It's an incredibly mild November. I suppose global warming must have the odd silver lining. "Forget me Not" is now running partly on HVO, a non fossil fuel, waste derived, alternative to mineral diesel fuel.
We had an airbnb booking. We're now doing a lot of these to bring in funds as our lottery funding has finished. To keep the Canal & Rivers Trust happy all Airbnb bookings have to go for a trip, whether they like it or not. This group were a family, two adults and 3 kids from Norwich visiting people in Manchester. They didn't really want a trip, but we arranged to take them through the Asda tunnel and back on Saturday morning. As usual, the kids loved the tunnel. They'd asked for the boat to be left at a nicer spot so, after they left, we towed "Hazel" to Dukinfield lift bridge and tied her there, then me and Aaron took "Forget me Not" to Jet Amber Fields to wind.
This turned out to be more of a struggle than I'd anticipated as the water was 6" down and new obstructions have been dumped in the lift bridge which we struggled to get through. The water was like leaf soup with the Autumn fall. At Jet Amber we found the winding hole partly blocked by the burned out remains of a fibreglass dinghy. On our return trip, passing the Warble moorings, the engine was stalled by a bulk bag full of leylandii offcuts, presumably dumped by a dodgy tree surgeon. As we struggled to untangle it someone on a moored boat told us it had been there for ages (so why didn't he pull it out?).
On Sunday, after the guests left, we repeated the trip with "Hazel" in tow. This was a training opportunity which was taken up by Patricia. Her partner Igor came too, but he is unable to participate at the moment as he's awaiting surgery on his legs.
Before attempting the lift bridge I had a go at clearing it using the keb. I pulled out a car seat and a safe that had been forced open before disposal.
There was plenty more rubbish that I was unable to remove.
We thrashed the pair through the bridge without too much trouble and carried on, the engine producing embarrassing amounts of black smoke as it coped with the leaves clogging the propeller.
Because of the sunken dinghy and low water we carried on past Jet Amber and winded at Hyde, which is easier. On the return trip Aaron steered the motor and dealt with various difficulties. including stemming up on the submerged remnants of a stone wall near Globe Bridge. We tied at the basin as the museum staff were locking up.
