Canal Boating

August 2007

Douglas Explorers and Southern Explorers joined forces on a Canal Boating Exercise in the Oxford Canal. The 9 day expedition consisted of 17 Explorer Scouts and 3 Leaders.

The travel was made by Boat to Heysham, and then Train to Rugby via a connection at ???????. From Rugby station we took Taxi's to the Marina before searching for out boats (Which were not actually in the Marina!)

Unfortunately the return travel didn't go quite so smoothly. After being picked up by the taxi firm 20 minutes late for an 08:00 collection, we arrived at the station too late for our intended train and our contingency train was delayed. These delays meant that we arrived at Lancaster station at about 14:10, leaving us no chance of catching the 14:30 sailing from Heysham.

Instead we decided to catch the 02:00 sailing nearly 12 hours later.

This left us with no choice but to explore the hub of amusement that is Morcambe seafront...

Train Journey To Rugby		The Girls Brought A Teddy		And So Did Some Of The Boys!		Our Boats
Jack Hijacks The Silage Tractor		Waiting For The Taxi's		Delays At The Train Station		Waiting At Heysham
		Sudoku By Torchlight		Makeshift Cinema

We hired two 70ft Canal boats, the Merlin and the ???????. Each boat weighed in at around 20 tons each.

By Tuesday we had sailed to an ideal turning point and decided to stop there for the night before starting the return journey the following day. That was until we heard that the other boat had broken down (long story involving rope and a weed trap). The boat was discovered to be irreparable on-site and therefore needed to be towed back to our starting point. Steering 140ft of boat weighing in at 40 tons that bends in the middle is a VERY different experience.

		Lost The Keys...		Mealtimes Onboard
Flooded Engine		Towing The Merlin
Andy Goes Sumo For Haloween		Guess Who...		No Guesswork Required		Night In Rugby

A skill that warrants its own section.