We did make an early start on Friday leaving at just after 7am (yes that’s right!) and travelled 4 miles and 3 locks from Kegworth to Sawley. Our plan worked and we got moored up before it rained.
We did experience a bit of a hold up at Kegworth Deep Lock however. It was really leaking badly, one of the top paddles wouldn’t shut and after some time it became apparent that there was so much water still coming in that it was not going to level enough for me to get the bottom gate open. Ken had to climb up the ladder (this is a 11ft deep lock) and help me open it. He then decided the ladder was too slimy to climb back down so he pulled the boat out of the lock.
After mooring we went to the marina to enquire about paying for a leisure mooring for a year. We have spent so much time in visitor moorings both at Sawley and other marinas this year while we have gone off and done things other than boating it made sense to us to do this. Sawley Marina, being part of BWML, have a reciprocal arrangement with 19 other marinas up and down the country so we have got options when we are in other areas too.
Having secured a leisure mooring for ourselves from the end of August we can now set about buying a car because we will have somewhere accessible to leave it. Adding up the mooring fees and the amount we have spent on train fares and car hire already this year it would have paid us to have done this before!
We then went off to Long Eaton on the bus for the usual plus a visit to the fishing tackle shop and the chemist. By the time we got back in the afternoon it was raining so we battened down the hatches.
Saturday the weather had improved and after a late start (a knock on effect from the early start the day before) we went off to Nottingham on the bus. There was a beach and a fairground in Slab Square which was fun. We got a nice piece of cod off the market.
Ken was looking for a watch and we started off looking at a £23,000 Rolex but he didn’t like it he preferred the half price Accurist he saw in H Samuels! Just as well.
Sunday it pissed down all day and was a day for doing nothing exciting.
This morning Ken was awake at 3-30am for some reason and couldn’t get back to sleep. He got up about 6am. I managed to hang on until about 7am before I got up. When I did I noticed he has a black eye. He doesn’t recall being hit in the eye but reckons I must have thumped him in the night!
So we have travelled 8 miles and 3 locks from Sawley to Nottingham and are moored near Sainsbury’s. After mooring up we went to the railway station and picked up our tickets for the Weddingless weekend in Southampton and Portsmouth. Then we went to the pub as you do.
Tomorrow we are doing mega shop at Sainsbury’s then moving to the County Hall steps. There is a river festival there starting Friday so we will vacate before then.
