Just after eight o’clock we left Pratts wharf and headed for Stourport. As we approached York St lock two boats pulled out in front of us. One of them then proceded to wind just above the lock. We had to wait while he winded, then wait to go down the lock behind him. It would have been more polite to let us pass before trying to wind, or at least to say ‘thank you’ to us for waiting. It later turned out that they were only going down into the basin to enter the dry dock anyway.

When we got to the top of the first staircase there were two boats waiting and one coming up. There is very limited space there so we breasted up with one on the pontoon. A young family on a Viking Afloat boat were next down and we helped work them through. By this time another hire boat (Countrywide Cruisers) had arrived to go down. A Canaltime boat started coming up the lower staircase without checking the situation further up. So by the time we came out of the bottom chamber of the top staircase there were two boats waiting in the short basin to come up. With quite a lot of manouvering it was all sorted out and we headed off down river.

During all the above Heddi chatted to the crew of another boat in the dry dock. We need to have our bottom blacked next autumn and havent quite decided whether to do it ourselves or have it done professionally.

We had planned to top up with water at Holt lock, but the watr point seems to have been removed. By the time we discovered this the bacon & sausages were already cooked, so we moored up on the pontoon anyway and had breakfast. I knew that there was a water point just before Diglis locks so we decided to go there, get the water then come back up river to moor by the racecource. However as we were passing the trip boat moorings I spotted a water point tuck away round a corner so we topped up there instead.

In the afternoon we we went for a wander round the shops looking for inspirations for Christmas presents !