Hot under the collar

I am mortified. I have been driving this boat on and off for over 30 years and although I am no expert, I know the basics and have taught them to others. This morning, just after John walked on to the next lock leaving the boat in my care, I got distracted in a lock, let the boat drift backwards and caught the rudder on the cill. I knew immediately that I'd bent it. I yelled to the people at the gate in front to wind the paddles down and stop the water leaving the lock and to the people behind me to wind the paddles up and get more water in as quickly as possible. They reacted fast or there would have been even more damage. Someone ran ahead to tell John and he walked back up. He was angry and bewildered that I could have done such a thing. So was I.

He phoned a boatyard one lock ahead of us and we limped there. John made me drive, as the tiller graunched and juddered. My penance, he said. He was wise and generous to let me do it: it was both penance and redemption.

The boatyard were hirers not repairers but they agreed to let John use their oxyacetylene. No charge to a fellow boater, just a contribution to the beer kitty. The students went off for an explore and John set about removing the rudder from its housing so that he could heat it and bend it straight. D and I did what we could to help. It is heavy: a large slab of metal on the end of a long metal shaft which needs depth in the water in order to move it downwards out of its housing. We had to be careful not to drop it onto the bed of the canal.

Using ropes we eventually wrangled it free and onto the bank. John heated the shaft to red with the oxyacetylene then D and I stood on the rudder as John sledgehammered the shaft straight. Another boater put his arms round D's and my backs to add his weight and hold us all together. It was the best way to get the job done but I was interested that he apologised for touching us. So not an issue!

The boatyard people were incredibly kind and came over to see how we were doing from time to time.

Then we had to get the rudder and shaft back into the water and far enough below the boat to fit it back into its cylindrical housing. That meant pushing the stern of the boat into deeper water and gently manoeuvring the shaft to the right place. My job. I was very glad that I'd brought swimming things with me as I had no change of trousers. It took several attempts at gentle alignments in the water, some hefty hauling from the back deck of the boat and some below-water intervention from John but eventually we got it in place. D tightened the bolts, I coiled the ropes we'd been using and John did the more skilled work of aligning the rudder with the tiller. It was fine - in fact better than before because John had also straightened a bit of previous damage.

The students rejoined the boat after their walk and we all knew that we would not reach Stratford-upon-Avon tonight. They were phlegmatic and John was feeling much better once the boat was running properly again.

My rehabilitation continued as I was granted the gift of taking the boat over Edstone aqueduct at sunset (extra; the second extra shows the drop to the field below a bit more clearly as well as the solar panels on the roof of the boat, and obviously those two are not my pictures - I was not going to allow myself to be distracted a second time). It was an utter delight. But however forgiven I might be, for the rest of my life I will be someone who bent a rudder on a lock cill. The shame. I do not have enough words to say how sorry I am.