Elvis Has Left the Building!

This picture was taken from Hatton Top Lock. It's the first of 17 that we tackled on our journey today and we had the very good company of Rod and Eleanor. It's all very much less of a strain if two boats go up or down together. We waited at the top and topped up the water tank hoping someone would come along. We were just about to go down solo when Elvis appeared. We'd encountered him previously and he's very noticeable because of the pristine condition of his boat, which he painstakingly restored, and the black hair, sideburns and quiff which led to him being referred to as 'Elvis' by other more conventional boaters. He's a lovely bloke, full of stories and his wife is a scrap of a thing but she has so much energy, tackling the lock paddles that it's a job to keep up with her.

The flight of 17 locks took us three hours to complete which is a pretty good time. It took George and Ann 4 hours on the way up, the day before we joined them. The teamwork with this couple saved a lot of time.

In my extra you can see the two boats coming out of the lock in tandem, sailing side by side out of on lock and into the other. This makes it all much quicker. You might take a moment to look at the detail of Rod's boat 'Storm Petrel' to admire how beautifully it's decorated.

After a cup of tea and a celebratory ice-cream, which we bought at the top of the flight and kept in the freezer, we went on to Saltisbury junction which was where we'd left the car. We parted from George and Ann but arranged to meet up at Leamington Spa a couple of hours later where we could have a meal before we drove on home. I deliberately delayed the journey because I did not want to drive in that heat in all the Friday afternoon traffic. We set off at about 8pm and arrived home soon after 11. despite how much we've enjoyed our trip, it'll be nice to sleep in our own bed tonight.

We've been very short of phone signal for blipping and short on time for comments. Normal service however poor that is should be back tomorrow. For now it's 'thanyouverymuch and goodnight'.