Back home.

Dear Friends and Followers.

It is said that timing is everything, and so our timing to get the blacking done was perfect.

This morning we were woken by rain stampeding on the roof of the back cabin at 5am. It was hammering down. We did not have any thunder or lightening, but oh boy it rained. We had arranged with our friend Mike and Lynn on Narrowboat Diamond Sissy Jupe that we would wait for them to come down the first three locks and then we would join them for the rest of the flight. But with it chucking it down, I did wonder if it would be a late start. We went back to sleep for a while and then woke at 7 am. I made us a cuppa and we discussed our plans for the day, whilst Marmite kept telling me, she was hungry. Once up, Paddy was walked in between the rain dumping its load on us. We then prepared for the water to be allowed back into the dry dock, so we could be refloated.

About 9.30 am, Ian from Knowle Hall dry dock arrived and began to let the water in. 

In no time at all we were floating again. Gang plank was put away in the hold and we were clear to pull Hadar out of the dock and into the by weir, where we would wait for our friends to arrive. 

No sooner we left the dry dock, the blacking was being scratched, but that is the way it goes. You put it on to take it off and we knew that more would come off doing the Hatton Flight. Whilst Keith waited with the boat, I walked up the three locks to the top to wait for Mike and Lynn, who were not long in arriving. I helped lock them down and Keith then reversed Hadar out into the pound and waited by the lock, which was being filled by one of the volunteers. We were on our way home.

We had a fantastic trip down the flight. We were in a boat sandwich, with a pair of boats in front and a pair behind. We caught the ones up in front, but did not see the ones behind much.

Because we were following a pair of boats, we had to refill the locks, so this took extra time, but we still did the flight in three hours.

We arrived back home, putting the boat in bow first, because I have paintwork to do, which includes the gunwales, which I hope to do over the next week or so weather permitting. It is nice to be home and I have no plans to do anything this weekend. I need to rest my Sciatica and to sleep, because I feel shattered. This evening we decided to go out and eat at Castle Balti, it is a place we have not tried before. it was recommended to us and so off we went at 5.15pm to be there for 5.30pm when they open. I will pass the recommendation on, because the food was excellent. The Naan bread was huge and I am so glad we shared one. Unfortunately the portions were so large that neither of us could finish our meals, but we really did enjoy the food. You have to take your own alcohol, so I took a bottle of wine, which had been given to us. Back home again and I am almost ready for my bed.