Saturday 10 April 2010

Scary Happenings

The first scary thing to happen today was ............. we let the fire go out!!!!
Can't believe how lucky we have been to be having this lovely spell of sunshine in such beautiful surroundings.

Second scary thing - just as we had left Shifford Lock which is one of the most "isolated, lying amid the fields and meadows of rural Oxfordshire" (quote Geo Map!) the throttle cable broke!  No power whatsoever - only backwards with the flow of the water!  It is for these sorts of situations that boats on rivers are required to carry anchors.  Fortunately, there was a bit of bank against which we could moor and we managed to guide the boat to it.  These bits of bank are far and few between so it really was fortunate!

Good practice:- carry spares of everything or subscribe to the AA/RAC of the waterways - "River, Canal Rescue".  John had a spare cable and although everything was disrupted for a while, he was able to sort the problem.  After that we stayed put!  We have only seen three other narrow boats today - two private and one hire boat with four young couples on board having a lovely time. Cruisers - three.  Not exactly busy then!!

1 comment:

  1. We know exactly how you feel, although we were on the canal not the river. It is a buttock clenching moment till you tie up safely. Hopefully you wont have any more mishaps. Take care Lynne and Paul

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