Now sharing a lock with another boat is quite an intimate process, increasingly so as you work a series of locks together. Your 'lock buddy' can make the world of difference.
You can't help but reveal something of yourself, first impression is the type and style of craft, your appearance and the way that you greet your circumstantially arranged buddy. There is a small amount of choice, common sense dictates that if you're heading in the same direction, you should work together - deciding to 'take a break' rather than join forces is an option, rather a desperate measure though.
There are a number of ways to approach going up or downhill and it is a real pleasure to move with boaters that work in a similar way to yourself and crew. Interaction is minimal at first, just enough to make progress, gradually learning more about each other, where from, where going to. When is a 'conversation' deemed to occur? Its more than just swapping minimal words and goes beyond the 'small talk'. Safe subjects like canals, boats and navigation can become vivid, peppered with personal experiences and opinion.
Today (yesterday now!) we travelled 14 miles, climbed 18 locks, swung ten bridges, lifted one, it was a long day. The lock keeper will tell you himself no doubt. We travelled with one boat for a large part of the day and benefitted from snippets of history (how the K and A was restored) and a wealth of local information supplied by a lovely husband and wife team. For instance the lock in the picture above, another weird lock we thought. Its officially an example of a turf sided lock and is scheduled as an ancient monument by English Heritage. However it was actually reconstructed as part of the restoration of the canalised river and when its was first filled at the opening ceremony, most of the recently installed turf floated to the surface which was rather embarrassing.
We parted company at Newbury, as daughter and mother joined our buddy and they moored up for a while. Nice to see the generations either side of the couple that we learned quite a lot from and about during the day.
Many locks lie ahead, I wonder who we will 'buddy up' with next time...
