Toilets and Ducks

Tuesday was not without it's problems.....

After such a delightful sojourn at Kirtlington Quarry the day ended badly when Geoff went to change the toilet cassette and had problems....it would not engage properly and subsequent investigation seemed to reveal that something was either broken or had come unattached.  Because of the way the toilet is fitted it is very difficult to reach or see anything.........why don't boat builders think of these things??????

Now Geoff does not do adversity well...........so a sleepless night was had by both of us and early morning saw us hot footing down to Thrupp where there was at least a sani station including loo.....a phone call to Lee Sanitation as soon as they opened elicited a promise that someone would be with us that day.

Meanwhile the trip down was extremely pleasant but at times chilly

It is supposed to be Flaming June!   Admittedly a few minutes later whilst waiting for the lock to fill and in the shelter from the wind and the sun came out, I was sweltering in this amount of clothes.

Luck was with us at Thrupp as we managed to fit into the last space on the 7 day moorings.

Cal from Lee San arrived about 2pm and quickly diagnosed the problem and managed to rectify it.......he left with the reassuring comment that it should not happen again!!!

Now where do the ducks in the title come in?

All along this stretch of moorings which are beautifully kept by the Thrupp Cruising Canal Club there are some extremely tame ducks.......we take great care not to feed them as they need no encouragement to come visiting.   However today the friendly white one decided to pay a call (literally!). He or she entered by the side doors and proceeded to make itself very at home by c....ing all over our floor.  To say I was not impressed would be an understatement.  In addition to the mess to clear up I can't stand being near any form of bird with flappy wings, so it was left to Geoff to catch the thing and remove it....now we keep the side doors closed....

The day did end on a much better note as we went to the pub for a pre supper drink to meet up with Bones and Maffi (2 local boat residents) after which we decided that the cruising life was OK after all.......

En route to the Jolly Boatman we passed this poor dog...such a hard life living on a boat

4.02 miles 2hr 38 min 3 locks