Back home home

Mr Well is delighted that the day is over. He hates locks. But he loves boating!!! This trip really reinforced how much he loves the cruising. As soon as the engine starts, his tail starts to wag and he rounds us up to go on deck asap. He spends the whole cruising time watching for dogs, especially standing when we slow down to pass moored boats. He stares at the sterns expecting a friendly yelp if possible. Yet he can't bear if one of us leaves the boat while journeying. Locks are a nightmare with one of us off at each one. So for locks, we leave him inside. Then he spends the whole time with paws variously on the dining room chair or the dining room shelf or the steps to the doors. Whining, he stares at us. Outside. Whilst he's inside. Not good. So with the final day's activity being the 7 locks of the Buckby flight taking just over 3 hours, he's shattered.  T

hat lump by the radiator is one tired pooch!

We set out from Weedon this morning then moored at the bottom of the flight. One of Pete's colleagues collected him en route from Buckby to Stoke Bruerne to collect Reg. P parked up at the top of the flight then walked the 2 miles back to Bella. The work up the flight included showers of both rain and hail, but there were enough breaks to dry off between. That said there are now 2 coats, 2 hats, and various things hanging to dry!

Working our way back

We were very pleased to have the Met Office app available today. How not like our first years!!! We realised that we needed to set out immediately after breakfast and not at lunch. This is the no rush part of the trip so it was going to be a 1/2 day no matter.

We set out in sun with occasional cloud and the rain started at tie up to moorings in Weedon. Perfect. In the between showers spell, E collected kindling from the towpath hedges and P won a few killer sudokus. V holiday!

We treated ourselves with dinner at the Navigation at Stowe Hill. On the way home, we saw these cows who seemed to be in the wrong place!

Return begins

A few short bright sunny family days are now over. As we write, NY boy and partner are in the air over the Atlantic and we're moored at the heavenly country stop. We delivered loved ones to Heathrow, parked Reg, and turned on Belladonk  (engine). P handled Bella exquisitely backward to the winding hole where we turned back the way we came.

The tunnel was next, then it was as if we entered a parallel universe. We left a warm 17c Stoke Bruene, wearing sandles. After the 1.5 mile tunnel, we emerged to 13c overcast skies and the occasional light shower. Crazy!  We then had a stop at Gayton yard to empty cassettes and let Maxwell have his customary manic run. We passed some resting country cows, just seen through the trees (you have to look hard!!).

Stoke Bruerne

What a lovely finish for the cottage rendezvous. We woke to horses in the fog, then made our way to the tunnel. E and P untied and P took the tiller whilst E stayed inside cleaning and baking. Maxwell chose the deck sitting on P's feet. They did the Blisworth tunnel together then we moored in Stoke Bruerne.  A quick change of clothes, we picked up Reg and drove to Milton Keynes rail station. Runners and non runners now gathered,  we dropped bags and settled into the pub garden.  Gorgeous day on all counts!

A journey for family

Our NY boy ran the London Marathon on Sunday. Stupendous finish too!! As he was running, we were tracking him on the app and travelling down the Buckby flight.

A few days earlier, we'd parked our Reg at the cottage in Stoke Bruerne where running boy and partner were to join us. We were due to travel Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning to have  a leisurely cruise. As it was,  storm Hannah kept us firmly moored on Saturday and we had to set out Sunday.

We were in fabulous luck, meeting up with a gorgeous boat and butty along with her crew including dog Bill. They'd already set the lock and opened it. They welcomed a companion boat as much as we did. Just as the lock started to drain, our boy started to run. We tracked each 5k as we decended the 7 lock flight and shared the news. As it was such an excellent flight with two full crews, we all finished much earlier than either expected and we were moored in Weedon to track the praise worthy finish. Fab. The pic below is our companions passing us as we moored for the finish.

We ended the day moored at the heavenly stretch near B44. Quiet, gorgeous, now neighbours to horses across the canal.