Bartimaeus

The day after our trip through the tunnel was forecast to be a very wet morning. We planned to stay warm and cosy where we were and make good use of the oven. Shane got started on making bread. Bryn had observed we had some good yellow bananas that he was enjoying but also an overripe, black and brown one that he said looked good for banana bread. We had shopped the day before and made sure we were completely stocked with baking ingredients. 

I found a Mary Berry recipe that promised to be simple and failsafe. It gave explanations of variations and we decided added cinnamon would be good. The galley kitchen isn't  an easy space for having multiple people doing things but while the rolls and loaf were in the oven, Bryn and I could rustle up the banana loaf. It was nice and quick doing it cooperatively. I was greasing a dish while he weighed out butter and I mashed bananas while he creamed butter and sugar. It all came together in good time. It needed a bit longer than the bread at a lower temperature but had risen beautifully cracked in a broken ridge along the middle in an appetising way.  It finished off while we ate our hot rolls for lunch.

After lunch we started our onslaught on Heartbreak Hill. Shane drove and Bryn and I worked the locks. It wasn't raining but still a cloudy day. We were all quite happy.

It varied as to whether there were a pair of working locks or only one. They were otherwise quite similar with the odd added extra. One was the answer to life the universe and everything. 

Another might have a little flower on it or a ladybird, or a painted stone.

Sometimes one of us went ahead to get the next lock ready. I was tidying up at one lock while Bryn was ahead when I watched Shane drive under the aqueduct. When I caught up with him he told me he had seen a kingfisher just then, coming towards him from under the aqueduct.

We caught up with another boat since we had two lockers and they had only one so we tried to go forward to help a little. She was doing a good job and working hard. Paired locks meant we could sometimes use the other one in stead of refilling theirs. She stayed ahead to the end of our days travel. We had got 13 more locks under our belt. That would make you break sweat even on a driech day.

That evening Bryn had offered to cook pancakes. He knew he didn't have a specific pancake pan but felt confident to give it a go. I thought I could do the filling for him but he was happy to do it while the batter rested. He made creamy garlic mushrooms as a savoury filling.

He hadn't been happy with his first attempt and it looked burnt and broken. I assured him that looked good enough to eat and volunteered to have the first one. Then he made one for Shane and then himself. From then on he and Shane alternated cooking. It was a rare treat for me.

Bryn was brave enough to try tossing one. The ceiling felt very close. We had our hearts in our mouths but he succeede. He went on to toss every one after that. None on the ceiling and none on the floor.

The only one I cooked was when I scraped the bowl to get the last of the batter out and get one more lemon and sugar pancake out.

Shane heard there was a tree across the canal so we went out to have a look to see if it would impede our progress. It was in fact a small branch (or a very small tree) and I said it was a piece of cake to get past that. It was obvious I would be driving next then.

I can always tell when I have had a good days locking because I have an achy neck and shoulders the next day. The weather was good for carrying on with about the same number of locks again, but this time I was indeed driving and Shane and Bryn worked the locks. Bryn was sent ahead to get the next lock ready if they were close together. Through the bridge I could see him at work on it. 

Shane soon caught up with him and was there to help with the gates in a couple of minutes. Altogether we made short work of 14 locks, and had excellent weather for it too.

On the way there were many ducks, both on the banks and on the water. There were a few white ones around here.

A man on the bank was making a seasonal display. He had a some novel skeletons alongside the pumpkins and a cat arching it's back at them. It is a well kept bank at all times

At the end of the day I got another break from cooking. We returned to the Barchetta restaurant that we had been to two years ago. Bryn and I treated ourselves to cocktails and we all had dessert. Heartbreak Hill fairly builds up the appetite.

In the morning we reversed to the water point, just outside the restaurant to fill up. I saw one of the staff letting himself in. It was pleasing to see that the business was doing so well, even midweek it was fairly full. They had an early bird offer and do take away pizza too.

It was another fine day and a bit of a break from heavy locking. Bryn took the helm and enjoyed a good spell of driving. He too met a broken branch across the canal.

When we did reach some locks Bryn and I worked them. We met quite a lot of other boats at the locks. We saw a lone boater and went to help her through. Bryn and I opened the gates and she started to drive out but when she was partway through the gate she could make no further progress. She tried back and forwards but stayed stuck there. She was bashing at a bit of wood with a mooring pin and then tried a grabber to see if pulling would help. I could see she had a barge pole but that would be too wide to fit. I went to fetch the boat hook which is longer than the mooring pin and thinner than the barge pole. I passed it down and she gave it a go but it was also too big to get between the wall and her boat. Shane had now joined us. Bryn and Shane descended the ladder which was only just within reach of the boat. They tried rocking it in case the extra weight would break the wood, but to no avail. The boat itself was stopping the gates from being closed, so we couldn't refill the lock, but Shane got off and, with her permission, let more water through. This time she was released. Bryn was still aboard but able to jump off at the steps on the way out of the lock. She thanked us and said she hoped we didn't get stuck. 

We didn't get wedged but I did find the paddle on my side too stiff to shift, even with the long handled ratchet windlass. Bryn came over and with both windlasses on at the same time, at different angles, and both pushing, we were able to turn it. 

At the next one things were more straightforward. The only tricky bit was that although there were steps to get back on at each side of the lock, I was directed to cross over to Bryn's side. On my side it did look very slippery at the bottom and with no rail that was one way to break a bone, so I  did well to take their advice.