2005-09-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some pix from our trip up the South Oxford Canal.

We hired this barge through College Cruisers in Oxford. To provision, we walked a few blocks up the hill to a nice grocery/deli. You would think that the charter firm would provide a folding, rolling cart for groceries, but they don't, and we had to tote the sacks back in our arms. If you take one of these trips, bring your own. The boat had recently been refitted, but the table was so close to the seats that you couldn't squeeze in. I'm a big guy, but the wife is more normal, and she couldn't fit in either. It would actually have been better is no table had been on the barge -- just the seats -- and a couple of folding snack tables stored aboard. Also, the shower sump pump didn't work. The little diesel engine ran flawlessly. A small water canteen was swiped from the cockpit while we dined one evening at a pub. Thieves abound! In all my years of boating in the US, nothing was ever stolen from my boats.

We spent a week aboard, then thoroughly enjoyed Oxford, our bus trip into the Midlands, and of course Stratford, which, though quite touristy, can't be missed.

You better duck going under some of those bridges! Those locks are 6 feet wide! You crank the gates by hand and push to open and close them. It takes a bit of practice with the tiller to avoid hitting the bridge abutments. Going out, we hit 'em all. They must be wider southbound, because we didn't so much as kiss one on the way back.

View from under a bridge

Closing a gate

A lock, seen from a bridge at the end of the lock

A manually operated drawbridge

Our boat

Us, entering a lock

Canal Boat Trip