Day 86 - and we leave Stone behind, but not very far.

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2 locks, 401 in total.







Visitors for a couple of hours this morning, hot-foot from their Orkney holiday as they returned to Dover – it was lovely to see Sarah, George and Sarah (and Mitch) and I enjoyed our little catch-up.







Otherwise it was a very quiet day. We left Stone after taking on water and were almost immediately in wide open countryside for the rest of the day. The stiff following breeze made life a little less predictable but was not a problem. There are still plenty of boats on the move; it is peak time now of course and we're on the Four Counties Ring, a popular circuit for hirers.



We met up with a boat we'd met previously at Stoke - they were returning to their marina, on our route this afternoon. We're still following the R. Trent and apparently last winter it flooded the water meadows and into the marina where the water level rose 3 feet. People who were living there on their boats spent many days loosening moorings and only one boat sank - quite a success story overall.







Decent food for a couple of days now as we were able to stock up in Stone. There is promise of a farm shop tomorrow but we felt we couldn't rely on it being there/open.

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Photos

Yesterday evening sky.
It just looked so good as I passed the open hatch of the boat.

Visitors!
Thank you all for fitting us in an already busy day.

The last lock at Stone.
The road is too close for a full-length balance beam so they bent the beam.

Large clump of reeds....
....floated past as when we were moored - I'm sure we'll see it again tomorrow.