Country: England
Distance travelled:
Weather: Mostly fine with the occasional shower

Everyone rolled out of bed at various times this morning, there was no rush. Marion almost literally rolled out, our beds are as narrow as the boat. We sorted ourselves out and were on the move by about mid morning.

Our first challenge this morning was three locks fairly close together which meant mooring the boat and sending Allister and I forward to check that there was no one coming down (we are on the “uphill” climb though the locks), then we had to wind open the sluice gates to let the water out, open the lock gates for Mark to navigate the boat in, close the gates behind him, open the top sluices, wait for the water to equalize, open the gates to let the boat out and then close them behind again. Then we had to somehow manage to get back on board. After three locks we felt ourselves fairly well practiced.

Then I looked at the map only to discover that just a few bends further on there was five locks in a row! We pulled up on a quiet stretch of water to fortify ourselves with lunch before we faced this challenge and while we were there a wild duck came paddling up with her ten ducklings. We had an enjoyable time feeding the family with some leftover bread crusts.

As we approached the first of the set of locks, known collectively as the Claydon Locks, we were glad to see another boat had just exited. This means that the water was at our lower level so all Allister and I had to do was open the gates for Mark to steer on in. There seemed to be a number of boats coming down either just as we reached a lock or in the process as we arrived so for all five all we had to do was guide our boat in, fill the lock and let him out again. A far easier process but my arms were still sore from cranking the sluices by the end of it.

From there it was a nice easy cruise to Fenny Crompton Wharf where we had decided to moor for the night. We were a stones throw from the pub for dinner and in the morning we would be able to fill up our water tank from the water point.