Sink or swim?

Sink or swim is the refrain running through my head…along with waving or drowning. Our plan to beat the stoppages blocking our route to the Rochdale Canal has given us insights and challenges beyond our expectations.

We’ve made our way across the country from west to east and are now moored in Nottinghamshire, on the non-tidal section of the mighty River Trent at Gunthorpe. This tiny village was founded by the Danes in the ninth century – as they came the other way to us along the Trent!  

Even allowing time to working and socialising (of which there has been plenty this week) we are moving with intent, and alacrity for slow movers. Just a week ago we were in the rural village of Alrewas in Staffordshire, since when we’ve managed 47 miles, 1¾ furlongs and 21 locks taking us from narrow canals to broad canals, to small rivers and now onto the large River Trent. We have enjoyed city life in Nottingham and reunions with former colleagues as well as boaters we spent lockdown time moored near.

We have just 18 miles 6 furlongs and 4 locks to go before we reach the tidal section of the river – for us, the big unknown.

Those boaters who have travelled tidal waters have been incredibly supportive and generous with time, practical advice and in one case, thank you Deolali for photocopies of the tidal charts which Steve has been poring over and committing to memory.

Social media groups are invaluable and enable us to find others making the journey with whom we newbies can buddy up – safety in numbers and all that.

I guess academics who study such phenomena would instantly identify that it isn’t fear that we are experiencing, but anxiety. Fear is a response that protects us to current, identifiable threats (sinking, running aground, being faced by a hungry crocodile – fortunately the latter are non existent on the River Trent). “Anxiety is a response to a potential threat that may or may not occur” (Asmundson, Norton and Vlaeyen, 2004). In my case they stem from not knowing if I’m going to manage to negotiate lock landings coming from a fast-flowing river, to running aground, to not being able to get the boatdog off safely if river moorings are a long way down from the riverbank.

Psychologists say it’s important to manage anxiety to prevent it from becoming a paralysing factor. For me, experience and memory are coming into play to resolve presumed issues – nothing needs to be done at high speed – approaching lock landings slowly gives time to evaluate and weigh up the options. To date all the big locks have been operated by lovely lock keepers which means all I’ve had to do is get a rope around the risers that can then hold us steady as the lock fills/empties. That fear is subsiding as a result.

Running aground? We might but looking at other boaters’ experienced on social media makes me realise that’s not the end of the world – we have charts which should enable us to avoid the possibility but if we did run aground waiting for the next higher tide would do the trick – another anxiety busted.

Not being able to get the dog off? There are ladders in some moorings, and I’ve invested in a doggy backpack so I could climb the ladder with both hands, knowing she’s safely secured on my back. So far, we haven’t needed it – everything’s been pontoons or jumpable. She also has a lifejacket, although it doesn’t impress her much and it’s been very hot wearing it this week.

So, as in every unknown situation – taking practical precautions and conducting research is invaluable. Doesn’t stop the butterflies, but in part, they heighten our awareness and responses, which can be essential.

Remembering others have been doing this journey since the ninth century in boats that had none of the safety equipment we have on board also helps!

We need challenges, to push ourselves out of our comfort zones, to try, to fail, to learn from failure, to achieve in order to feel alive.

In other news, the locks that caused us to undertake this cross-country voyage are in part still causing problems. The Marple Flight (lock 7 in it) will be out for a considerable length of time, lock 87 in the middle of Manchester which closed on 6 July opened again this week but the Rochdale Canal has issues still between Locks 41 and 43. We shall save the Rochdale for another year and enjoy the experiences of the tidal Trent in the meantime. I wonder how far we’ll get during this coming week and hope we won’t sink or have to swim… and if we do – we’ve all got our lifejackets.