N.B.Thema at Easter

As Pat and Keith decided not to use Thema over the Easter period (due to bad weather last year!), we had the opportunity to take her up to her new home at the Welford arm marina, and unluckily for them, what a fab week it was. Apart from the boat traffic which we knew would be heavy, the sun shone everyday and spring blossomed, and spending time again on the cut gave us a new burst of excitement about Derwent6 and our new life afloat.

Setting off from Calcutt on Thursday evening we moored at bridge 103 for the night, and then moved, on Good Friday, to Norton Junction.

Check out our back garden !

After a few beers at The New Inn we slept so soundly only to be woken up by the cows licking the condensation off the side of the boat !!!!!

Saturday saw us up the Leicester branch of the Grand Union and the Watford flight. Knew this would be busy, and you can see from the picture, it's a tough life waiting.

Easter Sunday, after the Grand Prix, we headed towards Crick tunnel and had a pleasant surprise the other side by seeing N.B Balmaha outside the marina. We have followed their blog for many months and it was great to see them on our travels. Hi Mo and Vanessa ! (thanks for the photo on your blog...it's a first for us !)

Foxton loomed, together with the crowds..... Gongoozlers in their thousands!. Did a bit of people watching as the crowds went by as we moored at the top of the fight for the night.

When the crowds had left we put the wine away and then walked around the locks and the new attraction, the incline plain.

After a good meal at the Foxton Inn we stumbled back to the boat.

Up bright and breezy the next day (Easter Monday) we put out name down for our 8.00am descent. Through the locks, no problem, and headed up the harbro' arm, and had another pleasant surprise.

We passed another boat, whose blog we follow, N.B Gypsy Rover. Hello Dot and Derek, thanks for the mention on your blog as well. It was great to see you. Carried on up the harbro' arm but no mooring available in the basin, so turned and and headed back to one of our favourite spots....... the middle of nowhere.

Tuesday morning we passed N.B Gypsy Rover waiting to go up the Foxton flight as we carried on to Debdale. This is where Derwent6 will be launched so we were keen to suss out the area.

Back up through Foxton late on Tuesday (thanks to a kind lock keeper) and had another great garden at the top of the flight.

Wednesday was a beautiful day, and we moored up just before the Welford arm, after going through the Bosworth tunnel, and watched the gliders seeking out their thermals in the sky.

We had to drag ourselves away as we took N.B Thema back to her new home at the end of a fabulous week, which left us so looking forward to Derwent6, and a time when we don't have to take our boat back.