This morning we were awake quite early; the clocks had changed, but our body-clocks take a bit longer to adjust. After breakfast, James turned up in his overalls, to show us how to change the oil in the gear box. He gave us lots of tips as he completed the job in typically meticulous fashion.
Once that job was complete, we had coffee on board Briar Rose, along with a lovely cake make by Doug. Then we set off at around 10.30; Chance was in the lead this time.
At Hillmorton Locks there was more downhill traffic than uphill, so we had to turn the locks. Where there's relatively little traffic, as there is at the moment, I'm not sure that having one of each pair of locks closed saves much water: with two open, there's more chance of finding one that's already in your favour. At the bottom lock, Tickety Boo, was just arriving. This is a narrow beam Dutch barge, which I did a review of in 2009.
We stopped for a quick lunch below the locks, on a new piece of piling before Bridge 68. At Clifton Cruisers, we saw another boat I've reviewed, Moor and Peace. During the afternoon, the weather improved considerably: a dull cloudy day turned into a nice sunny afternoon, which showed off the autumn colours of the trees.
We got back onto our pontoon at around 3.30. We'll have dinner then head home. We're also giving Doug a lift back.
11 miles, 3 locks. (22 miles, 6 locks)
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