Anderton

Here I am Rune

Distance 15.8 miles

Total 2924 Locks  142 Tunnels

Running total mileage 4181.1 miles

That was quite a day’s run for the winter months, from Anderton to Preston Brook and back. The limiting factor is the two tunnels with timed entries, going north you can enter Saltersford Tunnel between the hour and twenty past and Preston Brook between the hour and ten past, so you need to arrive at the right sort of time otherwise you can spend 50 minutes sitting around waiting. To do it all in daylight it was necessary to have an early start (for us) of 8.20am. It all went pretty much to plan and we were back here in Anderton by just after 3pm. Not bad for nearly 16 miles and 6 tunnels!

There were not a lot of boats moving today although there were a few stretches with a thin layer of ice on the canal which may have deterred some. Since we needed some stuff from Midland Chandlers we had to press on but I don’t think the ice was thick enough to have caused any real harm.

The only other point of interest was as we approached Saltersford Tunnel there was a fibreglass cruiser moored near the tunnel entrance. As we passed the owner asked if we could possibly tow him through the tunnel as he wasn’t sure about how reliable his engine was. Given the minimal weight of a fibreglass boat it wasn’t a problem but I did point out that without an engine he would have no steerage for the boat. He said that his engine was working but he wasn’t confident that it would get him through the tunnel, but he would be able to steer it if necessary. We set off through the tunnels and with only a couple of bumps from his boat on the tunnel wall, got through without any great drama. I’m still unsure whether I should have towed him on a long line (which we did) or a shorter line keeping his bow close to the back of our boat. Since he wouldn’t be able to stop his boat I opted for the first choice since I didn’t want his boat ramming my rudder whereas if his boat bumps the tunnel on a longer line, it causes no harm to mine.

Tomorrow we’ll be heading off back to Middlewich.