Elkington

Here I am Rune

Distance 5.0 miles

Total 475 Locks 10 Tunnels

Running total mileage 648.1 miles

Didn’t get quite as far as planned today, basically we are in the middle of nowhere surrounded by sheep, a pastoral idyll if I were an artist! Have included a picture of our rural retreat here intending to show all of the sheep however when they saw the camera come out they all scarpered to the other side of the field except the three in the centre of the frame by the canal (three light coloured blobs).

 Bit of a slow start due to taking on water, emptying of cassette and some shopping so didn’t really get moving until after midday. Stopped for lunch at about 2.45pm and never got going again, such is the stress of this way of life.

The other reasons for the slow progress is that the canal itself is quite shallow so running the engine above 1450rpm doesn’t really achieve much other than moving more water, it doesn’t make the boat go any faster. The second reason is that the boat is booked in for blacking about 16 miles further up the canal and we have a week to get there, no real rush then. We’ll have to see where we reach tomorrow but the main plan will be to get to Market Harborough by Friday where I hope to get the broken spoke on the wheel of the tandem repaired.

Our Rustic retreat (complete with sheep)