Whoooosh we are on the move and past Stoke Golding

Tuesday to Today – Snarestone to Higham on the Hill, Ashby Canal, 13 miles 0 locks

Not exactly a rapid exit from the Ashby Canal by our standards, but quite a quick one.  The tunnel first, and for once I had no fear at all.  Well the tunnel at Snarestone is only 250yds long.. but any tunnel can be a nightmare for me to go through.  I thought that there would be a name for ‘the fear of tunnels’ but I can’t find one.  I have also looked for a cure for me… I found plenty of those “Avoid the route where the tunnel is and take an alternative route”.. errrrrrr well apart from hiring a lorry to take No Problem out of the canal and back in again the other side of the tunnels I don't think that cure will work.

I could of course walk over the tunnel and meet No Problem on the other side, but I can’t do that either, I seem to have this scary urge to steer through myself.  I won’t let Vic take the tiller and demands he does not move one inch while we are traveling through.  When I get out the other side, I am very light headed, shaking, dry mouthed and end up with a dull headache. I won’t not go through a tunnel if it is ‘in the way’ but I am just hoping that one day this awful feeling will go away..

Here NB Moore2Life exiting Snarestone Tunnel..

The last few days have been cold but really pleasant here in Leicestershire, and we have had the canopy down on the back deck.  Moving on down the Ashby, stopping at Bosworth Wharf for water…

Then on to Sutton Wharf to do the loo cassettes and rubbish.  Talking of rubbish, I do wish British Waterways would supply some recycling bins.  We have no chance to help with the environment along the canals and rivers.  The only place I have ever seen recycling bins is at Cosgrove on the Grand Union Canal.. oh and thanks to Jennifer of NB “Best o’ Mates” who email ed me to tell me of a couple of places to leave our engine oil legally.. It was nice to hear from Jennifer, having met on the River Lark last summer.. thanks Jennifer.

As we left Sutton Wharf and ticked over past all the boats moored there, about half a mile of them too.. I pushed the throttle forward, and nothing happened!  Still I was on tick-over, and on the move Vic dived into the engine to have a look what was wrong.. the throttle cable had lost its nut and bolt!  So that was our speed all the way to Stoke Golding.  I didn’t want to stop just in case we got stranded somewhere inaccessible.. Vic could work the throttle on the engine while I steered, and it was a joint effort to get the boat into neutral then reverse to manage to stop there!

I took off for the post office and left Vic and Chas to firstly find the tiny nut and bolt from the bilges, then to put it all together again.  By the time I had returned all was fixed.  All I can think of was that the engineer who had been working on our fuel leak last week had maybe forgotten to tighten up that screw!

There are very few boats on the move at the moment along this canal, and I was pleased yesterday to see that Ashby Boat Company’s diesel had not gone up.. 49.8p it is.  Hey it’s getting like petrol stations on the canal..  not 49p but we have to put up with a ‘point 8’ on top!