Solace Day 1 - Held Up

Today wasn't completely rubbish. We had an uneventful journey down to Staffordshire, unpacked all our gear from the car and loaded up the boat

We started cruising by 3pm but didn't even get through the second lock just a few miles away. The beam on the lock had been broken: cracked right through.

We know who did it. We'd waited at our first lock for some idiots in a day boat to come up. They clearly had little idea of how to use the locks. So we were stuck!

The Canal and River Trust sent their volunteers to take a look and report back to them. Within a couple of hours the guys with the gear arrived to try a temporary fix. Batons of steel to hold the beam onto the lock gate.

It's dark and I can't see if it's fixed. We'll see in the morning. I hope it is or we won't be going anywhere.