Napton Top Lock to Napton Bridge Inn

Monday 2 Nov
Well we are back on the boat going no where in particular. The weather started dry but was drizzling by 5 pm. We pushed off from the moorings about 2 pm, The boat was hard on the bottom but we dragged off backwards, I am glad we are on the end of the moorings as I can't push the boat out sideways. Just before we left an Oxfordshire Narrowboats boat came by, I hope he is not planning to get back south along the canal as Claydon flight closed today for annual maintenance.
We stopped in the mouth of the top lock and unloaded all the gear out of the car and onto the boat before heading off down the flight with all the locks against us. The sun was pleasant but it was turning much cooler by the time we reached the bottom of the flight. At the blind right hand bend at the end of the meadow I met a boat, we passed OK but I only just managed to complete the turn without hitting the towing path piling after he had passed. We continued on to just passed the Bridge Inn and moored at the far end of the piling at about 4 pm. By now Diana had packed all the food etc away and I started doing a few odds and ends that needed attention, one of them is to fit a long brass bolt to the rear door so you can reach over the door from outside and unbolt it. I saw the very thing on nb. Unwindin,  called Dutch or French bolts and available from Carlisle Brass.
As we sat eating our dinner the lights suddenly dimmed, I checked the battery voltage and it had dropped by 2 volts from 24.5 to 22.5 so it looks like another battery has lost a cell. I changed one battery a few weeks back and knew the others were on their way out, but I was hoping that the rest would last until the spring when I was going to fit a set of Trojan 6 volt batteries, I think these are about 4 years old now and not having a shore supply never get fully recharged, I do the best I can with the engine, but limited engine running at the IWA National etc. takes its toll on them.