Sat 4th sept. and we set off further onto the canal. Getting prettier and prettier, loads of kingfishers etc.( my self set task is to get a really good pic of one,so I am looking for a nice bit of twig that will act as a portable perch )


The canal has to be cruised at a very slow pace as it is shallow in parts. But that suits us, as its so lovely. We passed through the town of Retford ( if you remember, this is where we all went on the bus, yesterday ). Moored up to stock up, and freshly washed Finlay, decided to get off the boat, whilst still attached to his safety harness. Yep, he took another bath, this time in the canal.

So, all stocked up again. Wine, gin, whisky , a bit of food ! you know how it is.

Then we eventually arrived at a set of locks called Forest locks.They are so very pretty and as it is not a busy canal, sometimes you are free to moor on the lock mooring . I big no-no on busier canals. However, if you choose to moor on the lock mooring, then you have to be prepared with other boaters “using” your boat to get to the lock.

This canal also has loads of woods and forests along its length, so great birdlife and great walking

Anyway , one pound was so shallow, we were almost skimming along on the mud. However, we got Richard and his boat through one of the locks, and we (foolishly) said, “Oh we will be ok here,”. Well we weren’t.! We awoke “ on the tilt”, so to speak and nothing to do with the previous nights jollies. We were well and truly stuck in the mud .A phone call to the BW guys got us going again, after they had flushed water into the pound. However, there were some slightly odd folks living on some of the moorings. One was a NB covered in camaflouge ?( is this splet correctly?) paint, and also with some sort of webbing or netting over the front of his boat. Creepy.
Richard was, by this time, at the top lock, with the BW guy, who was trying to flush us out of the pound. Also hanging about on the top mooring with her boat, was a woman with dreadlocks, who got her knickers in a twist about what was going on. When we finally passed her boat , we saw that she advertised her services as a healer, and all that holistic stuff. I thought these sort of people were all “ hey, chill out’Man” types

Sunday
We are on the move again, and the weather is glorious. Next nights Stop-over was just past Osberton House, with very nice views.

We got the chairs out onto the tow path, read the papers, and Richard wandered along to our bit of towpath, and we all partook of refreshments and nibbles, as one does. !

We still need a pumpout.

Next day – Shireoaks Marina,( the site of a former coal pit). Bit of a strange set-up and I got myself stranded.
As you pass under a wee bridge, you spy the loos, showers, pump out facility etc. so I stepped off Trundle and left Mick to taker her over to the 24hr mooring, and then I looked around I couldn’t get over to him. For security reasons, the liveaboards are all on one side of the marina, with a locked gate to get in and out of( I do have a key but hadn’t got it about my person). So As Richard negotiated the bridge, I used Firefly as a stepping stone, to get across. What fun.

Having a problem getting pics uploaded. !