I'd left Ariel tied up at the start of the Leicester section of the GU the weekend before, so after training it over to Long Buckby and walking down to the boat where I met up with Kerry, I stowed my gear away and reversed back a short way to Norton Junction. After removing a tyre which was trapped between the rudder and skeg, I made good time through Braunston locks thanks to David Goode who had walked ahead to get them ready for us. I tied up at about 8.30. We set off at 7.30 the following morning and stopped at Badsey's for some late breakfast for a couple of hours. A pretty uneventful trip apart from a bit of trouble with a private boat at a bridge hole. Tied up Hawkesbury Junction just before the stop lock during the afternoon.
The Gravel boats were due through on the Sunday at some point, and after meeting up with Sarah, we had a few drinks in The Greyhound waiting for their arrival. Callisto was through first, shortly followed by Themis and a bit later on Archimedes and Ara. Victoria was a bit behind them followed by Arundel & Joe a couple of hours afterwards. It was good to catch up with the crews and hear all of the events of well loaded boats along shallow pounds.
