Breakdown on the Napton flight

We set off at 9:25 in overcast and breezy weather intending to ascend the 7 Napton Locks and the two at Marston Doles. Unfortuately events decreed otherwise.

After the 2nd lock the engine got stuck in reverse and the boat travelled backwards only stoppng when it hit against the entrance to the lock. Putting the gear lever into neutral or forward had no effect but I managed to turn it off. To make matters more difficult the locks were leaky and the water level very low so there was a danger of the boat grounding.

The only option was to pull the boat backwards into the lock and return to the previous pound where the water level was stable. We then called out River Canal Rescue (the AA of the waterways).  Their engineer turned up about 90 minutes later and diagnosed that the cable from the gear lever to the gear box was broken. Once it was fixed we set off again at 13:30 up the Napton flight.

After 3 locks it seemed to me that the boat was not responding properly to the gear lever.  So we called the engineer  out again to adjust the setting. So by 5pm the boat was ready but it was too late to make any further progress so we have moored for the night with another 5 locks to do.  This delay is likely to make our planned trip as far as Windsor difficult but we will see how much progress we make over the next few days.

Moored above lock 11 on the Napton flight

Todays travel statistics

Distance 2.63 miles
Locks: 4
Duration: 3 hours 10 minutes (moving)