An early start….

Unintentionally! Come on, own up. Who else forgot to put their clocks back and were up at half past six this morning?
It wasn’t until nine that I realised!

Oh, Happy Hallowe'en!

It was a bit of a grey day as we pulled out of Cranfleet Cut and turned onto the river proper. We had an interesting few minutes heading up to Sawley. The local sailing club was out in force, tacking back and forth against the wind.

Lee Ho!
We had to time it right to cross their courses as they moved across the river, to be clear of the next port tack.
Three times we slowed right down, then had to wind it on to get through the gap.

We made a fleeting visit to the services on the backwater alongside Sawley Locks, then swung around, back under the railway bridge into the lock.
Carol was there waiting for us.

Sawley Lock
This is the last one we’ll share for a while.

Coming out on the river again after Sawley cut we encountered more small craft, this time a canoe race of some sort.

Giving it some welly.
They had to portage their boats around the large Sawley Weir.
We waved goodbye to Carol and Sealy at Derwent Mouth, as she stayed on the river up to Shardlow Marina and we carried straight on onto the Trent and Mersey Canal.

Bye, Carol
We dropped lucky with the locks heading up through and past Shardlow. A boat had just set up Derwent Mouth Lock as we arrived, so we joined them. Then Shardlow Lock was empty ready, although we were solo from this point on as our locking partners had stopped for a pint.
Both Aston and Weston Locks were empty, invitingly with the bottom gates open as well. Both of these locks have very heavy bottom gates, and I think the last boat down (a Canaltime heading back to Sawley at the end of their hols) had had enough. Still, it helped us out a bit.

Approaching Weston Lock, gates open invitingly.
We pulled over for the night just above the lock. It’s a pleasant spot here, far enough away from civilisation to avoid trick or treaters!

We’ve had a very enjoyable few days with Carol. She’s good company, always cheerful. And I always enjoy a trip on the river. Any river.

Although it’s been dull all day the rain held off. Till now. It’s chucking it down at the moment.

Just picked up an article on the “This is Leicestershire” news website. Although it’s a tragedy that Mr Dillon lost his life in the canal, I’m pleased to see that the Safety Elves have not had it all their own way in this case. There’s only so much that you can do to protect people from themselves….

Locks 5, miles 6½