It rained yesterday evening and overnight, but somehow Macc and I managed to get a walk in this morning in the dry. Adrian’s hospital appointment was at 10 and he’d been warned it all might take a while. He went a little bit early, and was soon having his half-cast taken off and replaced with a full one. With a whole range of colours to choose from, he went for black!
He then had to go for an x-ray to check everything was in the right position, and then saw a consultant. The doctor said he could see that the bone was already starting to heal when compared with the x-ray from Fazeley, and reckons the cast will need to be on for three or four weeks. As we’re not going to be in this area then, he said the best thing to do was to go to a minor injuries unit to have the cast taken off. By 11am he was all done and heading back to the boat. Meanwhile, I’d changed the bed and got the bedding into the wash, and re-set the loo. Once Adrian was back, we quickly set off. First stop was just along at Shobnall Basin for good-priced diesel. Here, you have to reverse into an arm under a bridge, so it’s not the easiest to get to.
The price was £1.30 a litre, as long as you have at least 50 litres. That’s 3p a litre cheaper than when we passed on our way in to Burton, and a full 20p a litre cheaper than we paid a few weeks ago at Rugby Boats. I got them to fill our jerry can as well, so we have a bit in reserve. We’ve had the Refleks stove on the last couple of evenings, so our diesel usage will increase as it gets colder. It’s a lot easier to get out of the arm than it is to get in, except that you have no idea if anyone is coming along. We turned left, heading out of Burton. By Branston Lock there are yet more houses being built, along with earthworks and pipes that appear to be some sort of flood alleviation scheme.
Branston Lock was about half full, but it’s only shallow so didn’t take long to set. The sun had come out, but what the photo doesn’t fully convey is how strong the wind had become.
We carried on only to Branston Water Park, mooring about a boat length from where we were on Tuesday. Not long after we’d tied up a squally shower came through, but then after lunch we had more sunshine and Macc and I walked round the lake. Since then it’s continued to be really windy; hopefully it won’t be like this tomorrow because it makes boating a real pain.
2 miles, 1 lock. (258 miles, 166 locks)