On Friday we followed nb Piston Broke along to see it hauled up the ramp on trolleys to have it’s new propeller fitted. With a bit of heating up and coaxing with a hammer the old one came off quite easily. Although the new propeller was only slightly bigger the greater pitch of the blades has made a huge difference.
This morning we took a farewell walk up to see the progress on the bottom Lock No 1 which they had almost finished pumping out as we arrived. The bottom was all beautifully lined with red brick curving up to the sidewalls. A BW workman was walking along the bottom examining it and he picked up three windlasses while he was doing so. The strengthening bars have been cemented into the lock sides which will stabilise the new lock gates when they are fitted.
After many happy hours spent near the delightful hilltop village of Braunston we left in convoy this morning, leading nb Piston Broke and nb Tranquility northward bound. We are now moored up ‘nose to tail’ so we can easily exchange niceties over afternoon coffee and cakes. We will soon be going out together for our belated Christmas lunch, which we are all looking forward to. I think Graham could only just see where he was going above his coal and vast woodpile all along the rooftop.
It really boosts our spirits to finally be on the move again. We waved to Les on nb Valerie as we passed by and also Brian and Diana on nb Harnser who were on their way down to Braunston. There were some large puddles in the fields that hadn't drained after all the rain we had last week.
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