Our stay at OML did not start well. The first berth allocated to us was too shallow, the second was only available till Sunday night, and the third was on the services dock, which meant we spent Monday breasting customers boats alongside for diesel, water etc.
Work started on Tuesday on the inverter, but was frequently interrupted. The carpentry to repair the damp damage was finished Saturday morning. After some more wiring mods, the inverter and remote control/battery monitor was up and running on Monday morning.
Inverter installation under way
We had a visit from George and Christine on Saturday 22nd, with the latest batch of mail. Included was my entry number and details for the Worksop ½ marathon. I had forgotten I had entered this one, so it was a bit of a surprise, especially as I hadn’t trained since the GNR a month before!
Any way, we hired a car and set off for Worksop early last Sunday. With road closures and traffic hold ups we only just arrived in time for me to jog down to the start and get into the pack. So a combination of poor preparation on the day, inadequate training and being wound up from the 2½ hr drive led to an abysmal performance. I usually enjoy this run, through Clumber Park, but this year was no fun. Ah well, there’s always next year I guess.
We got some pictures of the resident heron
We had an enjoyable visit from Margaret’s sister Dot, husband John and son Paul on Saturday 29th. They hadn’t seen Seyella before, and were suitably impressed with the difference between this boat and the hire boat we shared some years ago on the Shroppie.
After filling with water, emptying the loo and filling the coal bunkers, we were off back down the Trent and Mersey at 12:30. We’re going to have to go some to get back down the Soar to Sileby by next Saturday! 98 miles and 85 locks to go!
Busy than we expected today, with a few boats heading south. A fine sunny afternoon, but with a cool breeze. Reached Middlewich not long after 14:00, and shared Big Lock with a family of swans! They didn’t give me a hand with the gates, though.
Swans in Big Lock
The next 3 locks were against us, but the boat we kept seeing in front of us must have set off down the Middlewich branch to the Shropshire Union, so we had Kings Lock in our favour.
We pushed on up through Rumps, Booth Lane and Crows Nest locks, and stopped for the night near Elton Moss bridge (160) just at dusk at 17:00. It’s amazing what a difference putting the clocks back 1 hour makes!
Margaret is really confident now, manouvering into locks. We have developed a different method when going uphill, which should avoid any more broken glasses!
It’s good to be moving again, after an enforced 10 day lay-up.
9 Locks, 8½ miles. A good run in 4½ hours.
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