We made it

Any Larry Niven fans here?

/wahaha

In fact, we did one of our flying starts this morning, getting up at half six and breakfasting without even booting the computers up, so that we were on our way by seven. It was a straightforward run for the most part; the signs at Barton and Wychnor said "Proceed with caution", and we followed a Canaltime up the latter lock. There was another one waiting to come down, and the indicator board did indeed show the river level just on the edge between green (normal) and yellow (caution).

Off we went; the first thing to notice was how much water was going over the side weirs on the approach to Wychnor moorings, and the second was that, as a result, there was quite a flow past said moorings.

I had the engine on 1000 rpm (tickover is 850) just to maintain 2 mph. On the main river, I cranked her up to 1500 and just about managed 3 mph over the ground. The big weir was foaming away, with the water level below approaching the crest of the weir. Similarly, the water was getting towards the top of the new lock landing moorings.

A boat was just leaving the lock, and a blast on the horn persuaded yet another Canaltime crew not to turn it. Then the fun began. I had a hard time getting Sanity Again to break out of the current to turn across it towards the lock. Meanwhile, the boat that had just left was being carried down towards me at some speed. I finally managed to swing the bow round and pass him more or less straight, and could then line up for the lock entrance.

As we approached, the bow was pushed over to port again by the flow out of the mill stream which runs straight across the approach; presumably the river is over the crest of the mill weir. As a result, I cross winded Sanity Again as she entered the lock (that is, her approach angle was so far out, she jammed across the lock and stopped). The indicator board at this end of the section is well up the yellow, heading for the red.

Never mind, we'd done it, and there was plenty of room on the visitor moorings just above the lock.

This afternoon, Elanor and Sally visited, and I went with them for a run on Cannock Chase.

On my return, I've been playing with a new phone; having renewed the Vodafone contract, they've presented me with a Nokia C3-01i, a hybrid keyboard and touch screen phone. It's not bad at first blush, but not as receptive as the previous Nokia here, where the signal strength is a bit weak. Why is each generation of mobile phone less good than the last at the basic job of making a voice call?

We'll stay battened down for the big storm tomorrow; if it rains as much as is forecast, I suspect that the river section will close on Monday or Tuesday.