Napton to Stratford

We woke to heavy rain and had to hurry round closing all the doors, it's been so warm at night that we have been sleeping with them all wide open.

We set off quite early for us as we wanted to get to Bancroft Basin a little after 11 am in the hope that there may be some spaces. I started the engine a little before 9 to find the domestic battery voltage very low, below 24 volts and we had only used 40 ah since the last charging so it looks as if another cell is on the way out. The batteries are now between 4 and 5 years old and I had to replace one of them earlier this year. We set off in light rain sopping after about a quarter of a mile to top up with water.

We met a boat coming out of the first lock who told us that they were not letting boats moor in the basin and were clearing all those that were there out ready for the weekend festival, this was not what we wanted to hear. There is a winding hole just before the next lock so I called BW for conformation, I spoke to the Fazeley office and he had not heard anything but would make enquiries on our behalf. We were ready to lock down and I had not received a call from BW so we pushed on. We entered the basin at 11 30, it had stopped raining and there were about 8 or 9 mooring spots and to top it all I backed in clean as a whistle.

We plan to stay here now until Sunday on the 48 hr moorings before retracing our steps back to Napton.

You will find our latest position at
http://tinyurl.com/Harnser-s-route