Our first full day

Susan and I had the back bedroom, which was separated by only a curtain from the front bedroom where Tom stayed. In the morning, I couldn’t tell if Tom was up or if it was just the boat swaying in the canal. Susan and I started to whistle, then talk quietly to invite Tom to say something, but we didn’t want to wake him if he was still asleep due to jet lag. Turns out he had beaten us up by hours and had sat out on the front of the boat for a while and even made some coffee. I guess we’re the late sleepers but i guess we’ll see how consistently that is tomorrow.

Breakfast was some great eggs, bacon, and cut potatoes made by Tom. I did the dishes while Susan dried. 

It was a day of locks. Operating the locks is actually quite easy. First, you have to open the paddles to let water in or out so that the water is at the same level as the side you are entering. After the water reaches the level, the gate can be pushed open and the paddles closed, the boat can enter, and the gate closed. Then you go to the other side of lock to repeat the process on that side. Each boat has a windless to operate the paddle, and we have two because we have a third person, two to operate the lock, one to pilot the boat.

We went through lock after lock, some were so close together that I would walk the roughly 200 yards to the next one to start on that one while Susan finished the current one. Tom did the navigating, which was good because he had to pilot the boat through the tight spots, he was a natural with all his experience on his ocean-going boat.

Dinner was great, we stopped right by a proper English pub where we sat outside along the canal drinking a pint (well, I drank a cider, I am not a fan of beer) and enjoyed good English pub food. Susan and I split bangers and mash plus a walnut and strawberry salad. It’s great to get part of a heavy meal but also some tasty vegetables. At our age, our appetite is not as robust as it might have once been.