Escape to the country

After another night of road noise we carried out our plan to reverse down the cut to the next winding 'ole .......just ! ...as the wind had started to gust  to make the boat more difficult to control, we waited until the towpath was quiet and went for it. Ali bravely holding the bow line on the tow path and myself pretending to steer from the stern, after some to-ing and fro-ing and avoiding of other boats we made it, winded, and set off to escape to the countryside again.
The wind was becoming more and more of a problem as it increased in both strength and un-predictability, so holding a straight line was impossible, we had to move forward crab like to avoid being blown into the bank or hit moored boats ......but having made our minds up where we wanted to moor we pressed on.

We came to our first double UP  lock, by now the wind was so strong we couldn't close the gates behind us to fill the lock up ! but we managed using team work and moored as soon as we got out of the lock, back in the quiet of rural Cheshire ( Wharton )
We were tired, wind blown and relieved so Ali decided as a reward we could ............clean the inside of the boat ?  what would she have suggested if we had not done so well ?  

Baz still smiling despite battling with the elements

It took half an hour to pass this long line of moored boats on Rowton Moor

View of our old friend Beeston Castle from our mooring at Wharton

It's been a day of learning - both in boat handling and managing in difficult weather conditions. We came through well but will avoid travelling in high winds,if possible in the future.

Bye for now

Baz and Ali