Collisions, Prog and Canal Retail Therapy

Today’s post should really be about how, for the first time in 5 years, I managed to enter Midland Chandlers at Braunston and not spend over £100. But I need to rant a little first.

<rant> I avoided playing the Mr Grumpy card at the end of yesterday’s post, on the basis that you should always give yourself time to calm down before reacting. Well, apparently, that doesn’t  always work. Just as I was beginning to write, I was side-swiped by a passing boat whose steerer was more concerned with asking another helmsman the way to Braunston.  It’s hard to do, but not unknown for people to get lost on the canals and he was obviously one of those people who had. He was obviously stressed, and he froze, like a rabbit in the headlights. Well, he came to his senses when the bow of his boat hit the side of Heron. Did I mention that he also hadn’t realised it was good manners to slow down when passing moored boats.  Of course, if he had a good grasp of physics he would have realised that, as Heron couldn’t move sideways, most of the momentum of his 15 ton vessel moving at 4 mph would have transferred back to his boat, but in almost the reverse direction. Meaning, if he had just let it, his boat would have neatly swung away from Heron, allowing him to carry on down the canal and giving him plenty of time for the profuse apologies I’m sure he was planning to offer.  Well, perhaps he was ashamed that his lack of action led to the collision, but now he was all-action. He pushed the tiller hard over to swing the bows of his boat away from Heron (which we’ve already established, it was already doing on it’s own). And he opened up the throttle, with his boat still in forward gear, to speed that process up. Those of you who know boats will know what happened next. Bows swing away, stern swings towards and hits Heron in almost the same spot his bows did, with extra force due to his exuberant use of the throttle.

Instead of giving him a seriously disapproving look, which is my usual tactic, this time I felt some comment, or even friendly advice about physics and boats was in order. I think conveyed all I needed to when I said “Really?” in a mildly irritated tone, just loud enough so he could actually here me. Did he thank me? Did he apologise? No, but he did shout a heartfelt “Oops” whilst shrugging his shoulders. </rant>

Another bright and clear spring morning today, the view from the window as I ate breakfast, was more classic rolling English countryside, blue skies and sunshine. And there you have one of the great attractions of owning a narrowboat.

You can change the view whenever you want. And you can choose the neighbours too if you really want to.

I started to experiment with a digital SLR today, with the idea of adding some higher quality pictures to these posts and to create a gallery for the site. I took some really rather good shots today, especially of the boat, but you will have to take my word for now, because they are stuck on the camera. It needs, either, an old-style mini USB cable, or something that can read Compact Flash cards. Both the laptops I have with me are too new for Compact Flash and I can clearly remember thinking “I haven’t got anything that uses this cable now” as I removed it from the bag of assorted useful cables I usually bring with me. For all the wonderful advantages of living on a boat, you just can’t order something on Amazon and get it next day.

Having satisfied my photography ambitions, I eventually got started towards Braunston. Every time I come north on the Oxford and join this stretch of the Grand Union heading towards Braunston, I feel like I’ve turned off a B-road and joined a major A-road. It’s wider, deeper, straighter and faster. The same revs that gets you to 3mph on the South Oxford, now delivers a screaming 3.8 mph.  By the way, I reserve the motorways in this analogy for rivers like the Thames and Severn.

As I approach Braunston,

there’s one prog rock landmark I always look out for. On the buttress of a demolished railway bridge, someone wrote in large capital letters “PINK FLOYD”. This is reputed to have appeared over 40 years ago. Whilst faded, the graffiti is still there, unlike the band it was created for. Of course, that picture is on the other camera. But another narrowboat blogger – Halfie on nb Jubilee has a picture on his blog. As I am renowned for my passion for Marillion – I will really have to find a way to work that into these posts somehow. All that springs to mind today is that “Happiness is the Road”

Approaching Braunston from this side, you can’t tell that there are probably more than 500 boats moored here. Braunston has long been a centre for everything related to the canals. But this time, apart from a short stop at Braunston Turn, I will be turning away from Braunston to head north on the Oxford. Why a short stop at the junction? Well, Midland Chandlers have cunningly positioned one of their outlets right there. I am unable to pass by without indulging in a little retail therapy, and today is no exception. In the past we have bought mattresses, a fridge, electrical parts and fire extinguishers, to name just a few. Today, I managed to curb my urges and I just bought some very necessary screws and bolts. Although I did find myself gazing longingly at the alternator to battery charge management system  I have been considering getting, whilst thinking “That’s not as expensive as I thought”. Thoughts and desires around boat related technology will be the subject of a future article.

After lingering long enough to be t-boned by another boat trying to turn the wrong way at the junction (yes there is a wrong way to turn at Braunston Turn),  I carried on up the North Oxford for a short while. This is a good section to moor on, with several paths as well as the towpath for walking the dog. There was just enough time for a 3 miler with Sam, and then, just as I predicted to the lady at Midland Chandlers, it started raining as soon as I wanted to relax on the bow of the boat.