Big Trip - Day 1

We came up to the boat yesterday - Adrian in a long slow journey in the afternoon, and me when I finished work at 10pm.  The overnight rain didn't materialise, but it was pretty murky when we got up.

First job of the day was a car shuffle.  We took a car to our end point for the weekend, then drove back to Thrupp Wharf and were ready to set off at 9.15.  It rained for about an hour, but not heavily, and by the time we got to the bottom of the locks, the roof had dried.  On the approach to the locks, they've been doing lots of cutting back on the offside.

At the locks, we had two Canal Boat Club boats behind us, travelling together, so we went up alone.  There was plenty of traffic coming down, so we had to turn only two of the locks.  There was also lots of traffic through Blisworth tunnel; we passed five boats.

We carried on past Gayton Junction and through Bugbrooke, and called in at Rugby Boats at Stowe Hill Wharf for diesel, a gas bottle, and a pump out.  The timing was perfect, because while the boat was being serviced, our friends Nic and Paul arrived; they're spending the rest of the weekend with us.

We carried on through Weedon and moored up for the night just short of Dodford Bridge -- a place we last stopped in November last year.  Tea and cake was first on the agenda.  Adrian is cooking a lasagne for later.

18 miles, 7 locks.