The very early birds

One thing we missed last night when mooring in hurricane-like winds was the (very) adjacent A38, which revealed itself when the winds dropped, hence I was woken at 0400, I repeat, 0400 hrs  by the sound of heavy lorries and a surprising number of cars. I was extremely warm and sweaty ( no change there then ) I suspect due to my man-flu symptoms, although a thermometer confirmed my body temperature was only slightly above normal. Nurse Lynne administered more anti-flu gunge and we decided to make the most of the wind lull, heading for Willington, water, milk and a newspaper, all completed by 08.30, including emptying the oblutions and dumping the rubbish.

Today is breezy rather than windy, sunny and slightly warmer than yesterday as is, I suspect, the Arctic.

We braved the ever increasing wind and the odd dose of heavy rain for our planned visit to Karen and Steve at Stensen lock where we moored, ready to go through in the morning, especially if we can pair-up with another willing crew going our way. Stensen lock holds two boats at a time. A boat on it's own tends to be tossed about a bit so it is best tackled in pairs, as are the Grand Union canal locks, so it should be good practice.

Karen had promised to supply us with a couple of bags of coal to get us through this iffy weather period so we arrived on her pontoon armed with a sack barrow and the necessary cash. ( we had intended buying it at Mercia Marina near Willington, but due to the windy conditions we were disinclined to enter with the risk of being trapped overnight and incurring mooring charges, both avoided thanks to Karen's very kind offer.