Overnight trip to shardlow

Boat ran ok but we had a slow journey down as we got stuck behind a pair of Shakespeare boats being taken to Nottingham. The company went bust recently and presume have been skimping on maintenance as the family on this one had a non functioning engine. The two boats were lashed together and made a slow passage - the family on board appeared to be less than useless in assisting the pilot of the remaining boat. Stenson lock is normally slow but took over an hour to get through. The volunteer lock keepers were good in parts at stenson, swarkestone, Weston and Aston. They didn't turn up in numbers on Sunday with only stenson being manned. We had a basic meal at the clock warehouse - a building with more dead spiders than my boat which is unusual. The boat ran ok if a little noisy - I would love a quiet slow revving engine - but probably unlikely now as my income is no longer high enough to support boat ownership. I will probably sell up when I have finished the next round of maintenance. The slipway at swarkestone has a damaged rail at the moment but may be useable with caution so we may take the boats out this month if allowed for blacking and new anodes.