After a fortnight of bright sunny days we half expected it to be be wet today but no, the clear sky remained as we drove up from home. The previous two days we had set the alarm early as Mike had meetings in Truro first thing so we left it on the same setting to give us a chance of getting away early enough to be able to leave the marina today.
Indeed, having loaded the car the night before, we were away by half past eight. We called in Bodmin to fill up with diesel at Asda (the cheapest around home) and joined the A30. Although there are major road works dualling one of the bottlenecks that cause long tailbacks in the summer, it is not normally worth taking the GPS alternative over Bodmin Moor - especially as that would have meant missing out on the diesel-fill. However, on this occasion it was different. Almost as soon as we had joined the main road, we came to halt about six vehicle back from a temporary traffic light. We sat there with endless traffic coming from the other direction for almost 25 minutes. Eventually we saw the reason - a wide load was coming westwards and, in the narrowed section through the road works it was clear that it would not have been safe to allow trucks to pass it. As soon as it had come through the lights were cleared and even before we passed them workmen packing them up!
The only other excitement was when a tow truck suddenly decided to pull out as we were passing it. Fortunately we swerved and its driver saw what he was doing before any damage was done. Just heightened heart rates for a short while!
We stopped at Sedgemoor and, on this occasion as we were not really pressed for time we opted to take a slightly longer break and have a mug of coffee each.
We arrived at the marina around 1:45 and quickly unloaded the car. As soon as Mike had returned the trolley after the last trip Christine reported that she had not brought any ground coffee - nearest to a disaster! She persuaded Mike to pop to the nearest supermarket to get some whilst she continued unpacking.
With the boat loaded, the water tank filled and everything in its approximate correct location we set off, a little later than originally hoped but in the sunshine it was delightful.
We had to pause at the junction just outside the marina to wait for a boat coming up the min line. It pulled onto the service point almost as soon as it had passed. We spotted wide beam Still Rockin' (whose blog is on our watch list) but we could not see anyone in. However, by the time we passed through Cowley Lock the sun was quite low in the sky and the temperature dropped sharply.
Not sure if this truck was stuck as it was not moving and the road has traffic lights either side of the bridge. The driver, who looked quite cheery, was on his mobile and we wondered if, as it was such a hump bridge and long vehicle whether he might have grounded at the apex.
We continued on through Uxbridge and shortly after the lock we managed to find a reasonable mooring slot. There is a lot of winter mooring (unofficially) boats and for long stretches not only did we have to chug along at a slow speed but saw few gaps. As a result we did take almost the first available but were pleased to be able to have a warm mug of instant coffee and to light the fire! At least we brought tonight's meal ready prepared yesterday.
2.9 Miles - 2 Locks
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