Day 68 and more broad locks on the GU set off early to try to get them done before it got too hot. Unfortunately no one else going our way to start but were caught by a pair of boats with lots of crew by the last lock. Normally boaters complain about canals being too shallow or not having enough water but on this occasion we had too much, one of the reasons the boats behind caught us was that as we were near to emptying ours they were emptying their locks further back and the flow was filling ours up again! by the last two locks this meant the water was really flowing over the top of the lock so it was coming in nearly as fast as it was emptying. At the last lock the following boats had completely caught us up and there were two boats coming the other way, after about 15 minutes of the lock emptying we finally got the doors open but it took two people on each gate to do so. The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful and we managed to moor somewhere (near Gaydon junction) with some shade, despite this and the by now fairly strong wind the boat was still really hot inside.

Day 69 had a bit of a dull start but brightening quickly but still windy, which gave us a few problems between the first few locks of the 17 lock Rothersthorpe flight which was our task for today. It didn’t start well with something stuck behind one of the doors of the first lock, after that we got into a good rhythm although most were set against us. We finally met two other boats coming the other way about lock 12. As we went further down the flight the water became really clear and we saw many damsel, demoiselle and dragonflies (including Southern Hawker after which the boat is named)and you could see fish swimming around; it was like boating through someone’s large pond. We had decided to get a mooring in the marina at Northampton as D remembered the moorings there as being distinctly dodgy last time we were on the Nene. Pontoon was too short which with the wind meant we had about a foot gap between the boat and the pontoon which made getting on and off more hazardous. Did some provisioning in very hot weather, only the wind making it even vaguely bearable.

Day 70 – what a s*****y day! We started late as D wanted to do some shopping and we needed to hand back the security fob for the marina once the office opened at 1000. Before we reached the second lock we had blanket weed wrapped around the prop and we had to clear it before we could go any further. At one point J forgot to close a paddle in the top gate (too many people around / distraction) so D got cannoned around the lock. We had planned to moor at Earls Barton (about four to five hours cruising) but found the moorings shown on the map didn’t exist; moved on, trying for the next moorings on the guide; again did not exist. Lack of moorings continued. We found a boat drifting whilst they were clearing their prop from blanket weed and they warned us that there was a thick patch of it ahead of us, by now it was about 1830 so we were both tired, hungry and fed up; and still no sign of a mooring. Despite trying really hard to avoid the worst of the weed, we must have had about two square metres of it being pushed in front of the bow and a load on the prop which again had to be cleared before we could move on. Finally got to Wellingborough (and the last available mooring; on a bend) at eight pm mentally and physically tired. Last time we went through here (from the other direction) we arrived with the headlight and navigation lights on so we should be grateful for small mercies. As well as being on a bend the mooring was opposite an old factory now taken over by pigeons so the smell was noticeable and the neighbouring factory was running some machinery. Thankfully J had planned a very quick meal for that night.