6th October
We left Bristol in heavy rain and wind, making sure we kept the fire in for drying clothes later, but we needn't have worried because by the time we got to Bath, the sun was shining again. We had a walk to the horseshoe weir area which we had missed on the way down. Another beautiful spot on the Avon, with Pulteney Bridge completing the picture. Stupidly didn't take the camera with us so the only photo I have is taken with my phone.
The 19' lock going up was even more of a horrendous exercise than it had been going down. Pete drove the boat in half-opened bottom gates (knowing how heavy they are to shut, it wasn't worth opening them fully), then secured the boat bow and stern around the narrow poles provided. Ideally he would have stayed on board, but because of my weak knees, I didn't trust myself to be able to heave myself up onto the high top gate beam to cross the lock to shut the opposite gate we had come in through. So Pete had to climb out on the slippery ladder. We then opened the gate sluices very slowly and watched as the boat started to rise. At one point I thought the ropes would not slide sufficiently and that they would either snag and tip the boat or break. Pete was more confident, but neither of us enjoyed the experience. Ironically a CRT volunteer pitched up just as we were about to open the gate to leave! Shame he didn't arrive 20 mins earlier!
Location:Bath
We left Bristol in heavy rain and wind, making sure we kept the fire in for drying clothes later, but we needn't have worried because by the time we got to Bath, the sun was shining again. We had a walk to the horseshoe weir area which we had missed on the way down. Another beautiful spot on the Avon, with Pulteney Bridge completing the picture. Stupidly didn't take the camera with us so the only photo I have is taken with my phone.
The 19' lock going up was even more of a horrendous exercise than it had been going down. Pete drove the boat in half-opened bottom gates (knowing how heavy they are to shut, it wasn't worth opening them fully), then secured the boat bow and stern around the narrow poles provided. Ideally he would have stayed on board, but because of my weak knees, I didn't trust myself to be able to heave myself up onto the high top gate beam to cross the lock to shut the opposite gate we had come in through. So Pete had to climb out on the slippery ladder. We then opened the gate sluices very slowly and watched as the boat started to rise. At one point I thought the ropes would not slide sufficiently and that they would either snag and tip the boat or break. Pete was more confident, but neither of us enjoyed the experience. Ironically a CRT volunteer pitched up just as we were about to open the gate to leave! Shame he didn't arrive 20 mins earlier!
No comments:
Post a Comment