Day 009 - Don't do it this way!

Wind, wind and more wind with a little, no sorry, a lot of rain thrown in for good measure - that just about sums today up!

Set off this morning after a fried breakfast and headed off into an horrendous wind and very heavy frequent rain storms. Worked through the rest of the locks on this section up to Kibworth top lock. These locks are a joke - they make the National Trust on the River Wey look positively as if they know what they're doing! Some of the beams are so heavy the only way to shift them is to use the boat or draw an opposing paddle to help them on their way. All the top gates swing back open promptly when closed and many of the bottom gates do likewise unless a hefty paddle is opened before attempting to close them. Several gates had lost gate paddles due to vandals which made them slow filling and there are even more paddles where the pawel doesn't fully engage thus causing the paddle to spin back down. Some of the later locks are close enough for a good brisk walk between them but the towpath is really not in a state for 'lock wheeling' unless expert in the sport of bog snorkelling!

NEVER do the Leicester Ring clockwise for the following reasons:

1. You are travelling against the flow making it hard work for the boat.
2. All locks will be against you as the flow makes the locks fill from the top and once on the canal all the by weirs are blocked and so the water fills the lock from over the top gates!
3. Top gates will simply NOT close on you unless you draw a bit of water out from the bottom paddles to keep them shut which makes the job twice as long and hard.

At long last, we were back on familiar canals!

....and off towards Saddington Tunnel.

Finally mooring after 20 locks, 13 miles and 6.5 hours cruising just after bridge 71 outside Smeeton Westerby - very dodgy TV signal but 3 bars of 3G internet.

Tomorrow, Foxton and the forecast is really not good!