Northern Exposure: Day 1

Adrian has been on board since Thursday getting things ready, and I came up to Milton Keynes this morning at the end of four night shifts.  My train arrived just after 8, and barely half an hour later we were pulling out of the marina.  It was a bit chilly and there was a stiffish breeze, but it was good to be on the move.  With Adrian not working at the moment, I have taken all my Long Service Leave, so we have a good amount of time ahead.  Extended and unexpected stoppages mean we’ve had to change our plans several times, and we’re still not a hundred per cent certain where we’re going — but we are definitely heading north.  There are signs of spring, like the daffodils at one of the cottages near the bottom of the locks.

When we got to Stoke Bruerne locks, the bottom two were empty and ready for us, but the next three were full.  At the far end of the long pound we caught up with a single handing boater who’d been on the winter moorings there, so we did the top two locks together.  There were plenty of people about, walking and gongoozling, and we roped in a few to push gates.  We also said hello to Kathryn.

We followed the other boat through the tunnel, passing one coming the other way almost immediately.  There was another in the distance, and as we got closer, it appeared to be on the wrong side; sure enough, the boat in front of us had to swap sides to get past it.  He must have told them their mistake, because they then shot across to the correct side, right in front of me.

We had lunch on the move after the tunnel, then just got these familiar miles under our belts.  As we went along, Adrian started making a chilli only for the gas to run out.  We made a brief stop to switch the bottles over.  When we got to Rugby Boats we stocked up with coal, logs, and topped up the diesel tank.  We then pushed over to the towpath side and moored up.  It was about 3.30.

16 miles, 7 miles.