Monday 23^th May 2005 

After 3 days of partying, one for a local am dram, one for my Dads 60^th, and a quick visit to a 90^th, both Dad and I was looking forward to a restful holiday. The problem was that we had to reach Crick for Friday. We left Northolt at 10am, and an hour later were doing our shopping in Bulls Bridge Tesco. After that we had a long hard day, getting to Grove Bridge at 9pm. 

Tuesday 24th May 2005 

I managed to get Dad up early again today, and we set off at 10am. I was short of fuel, right down to line as the engine kept slowing down. I had a 5 gallon container, which I emptied into the tank, which helped. I noticed that there was a heap a muck in the bottom of the container I originally pumped out of the tank, that probably means the main tank is full of silt. It was a steady climb up, arriving Cowroast at 8pm. 

Wednesday 25^th May 2005 

I thought I might as well get some fuel whilst at Cowroast, not having a clue how much diesel was in the area. I bought £20 which should keep me going for a while. We still managed to leave at 10:15am, passing Felus Catus II along on the moorings above the lock. Another long run, but still very little traffic, so we were alone in many locks, which speeds things along nicely. I let Dad use my folding bike to lock wheel down the hill, which worked well. We did the Marsworth flight in exactly an hour. 

By 8pm we were reaching the outskirts of Milton Keynes when I recognised the name on the side of a boat. It was David King’s new boat, outside his new house. We met him on our way back from one of the Waltham Abbey rallies, and became good friends on our rush back up the Grand Union. 

David and Jan (his wife) had been invited to my Dads 60^th, but could not make it due to other commitments, but after mentioning that Dad wanted to see Star Wars, David very graciously offered to take us up to the cinema. 

Thursday 26^th May 2005 

We stayed the night alongside David’s boat, and left at 10:30am. It was a very bright and hot day, just like the day before, and I had got to much sun. Dad took over the steering for the day, while I rested my eyes in the dark of the boat. 

We reached Stoke Bruerne by 4:30pm, managing an average speed of 3.94 mph in the tunnel. I’m not sure I would like to have been the next boat through, as my SR3 is still a little smokey. 

We kept going for as long as possible, but we did stop for a late tea just north Bugbrooke. We spent the night in Stowehill stopping at 8:30pm. 

Friday 27^th May 2005 

We got off early for us, at 9:50am as we needed to stop for some shopping in Weedon. The Nicholsons shows the shops near the canal, not far from the boatyard, but we soon found out that the main shop was nearer the church. 

We left Weedon at 11am, and reached the bottom of Foxton at 3pm. It was a very short wait before we started up the flight, and soon reached Crick tunnel. The first bit was nice and dry, but it started to get damp at the north end. Thankfully Dad was taking the boat through! 

We found a gap between the first boat, and the tunnel, and since I knew it could be miles before any other gaps we pulled into the shallow mooring. Dad used my bike to try and find a better mooring, but none could be found. However we asked someone if we could moor alongside, which they were happy to allow us, so we saved a little distance. 

Monday 23^rd May 2005 

To miss the rush, we left Crick just before 5pm. Arrived at the locks, but just missed a downwards run, so waited for the last upwards run of the day, and had an easy quite run down the locks - even though the queue was now though the M1 bridge behind us. We wanted to keep ahead of the rush, so we kept going, reaching the top of Buckby flight by 7:50pm, and with Dad on his newly purchased folding bike, we had whipped through the flight on our own by 9:00pm. Then next task was to find a quiet mooring along the next stretch as the railway line runs along the canal at this point - Dodford was the final answer. 

Tuesday 24rd May 2005 

9:30am was as early as we managed the next day, again to keep in front of the rush. I can't remember what happened next but eventually we got back to Northolt via the Tring branch!