![\"\"](\"http:\/\/toby200.net\/oliver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/14-July-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a>A single hander entered lock 11 and emptied it, just after Oliver and Mad etc. left lock 10.\u00a0 He was still there unable to open the gate to get out when we arrived.\u00a0 For some strange reason he had closed the bottom paddles before opening the gate and the lock had started to fill up again because he had not closed the top ground paddle properly!\u00a0 He claimed \u201cthese locks have been a problem for years\u201d.\u00a0 He did the same thing at the next lock, so we rescued him again.<\/p>\n
At the Bottom Lock, number 13, we were surrounded by staff from Santander who were on a team building day.\u00a0 It seems a shame that they were just pulling up weeds rather than something a little more challenging and helpful to the boating fraternity.<\/p>\n We stopped at Rugby Boats for diesel and a pump out.\u00a0 Our estimate was 100 litres and we actually squeezed in 108.9.\u00a0 Unfortunately the attendant, Josh, dropped the pump out adaptor in the canal and didn’t have a spare.\u00a0 It was comforting to know that we could use the facilities at Heyford Fields.<\/p>\n We turned neatly into the marina and proceeded to reverse onto the services pontoon until the wind caught the bow and absolutely refused to allow it to turn in the direction we wanted.\u00a0 We changed tack and went in forwards.<\/p>\n If we reversed down to Oliver\u2019s mooring perhaps we could get into that without having a similar problem.\u00a0 No chance.\u00a0 When we were half way there the wind caught us again and so we entered the berth forwards as well.\u00a0 At least there were no dramas!\u00a0 Just two failures.\u00a0 In defence the wind was probably gusting between Force 5 and 6 so it may have been a tad over optimistic to even try.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the end of another lovely holiday with Oliver who has served us admirably.\u00a0 Only one day of rain in a whole month, fantastic, and no dramas this year.<\/p>\n Thank you Toby and Sarah for allowing us to share Oliver once again.\u00a0 He is not as black as he was when he left his home but he probably will be after the weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We spotted a Canal Boat Club boat, \u201cMad As A Hatter\u201d, heading for the lock and we were in Romy\u2019s words \u201coff like a rocket\u201d to share the heavy load down the Buckby Locks.\u00a0 We were just in time as another boat came round the corner just after we had set off.\u00a0 He thought he … Continue reading The end of another chapter<\/span> <\/a>