Tuesday 9th May
Amington to Mancetter
Today is our last full day of cruising – home tomorrow. We
set off in the dry though we were not sure that this would last! We made our
way towards the Atherstone Locks, but came across an obstacle in our path in
the shape of a workboat which had come adrift at the front and was floating
across the canal. Steve managed to nudge it out of the way and he phoned the
firm which owns the boat to let them know of the problem.
We soon reached the bottom lock of the Atherstone flight
which is Number 11. We were quickly through Number 11 and Number 10, but then
we came up behind another boat. There were also boats coming down the locks so
progress became a bit slower. Through Numbers 9 and 8 and then we met Don, a
volunteer lockkeeper on this flight. So we now had help, but it was still slow
going because of the number of boats. Through Number 7 and as we approached Number
6, the sky darkened and it started to rain. Everyone put their coats on, the
rain stopped, the sun came and everyone took their coats off again.
From Number 5 through to the top lock, we (and, obviously, all the other boaters) had help from other VLKs in addition to Don. It had been a busy morning for them and they were ready for their lunch, as we were too. We moored up straight after the locks, Steve went into town for a new battery for our smoke alarm and then we had lunch.
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| Mum and 10 ducklings |
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| Mum, Dad and 4 cygnets |
We stayed where we were until the rain lessened and then
moved on, mooring for the night at Mancetter.
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| Mooring for our last night away. |
Today’s miles and locks – 9.50 miles 11 locks
Total miles and locks – 296.50 miles 190 locks
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