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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