Lock queues

It was supposed to rain all day so we started out at 6.40 as it was still dry. Our early wake up  was due to Lottie who seems to stir with the birdsong. The rain started after an hour but it wasn’t heavy for long. We moored up by Big lock to go shopping for essentials.

Balance beam, paddle gear and foot bridge on the Cheshire flight

We moved off after lunch as the weather cheered up, straight into a queue for the next lock. We were only 2^nd in the queue but 2 boats came round the corner minutes after we stopped. It took ages to get the first boat through the lock as it was leaking so badly that the pounds above had drained and a boat was sitting trapped on the bottom. We tried to sort it out BW style but 2 guys further back in the queue decided they knew better than us so we left them to it. They made us wait in the first lock for ages until the pound above was full and filled the pound to the brim. By the time I edged the boat out water was flowing over the towpath and lock gates, what a waste of time and water. Naturally the pound above had lost gallons of water doing that making the problem worse. After partially filling the second pound we got through the muddy level without being becalmed, and then made steady progress as the other pounds were fine.

Domestic Geese

Nobody caught us up or passed us after we moored up. Everything was quiet apart from the occasional honk form the local geese. Perhaps the other boaters were stuck there all evening filling and refilling the pounds. We were glad to clear the locks as the flight was rumoured to be closing for repairs the next day. It rained on and off for the last 3 locks but not too bad considering the forecast for heavy rain all day.