Karen's lockwheeling masterclass

As Sophie and Yanos are cruising with us for a few more days we moved Sophie’s car 25 miles to Willington on Tuesday morning and spent the rest of the day cruising.  It was a day of instruction in lock wheeling for Yanos, expertly provided by Karen.  Here he is learning to use a windlass for the first time.

The lock gates are very heavy on this end of the Trent & Mersey so I had to give him a hand to close this one.

I managed to get a bit of relaxation in with Buddy whilst Karen gave more instruction.

The first part of the journey was on the river Trent so our two PhD students spent most of the time studying in the cratch – this was their view.

We saw a pair of cormorants at a weir.

Sophie and I both wear life jackets on the river.

Here's Sophie bringing the boat through one of the locks.

At one lock we met up with a lovely couple who have lived on their boat for 18 years on and off.  They were just taking it back to their mooring as they were off for a cruise on the Danube.  The only thing they didn’t like about living aboard was the fact they missed their grandchildren who were aged between three and 22!

The unfortunate owners of this boat had obviously left it under a tree in a storm.

In the evening we moored up at Swarekstone and walked across the fields to a pub.