Autumn Soddit Cruise – Day 1

Saturday 10th September

Last night we arrived at Jannock having visited the excellent fish and chip shop in Brinklow. They were definitely the best I have had since I visited Busy Lizzies in Skipton during 1995. We then loaded our provisions etc. aboard, cracked open the beer and the Soddit began and continued on till well past our bedtimes ;^)

Saturday morning dawned bright and far too early so we breakfasted and then departed almost immediately. This was un-usual because neither Ian or Brian set up their fishing rods prior to us setting off – they usually have a breakfast session before the off. Are they losing interest? During transit of the Newbold tunnel, Rule Britannia was played at full volume much to the amusement of a Black Prince hireboat that we passed mid tunnel. The family that were walking through using the towpath were not so amused though. We stopped near bridge 58 to fill with water whilst Brian nipped across to Tescos. Once on the move again we immediately passed Linda aboard nb The Busker and Sarah-May on nb Shelley-Anne. I called hello but Sarah-May only appeared as we had moved farther away and so a brief shouted greeting occurred. They are both en-route to the Cutweb rally next weekend as we are.

We stopped for lunch before Hillmorton locks and the fishists (well Ian) even managed to catch a few roach although he seemed to lose a lot of hooks in the trees opposite our mooring in the process. No queueing through the locks so a quick ascent was made using a lock  recently vacated by a northbound boat each time. All the time the wind was gradually increasing to I was glad to clear the locks and get up some speed again to fight the side wind.

On the Barby straight we passed Draco and Success moored up. I spoke with Mike as we passed but did not stop as I had just got past a very slow and unpredictable boat that had been ahead of us and I didn’t want him to pass me again. We finally moored up for the night in the shelter of a large hedge just past Willoughby Wharf. Ian cooked the dinner and then another evening of Soddit commenced finally giving up at about 12:30. There was a big full moon which kept it quit light all night.

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk