The weather breaks

On down towards King's Sutton via Banbury.  The weather had been holding up well but the showers forecast for three o'clock arrived on time and particularly heavy.  A few of us waited out a hailstorm at one lock before setting off again to find a quiet spot where you could, unusually for this stretch, get the boat within a reasonable distance of the bank.  More heavy rain forecast for tomorrow, when we are due to turn and head back to be home after Easter.

Claydon and Fenny Compton

We set off from Fenny after filling with water, and cruised as slowly as possible to the locks in the hope that the queue might have dissipated a bit by the time we arrived.  It might have worked, had not the balance beam on one of the locks snapped which slowed things down more than a little.  After a while some BW guys armed with a couple of tirfor winches, a rectangle of plywood, and a bag of nails had managed a temporary repair and we were on our way.  The scarecrows that used to be characteristic of Clattercote Wharf seemed to be missing, until I noticed them clustered around the back of one of the buildings.


We moored for the night at Cropredy above the lock. 
 

We woke to a bright, sunny and frosty morning just below the top of the flight.  We set off to join the queue below Claydon Locks, with restricted opening times of 10:00 to 14:00, but had heard that they are generally open by 9:30.



We were twelfth in the queue on arrival, but it was slow going, and past noon when we cleared the second of the two locks.  A couple of the crews that had moored there for the night didn't want to untie until they could move up to the lock, which left a few of us floating around next to an irregular bank on the bend for a while.



The brilliant sunshine continued all day, and with the low angle of the sun  made dappled patterns in the water as the canal twisted and turned across the summit.

The characteristic lift bridges soon made an appearance as we made our way to Fenny Compton for the night.  It was surprisingly quiet there, as most folks seemed to have headed off to join the queue at Claydon ready for the morning.

Plumbing, and setting off

It took a few hours, visits to most of the DIY stores in Daventry, and finally the realisation that the job wasn't going to be possible without removing the sink, but we were finally ready to set off around three o'clock.  Through Calcutt locks just before they closed, we queued at the bottom of Napton Locks for a while as our departure time had coincided with the release of boats from several local hire bases.  We moored just below Napton Adklins lock at around six.

A late arrival at the boat this evening to start the usual routine of getting the water on and the fire started to make things comfortable after a month's absence.  Unfortunately a trickle of water across the kitchen floor revealed some split pipework, and the need for some dismantling to find the source of the leak and work out how best to fix it in the morning.  Boats seem to be designed to maximise the use of space, rather than make maintenance easy.  Not too bad with a tap next to the pontoon - just a need to fill the kettle before bed for that first cup of tea in the morning!

Google maps have caught up with us

Noticed the other day that the satellite imagery from Google for the marina has been updated and now shows Caracol. The one with the pale blue roof in the middle of shot. We're off out for a week leading up to Easter - not sure where yet but probably down towards Oxford. We haven't been that way for a while.
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First trip of the year

A relaxed long weekend saw us take our first trip of the year out to Norton Junction.  For a change, we turned right at Napton and went to the Folly for lunch.  After wondering whether they might have closed in the week to cut costs through the winter, we found that almost every table was full.  Glad they are doing well.  The afternoon was grey, cold and showery, so we stopped half a mile short of Braunston. 

After a cloudy start on Saturday the sun came out and stayed with us for the rest of the trip, although it was cold and windy.  The chandlers at the bottom lock proved handy for some replacement chain after breaking the one on the front fender on a lock gate.  Turning at Norton Junction, we reversed back to the (unusually) empty moorings above Buckby Top Lock for lunch, before a walk down to Whilton Chandlers who are now in new premises above the bottom lock and were busily clearing the offside to allow visiting boats to moor.  The new shop is smaller, but a real Aladdin's cave that seems better stocked than many others.  The sun was transforming the still bare trees by highlighting the new growth at the tips of the branches.

Sunday was also bright, with a fantastic quality to the light that made the dappled tree covered cutting towards Braunston Tunnel as beautiful as ever.  On down the locks past the Admiral Nelson, (still closed), we reached the Mill House in time for lunch on the terrace.  The cloudy weather was back with us but still nice to be out on our way back to the marina for the night.  Some maintenance in the morning, followed by a trip home, and a few days of aching ribs from hanging over the timbers supporting the boards above the engine.  What with one thing and another, we'll probably not be out again before our week at Easter.