Thursday 5th September
We have had a good, if eventful trip today, travelling 5 miles and 4 locks from Weston to Sawley. We are moored opposite Sawley marina with a lovely view (I think so anyway) of Ratcliff Power Station. The current plan is to stay here tomorrow, during the heavy rain which is forecast and go to Nottingham on the bus. Then on Saturday we will check the stoppages and if the Trent isn’t shut we will continue to Trent Lock and stay there for a couple of days. I think Mick and Cathy are doing the same but Mick does keep changing his mind so they may do something else! They have decided not to do the Leicester Ring though (for what ever reason) or at least I think they have!
Back to today’s trip, we started off with a water stop at Weston Lock and helped a boat down while we were filling with water. Then we went down. At the next lock, Aston Lock, we were surprised to find a Marine Cruisers hire boat broadside across the canal in front of us as we came out! Mick went out first and had just got past before this chap, for reasons known only to himself, just reversed the boat into the bank. The front was still tied to the lock approach mooring with the rope unravelling fast. His wife was trying to get hold of the rope to hang on to the front. Suddenly the chap put the boat in forward gear and shot towards the lock approach stopping with a huge crash when he hit it! Then his back end swung round and was heading for our front end as we tried to pass so I pushed off on his back rail and Ken blew him out of the way with the bow thruster!
At Shardlow Lock there was a bit of a communication breakdown between Mick and Cathy and he drove straight past the place where he was supposed to wait to pick her up after she had closed the lock gate. By the time he had reversed back to it she had gone round the lock and was on the opposite side of the canal!
At Derwent Lock there was a broken down yoghurt pot on the end of the lock approach so Ken went in front of it and Mick drifted about behind it. There was a wide beam coming up the lock with a foreign chap on who didn’t have much idea what he was doing and the yoghurt potter’s were panicking when he came steaming out of the lock. He was heading straight for Mick as well so he had to do a quick reverse!
We were glad to get to Sawley and moor up. We soon went in to the village and did a bit of shopping at the Coop before sampling one of the 3 pubs, as you do. It has been a lovely day, warm and calm so we sat outside when we got back to the boat before and after dinner. Pity it’s going to be grim tomorrow.
