Cruising In Soup

After a night of heavy winds and rain we woke up to bright sunshine, so we got away at about 8.30am. Al did some boaty jobs inside while Del took Derwent6 down the narrow cutting of Woodseaves. This stretch goes between faces of rock and has some passing places, and it is amazing how this was cut out all those years ago. It was lovely going through the trees with all their colours but after last nights winds the canal was a carpet of leaves. Derwent6 and the Axiom prop really struggled to get through this. It was only by dropping the gearbox into neutral every 2oo metres that we made progress. It was like cruising in a thick soup. We were also running low on diesel as we wanted to try to make Wheaton Aston for some fair priced fuel. We took it very steady through Shebdon passing the Anchor Pub which is someones house. Great Idea! The Derwent6 Pub!!!!!!

We soon got to Norbury Junction which was very busy with boats and it was a tight squeeze to get through. We then went through Cowley tunnel and another cutting (full of leaves), just as it started to rain. We arrived at Wheaton Aston and managed to get diesel at Turner's garage at 58.9p. We made the most of it because Derwent6 was running on air by the time we got there. We then moored up as the light was fading. We managed to get a TV signal and settled down to watch the footy in the evening.