Wednesday 28th/Thursday 29th July.....

Wednesday 28th, not much to report, cruised a couple of miles and worked one lock.

Went to Sovereign Wharf for diesel, and, I know it has been published elsewhere time and time again, but, diesel is 70 pence per litre, you can declare what you want, BUT, it is only cash or cheque (no plastic) and they are only open Monday to Thursday, 1000 to 1600 hrs.

The evening was spent with a friend we had made at a previous National. There are so many eating establishments in Banbury to choose from for its 46000 population, but, the TOP WOK chinese buffet was our choice and it was fantastic.

Thursday, left early, so did every one else. Got to Nell Bridge Lock and found a queue, one boat had been in the lock for over an hour as the bottom gate would not shut..... suffice to say common sense prevailed and a good old fashioned 'flushing' of the lock solved the problem, however it did delay us for 2 hours.

We carried on and on, eventually we moored up, after 9 and a half hours cruising, but had only covered 14 miles and 10 locks, a journey that should not have taken us much more than 6 hours.

Tomorrow will be a short day.... it is my 60th birthday and Thrupp is our destination...