Date - 25 08 09 Day - Tuesday Start - 0930 End -1800 Willington The first boat went by at 6-15 am and if I had any sense I would have followed it, however we didn't set off until 9-30 and were 3rd in the queue at Alrewas Lock, but we let nb. Spirit overtake us as he wanted to get his boat to the National and then drive home to fetch his stand. Even through a couple of the boats ahead stopped in Alrewas we were still 6th in the queue at Bagnall Lock and it continued like this most of the day, most of the boaters mucked in and helped each other but a couple only worked their own boat at the lock, but were quite happy to accept help from the rest of us. The day started fine but around lunch time we had some very heavy showers and even a rainbow. When we reached Branston Lock, famous for its pickle the queues vanished and we met a steady stream of boats coming towards us. At Dallow Lane Lock we were waited for what looked a brand new boat to come up, complete with 7 hanging on each side. The lady from the boat behind thought the owners may also be new to boating. The strange thing was that the licence expires 3/10 which would indicate the boat is about 6 months old. Conversation with the lady from the following boat revealed that we actually knew each other from the internet even though we had never met before, she was off nb. Warrior. We stopped at Horninglow Basin to fill with water. Once topped up we continued on to moor for the night at 6 pm. in the village of Willington. I had a short session fishing with the magnet and found another mooring stake before latching on to the side/bottom of the boat. When I tried to pull it free the the line shot up leaving the magnet somewhere on the boat, the line didn't break as the thimble was still on the end, so the post must have pulled out of the magnet.
Question. Should I buy a new Seasearcher at the festival or some other sort of magnet? You will find our latest position at http://tinyurl.com/Harnser-s-route -- Brian
