Today has been one of those rarely seen days where absolutely everything went our way. The first thing which happened was that while Ken was getting ready to go 3 boats passed us going the same way as us. What’s good about that I hear you cry? Well, at the time I was still in the bathroom shaving my legs and we weren’t actually ready to leave. Had I not decided to do my legs and we had been ready to leave it would have been a bloody nuisance.
We followed the third boat soon after and obviously I had to get the lock ready. They were turning at the junction and going down the Coventry so that was one less to follow.
We got down Middle Lock and when we got to Junction Lock there was a boat coming up which was useful. Then we discovered one of the 2 boats in front of us had stopped at the water point. We stopped on the wall just so I could do the loo and the rubbish but we had got water yesterday so didn’t need to wait for the tap.
We gazumped them to the next lock and arrived there just as a boat came out, useful again. We passed another boat on the way to Common lock so we knew that would be set as well, brilliant.
We were cutting along well and thought the bubble would be sure to burst at Alrewas but no, there was a boat coming out of the top lock when we got there so we went straight in again.
At the waterpoint in Alrewas we passed the other boat which had left before us this morning as they were filling up. They told us that they had had to clear some ignorant fishermen off the waterpoint before they could start though. The fishermen had moved only a few yards and were on the next waterpoint. We said it would have been worth stopping for water ourselves just to piss them off again!
Not stopping to piss off the fishemen we carried on to the lock and found it full another, bonus. There was a queue at Wychnor lock, fortunately it was for coming up not going down and we just had to wait for a boat to come up and we were off again.
Barton Turns lock was not in our favour but there was a boat just arriving to come up so I got it ready for them. We stopped on the waterpoint at the bottom of the lock to top up as I had had the washing machine on on the trip.
As we were doing this a boat came down and passed us but we only had one more lock to do anyway. As it happens this was a good thing because they took so long titting about it would have been very frustrating to have followed them further.
We arrived at Branston about 5 hours after leaving Fradley and found plenty of moorings along our favourite stretch which was also lucky. We of course then trundled off to the Blacksmith’s for a well earned pint of Old Growler, lovely!
The moorings here have totally filled up this afternoon and we are the only people not sitting out on the bank. Anti social old gits that we are!
Tomorrow we are off to Willington.
