We're cruising!

At last, we're on the cut again (sings "On the cut again") Sunday invited us to battle against the wind to tie up at the service platform (we won) to top up with diesel for the stove, then to go with the wind out of the marina and head south.

It was chilly, but it was great! There was a good number of boats on the move. Many, perhaps most of them hirers.

We stopped prematurely at Crick Tunnel. We couldn't see the far end of it as we approached the mouth. Remembering the last time this happened - and we carried on regardless to discover that the tunnel was full of smoke through which Grace literally couldn't see the bow from her stern position (and this is "literally" as in "In a literal manner or sense; exactly", not as in the modern "Used for emphasis while not being literally true.") and I had to sit at the front and make sure she didn't crash -  we pulled over and moored. Grace walked down to the tunnel portal and confirmed that the tunnel was indeed full of smoke again. Someone hadn't bothered to extinguish their stove before entering, despite the polite notice asking them to do so.

An hour and a lunch later the smoke had cleared, and we continued without incident. Apart, that is, from the one in which the skipper of an oncoming hire boat, experiencing the horrors of his first ever canal tunnel, crashed heavily into the front of Kantara. No damage was inflicted that can’t be put right with a brushful or two of black Hammerite, but the poor man was very apologetic, and feeling very incompetent. We felt sorry for him. We’re all beginners at some time.

As we descended Watford locks (above), the temperature climbed pleasantly - or was that just me heating up from the effort of locking? - and it was noticeably milder when we moored above Norton Junction in a tight space in front of NB Achernar, friends from the marina who'd set out the previous day. They move slowly!

We awoke to mist over the water, and silent beauty. We’re in no hurry, and we made a leaisurely start at around 10:30, waving goodbye and bon voyage to Phil and Jackie who would be going in the opposite direction from us at Norton Junction, embarking on a fabulous journey of several months (though we did a see them again later a couple of times when their dog, Oscar, was taking them for a walk down the Buckby Locks, on occasion asking the crew of ascending boats to leave the locks open for us. The weather was warm and sunny, and I’d peeled off layers down to my shirt.





At the bottom lock, I met an Australian couple who had just started their very first experience of the UK canals. They’d walked a mile or so along the canal, loving it all the way, then come to their first ever lock. They were fascinated, delighted, mystified, and full of questions. It’s always a pleasure to talk with such folk.

After a brief stop at Weedon for lunch and a quick bit of shopping, we moved on slowly to the lovely mooring spot a half a mile on from Stowe Hill. The solitude was wonderful.