9
April 2005
Calcutt to Folly Pie & back
(6 miles, 6 locks, 5 engine hours)
Yes, we're back
over the same stretch today, but with a different purpose. We have James
Wichard on board - he's an ex-instructor for the Helmsman's course that
you can do for narrowboats. I am OK steering Per Angusta in a straight
line and when there are not any other boats around. So I wanted someone
to give me a few tips about handling the boat - not wishing to be pessimistic,
but if Ian and I are out on our own and he has an accident or is unwell,
I really do need to be able to handle the boat in something other than
a straight line.
James is based
at Braunston and was willing to do the training on Per Angusta so after
some safety training, we set off towards the Folly Pie - the plan was
to practice winding the boat, reversing, turning into narrow entrances,
etc. The weather was not kind to us - it was incredibly windy. We needed
to pump out so the plan had been for me to reverse Per Angusta up to the
Napton Marina pump-out, but what with the wind and only about a 7 foot
space to get the boat in, I let James show me how a professional does
it!
We pottered up
and down the canal, and as the day went on I got a lot more confident
in handling Per Angusta; James was very impressed with the way she handled
and I certainly found that she was a lot more resonsive than any other
boat I had taken the helm of.
You might notice
that there are no photos - I, of course, had my hands full with the tiller.
Ian was in charge of photos and did take some, including me under instruction.
Unfortunately, in one of our series of IT disasters this year, we have
lost the pictures.
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