Friday 3^rd August

The weather forecast for the afternoon and Saturday was for heavy showers and so we thought we would head straight back to the marina and pack up in the dry rather than get back on Saturday and suffer the wet.

Left the mooring at 7.30am and passed through Bridge 80 where the divers were working on our way up. You can see the work they were doing to repair the under water and water level areas of the bridge. C&RT have issued a stoppage notice to say the bridge will be closed from 5pm to 7pm each evening to enable work to continue.

* Bridge 80

* Water level repairs.

Just round the corner are the Draco Craft boats who seem to have sorted themselves out a nice little pitch on a farmers field. They were closed of course at this ungodly hour so June did not get a chance to spend some more money.

* Craft Boats.

We passed the lovely canal side cottages at the Kilsby Lane Bridge which are now part of a B & B. There is a well at the front with doves drinking water out of the bucket and an old lorry in the back garden.

* Old Canal Cottages

We soon reached Hillmorton Locks and only passed one boat on the way and that was down the Barby Straight where all the boats are moored, strange how you never meet a boat on an open stretch of water.

A boat was already going down the left hand locks so we followed using the right hand set. They are quite quick locks and we were soon through them only meeting one boat coming the other way. Just before the last lock there was a hire boat across the canal who it turned out was try to reverse into the side cutting.

I dropped Phoenix off at the bottom lock and June walked her along the tow path for the usual spending routine. Jobs done we were on our way again.

As we came to the Clifton Cruisers Boat Yard we espied these unusual cattle with horns which ringed their faces.

* Look at those Horns

As we entered Rugby we saw a Kingfisher on a branch, it dived into the water and retrieved a fish which it proceeded to eat sat on the branch and then it was gone in a flash of amazing blue glinting in the sunlight. They are always too quick to catch on camera when you are steering at the same time as getting a shot.

Further on next to the park a lady was walking her cats on long extending lead, one went one way and the other in the opposite direction. She said that they were much worse than dogs to control. Again there were plenty of mooring spaces on either side of the canal.

The traffic now got busier and we encountered several boats at all the tight places on the canal to the marina. The wind had also got up making mooring a little more difficult but the main problem was the duck droppings along the pontoon. When all the boats on the pontoon are out the ducks and geese seem to think it is their domain and we have to scrap their dropping off before we let the dog off or she would have a field day.

We completed the usual activities of cleaning the boat, pump out, fill with fuel ready for the next trip and were about to set off when June notice a Labrador we had seen on our travels. It turned out that the dog, Lucy, belonged to NB Thomas and we had passed and re-passed it since Foxton not realising it was from our marina. The boat belongs to Richard and Jenny and I had a short chat to Richard before leaving for home and the inevitable jobs that have built up whist we have been away.