A really lovely morning, and in spite of being up early with Macc, it was nearly 10 before we got ready to set off. We thought we’d probably timed it all wrong, as about three boats went past while we were sorting ourselves out — we just hoped they were putting some miles under their belts rather than just making a short hop to Bollington like us. Adrian put Macc in his sling and brought him out to the stern so he could see what was going on. Given that he’s been a right wriggling fidget the last couple of times he’s been in it, this time actually went quite well.
As we approached Bollington, there were indications Macc needed the loo, so Adrian jumped off with him. The moorings looked full on the aqueduct, but I reckoned we could go right at the start — there was a ring for the bow and a mooring pin left behind by someone else, which suggested it was an ok mooring. I came alongside, Adrian handed me Macc so I could pop him in his crate, while Adrian took a rope. We got moored up, although it wasn’t easy to get the mooring stakes in at the stern. I thought I’d have a go at getting the left-behind one out (because it’s always good to have spares) but soon found out why it was there: although I could move it in every direction and even twist it round, it just would not come out of the ground. We both had a go at it — and it’s still there.
Anyway, it’s a really lovely mooring right in the shadow of Clarence Mill, and hopefully very easy for the puppy trainer to find.
There’s even a bit of grass alongside that Macc can use, while still keeping close to the boat. One problem is that he gets rather overexcited by all the new smells in a new place, so he had to have a little calm down time on the well deck.
Ordinarily we’d have gone to the Cafe Waterside for lunch, but we can’t at the moment with Macc. So I went to see if they do takeouts, which they do — so I ordered a couple of toasted sandwiches for 12.30 and went back to get them later.
In the early part of the afternoon, I sat in the well deck in the sunshine reading, and taking various compliments about the boat! Then at 3.30 Cal the dog trainer arrived, and we had a really good session learning some new techniques for tackling the puppy biting, and some new things to teach him too. There was also plenty of good general advice.
We’ve set a new solar generation record today of 3kWh, which is double our previous best. Of course really every day should be a new record as the days get longer and the sun gets higher in the sky. Even so, I reckon 3kWh is pretty good for a day in early March.
2 miles, 0 locks. (3 miles, 0 locks)