We are delighted to welcome Heather aboard. She arrived last night and we got to the boat in the dark. We had not been able to get very close to the bank so an awkward step was required – carrying rucksacks fore and aft, she said she felt like she was pregnant – blooming Heather indeed! When I was heavily pregnant, I stepped into a canoe (unmoored) and it drifted out and I  splashed backwards into the lake. Luckily I was wearing my maternity swimsuit. Heather boarded very neatly, by comparison. Getting all her belongings wet would have been a most inconvenient start to her trip.

A man had been fishing next to the boat, last night and we had a brief chat. He was there again this morning, while we were having breakfast and caught a large bream. Then he released it and said, “now for number two!” To my surprise, before we had set off he did catch an even bigger one.

We set off back along towards the junction and beyond. The going was very slow all the way, as it is very shallow. Pretty – Heather counted four types of water lily – but with hidden dangers. Getting grounded being a constant threat and no way we could speed away from this threatening spot.

Under one bridge it looked like ivy was trailing down, but they were covered with thorns. That would have been very unpleasant to drive through. Looking back I could see they were wild raspberries. Later at the water point more wild fruit was to be found. 

The water was as slow to fill as the travel, definitely a day to slow down. It gave us lots of time to watch the ducklings and baby moorhens. 

While trying to stop for lunch, the boat that had come over the Ribble with a tug passed and said we should exchange details as they had a video of the crossing with us in it. I told them they were in our blog already. We’ll catch them later we assume as there is only one canal. We couldn’t get close enough to the bank to moor so had one just floating free. Later we had to shake free weed from the propeller or rudder.

Such a pleasure to be joined by Heather who has enjoyed the usual canal wildlife and some donkeys. She might be on holiday, but already she has been doing dishes, wiping down worktops, rope handling, driving and now she’s cooking our meal. Blooming Heather!