We're on the familiar track to Mercia, setting off just before eight this morning on a much better day, weather-wise, than yesterday. The sun even came out for some of the time. Sheila was locking and had to work hard at some of the paddles. She's now fully fit, though, and coped very well.
Alrewas, Wychnor and Barton locks came and went, our progress only marred by a single handed woman who pulled off the towpath slap in front of Sanity Again and worked down Barton ahead of us. She stopped on the water point and explained "I didn't see you coming" – which might well be true as she didn't appear to look. An apology would have been nice but perhaps too much to hope for.
Never mind, it's only one silly incident and was more than made up for by the helpful woman off Free..., the boat following us. We also encountered a CRT guy at Tatenhill who looked to be doing a routine survey of the canal structures and who turned the lock for us, saving me a load of hassle with the odd shape of the cut there.
There was plenty of room on the moorings here at Branston Water Park so we've tied in a good spot, on the wider bit of the cut but not under the trees. We took a walk through to the village this afternoon to buy bread at the new Co-op but apart from that we've been chilling out on the boat.
Tomorrow, we'll probably start at about the same time, it being another three hours or a little less to Mercia. That way we'll be able to get a pump out and diesel before getting back to the pontoon in time for lunch.
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