Welford to Foxton.

Hello Dear Readers.

I would firstly like to say thank you anyone who pops in from time to time to read my ramblings. I do try to make them as interesting as possible.

The weekend begins here as it is Friday and the weather must have had that Friday feeling, because as I opened the cabin door this morning, the fog greeted me. Before we set off from the Welford Arm this morning, we had to take on some water, empty a cassette and get rid of rubbish. So after breakfast and our first cuppa of the day, we pulled the boat over the water point, just as we were mooring up an other boat pulled in front of us. Now the water point has two taps on one post and we both connected up our hoses to fill our tanks, but the water pressure was so slow, with us both using it, we disconnected and tried the tap on the sanitary station, which greatly improved things. Whilst the tank was filling, I prepared a Chicken to go in the back cabin oven, so it will be nicely cooked by the time dinner comes around this evening. The other boat which had taken on water winded and left in front of us. They were already going down in the lock as we approached it. We left the Welford Arm at 10.45am and set off towards Foxton. The fog was getting thicker and the temperature was on the cold side. Even in Husbands Bosworth Tunnel it was foggy. So much so that we could not see the exit portal until we were 300 metres from it. Our boat was pushing the fog through the tunnel, it was fun to watch. The only boats we saw this morning were the hire boats from Market Harborough, it looked like all the private boats stayed moored up due to the weather. Even the wildlife were in hiding. At Bridge 49 near Lodge Farm we always see this old Collie. He seems to patrol the towpath between bridges 49 and 50. Maybe he has taken retirement from herding and now thinks he should herd the boats instead.
We arrived at our destination having travelled 8.6 miles in 3 hours 39 minutes and I only worked 1 lock. We moored next to Gumley Road Bridge No.60, just above Foxton top lock. The moorings look full up in front of us. The Chicken in the back cabin stove is cooking nicely and there is a lovely smell coming from the back cabin. The passers-by will be made to feel very hungry as they walk past our boat. Having been followed by the grass cutters yesterday, I reckon most of the mown grass is inside our boat, so I need to get the broom out. Even Paddy has been bring it in on his paws. On saying that, it is nice to see the towpaths and edges cut properly. The contractors have done a good job this year.

Has anyone seen this boat about on the system?This Canal boat has an airlock for doors, a periscope that goes up and down, but isn't quite finished yet, and 360-degree video monitors that enable it to be steered from inside. It has sonar and radar systems, infra-red lighting and storage for dummy torpedoes where the sleeping quarters are. It is certainly going to grab the headlines.