The weather was lousy first thing this morning. It was dire. We'd wanted to leave for Liverpool last Saturday, and we'd still not moved any further than Yelvertoft Wharf. And that had been in the wrong direction. The weather guess (aka forecast) was that the wind would increase later, but the rain would stop. Best to go now, we thought, while the wind was only gale force, and we could still get out of the marina.
So, at just past 11:00, we left the marina and pointed north. Sure enough, the wind got worse as predicted, but the rain didn't even have the decency to slow down. Crick Tunnel was significantly warmer that the air outside, and drier in the main, too. Watford Locks weren't busy, and we entered them without any delay. John was duty vollie, a nice guy we've got to know a bit over the years.
"Ahh! Grace at the tiller!" he exclaimed as she left the top lock and crossed the exposed, windy pound towards the next.
"I'll give her a mark out of ten. Anything less than six, and she'll have to do it again."
He watched with a smile as Grace shrugged off the wind, and slid Kantara quickly but smoothly into the lock.
"Ah!" he grinned. "That'll be another ten, then!"
By 1:30, we were very much in need of a hot cup of tea and some hot food. We moored just past Welton Haven Marina, and it was clear to us both then that we wouldn't be carrying on after lunch unless there was a significant improvement in the weather.
There wasn't, and we didn't.
No photos today because my camera's not waterproof.
We have the Alde running! It's June 29th!!
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