Sunday 25 August 2013

Big Trip - Day 2

It was pretty murky this morning, but the rain didn't last long.  We shared the Buckby Locks with a boat called Rambling Rose, so it was two roses together.


There were dozens of boats in the flight, so we didn't have to turn any locks.  At the top we stopped for water.  While we were there, James and Debbie from Lois Jane, which was moored at the bottom, walked up to see us.  It was great to finally meet them, having only waved at each other before.

We then went past the junction and moored up for lunch.  This afternoon, we had family visitors.  My second cousin Catherine with children Grace and Matthew, and Catherine's dad (who I haven't seen for several decades!).  Grace and Matthew had particularly wanted to go through the tunnel, having previously come with us through Blisworth Tunnel.

In the tunnel we passed four boats.  The second one stayed determinedly in the middle, and even though I was up against the wall and virtually stationary, he gave us a hefty whack.  At the locks, the sun had come out, and there was lots of traffic.  We had to wait while the lock keeper ran some water down because a pound had been significantly lowered by someone sitting in a lock with the paddles open at both ends.  We had a good run down the locks, marred only by a bit of an incident involving Grace's head and a windlass.  An ice pack followed by an ice cream made her feel better, and by the time it was time to go home, she seemed quite proud of her bump.



We found a mooring in Braunston, just past the marina exit, where we just fitted.  The people behind us obviously didn't like sharing a ring with us, because an hour later they pulled back so they had a ring all of their own.

In the evening, we walked up to the Admiral Nelson for dinner.  Being Sunday evening, they were doing only the bar snacks menu, but the food was excellent, and we were treated to a rather nice sunset.



8 miles, 13 locks.  (26 miles, 20 locks)

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