Grindley Brook

A calm and cool day, we set off planning just to 'see how things go'. There were three locks spread out ahead followed by a flight of six bunched together. The cruise was pleasant, Will hopped off and on with Tiger, working the locks. Vicky stood at the tiller with Leo tucked under her arm in the padded shoulder bag. The bywash flowing out from the sude of each lock entry made it difficult to guide Rainboat into the narrow entrance. You need to aim her towards the lock wall in preparation for the flow pushing her bow away, then give a squiggle on the tiller as it caught her bow.

Inside the tight fitting lock it is rather like a bathtub. As the top paddles open, water gushes out. This pushes you backwards, requiring you to drive the boat forward. A second later the wave has hit the rear gates and sloshed back to carry the boat forward, requiring you to switch the throttle into reverse. And so on and so on...

By the time we'd gone through the first three locks Vicky and the furries were too chilly for it to be any fun carrying on up the flight so we pulled over in front of a line of three boats a short way before the first of the Grindley Brook locks.

After we'd warmed up, Vicky took Leo and Tiger Lilly for a walk while Will worked on updating the drone software in an effort to get it working again. It required a lot of beeping which would have driven Leo into a rage. When they returned he'd had it flying and taken a few photos of Rainboat. Hopefully there'll be more to follow to better show our travels!Les mer