John wanted some engine oil and Marine Engine Services Ltd (Chris Bennett is the Manager - we met him at Moley's Banter earlier in the year) are near this bridge. There are plenty of moorings here after the permit holders bit and there were no other boats at all!

One final stop before we hoped to carry on a bit  - Uxbridge Boat Centre for coal, diesel and an oil sump pump. We rang ahead and were able to moor alongside a boat on their wharf. They allow boaters to self declare diesel usage and we topped our tank up, bought 8 bags of Taybrite and the oil sump pump!

John decided that I had had enough sympathy for my foot and it was his turn. He bashed his head on the diesel pump quite badly and after I had cleaned it up a bit I decided he needed to go to A & E .... somehow!

Alan from UBC very kindly offered to take us to Hillingdon Hospital. We had not paid our bill so Epiphany was left as collateral! John was seen, glued together and given a tetanus jab all in the space of just over an hour. Pretty good as we spent 6 hours in A & E in Cornwall a few years ago!

Alan was again very kind and collected us and by the time we got back and paid our bill it was dark. UBC again came up trumps and have allowed us to stay here for the night. This means John can recover and hopefully be OK tomorrow.

So here we are, hobbled and knocked about We just need a good rest and we hope for a better day tomorrow!