First Narrow Boat Trip (Day Two) – 13 October 2012

After a very cold night, I woke up to my alarm - this was going to be the Day of the Locks. I tried to be as quiet as possible so I wouldn't awake my boatmate but turns out she was already awake and just staying in bed because the air inside the boat was icy!

I took a shower (and I should say that the water pressure was excellent), which warmed me right up and made some tea and porridge. That would be a good plan as it would "stick" to my ribs during the day while I was working away. Once my boatmate was up and had her shower and breakfast, we walked up to the next lock so she could show me what to do (she had gotten the training the day before while I did the part in the boat).

For my non-boaters, a lock is an ingenious way of moving up or down hill on the waterway. If you're going up (as we were on this morning), you must make sure that the cill paddles and gate paddles on the uphill gates are closed and that all the water is drained out of the lock to match the water levels on the lower level before the lock gates can be opened to allow the boat to enter. These gates weigh around a ton, but because they were designed for one person to operate them, there are balance beams that you use to push them open and closed. It's nearly impossible to move them even if there is an inch of difference in the water levels on both sides of the gates - but very easy and simple to move once the water levels are the same.

When the boat is safely inside the lock, the gate is closed and then the cill paddles are opened to begin filling the lock with water. The cill paddles are below the water level, which keep the boat from moving around a lot inside the lock. Once the lock is about half-full, then the gate paddles are opened, which continue to fill the lock and make the boat level with the uphill water for the next leg of the journey. (I hope I explained that well enough!) You must remember to close all the paddles and gates after leaving the lock to assure the next boat (whether going up or downhill) can start from scratch to utilize the lock. And remember, these were designed over 200 years ago!

There didn't seem to be a cill paddle, so I phoned the boatyard to ask. Turns out, they didn't know either! So we winged it until some very nice boaters came along and showed us it was a lever-lift! Yikes! Once the level lift was open and the gate paddles opened, the lock filled more quickly and we were on the higher level before long. There were two boats wanting to go downhill, so once the gate was open and my boatmate was able to steer the boat out of the lock, the other boaters told us to leave them as they were wanting to just go straight in.

Next lock and I was able to do this one on my own (which was good as there was no one else around!) while my boatmate handled the boat with a skill she must have been born with! That one was harder work as the gate paddles were hard to work and the lock gate was very difficult to move. They would get easier the further we moved on.

As I worked the locks and jumped on and off the boat, I was getting very warm (the sun was shining that day) so I ditched my jacket and was just in my t-shirt. I wasn't cold at all! The further we got away from Gargrave, the more rural we were getting - farmland, trees (which were all shades of beautiful autumn colours), fewer and fewer people.

Another narrow boat pulled out from a mooring ahead of us. They were moving slightly faster than we were but I hoped that they'd hold up at the next lock to let us go through with them. NB Eric was waiting for us around the next bend at the third lock of the day. I jumped off the boat and walked up to assist the boater's wife work the locks. We worked the next four together and shared the locks going uphill nearly to the next town. The conversation was very interesting and I learned a lot about the couple (we never exchanged names for some reason). They live in Leeds and had just purchased their boat about two years ago. They're both retired and enjoy spending time on the canals. They have cruised about three or four months in all so far this year and were on their last big cruise before "winterizing" their narrow boat.

After the sixth lock of the day, we stopped just short of the next flight of seven locks and had our lunch and tea. I took a walk around noticing that the towpath seemed to just stop. Apparently, it crosses the next bridge after the aquaduct (a canal bridge over a river or a valley) and continues on the other side.

We made a decision not to continue on through the next set of locks. Our plan was to moor at the boatyard on Sunday night and we didn't want to take any chances on these shorter October days to miss that opportunity. After our lunch, my boatmate (again, quite skillfully) turned the boat and we headed back down the way we had just come that morning.

I'll say now, without a doubt, going down is much, much easier than going up! The problem we had going up was that the centre line, which we really needed to keep the boat from flopping around inside the locks (unless we were sharing) was difficult to get topside from a deep lock. Going downhill, on the other hand, the boat was level with the towpath and could easily be handed over to the lock-working person to wrap round the bollard to keep the boat steady.

The only real challenge is to keep the boat from being too close to the cill (it's a ledge-like area that can catch a boat and tip it when the water empties from the lock) as well as enough clearance for the gates to open on the other side, once the lock is emptied.

We had a lot of folk who were on walks that stopped and watched us. I understand that the boating community calls them gongoozlers (of which I used to be myself!). We were stars of photos and videos and kids asking questions.

Eventually, we made it back to Gargrave with plenty of time to moor up and watch the sun set, finish a movie we started watching when we moored up for lunch (Charlie St Cloud, for those who are interested - very good movie, by the way!), and have a glass or two of wine before wandering into town for dinner.

It was hard work but it didn't feel like hard work. It was something I expected and something I'll never forget. Incidentally, the day before, my boatmate met a couple while she was working on of the swing bridges, that told her they had also hired a boat. When they arrived at the first lock, they turned around and went back the other way because they were scared of it and no one was there to show them what to do. First of all, shame on that hire company for not giving them direction on what to do - it can be dangerous for someone without the proper tuition. Second, I'm very proud of my boatmate, who conquered her fears of heights and pushed through doubts she had to continue on the journey on the Day of the Locks!