Moving for 9.15 a.m. following Charlie. Diana wound the first liftbridge and we arrived at the lock smack on 9.30 a.m. as our young man from the day before arrived in his VNF van (a new one this morning not the one with a taped up broken side window) and he refilled lock 32, Mortes, (2.58m). Diana got off and opened a top end gate for him. Mike closed the gate behind us and Diana opened a bottom end gate once the lock was empty as they had the ladder next to Charlie. Followed through the railway bridge and Diana got off to wind the next liftbridge, another Llangollen styled structure but metal with a wooden deck, and we went through to be in front so we could work the next bridge. It was a long pound 2.5 kms so I made a cuppa. Lock 33, Mont, (2.62m) was ready for us as there were two keepers there, ours and one that was with two LeBoat hireboats who were waiting below. Our services as lock keepers were not needed so we all stayed on board. One group of hirers was American the others foreign. A short pound lead to lock 34, Dirol, (2.60m) which was ready as the two hireboats had just come uphill. Nick closed the gate behind Charlie and Mike stayed off to wind a paddle, open and close a gate and chat with the keeper, who today was much more affable and seemed really interested in UK canals! Booked to do another short hop the next day starting at ten and he said it wouldn’t be him. Two more liftbridges to do according to our map and notes we did last time. We were in front ready for me to get off and wind. The first one, a wooden one, we had noted as being so well counter-balanced that it lifted itself when the catch was taken off. It had been dismantled and had no deck or beams, just the uprights were left. The next one was a metal one, my turn to wind. There was a very small, very new pontoon to get off on (but perversely nothing on the other side of the bridge) so I got off and wound the bridge up.
Mike tried putting the new bow fender against the wall and leaning on it with the boat to try and shape it round the stem post. It didn’t succeed; as we guessed the centre of the fender was a rubber tyre which wouldn’t be shaped. Both boats through, I wound the thing down again – a long wind. Charlie had gone to the Dirol village side of the pound to investigate two bollards and a grey box, maybe electricity. I walked round, the box was locked and padlocked. Decided to move on to the mooring around the corner. I walked back over the bridge and found the path was a farm track but looked OK. It was very rough and went through a double avenue of trees which housed a rookery. There was bird lime and feathers everywhere and lots of dead birds, mainly just their wings. The boats were in the layby and Mike was tying up behind Charlie when I got there. At the side of the mooring was a wood yard with stored tree trunks being watered by lots of ticking sprays. The cooling mist of water blew our way and was quite refreshing. Moved in front of Charlie as our boat was on the bottom. It was just after eleven a.m. Rolled the blinds down on the sunny side and made some lunch. Hireboats moored in front and behind us over lunchtime. Mike lifted the solar panels to get the most of the sunshine, it lifted the charge from 8.2A to over 9A. Mike couldn’t get the Internet to work again, I said I didn’t hold much hope as we were in hillbilly country again and miles from a main road until we get to Clamecy.
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