Braunstone it is then.

The weather was good when I woke at 7:45, I had woken earlier at 5:30 as I often do but forced myself back to sleep somehow, I had breakfast and a cuppa and got myself ready, already a few boats had passed me heading for Braunstone so I decided to wait for another one to come along, give them a 10minute head start then follow them, my thinking being that I could share the locks with them, so about 9:15 a boat came along and I set my plan into action.

First I had to negotiate Braunstone tunnel, 2042 yards long, a little bit bendy in places, no towpath but wide enough for two narrowboats to pass each other.

Approaching the tunnel

A poor attempt at a picture as I entered it, you can just see the light at the exit

I have decided now taking pictures in the tunnel as a single hander just doesn’t work, not enough time to sort out anything and those I took today are just blackness with a dot signifying the exit, for some reason my flash doesn’t want to work in total blackness, I guess it to do with the focusing but not sure anyway here’s what I did get near the end.

Dark in here, that's my tunnel light off center and high to the right, must adjust it

Leaving it all behind

After leaving the tunnel I found my plan had worked perfectly and the boat ahead had prepared the first lock (6) and as I came into their view they saw me and they waited, I arrived and just swanned in alongside them, lovely, the wife was steering and I helped the man with the paddles and gates, it was busy, and we could see at the next lock a pair of boats, they exited and kept side by side for some reason, they weren’t tied together so there was a gap between them, and there wasn’t much room in the pound (stretch of water between locks), anyway my locking partner had asked me to go first  so once they started moving so did I, I think she was a bit nervous although she said she had been boating for 30 years, and for some reason she held back, this made it awkward for her to get out of the lock and around them, I was already past them before she left the lock, it’s a funny old game this boating!

Straight through the next lock with no problems and then we found a single waiting, so I let my locking partner join them as they had originally been ahead of me, as I waited another boat joined me so I had new partners, it got even busier and at the next lock four boats were already waiting to go down, so I think I have experienced my first real traffic jam.

It took a while but soon we were through all the locks and into Braunstone, it’s very busy here

so I looked for the first available mooring spot which was on the 48hour moorings opposite ‘The Boathouse’ pub, well it would be rude not to visit wouldn’t it, so about 2:30 I wondered over and spent an hour watching the boats pass and enjoying a pint of Pedigree in lovely sunshine, I hope it’s not too noisy later tonight. Tomorrow I will stay put and have a look around.

Tonights mooring

Totals Today: 3 miles : 6 locks : 1 tunnel