23 locks and fishing for kittens!

Chris made it back to us nice and early then all we had to do was wait. There was no problem with BW letting three boats down so John and Jackie took the lead and we all set off. It was warm but not too hot thankfully and with John on his boat and Ray taking Morgana and Almyne that left Jackie, Chris and I to work the locks with a bit of help from BW.

It seemed to be a well maintained flight, some of the paddles were a bit stiff but not many. Our only problem was one we knew about before we started. One lock halfway down has a gate that doesn't open, so we had to separate the boats and take them out one at a time. We made good time and got down through the 21 locks in less than five hours. We turned the corner onto the Leigh Branch, down through the Poolstock Locks and met Kathy who had brought Destiny up to meet us. Then we headed back to Ince Moss to moor up.

When we all settled the kittens came out onto the towpath, Gwynhwyvar had fallen in yesterday and while we were sat relaxing Lancelot took a dip. Albert, the kitten we aren't having, fell in twice. At least they can all swim! We took Lance and Gwynie home with us for the first time. Gracie, the oldest cat, who likes to visit us for some peace wasn't amused when we made her leave before feeding time. The kittens seem to be settling in OK, they have managed to take up a lot of space on the couch for two small kittens!

Today's journey 4.2 miles and 23 locks

So far we have travelled 421.3 miles, 446 locks, 51 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 11 tunnels