Relaxed? Today was horizontal!

Today I did nothing! Well that's not strictly true; I did wake up, cook a fried breakfast and then took my father on board to help me crew the next 2 weeks but that was about it! I didn't leave the lake until the afternoon and then motored the significant distance of about half a mile to the tunnel portal at Harecastle. Here we are sitting at the very back as directed by the tunnel keeper because we don't want to go through until tomorrow morning. ....and a close up of the action at the entrance!

Shortly after this boat appeared a hire boat came out and pulled up. The tunnel keeper went on board with a first aid kit and promptly came back out again to phone for an ambulance. It turned out that one of the kids was getting a little over excited in the tunnel, jumped up and smashed his head on a rock. Mother and small child were duly carted off to A & E in the ambulance leaving dad and the older boys to continue their journey as they had to get the boat back to Stone by 9.00 in the morning. It did leave me wondering how many of those types of accidents happen each year; and more significantly how many more it will take before we all have to wear hard hats in every tunnel we enter!?

The rest of the day was spent doing this:

(Or at least in between the thunder, lightening and rain downpours.) Tomorrow - through the tunnel at 8.30ish and on through as many of the 15+ locks as possible!