The tree and a narrowboat, bad combination.

Gosh, we slept late! It was 6.45 am, no Toffee to act as our alarm clock, this could become a habit! Tea brought to me by Ian...yes, normal service has been resumed. Decided we may as well get up and pull FS back to the water point. No boats too near, so I started the engine to put the washing on. I know, smack my hand, it should be after 8 am, but we were only 15 minutes early, and I wanted the first wash water in the machine whilst filling the tank. Then it was off to the Fenny Compton marina to fill with diesel. 

Yesterday the price was £1.14 for domestic and £1.60 for propulsion. Today it had gone up to £1.35 domestic and £1.81 propulsion. Blast...if only we could have dieseled up yesterday! It was still cheaper filling here because once on the Thames, no doubt the prices go up big time.

Meeting this CRT dredger nearly got us stuck in the mud. I like to think it was that deep drafted that it had to keep to the middle, otherwise no excuse to force us onto the offside!

And not far from meeting that dredger was the crane boat. The pan was full of piling, a lovely new section for mooring in the near future?

Not too many boats on the move today, one that did pass us remarked that a particularly nasty bend with moored boats was coming up and on the offside, overhanging branches could cause some problems. Blimey, he was not wrong! Wow, what a place to moor, right opposite that tree. Couldn't have stopped in a worse spot. Those cut branches were just at the right height to make a mess of the paintwork. We were told later this is exactly what had happened to a hire boat, but not just the paint!

 Claydon locks were manned. Not the top lock 17, but two volunteers came up as I was descending lock 18, (a very pretty lock with the Rape all in bloom).  

Claydon Lock 18

Volunteer lock operation training was going on at lock 19, two trainees and non boaters to boot. Both very pleasant and chatty, just the folk we need as volunteers. One of them also told of a hire boat having their window taken out by a branch. Hmm. now I wonder where that could have been?

Trainees were in the light blue T-Shirt and the Black T-Shirt.

At Elkington's lock was this sign. Makes one wonder why. I could speculate that permanent moorers were fed up with sitting on the bottom when the pound was low below between this and Varney's lock, otherwise what other reason could it be.

Elkington lock

Cropredy and the last lock of the day. Another pretty lock with the Willow and colours of Tulips in the lock house garden.

 Below are the facilities as well as a winding hole. Before the winding hole was an Oxfordshire Narrow boat hire boat. It had a dreadful scratch along the side, could this be the one?  It was, and its window had also been smashed. The window had been replaced, the damaged one lay on the towpath. (It was removed later)

The damage to the paintwork

We stopped to do the loo before heading off to find a mooring. Not much in the way of piled edges to be found, mainly bankside where pins would have to be used, but we did find a short stretch of piled edge before Bridge 155 with a space between two boats. It was here we finally got to wash the port side of FS, and it was here that we discovered a long, shallow scratch mark running along FS's super structure. Where that had come from was baffling, but thank god for T-cut and 'my man that can' elbow grease. Almost back to looking as good as new.

And seen on route

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All made with plastic bottles

And wildlife today

I think they expect to be fed bread.