The view from the side hatch at 7.00am this morning looked very peaceful. Poor Jan again woke very early but I managed to examine the inside of my eyelids until 6.30. The sky was already cloudless and bright blue giving the distinct impression it might be a ‘scorcher’ (well for England!).
The local fish managed to beat me to Jan’s home made bread and from what I could see they found it rather tasty.
There were already two boats waiting to use the water tap down at Trent Lock so we decided to forego topping up the tank and head out on to the River Trent. Out came the life jackets and, accompanied by Ian & Julie on nb Dilligaf, we locked down and turned right onto the Trent.
Goodbye Erewash Canal
Julie & Ian followed us out
The is no sign of weed fouling the propeller around here. For the first time in four days we could push the control handle forward to 1500rpm and hear Waiouru hum.
Nice and wide and as calm as a millpond.
A thirty minute stop at Sawley Marina to fill the propulsion tank with red diesel (174 litres @ 95p/ltr). It’s been quite a while since we purchased diesel for the engine so I’m quite pleased with the hourly consumption rate. There was no self-declaration as it’s an un-manned station. Insert your card and punch into the keypad how much fuel you want to buy. We passed the mouth of the River Derwent but failed to take a photo. Going straight ahead we entered a narrow stretch of water which was the start of the Trent & Mersey Canal. Almost immediately we arrived at the end of a queue of boats waiting to go up through Derwent Mouth Lock. It took about 45 minutes before we entered the lock and were then able to press on.
Waiting on the lock landing
Then we saw bridge No1. We’ve done the other end of the Trent & Mersey so passing under bridge 1 was a bit of a buzz.
There appear to be a significant number of boats moored in this area and some property owners appear to have taken precautions.
All moorers will be shot?
This next property had a rather unusual garden layout.
Did you see it? They have a miniature railway in their garden with a double loop track and a small engine shed!
The sun had really started to bake us by the time we reached The Malt Shovel. All those people sitting under the sun umbrellas drinking cold ale had our tongues dragging on the engine hatch cover.
We were looking for the water point. Keeping the tank topped up has become a habit. Both of us were more than a little annoyed to find a boat moored exactly on the water point. We moored behind it but our hose wasn’t sufficiently long to reach Waiouru’s bow.
Thank you owners of nb Algo Cirrus for mooring and leaving you boat on the water point. We also think it’s more than just a little callous leaving you poor bloody dog locked inside a hot boat on a fiercely sunny day. In the end I pushed Waiouru back to the point where our rear fenders were butted together and the hose then (just) reached the tank.
The view from the side hatch whilst waiting for the tank to fill
Now moored above Shardlow Lock 2
The weather unit is currently reporting (at 4.00pm) the temperature as 32°C in the cratch and 27°C inside Waiouru.
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