I left the mooring with my boys this morning about 20 minutes ahead of the boats. I felt terribly guilty about not taking Floyd and Fletcher with me, but I didn't feel I could take responsibility for the 4 dogs whilst locking the two boats down the river. It's always more difficult on the rivers as the boats move faster and the footpaths don't always stick to the river banks.
I made good time to the first lock (Rush Mills) and headed off towards the second through my own little tunnel
The third lock of the day, at Weston Favell, was the first of the push button guillotines and I hitched a lift on MR to Clifford Hill Lock and then swapped onto Yarwoods front deck after Billing Lock - the idea being to help find the dreadfully sharp turn into Billing Marina and it really IS sharp; pretty lousy choice of lookout given my lousy eyesight.
The daffs were gorgeous and the lock was waiting for us with the top gates open
leaving me time to take a few pics as Yarwood approaches the lock first
and leaves last
Then it's out across open meadowland where a fisherman had set up camp to enjoy a bit of nature (plus a telly!)
The nose swinging to the left in front of the road bridge
past the pub
and into the large marina
I hope the Environment Agency River Patrol boat isn't going anywhere soon
as, to the stern of the boat next to the outboard, is a Coot sitting on eggs
the male is working like the clappers trying to stop the eggs from falling out as the nest keeps falling to bits, it's enough to break your heart and I'm not sure he's winning
You can see MR behind the EA boat above - we are actually moored across the end of 4 bouncy finger pontoons. The marina offers terrific value for money with free access to the aquadrome events, swimming pool etc but, whilst hook up makes a luxurious change, marina living is not for me.
PS. Lesley is fine and took her mum to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel today - they loved it too. She'll be back on Tuesday.
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