We knew we’d probably get wet today, but probably not as wet as tomorrow. So we followed our now normal puppy-based routine, and set off once Macc was sleepy and in his crate, about 9.30. The good thing at the moment is that there’s 60-90 minutes of awake and play time, and then there’s a couple of hours sleeping. The swing bridge was only a couple of bridges away, so Adrian went to open it. The little building there doesn’t only have the big hands sculpture, there are loads of different things.
Adrian walked on to do the two lift bridges. There was activity today at the site of the winter works, which finished earlier this week. There was a digger making good on the offside. I hadn’t noticed yesterday quite how big the site was, with a rough road installed over a field to bring equipment to the canal.
As we approached Bridge 19, the last one before the junction, I could see a boat coming so waited for it. Then it turned out there was another one, so I was milling about on the towpath side for ages. Once they’d both come through the bridge, I found we were rather stuck in the shallows, two or three feet out from the towpath. Eventually I reversed quite a long way to get the stern into deeper water.
At Marple Junction we turned onto the Macclesfield Canal again, hoping for a decent mooring. There are more boats here than when we left yesterday; the space opposite the water point had gone, as had one immediately through Bridge 2. The spot we’d left yesterday was occupied, but there was one beyond it, so we went there. But the bow wouldn’t come in, it was stuck on something under the water. In the end we managed to get it off, and by moving back as close as we could to the boat behind, we got both ends close to the bank.
We didn’t really get wet at all this morning, but this afternoon it’s been chucking it down periodically. The towpath is very muddy, so Macc’s toilet trips have been as brief as possible. He’s also played lots of games and been improving his sitting. He also really likes a cuddle when he’s a bit tired, and asks to come and sit on a lap.
3 miles, 0 locks. (12 miles, 0 locks)