The boat was prepared and ready to move by 9am this morning. All we needed was CRT to arrive and open the swing bridge. Then from behind us another narrowboat appeared. This was a positive sign suggesting normal bridge operations would resume. The two CRT employees appeared just as the arriving narrowboat moored. The crew from nb Blue Lady then informed both me and the CRT staff that a widebeam was following. We waited until the 3rd boat reached the bridge moorings.
The widebeam was booked to go into Liverpool whilst nb Blue Lady and Waiouru are booked for tomorrow. It was agreed that as the widebeam was continuing on to Liverpool it should go first.
The CRT staff operated both road swing bridges and we made steady progress to the CRT services at Litherland arriving after a 90 minute cruise.
The CRT staff opened the swing footbridge immediately before the services allowing us to pass. Then we noticed three boats on the other side waiting to leave in the opposite direction.
Looking back to the swing footbridge with the CRT services block on the right.
The CRT staff then checked with each boat crew to see if there was anything they needed and to offer advice on local facilities. CRT staff morale seemed high and they had positive things to say about the organisation and their CEO. You frequently read negative comments about CRT so it was very pleasing to hear the staff talking positively about their organisation.
One of the staff will return tomorrow morning to unlock the self-pump out for us. Whilst the tank is less than half full we’ve decided to empty it before cruising the final length of canal into Liverpool.
Hopefully the weather will be kind tomorrow as we’re anticipating an interesting cruise along the Liverpool Link.
2 comments :
Pass through Liverpool as fast as you can because it has very strong Irish roots !
Mel
The 'roots' obviously don't include the accent as they speak rather strangely here. At least I could understand most of the Irish. :-)
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