To Sawley

12th & 13th August

The mooring by bridge 25 was very pleasant, with a great view over a flooded gravel pit towards the river, but was quite noisy since the A50 was well within earshot. On a damp morning yesterday, we set off for the run to Swarkestone and had uneventful boating to Stenson lock, stopping briefly in Willington for a final bit of shopping.

Stenson lock is one of the most challenging on the system, because it is deep and both the ground paddles and gate paddles cause substantial turbulence. When we arrived it was just being filled to take a BW workboat and a hire boat from Sileby Mill. There was a single privateer waiting to come up and even with Sheila's help they found it very difficult. It was by now raining steadily and this may explain why I began to feel rather grumpy. Sheila tells me that this was uncalled for and I guess I ought to be more understanding at times about novice boaters.

Swarkestone was reached just before lunch and we tied on the towpath to the west of the remains of the stop lock, so as to be able to use the water point before setting off this morning. Since we'd finished boating, the weather now improved substantially. The afternoon was spent in our usual way, and we ran a wash load as part of the drive to get on top of as many domestic chores as possible so as to be free to concentrate on work next week.

Sheila also managed to finish her crochet order, and took advantage of a fast internet connection to find some alternative patterns to try out.

As planned, we refilled the water tank first thing and were on our way by eight o' clock. At Weston Lock we caught up with Don on Bluebell. Don is another of the Festival chippies and we stayed with him all the way down to Sawley. It was a great morning for boating and once more we arrived at our destination just before lunch. Here we found Bob and Annie Mayall, chief plumber and personnel manager respectively (not that they get much respect from us – that would be pampering them) on their boat Amber Moon.

Don stopped just long enough to get a pump out and to have a chat with Bob and Annie, then carried on to Redhill. It's worth noting that the pump out arrangement here is very good. For £12 they give you the key to the machine and you can take as long as you need to empty your tank.

After lunch we had a look round the Sawley Marina chandlery, but their selection of fuel filters, and indeed of filters in general, was really very restricted considering what a large captive market they have in the marina.

The weather has continued very fine and we are hoping that it remains so. We've run the final washload this afternoon and will top the water tank up yet again before leaving. The Mayalls are planning to pump out Amber Moon tomorrow morning, so we'll hang about until they've finished and then go down the river with them.

As last year, we'll do our best to post here over the next three weeks, but don't be surprised if things become a little irregular in view of the other demands on our time.