Meaford Monday 18 April 2016

Quiet night in Gt Haywood with a couple of boats going by before we were about this morning. Much cooler today and overcast but fine all day. 

We set off at 9-30 am with Diana steering and me working the locks, we met about 8 boats during the morning so most locks were with us. I hopped off at bridge 78 and walked to Weston Lock, on the way I met a lady, she was not only walking a small dog but also a racing pigeon, the pigeon would land ahead of her wait until she passed and then fly forward passed her again before landing and waiting. in her hand the lady was carrying a cardboard pigeon transporting box so I guess it gets a ride home. Above Weston lock Mr Asbo the swan was on duty making sure no boats loitered in his pound. Not quite so aggressive today but he has already tackled 8 boats this morning.

Above Salt Bridge our luck changed and we caught up with a slower boat, they were not going so slow that we felt we needed to overtake them but slower than we like to travel. We followed them to Sandon Lock and helped them trough the lock. Once through Sandon lock ourselves we pulled over and had lunch.

Arriving at Stone Diana went up to the lock and reported that CRT were doing an inspection with a boat in the lock and there would be a delay, as it turned out they started locking down straight way so very little delay. The boat they were using was aluminium construction powered by an outboard. Talking to the drive he said it was ideal for the job.

 

 

 

 

As we cleared the lock we could see that some statues were being erected in the back garden of the Italian restaurant, La Bella Napoli, beside Star Lock. I hope they are well cemented down. The pond above Star Lock was a foot down and I grounded going into Yard lock but she soon lifted off with the water movement. We  stopped briefly at Stone Boat Building, I am not sure if they still do boat building but they have a large chandlery but didn’t have what I wanted, a new seal for the diesel tank filler. These tend to grow a bit with age and exposure to diesel and if you don’t have a good seal on the filler then rain water can enter the diesel tank. Standing on the forecourt was their pump out machine, a rather colourful old lorry. We pushed on a bit longer climbing the first two locks of the Meaford Flight where we have moored for the night.

Today’s Journey  11 miles, 10 locks in 6 hours.