I guess that as I can steer at any time, and locks come up only intermittently, there is always a great excitement about winding the paddles to work the boat through a lock.
Fortunately I'm a big enough bear to manage a lock gate on my own, even though they are quite heavy and I usually have to have a rest after opening or shutting a gate. Some of the smaller bears have to work together to combine enough strength to manage a lock gate.
Steering, however, is also great fun as it is quite a challenge. The boats are long (50 feet on average) and the canals are narrow so sometimes you have to be really accurate in your steering to pass other boats, bridges, get into locks etc. And of course a narrow boat is nothing like these plastic tubs (as you can tell, I disapprove) that you see all too many of in our part of the world. These cabin cruisers, have a wheel, which is cheating, rather than a traditional tiller, which you always get on a narrow boat.
As you can see from my picture, sometimes in my excitement I forget my extra high stool for bear steering, required becasue of my short legs, and I have to beg some assistance from a minder while one of the other bears goes to find the stool.
I'm guessing that short legs wouldn't have been very good for legging through tunnels as they had to do when boats were horse drawn. Perhaps it's as well boats have engines now, but it would have been fun to meet a few working horses on the tow path.
Lots of love, Eddie & crew xxx
1 comment:
Eddie, you look very slim and muscley! All that locking must be keeping you very fit, or is it a case of you being so excited by your canal boating trip that you forgot to eat!
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