Our journey down the locks was, however, straightforward and a pleasure. We were accompanied by NB Plato which is actually written in Greek - Πλάτων. I gather being written in Greek can cause consternation on the Thames where they expect Latin script names. Plato was being operated single-handed. Nevertheless, the three of us made good progress down the Buckby Flight and we had lunch at Whilton. With good weather by early evening we made it to a favourite mooring of ours just below Flore Wharf. The rain then came down in torrents! A typical August bank holiday.
A curious and hungry duck in the rain at Flore Wharf
August Bank Holiday weather
On Sunday we had a straightforward journey south to Blisworth but in the tunnel we met over eight boats going north. One boat caused us consternation since some of its crew were on the roof inside the tunnel! A very foolish idea ignoring the warning signs placed by the tunnel portal. We had a good Sunday lunch in The Boat and watched the Belgian Grand Prix on their big screen television. We then went down the Stoke flight singly and finally got to Kingfisher Marina in the late afternoon.
According to Canal Planner AC, the total distance of our trip was 271 miles with 269 locks. There were at least 46 moveable bridges, 15 small aqueducts or underbridges; 13 tunnels and 1 major aqueduct.
We covered around 43 miles of narrow canals; 107 miles of broad canals; 31 miles, of commercial waterways; 42 miles of small rivers; 46 miles of large rivers; 105 narrow locks; 158 broad locks and 6 large locks.
A great trip! Very memorable.
