Just around the corner

Saturday 25^th May; Calcutt Marina to just east of Napton Junction

After a much longer than usual wait for this trip we finally made it up to Calcutt after a tedious journey.  There were no delays on the M5 for us, unlike the poor souls on their way to the southwest.  Instead we foolishly stopped at Gordano services, which is a good one for dogs, then found ourselves in a long tailback to get out again!  Pesky tourists!  Then once we’d left the motorways and were driving towards Calcutt, there was a road closed with no diversion signs to add to the delay. Never mind!

We found Chuffed on the visitor moorings which are by the workshops.  Not a pretty lookout, but we needed to stay for an hour or two for a bit of shore power, as we are only cruising a very short way today and don't like running the engine for long periods while we are moored.  This photo shows where we were moored – our space was between the first two boats and not in that big gap! so there was a lot of shuffling necessary to get out, as the workshop wharf is less than a boat's length in front of the bows. 

We had a short wait at Calcutt locks for a boat coming down the bottom lock, then we were joined by NB Yorkshire Rose for the flight.  We had an easy passage, with boats coming down every lock and a queue waiting at the top.  It looks as though the pillar on the bottom lock had been recently greased and the grease had melted on the gear ...

We trickled slowly past the permanent moorings on the offside, turned towards Braunston at the junction and moored on a short stretch of Armco a couple of hundred yards along.  Being serenaded by a sedge warbler and long-tailed tits as I write.

Note the lovely black hull!  Chuffed had to come out of the water for the rudder to be seen to, so we had her blacked as well as it would need doing before winter anyway.This afternoon Dave has replaced a broken lamp in the saloon and fitted the new battery condition meter.

3 locks, 1 mile