Leighton Buzzard to Great Seabrook.

Travelled 6.33 miles, worked 9 locks in a time of 4 hours.

You know how it is, you moor up somewhere and then wonder if you have done the right thing. We were moored right next to a supermarket and the main road into the town, but I did not need to worry, because I slept like a baby until just after 5am when Keith woke me up by stepping over me. With us both wide awake, it was time for the first cuppa of the day. Once it was drunk I settled back down beneath the duvet for another hour, as I could see no point at getting up so early, it seemed that there was no one but the birds awake in Leighton Buzzard, because I could not even hear a car. Once we were both up, I relit the back cabin fire, took Paddy for his walk along a lovely tarmac towpath, so no muddy feet or paws on the boat this morning. Keith had laid up breakfast, so having fed mog and dog, I finally sat down and ate mine. I then had to pay some attention to the saloon fire which needed riddling and the ash emptying out. There is never a dull moment for me in the morning. I sometimes wonder how I get it all done before we set off.

Before setting off from Leighton Buzzard at 8.50am, Keith and I went in search of some new Coir Mats for the engine room, despite going into Tesco and Homebase I did not find what I wanted, but I did come back with a couple of mats for the galley, so it was not a complete waste of time. So 8.50am we set off on what was a dreary old morning and rather damp. As the journey progressed a cold wind was smacking me in the face, which if nothing else kept me awake. We only met one other boat  and that was Phoenix a shared ownership boat out for a week. There was no spectacular views of the Chiltern Hills, because the cloud was so low. We could not even see the Whipsnade White Lion. Having worked a few locks, the kettle on the back cabin stove was blowing its lid, so there was only one thing for it and that was to make a much needed coffee. Keith was saying he was getting chilly, I was not to bad even though the cold wind was biting into my face. Because I had been working the locks and walking, I was pretty warm.

Below the second of the Seabrook Locks is this old wooden boat, which is wrapped in a plastic bag. Clearly it is in need of some restoration.

As we approached the last of the Seabrook Locks, I spotted a Muntjac dear running through some long grass, it is the first one I have seen this year.

We made the decision to moor above the 3rd Seabrook Lock, in case there were no moorings at Marsworth village. All moored up and the boat shut up to keep the biting wind out, I got on with warming some soup for lunch, which we had with crusty rolls and a chelsea bun each, whilst I did that Keith got on with the boating log on his computer. After our warming lunch, I cooked some meat balls and added a pasta sauce, which was put in the back cabin stove to simmer away during the afternoon.
Sods law that we moor up and the sun comes out, which is charging our batteries via the sola panel. The wind is blowing a little strong and now the back cabin fire is working overtime, so dinner will be cooked that much quicker. Even though we have the railway for company, it is not that loud and we do at least have a deep water mooring.