Saturday, July 18, 2015

Trent trip - day 6

The weather forecast for Monday was accurate! It rained during the night, and it was off and on with determination throughout the morning. So we decided to stay where we were.

But then we left. It wasn't raining at all when we moved along a few yards to the services, and not a lot when we left finally at around 2:00 pm.



We met a widebeam at our first lock. The flood warning "traffic lights" were green in our favour, but this boat really wasn't. And when we got Kantara into the lock after they left, we waited for another boat to arrive from the distance and join us. As the boat approached, the skipper called out that this (sharing a lock) was a first for him, that he was a total novice and that he had lost his L plates in the canal way back. Whereupon, he drove his craft into the gate I'd closed behind Kantara. This was going to slow us even further, we thought, smiling benignly. 


It turned out that this guy and his two friends were taking the boat "home" to Loughborough from Debdale, where he'd just bought it. It was an incomplete build, and had been standing derelict at Debdale Wharf for years. He'd bought it cheap as a project, and had now got it to the point where he could use it. Brave man. Would you believe it broke down just one mile from their destination?


The rain continued on and off, but the River Soar was wonderful. Wide, sweeping and majestic. Kantara loved it. 5 mph! A treat for all of us! The rain came down in real earnest as we moored just above Zouch Lock.




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