A life on the ocean waves (OK, canal waves)

• Weather

You have probably noticed it has been a little stormy recently.  Fortunately, weather forecasting is pretty reliable these days, at least in the short term, so we were expecting it.  Indeed so were most other boaters we spoke to yesterday.  I think all of them were going to moor up and sit it out today – as we are doing.

Last night was pretty windy and Brandy Pad bounced about quite a bit.  We lost a fender in the middle of the night, so I had to go out to replace it and tighten our ropes. There was a peculiar banging coming from somewhere and I still don’t know what it was. Probably just the replacement fender banging against the side of the boat.

Waves breaking (click for a bigger image)

Today, however has been a different story, with even more ferocious wind as well as the heavy rain.  In fact, so strong is the wind that we have had waves up to around 24 inches coming past us on a canal that probably isn’t more than about 5 feet deep itself.  The waves have been breaking into surf – White Horses.  Canals are normally pretty placid water, in fact the most waves that occur are from the boats themselves – it is strictly a no-no to go so fast that waves are breaking as it damages the banks.

Fortunately, we deliberately moored up away from any trees and facing into the wind, so although we are bouncing around a bit, we are not rocking too much.  Several trees have come down on the Trent and Mersey canal overnight, stopping navigation until they can be removed.  Canal and River Trust are usually pretty good at having them removed fairly quickly, but with several trees down it will take some time. We are on the Shropshire Union canal at the moment and I haven’t heard of any down on this canal – yet!

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