Sunday. Relaxing after breakfast when we realised that the boat was surrounded by anglers. There was a team match about to take place. The angler in front asked when we were moving off as we were on an allocated peg. The match extended to the river lock so we would be unable to moor up before then. I told him that we were staying put as it was too windy to move slowly past the anglers without ending up in the offside reeds. He accepted that, and became more amenable. The wind was very strong with even stronger gusts, certainly not pleasant narrowboat handling weather. The playing fields were occupied by four cricket matches; I watched the two nearest ones on and off for most of the day; there was some excellent cricket being played and despite the wind, they all seemed to be enjoying the game. The angling match finished at 3.30pm, the one in front of us had 1lb 3oz of fish, but the man two pegs behind us, opposite the lock by wash had 14lb 2oz. He apparently runs the Mirfield angling shop and it was noticeable to us that he had one rod bag and one box, both of which he carried easily. The others all had frames on wheels and loads of gear – perhaps there is a clue there somewhere.
Bank Holiday Monday. The wind has dropped a bit, so away we went, only three locks and a mile and a half to do, the bushes sheltered from the wind except at the top gates of the locks when it proceeded to ‘become variable’ as the shipping forecast would have it. Arriving at our mooring spot, it took me ages to find the locations of the underwater stones and place the fenders to stop the boat banging on them with the gusts of wind. I settled for a lifebelt floating to keep the rear end off the bank and a go-kart tyre submerged at the front. People were working at the distribution depot opposite but the noise was negligible. A few of the long term moored boats from
Weather, strong, gusty wind both days.
The 2008 journey thus far: 174 Locks & 283Miles & 19 Swing\Lift Bridges
Journeys using bus pass: 8
