Braunston

Yesterday evening, in the Boat, we chanced on a group of walkers attempting 40 miles along the towpath for a charity event.  They had started at Tring that morning and they were walking like cripples.   One of their obstacles, apart from the distance had be the appalling state of the towpath between Cosgrove and Bugbrooke.  The grass and weeds were over 4 feet high and they said that they had really needed machetes to make easier progress.  Evidently BW must be making economies, but these surely are false.  The cost of getting this under control must be more.
Overnight there was a violent thunderstorm with heavy rain but I was pleased to see that no water had entered the engine bay or side lockers.   Good job I had cleaned the drainage channels the day before.
The day was pleasant enough but marred by a very strong wind making keeping a course difficult between gaps in the hedges and by moored boats.  Increase in speed was needed to keep control.   We decided to stop at Whilton Chandlery for a precautionary pump out.  Then we moved across the cut to have a quick lunch before starting off again.   Whilst waiting a boater moored behind asked if we were going up and could be join us.  Once in the lock together we found out that the other boaters were total novices.   They had literally just taken delivery of the boat!  So there was a steep learning curve for them made very much worse by the wind.  In the second pound he got blown onto the offside and picked up a great deal of weed leading to little propulsive power and pretty well no steering.  Clearly a visit to the weed hatch was needed but he didn't seem to know what that was.  We had a look together and found it - a dry type with four bolts and standard nuts.   He had no tools, having just got the boat.   I have to take my hat off to the guy.  Once clued up he was down there and produced handfuls of weed in no time.   Proceeding on up the flight the wind was obviously giving him a lot of trouble and in the last pound at a particularly exposed section he got blown onto the towpaths side and seemed particularly stuck.   Waiting in the top lock for him we reluctantly decided to go on as we were then delaying other boaters.
Braunston Tunnel has been subject to another landslip at the other end and passage for broad beam boats was now impossible.   We were informed that whilst wet conditions persisted, the bank was too unstable for BW to get onto it to rectify the situation.  In reality, this is not insuperable but must be down to money.
We stopped for the night above the top lock.  No TV, No phone signal.