Doncaster Lock Moorings

After a brief nip into central Doncaster we filled with water and packed up to leave. Doncaster lock was just 100m or so on from the moorings and there was another boat approaching it so we got a bit of a rush on to join them. Unfortunately we omitted to lock Abby in the bedroom. The lock turned out to be broken so we backed up to wait at the temporary lock moorings. When we were 6ft off the bank Abby ran out the back door and made an almighty leap. Vicky had Leo in his Pom pouch so couldn't get her and she hopped under a large dog rose surrounded by nettles and brambles.

The engineer arrived within 30min and by this time Vicky had given up calling Abby and got the loppers out to reach her. The engineer fixed the lock and we were called to join the other boat. Will set off while Vicky belly crawled through the sharp foliage towards Abby. She managed to haul her out but Rainboat was still in the lock and couldn't be reached. Abby wasn't happy being carried and escaped from Vicky's arms. The collar she was wearing broke when Vi tried to grab it and she ended up scaring her into a different set of bushes. Under a Hawthorne bush this time. We tied Rainboat up at the lock moorings after the lock but Abby was nowhere to be found. Explaining it to the lockie, they agreed we could stay on the moorings (only meant to be used while operating the lock).

We waited and waited and waited. No Abby. The boat fenders kept banging hard against the concrete side, scaring Tiger and a trip boat came along blasting out songs including 'I want to break free', 'please release me', etc so the music reached over the walls of the nearby prison. We weren't impressed.

Night fell and despite having left Abby's fleece, Dreamies, catnip, and her litter box out there'd been no sign. We'd kept calling, walking up and down the bushes and pushing through where we could. Vicky went out with a torch to see if it would shine off her eyes but to no avail.

At 02:40 Vicky was woken by a meow and Abby jumped up onto the dinette where she'd camped out to wait for her. What a relief! Lots of kibble and cuddles later, she curled up in bed with us. Tired but otherwise no worse for wear.もっと詳しく