It's fun being on a whole new canal - in this case, the Trent & Mersey between Fradley junction and Nottingham. It's a time of other 'firsts' too. I met a wide-beam for the first time since starting my life afloat. That seems strange after four years of cruising where I've always been on narrow-lock canals but here I'm flirting with the river Trent, on and off ;-) Seeing the widebeam, I was transported back to my first ever trip on a narrowboat with a lovely friend and teaching colleague, Cat, who called widebeams 'chunky monkeys'. She's got a lot to answer for, bless her! That first trip was all it took for me to be hooked.
The other first is doing a wide lock by myself. I haven't done it yet, just went to have a look at it ;-) I think it'll be ok although I forsee a small problem coming out of the lock... I'll be locking down and will need to bow-haul out as I can't get my dog back on otherwise. There's a bridge at the foot of the lock so I'll drop the rope on the roof as usual, only I'm worried cos it's much wider a space to be able to retrieve the boat out the other side. I need to remind myself that like everything else that has ever worried me about boating, IT'LL BE OK!
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