The mob arrive.

Trust us to be out when they turned up. We would have helped with the boat shuffling, but it was all done and dusted by the time we arrived back from our shopping expedition.



The small boat in the fore ground belongs to the owner of this stretch of water (start of the Derby canal ). Unfortunately none of the boats in front of it, including us, could get alongside owing to the amount of silt . Usually we can pull our boats right back which gives enough room for more boats in front. We will be very restricted with moorings this year.

On the outside is Mick and Carole Gold on Nb Electra, then Dennis and Margaret Cakebread on Nb Icing, then us and on the inside Antony and Richard on Nb Crested duck. Opposite on the towpath is John and Chris Bayliss on Nb Thornbury. More boats are expected tomorrow so its going to be fun trying to get them all moored up.

 Our shopping expedition took us to Miller Marine in Shardlow to get oil and then to Midland Chandlers to get our hull blacking, all in readiness for dry docking over Easter. Miller Marine was far to pricey for the blacking but, for once, Midland Chandlers had a good deal going. Instead of paying £28.99 for the Sealex bitumastic, we paid £50 for two tins, a grand saving of £7.98. I picked up a new freebie magazine while we were there. Its called The Tillergraph. Yes, there are adverts, but there appears to be some good articles in it as well. While looking through I spotted an advert for handmade sofa beds. Now that Judy has gone we feel we would like to reinstate some sort of guest bed and, as our space is limited, we have asked Antony, the manager?, to pop along to see if he can help. The company, CCU, is based in Long Eaton so very handy for us. I know it wont be cheap and Ian said he could make the bed himself, but with his pending operation looming over our heads, I would rather someone else did it for us.

Tonight a Chinese meal is on the cards. Thankfully we don't all have to squeeze into one boat as 10 of us will be sitting down to the takeaway. The lock cottage comes in very handy when it comes to everyone being seated. I'm beginning to fell hungry already!