My worries from the previous night were allayed as soon as I got up. The water level had indeed risen by several more inches. Now I felt confident that we would have not problem getting through the level. We got ready as quickly as we could in the morning and headed out. The cruise into Robertstown was beautiful and uneventful.
Bridge Before Robertstown
David had reported that nothing was really open in Robertstown, but we decided to tie up and have a quick poke around. There was a cafe up the street, and I ran to grab us a coffee. Sadly the cafe was still closed due to the pandemic. I stopped at a local shop on the way back and grabbed an ice cream for Sarah.
Boats in Robertstown
Sadly no Guinness to be Had
Awaiting Geoffrey's Return
Thatched House in Robertstown
Robertstown from the Canal
Bench and Cows Near Robertstown
Ducks Better Scurry
We were soon at Lock 19, where Sarah hopped ashore and prepared the lock. We then roped the boat in and opened the sluice gates to lower the water. It was remarkably easy, thanks in part to Andrea sleeping through the whole process. We encounterd some shallow water just past the lock, and had to back up and find a deeper channel to get through. Dark tidings of things to come.
Fenton Bridge 1799
(at Lock 19)
There were services here, and we tied up along the wall to fill our water tank and have some lunch. While we were there we had a torrential downpour. Sheets of water washed over the boat and visibility was close to nothing. I'm glad we weren't cruising at that point.
Jimmy from WI stopped by and chatted with us. He let us know that the water level here was about 9 inches down, since they had been holding back the water on the summit level to let us get through. That had been done at the expense of this level. He told us that he was turning the water back on and it should come up.
After several hours, we finally mustered the energy to head out for our final desination: the town of Allenwood. There we were meant to tie up at a mooring place just beyond Bond Bridge on the outskirts of town. We passed under the bridge, and had about 150 ft to our chosen spot. Before we could get there, the boat slowed and stopped. We had run aground! There was no going forward, and it took some effort to back us up to the bridge. That left us parked right under the bridge, where we could actually get off the boat. But we were blocking the waterway.
I quickly called Jimmy from WI and told him of our predicament. We would wait for the water to come up in the night and try again in the morning.
I took the dogs for a walk, and met Karen, the woman who lives in the house just by the bridge. She was busy throwing tennis balls into the water for her two dogs. She took a picture of Dagny to send to a friend who had lived in Australia. Our dogs are such exotic creatures here.
A narrow boat arrived headed in the other direction, but luckily they were planning on staying at the mooring we had been headed for. They were a couple from Cork on holiday with their dogs. They were very friendly, and one of them even came over later to check and make sure we were okay being under the bridge for the night.
Then Sarah, I and Andrea walked into town and picked up two pizzas from Apache Pizza. A tasty end to a long day.
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