Vlog 179: Boat Selecta
Having reached the end of the Ashby canal there is no choice but to turn around and rewind, going back the way you came. Having already documented the journey up in several videos, I compacted much of the return trip into this one, ending up back at Trinity Marina where I stopped again while I went to the Crick Show.
Start location: https://goo.gl/maps/jqELjwY7nfyFhJDa9
End location: https://goo.gl/maps/CvHCbXLUAWYXr1Px8
Hello again! (Just catching up on past vlogs.)
I was on the Ashby canal with a group of friends in 2016, and it certainly was shallow then. There was one time when one of our less-experienced steerers cut a corner too much and the boat started cutting a channel through the silt on the inside of the bend. We didn’t stop forward progress, but lost all steerage because the boat wasn’t swimming any more. Normally this would just mean the bows running aground on the outside of the bend and having the entertainment of getting the boat off when both front and back are aground on opposite sides of the canal. (!) But there was a line of moored boats round the outside of the bend. I was glad that I was on the stern with the steerer and could take control to avoid major problems. In fact, one of the people on the boat that the bows came near pushed us away once we had come to a stop and helped us point round the bend. (Possibly while muttering an unfavourable comment about hire boaters. Yes, I’m a hire boater, but as the first canal boating holiday I was on was in 1981, I’ve got quite a few weeks of experience.)
I’m certainly glad it wasn’t that shallow for me (although there were certainly parts where you could feel the bottom of the boat sliding over the silt!)
I found the Steam Train and the Bat Box very interesting. I’ve been a fan of Belinda Carlisle for years. Is she truly a Narrow Boat Owner? Some very beautiful views in this one David.