A bit annoying really!

Last night, as the sun was setting, a boat came past from the direction of the lock. Yippee, that would mean at least some of the locks would be with us in the morn. Looking at the chap sitting on the cabin top  I thought we were in for a red sunset! This chap had his top off and his torso was bright red!  Gosh, I expect he will be in agony later 'cos that sunburn was pretty impressive.

We set off in stealth mode this morning, well we did depart at 7 am. Not wanting to wake Jim and Jenn it was cast off before turning on the engine. The ploy worked as a text message from Jenn later in the day said they never heard us go!

That pound between lock 9 and 8 was low again. Looked to be even lower than yesterday. All the paddles were down so it must be due to overnight leakage.

 We sailed up the flight 15 minutes short of two hours. It's not often every lock is with us which meant Ian had it easy for once. No running to the next lock to lift a paddle and then back again to close the gate. Usually, I would do this but that coccyx of mine...well that's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it!

 No volunteers in sight as we entered the last lock, still a bit early I suppose but as I was about to depart that lock and go onto the facilities, a boat came toward us also gesturing that they too wanted the services. Blast I would just have to wait. It did give a perfect opportunity to photograph ducklings up close though. They were in the side bywash pound without mum.

A bit young to start smoking!

On route to Springwood Haven and by bridge 35 (where the winding hole used to be)  another marina was in the process of being constructed. I can't find out anything about it on the internet so if anyone has any ideas I would love to hear from you.

So now for my post heading. We have religiously watched the weather forecast, Ian has also an app on the phone showing our position and what the weather will be for the day. If we had known the cloud cover would burn off I suspect we would have stayed another day on last nights mooring. The solar panels did the job of keeping the batteries topped up nicely and we could have gone into Springwood Haven Marina on Saturday instead of today. Still, they got us in on short notice and for that, we are ever so thankful for their help. The £30 for three nights stay plus £4 for the electrics, is very reasonable considering the circumstance. They got is out of a really bad hole and for that, we are extremely grateful.

 On Monday then, we leave here and head for Hinkley on the Ashby canal. Hinkley marina is expecting us for another two nights stay and the good thing about this town is that Enterprise car hire is within walking distance. Due to Covid they no longer collect and we need to get back to Cox's to collect the travel pack and also, for peace of mind, Ian will head back to our garage in Sandiacre to bring back the generator.  I doubt if I will post again until we set off and until then I will leave you with this photo of a female Mandarin duck and two ducklings seen on the Atherstone flight.