16 October 2023

Hooly Dooley!! It was a bit chilly today. I even resorted to my “first wearing “of the thermal undershirt!!! And that’s a first for the whole trip!!!

I guess I should warn you that we are headed back the way we came, so in terms of scenery there is not much new. Just read the previous blogs backwards.

But no day is ever the same, and although it isn’t r#*ning, and the skies are trying real hard to be blue, the misty, foggy morning weather prevailed til about 2:30 pm. It was a good day weatherwise , but definitely not as good as yesterday!!

We are still on the Llangollen, which is a relatively quiet canal. Not many locks and today, not many fellow travellers.

John (as Chief Engineer) saw this as an ideal opportunity to get me up to speed with my “Throttle Usage”. I am still “Pointing at Problems” but I have progressed to the use of the throttle to assist with “problem escapage”. I think I might just get my AThL (Advanced Throttle Licence) by the end of the two weeks. Pretty chuffed to say that I also executed a FPDO (Front Person Drop Off) Manoeuvre under John’s watchful eyes.

We did a bit of housekeeping today and Ellie wasn’t looking too bad considering she’s been home to four of us for over a week now. I’m not vouching for the cleanliness of our clothes but at least we had clean sheets and towels.

So, as you can see Ellie is a well equiped and a very ship-shape ship!!!

We have become so obsessed that even our ropes are neat and tidy!!!

I’d well and truly relinquished my duties by the time we arrived at the Hassell’s Lift Bridges. The manoeuvring required is still above my paygrade. (Hang on, no!!! I was Captain today! It was well beneath my standing!!! )

Grahame (First Mate) worked the windlass and had the bridge raised in no time.

Before we knew it we were back at the Grindley Brook staircase locks which were once again manned by volunteers. There is a different lock preparation for descending , but when we arrived, everything was already and waiting for us. Thanks Vollies!!

Judi bought cakes once again from the cafe and I definitely DID NOT buy coffee!!

We pulled in just below the following Grindley locks and had a lunch stop. Judi had prepared a lovely spread which we shared in the galley (It was too cold on the Cocktail deck today).

Judi, as Duck Spotter took her role today very seriously. Ducks were spotted , and may or may not have been fed. After several disciplinary actions following her attempts at mutiny she now is a model sailor, standing to attention until relieved of her post.

However her job description did allow for an expansion of her tasks and today she managed to spot and capture on camera this cute little squirrel. I’m not sure if she spotted the kingfisher escorting us down the canal but it was too fast to photograph anyway.

We continued on through the countryside for several more hours.

As captain, I mostly just put my feet up and enjoyed the scenery.

Ellie weaved her way on through locks….

….. under bridges……

….. past moored boats…

……. into the late afternoon.

Our mooring tonight was just before the Road Bridge at Wrenbury. (Something we will have to open, stopping traffic, in the morning).

The adjacent pub, The Dusty Miller, ( an old converted Mill house) was our dinner venue for tonight. Bangers and Mash!! Nice!

The walk back along the tow path was a bit chilly but Ellie was waiting for us on our return and she was nice and warm inside.

The Euchre game was between the Partlands and the Non-Partlands (which we now realise is a misnomer as Judi has been a Partland for almost twice as long as I ever was). John and I had a hard fought victory and the cumulative score now stands at John 6, me 6, Grahame 4 and Judi 2.

Judi had “foraged” 2 huge apples and tonight we’ve decided to make stewed apples out of them. Breakfast should be good in the morning.

Another perfect day! “But not as perfect as Sunday!!! “