July Works: Day 4

We had a nice evening with Kathryn, sitting in the garden of The Navigation. As we walked back to Briar Rose, we bumped into Phil, the owner of Betty, which came second at the Crick Boat Show. The towpath along by the boat was quite busy until quite late; it seemed as though people who'd been at one of the village pubs had a final walk before heading home.

This morning was very sunny and warm. When I opened the side doors, I spotted a squirrel in the trees opposite, eating.

We had a fairly leisurely start, then when I looked out the stern doors at just before 9, the boat behind, Rallentando, was just getting ready to leave. I asked if they were going down the locks and if they were on their own, which they were, so I said we'd join them. They proved to be very good locking partners; there was a boat a couple of locks ahead of us, so we had to turn all except one, when there was a boat coming up. The weather was fantastic.

We got to the bottom in a hour and 20 minutes, and then continued along very familiar waters. There were lots of boats heading the other way. We went past our marina and down Cosgrove lock, which we also shared with Rallentando, who'd filled up at the water point. Just below the lock we moored up on the section towards Wolverton Aqueduct. It was only 12.30, but we need to be back in the marina fairly early tomorrow for work reasons.

The towpath side of the boat could do with a wash, but it's too hot. I did refill the stern tube greaser, though; and we went for a walk along the Buckingham Arm. The first bit is moorings, and the restoration group has been testing the next section to see whether it holds water. It doesn't have any water in it at the moment, though. On the way back, we diverted to the little shop at the caravan park for an ice cream.

The solar panel has been doing its work. The batteries were at 100 per cent when we got here, and they're still at 100 per cent now, four hours later. It will be interesting to see when they start falling.

7 miles, 8 locks. (14 miles, 8 locks)