The Festival of Fire and Water
Flushed with success after our trip to the Festival of the Sea at Leith, we just had to take part in the Festival of Fire and Water which was being held in Greenock harbour at the beginning of June. This event involved a lot more planning and time as it involved cruising from Ratho, on the Union canal, to the Falkirk Wheel (day 1), cruising from the Wheel to Applecross Street in Glasgow (Day 2), then from Applecross Street to Bowling (day 3), then a cruise of some 12 miles down the tidal Firth of Clyde estuary (day 4), spend the weekend at the Festival then retrace our steps. A long trip. The situation was further complicated by the fact that Iain was working most of the time and I therefore had to enlist crew. I don't mind boating on my own but it makes a long day even longer if I have to moor every time I need to visit the loo or walk the dogs. My friends didn't let me down and it is due to their help that Gamebird made the trip.
Day 1 got off to a bad start when the boat wouldn't start - not a cheep! The problem was traced to a blown fuse and after the application of some silver paper I set off rather later than intended. I picked up Pam, who had come from Dumbarton by train having left home at 6.30am, at Drumshoreland and off we set. Although Pam has often helped us out, this was she first time with just the two of us and boy did we natter. We stopped for lunch in Linlithgow and while we were having it, Gael , not realising that the boat had moved out from the banking, fell into the canal when she tried to speak to one of our friends on the towpath. Ah, well, day 1 and the dog towel was soaking wet already. Thank goodness for the heated towel rail in the loo. This episode cured her of any inclination to jump on or of the boat without being told. We eventually reached Falkirk and went down the staircase and the Wheel (becoming quite blasé about it now) and onto the Forth and Clyde where Iain joined us and took Pam to the station to wend her way home. We moored at lock 16 that night and dined on carry out fish and chips.
Day 2 saw us setting off in convoy with Jay and April on Illusion, with Ralph who was to spend the next week crewing for just about everyone, on board. We had a good run up to Kirkintilloch where we said goodbye to the super BW chaps who had helped us through the locks and bridges and we stopped for lunch. Proceeded to Applecross Street where we moored outside the BW office along side the assortment of boats which moor there. Some scruffy boats there are too. What impression must they give visitors to the Lowland Canals? We all ventured out to Sauchiehall street where we enjoyed an excellent Indian meal in the evening.
Day 3 and we made our way to Lock 21 where we were met by the BW crew who would work us down the locks and through the bridges to Bowling. It is a pity that all the locks have a special type of anti vandal gear which needs special keys and windlasses otherwise we could have worked our way down ourselves. This would have been much more satisfying (and quicker), I feel, especially as the boats involved were both narrow boats and not GRP cruisers making a transit passage through the canal. Still, we made progress and after stopping at the cruise past chip shop, we arrived at Bowling in the early evening. A full day to do 9 miles, 18 locks, 7 swing or Bascule bridges and 1 drop lock. At Bowling we met up with Ronnie and Dave on Ratho Princess. RP and Loch Ness had come straight to Bowling form Leith a couple of weeks ago. We got our instructions from Ronnie "locking out time is 6am". Yes, Sir!!
Day 4 saw us all up at a ridiculously early hour and we locked out in the second locking at 6.20am. Pam and Gordon joined us for this bit of the trip. The Firth of Clyde was very calm with just a bit of a swell near Greenock. We had this on the way back too so it must be where flows meet. The four boats travelled in a line with the two vulnerable narrow boats in the centre but there was much changing position for photo shots. We had been told to expect an escort but the Coastguard did not actually arrive till we were near Greenock. We had also been told that no other ships would be in the lanes when we were there but about an hour into our journey a rather large container ship came towards us. However, he slowed right down and gave us a wide berth and we felt absolutely no wake at all. The weather was beautiful all the way although we could see rain storms on the hills behind and to the north of us. We arrived at Greenock at 8.25, too early for the photo shoots by the press who had been booked for 8.30. No problem, we went into the harbour (which is no longer used as such) and circled till the press were up on the platform supplied by the Fire service. Back out to sea and we got ourselves into position and entered the harbour bow to bow in a line. Not good enough, said the press, could you do it again? We did. They seemed pleased with us this time and we could then moor up. We made the front page of the Telegraph - no, not THAT one, the Greenock Telegraph! The moorings were pontoons which varied from six to twelve feet below the top of the harbour wall and the only access was a ladder! The ramp we had been promised did not materialise. Although people could get up and down the ladder there was no way the dogs could and we had to take them home. Iain had to go home anyway to work and I went too to look after the dogs. The Search and Rescue Association came to our aid and lifted the dogs up in harnesses which they usually use for lowering their own dogs from helicopters. It was a pity to miss the jollification over the weekend but that couldn't be helped.
Day 6 and I returned to Greenock on my own and was reunited with Gamebird. Ralph installed the temporary device Iain had made up to enable our water pump to work. Over breakfast in the local supermarket I was regaled with stories of the weekends happenings. A good time was had by all thanks to the local Fire Station staff who made sure everyone was well looked after. My crew for today was Geoff who had come out from Glasgow by train to help me. We set out on the return journey at 3.20 after a large vessel had gone past and the return trip to Bowing took about five minutes less than last Fridays. Odd, as although we were with the tide (as we were on Friday), we were against the flow. There were six boats on the return trip as we were joined by the Wee Spark and Terry Jo, Joe Hollands cruiser which moors at Kirkintilloch. Again it was a superb crossing but we were all glad to get inside the security of Bowling Sea Lock and back onto the canal system. We felt that we had been extremely fortunate in that all four sea trips three of the boats had done over the last few weeks had been in almost perfect weather. Gamebird performed extremely well and her revs were about the same as they would be on a canal for most of the journey as we kept pace with the slowest boat. Despite that the GPS showed that we were doing very respectable speed - about 6 or 7 mph at times. When she did go up to max revs, she shifted along quite nicely and she coped well with the swells etc we encountered. To be on the safe side, both journeys were done with the cratch board down and the cover rolled up ready to be let down if we started taking in water over the bows. We didn't.
Day 7 and we went back up the locks to Glasgow then onto Kirkintilloch. All the boats had to get back to their moorings and we felt we couldn't afford to spend another night in Glasgow. I had the help and assistance of Myrtle and Ralph for this trip and I would recommend them to anyone who needs crew! Myrtle is a super cook and Ralph was great at helping with boaty bits. Iain rejoined me after we moored.
Day 8 and we cheated! We took Gamebird about a mile along the canal and put her onto her trailer. The Landy towed her to Broxburn where we put her back into the Union canal and I cruised to Ratho while Iain took the trailer home.
This was a very adventurous trip to do in a narrow boat and we came back with a great feeling of achievement. It was time consuming and took a lot of organising to ensure that we were in the right place at the right time and that I had crew on the days when Iain was not able to be with me. I think we will confine our boating to canals for awhile. Much less stressful!
The whole trip would not have been possible without the help of friends and I am so grateful to you all. The boaters were magnificent and their company added greatly to my enjoyment of the trip. They were Ronnie and Dave on Ratho Princess, Ronald and Juliet on Loch Ness, April and Jay on Illusion, Joe and Terry on Terry Joe, Jimmy on the Wee Spark, Dave on Harmony Row and Ralph and Myrtle on Thomas Telford who were there without their boat but helped everyone else! Without the help of Pam, Gordon and Geoff who helped me on Gamebird, the trip would not have been possible. A big thank you to you all.