This axiom comes to mind as I sit in our warm boat after 2 hours of pouring rain and very windy conditions on the canal standing on the stern of our boat piloting us along at 3 MPH.
It HAS been raining all day. Oh, it may have stopped for 5 minutes but I think I'm safe to say it rained all day today AND HARD. Not your whimpy Seattle drizzle-all-day rain but an England rain that only a farmer could love.
We started off this morning with 6 locks in a row all within a 1 mile stretch. We love doing the locks but they lose their romantic appeal the wetter things get. It was so wet and we were so wet that I think we were ready for a divorce from the locks despite the cheery looking wave from me.
With 4 locks done and both of us soaking wet (Karen's 10 year old coat is no longer waterproof like my new one she bought me for Christmas) we docked for awhile to dry out and eat lunch.
The locks can hold two boats at the same time. Sometimes you lock through with another boat and sometimes there are no other boats going your way. As we were getting ready to get wet again another boat was coming up through the lock below us. We quickly got ready again and joined them in our next lock.
The other captain and I joyfully commisurated about what a lovely day we were having as the locking duties were masterfully handled by our first mates.
We locked through the two remaining locks together sharing the load and making the difficult task in the rain half as hard. They stopped in a couple of miles for lunch at a Pub they asked us about and we motored on without locks or swing bridges for the 4 miles to the bottom of the Greenberfield trio of locks.
Once we got there in the pouring rain and very windy conditions it was time for me to dry off again. Karen had been rotating the wet clothes in the cabin but I was soaked to the skin once again.
About an hour later our new-found friends came by in their boat intending to head up the 3 locks and we quickly got ready to join in the party.
Karen got out of the boat and headed up to help the lady with the locking duties in the 1st of the locks and I got the boat ready to leave in the continously pouring and windy rain.
We locked through in tandem through all 3 locks in just 1 hour. We pulled over 100 yards past the top of the last lock to spend the night in the wind and the rain. Tomorrow we shall travel the last mile to our boat's home in Barnoldswick.
Our lock total for today is 9 locks and so much rain and wind that our 4 hours and 15 mintues seemed like twice that.
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