More Sanding and Brief Encounters.

A catch up post, this. After the exertions of last week, we decided to take it easy for a couple of days.

We stayed at Dunham Massey till today, although on Sunday we had a trip to the moorings and water point near The Old No 3 pub. Here we met Dot (Mags sister), John and Paul, for a mail drop. She’s been very good acting as postmistress for us recently. She had my entry details for Manchester’s 10k next Sunday. My number is 1010, in case anyone watches the highlights in the afternoon. (Not that I’m going to be a highlight of course. I’ll be 17 or 18 minutes behind the winner).

We continued on nearly to Lymm to turn around and to charge the batteries while we did a load of washing, and arrived back to rejoin Carol later in the afternoon.

I had a paddle in Carol’s canoe when we got back. I used to do a lot, slalom and racing, but I’ve not been in one for over 30 years. I was pleased I could still get in and out without falling in the canal!

Me paddling
Yesterday we spent fettling paintwork on Corbiere. It’s getting close to putting some topcoat on now.
Just before lunchtime we were hailed from a passing boat “That’s my old boat!”. Barry Meeks and his partner Carol were on an extended cruise from their base on the Lancaster Canal, heading down to the Thames. They pulled in and spent some time with Carol, talking about Corbiere and her history.

Barry, Carol and Carol on the back deck of Corbiere.
Leaving on the beautiful NB Partnership.

Today we decided to have a cruise down the canal to Stockton Heath. At Thorn Marine we filled both boats with diesel, and bought some odds and ends, including cabling to connect up Carol’s new 1200 Watt inverter. I was told that the advisory from HM Customs and Excise is that they will need to add 47p/Lt duty onto the price of diesel for propulsion in November, making today's fill a whopping £102! Ouch!

Instead of just turning around and heading back up, we decided to carry on and moored about a mile past Moore, near Red Brow, with beautiful views all round.
It really is a very attractive stretch of canal, especially with the sun shining.

Wooded cutting near Higher Walton
There are lots of ducklings around, from a couple of weeks to just a couple of days old. They must be well fed around here. We also spotted a new swan family, the first we’ve seen since the middle of April near Goole. That seems a long time ago….
We’ve done really well with the weather, apart from showers on Sunday afternoon it’s been bright sunshine most of the time.

Locks 0, miles 18