Yelvertoft, Crick and Crick Tunnel

Filling up with water at Yelvertoft

We delayed our departure as we like to listen to Melvyn Bragg on Radio 4 on Thursday mornings.  The weather was sunny and less windy than yesterday as we cast off at 10am.  25 minutes later we moored near Yelvertoft, the first village close to the canal for some days.  We had hoped to visit the local butcher and Italian Deli but after a half mile walk we found it was closed for the owner's holidays.  So back to the boat and a 100 yards move to tie up again this time at the water point where we filled up before carrying on towards Crick.

Bridge 16 between Yelvertoft and Crick

The nature of the canal is changing. It is noticably wider and deeper, enabling us to maintain a steady speed of 3mph without any feeling that the engine is being strained.  Also the attractive scenery is more visible being less hidden by canalside trees.  By 12:45 we had reached Crick and moored up next to the main road into the large village.  A 10 minute walk took us to the Coop where we bought a few groceries, hopefully, to last us until Northampton, perhaps 4 days away.

Approaching Crick Tunnel

After lunch on board we set off again to go through the 1500 yard Crick Tunnel. It is perfectly straight and from the entrance you could see the trees at the far end with a pair of binoculars.  It is also rather wet with continual drips of water falling from the roof.  For most of the journey through the tunnel there were no other boats around so we were able to travel quickly down the middle. However another boat entered as we were close to leaving.  Unlike our experience at Husbands Bosworth Tunnel we passed each other without any physical contact.

Moored south of Crick Tunnel

We moored up for the day half a mile further on in a pefect sunny location opposite a field of sheep with no other boats in sight.

Today: 4.69 miles, 2 hours 10 minutes travelling