Bridge 36 to Welford again.

Hi Friends.

It was a foggy start to the day, as I opened the back cabin doors to the world. Even by the time we set off it was still like pea soup, but not even the weather stops us from moving if at all possible. Just before Bridge 40 we had our first customers of the day Tom and Jane. We passed the time of day with them before arriving at Bridge 40 and our next lot of customers. Ade and Mick were waiting wheelbarrow at the ready for there coal. Although we are having some nice days, the evenings are still cold as is first thing in the morning, so people are either keeping their fires in or lighting them up when they get up in the morning. We pulled in alongside the towpath, I took the centre rope off and pulled the boat in and moored her on the centre line. Having put the sheeting up, I climbed into the depleated hold and passed the coal up to Keith. We have a system which works well for us. With the coal off loaded, we had time for another natter, before saying our goodbyes, until the next time. I always love meeting fellow bloggers and new boaters and today was no exception. Colin and Tina on NB Go For It (CLICK) were coming our way up from Leicester, so we knew we would probably meet up with them at some point. We in fact met up with them just before the turning into the Welford Arm. Colin asked for some coal, so we pulled in on the moorings at Welford Junction and unloaded some coal for them. Tina showed me around their lovely boat. Colin and Tina are heading for the K&A, so if you see them give them a wave, as they set off on their adventures. It was lovely putting names to faces, as Colin had left us messages on our Facebook page for the the boat. We said cheerio to them both, and hope that they have a lovely Summer cruising, I am sure we will see them again.

We left them and turned into the Welford Arm. I worked the lock and just as we approached the first of the winding holes, a boat was coming at speed towards us. The steerer could not stop so hit a moored boat, he bounced off of that boat and hit us. I smiled at the woman on the bow and said "good morning" to which she gave a rye smile. Now we are a 70ft boat and do not bend in the middle, but the steerer clearly was not going to give way, and so he bullied his way past us, which meant we were sitting on the mud. If Hadar had been loaded she would have pushed him out of the way, but never mind. As they made their way towards the lock without so much as a sorry, Keith managed to get our boat off of the mud and we continued down to the end of the warm where we winded, whilst taking on water, I immediately started unloading coal for customers. In dry dock are our friends Al and Del on Derwent 6 (CLICK), who are in for blacking. We are looking forward to meeting up with Del & Al off of Derwent 6 this evening in the pub for a good old catch-up, as it has been sometime since we have spoken. We do of course read their blog, but there is nothing better than actually speaking to someone. So I reckon a few pints maybe drunk tonight.

I am off now to get a few things done and to decide what to have for dinner tonight.

Chat soon xx