Cruising on a happy sunny day.

Hi Friends.

It was so nice to wake up this morning and see the sun beaming through the pigeon box portholes. This was 6am I hasten to add, so early. Due to the hour, I got up and made us a cup of tea which we enjoyed in bed. A small luxury, we like to indulge in some mornings.
P got his run out across the Buttercup Meadow again this morning. He is just like a silly puppy, when he gets in the long grass. P is now 6 years old, so he is getting on in human years I suppose, but the thought of running through long grass and Buttercups, makes him feel like a 1 year old again.
We set off from Crick at 8.35am, Betty poked her head out of her window and said "Good Morning, I thought you were going early". I replied "We had a lie in". We will see them again in a day or two, as they are coming to Braunston.
We stopped at the Sanitary Station at Crick to empty the toilet cassette, and then put in our ear plugs to do Crick Tunnel. You are probably wondering why we wear ear plugs. Believe me, if you heard our engine in a tunnel you would want to wear ear plugs as well. She is a very loud lady.
We arrived at Watford Locks and I went and found the Cathy the Lock Keeper, who told us we could come down behind NB Attitude, who was just entering the top lock. I helped the gentleman to get through the first lock as he was on his own and then Cathy helped him down the rest whilst I locked us down. Watford Locks are so easy to do and very pretty. Swopping and swishing through the air were House Martins and Swallows. A pair of Swallows have nested in the Lock Keepers shed, so they were busily flying in and out with flies that they were catching over the side ponds. As we got to the bottom of the stair case locks NB Lady Violet was coming up and out of the single bottom lock, but got her positioning wrong coming out of the lock, which meant K could not get our boat out of the lock without bumping her out of the way. With us being 70ft we need all the water we can get to turn her into the last lock. The lady steering seemed none to bothered and so we all went on our way without a word being spoken. We arrived at Norton Junction at 11.35 and turned to face Braunston. The views across the valley are stunning and with the new towpath along this stretch, you can moor up and look out across the valley. Braunston Tunnel soon approached and we donned our ear plugs once more as we entered the tunnel behind another boat. When moving through a tunnel it is advisible to keep to cruising speed, because this helps you to stay in the centre of the tunnel, as any wash bounces off of thr tunnel walls and keeps you centred. Unfortunately the boat in front chose to slow down, which meant we had to as well. This meant they were not exactly in control of their boat as another boat entered from the other end and they ended up having a coming together.
We are now at the top lock Braunston, having done 8.5miles, 7 locks, in 4hrs. We thought that the moorings would be busy so were surprized the moorings above Braunston top lock are empty, so we are now here till the weekend and the Historic Boat Rally.
I have done some lunch and managed to find a resonable TV signal for the football. At the moment Portugal are thrashing North Korea 4-0. Going for a walk in a while down the locks, to see who is already here for the Rally.