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Published: July 18th 2013
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A mink - I think!
A very snatched photo - not bad before breakfast though. 0 locks, 305 in total.
The laudrette at Barnton was our first prioiry today – the large linen bag was full and there was also the bedding – I didn't get back till gone noon. All the bedding was dry but everything else needed finishing off – some on lines in the bows and underwear on mini-driers hung inside the boat from the mushroom vents – not pretty but it works. The rest went on a rack outside when we moored later in the afternoon.
We had two tunnels in swift succession, neither very long (400-600 yards) nor unfortunately very straight, which makes helming more difficult. Neither tunnel has passing places. With Barnton Tunnel you should check that it is empty before entering it – not so easy because of the bends. You can just see a chink of light at the other end of the tunnel but a boat can, and presumably did, hide in the darkness of the bends. I rather think that his bow light was not very strong. Anyway, we both ended up backing out of the tunnel. We decided that we must
Himalayan Balsam
Pretty but rampant due to exploding seed pods. The canal was very colourful today overall. have been mistaken and that he was actually going the same way as us. So we went in again and emerged at the far end to thunderous looks from the two men. We did apologise when we realised what had happened but who knows who was first in! Saltersford Tunnel is definitely more civilised – north bound traffic enters the tunnel from 00-20 minutes past the hour; southbound from 30-50 minutes past. It was a tunnel of surprises – quite wide until the bends (obviously), painted white initially which reflected our bow light beautifully, little stalactites forming on the roof and a sudden reduction in headroom nearly caught me out! Also, in a couple of places there was a very loud, low intensity noise for about half a minute, loud enough to drown the engine noise. I don't know if this was due to a change in the shape of the tunnel or perhaps to different building materials – quite unpleasant though.
By the time we emerged from Saltersford Tunnel it was very hot and humid – we've not motored through the midday and early afternoon since soon after this heatwave began and
I think we'll revert to this in future. It wasn't good for man or beast today and we finally found a mooring at about 3pm where we could sit in the shadow of the hedgerow. It's so peaceful here – no other boats, birds singing, ducks scrounging, fish breaking the water surface for flies and plopping back down again. As I type this, a heron came into view on the opposite side to us, wading along the water's edge very slowly and not causing any ripples in the water. He caught a couple of small things and then, once he had passed us, he flew across to our side of the canal and continued to walk along the bank, looking down into the water. He's now about 100 yards away and going strong.
We've been running along one edge of the very wide Weaver valley today; the views right across this valley and beyond are superb, but looking straight into the sun of course. We'll move away from the Weaver tomorrow as the canal swings northwards again.
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sgs
non-member comment
heron
Glad you made it through the tunnel....Your description of the heron made me imagine you sitting very still and gently whispering as though to the television audience, and for those of you listening on the radio, the duck weed is the bright green stuff! Really enjoying sharing your journey. sgs