This morning a couple of boats came past us before we were ready to go; they duly disappeared down the locks. At about 0830 we moved onto the lock landing and waited to see if another boat would come along to join us down the flight. We'd been there no more than a minute when Jan noticed a man with a windlass outside. I asked him if he was with a boat coming up or going down; he explained that he was coming to the aid of a new widebeam, launched yesterday, whose crew had seemingly forgotten to equip themselves with the means to operate locks. I invited Brian (for that was his name) on board for a cup of tea while he waited for the widebeam to come through the tunnel. He had barely had a chance to sit down when the widebeam arrived, so he went off to see his crew and we started down the lock. We lent the widebeam a spare windlass; this was returned to us when they discovered windlasses under some blankets(!)
Here they are, emerging from Stoke Bruerne Bottom Lock.
The boat is called
Every Cloud; the owners, Ivan and Sarah are the managers of the new Campbell Wharf Marina, built at the putative start of the Bedford and Milton Keynes Waterway. Despite having been open for only a month, Sarah says that they are already more than a third full.
Rewinding to the start of the day ... this house opposite last night's mooring in Stoke Bruerne is having some serious landscaping done.
And a photo which didn't make it into yesterday's post: two swans and their cygnets swimming in the sunshine.
Sunshine was in rather short supply today - I lit the fire as we were going along.
We stopped at Galleon Wharf, Old Wolverton, and went to the new Lidl in Stratford Road (next door to Tesco) for supplies. Later, Ally brought our three-year-old grandson, Josiah, to us for a sleepover. He will stay with us as we cruise to Peartree Bridge tomorrow morning. We think it's the first time he will have slept away from home without his mum and dad - he's been absolutely fine so far!
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