The black skirt

Expectations of a sunny day were dashed early.  No rain but the sky was grey and cloudy.  It was a very short move to our first lock (Wood Lock) which was in our favour.  Jan was in the process of closing the top gate when a solo boater appeared at the other end of the lock wearing a pleated black skirt with the bottom about four inches above the knees showing hairless milk bottle white legs. First time we have seen a male dressed this way.  Hopefully it’s also the last!  I did attempt a photo but he kept hiding behind the paddle mechanism.

At the next two locks we found the top gates open. Obviously our early morning solo boater doesn’t believe in closing gates when he leaves a lock.

Fosse Middle lock was in our favour and we were working Waiouru down when another boat appeared.  This one was flying the Australian flag and not wanting to miss the opportunity, we asked about the cricket.  Like all true Aussies they took the jib in good spirits!

The boat moored on the towpath above Radford Bottom Lock looks well setup.  The pot plants are on the bank along with the door mat.  The clothes drying horse was located on the other side of the towpath.

Just to the right of the clothes horse was the hen house.

The scene below this lock has looked attractive each time we pass this way.

There was a line of moored boats beyond Bull Bridge.  One of them was very familiar.  We have seen it in this general area since we first passed through this area in 2013.  Last time it was near Braunston.

It’s the unusual shape which makes it so recognisable. Both ends have the same shape, although this end now has a small outboard motor.  The other end contains a very large generator. 

A boat passed us on the eastern outskirts of Leamington Spa and the steerer called out something.  It took us a couple of seconds to realise he was telling us he would be reading this post tonight.  So “Hi” to the blog reader on nb Red Wharf.

As you can see, it was a very hurried photo which resulted in the steerer being decapitated!

For those boaters with a solid fuel stove…… there is still plenty of cut wood on the offside between bridges 36 & 37.  We were surprised that after 12 months it is still there.  The edge might be too shallow for all but the most determined of boaters to collect it.

We stopped on the moorings outside Lidl for 20 minutes allowing Jan to do a restock before moving further on to the moorings beside Tesco.  Another food restock was completed before we decided to call it a day.

Thanks to blog readers Kevin Too and Geoff Turnbull from NZ who both wrote to inform me the van in yesterday’s post in a Nissan S Cargo.