Met Office gives us hope, but masses more to do

I hope the Met Office is right. They published their seasonal summer forecast yesterday and are predicting a better than average summer. "A repeat of the wet summers of 2007 and 2008 is unlikely" they say. This is good news because we're going to be out of doors a great deal and at the mercy of the rivers if it rains.

So far on "the cruise", we've covered 82 miles and 83 locks. I was feeling this was all going to be easy until I just calculated we had a further 251 miles and 85 locks to go on the outward journey to Bedford, taking in the Wissey the Little Ouse and the Cam. Then a straight run home will be another 236 miles and 152 locks. Gulp!!

This means that in terms of lock miles we have only covered 18% of the total so far and we have spent 11 days actually moving. So at this rate I calculate that we have another 50 days cruising ahead of us. Now I need to look at where we can find 50 days from.

We've been using the journey so far to test out the accuracy of my Grand Union canalometer. Some days it has given us a remarkably accurate forecast of cruising times although on the final day we beat it by an hour because we had a big crew going up Buckby locks so the one ahead was always waiting empty when we arrived. I fear that my NeneOmeters may not fare so well. Rivers are a lot less predictable and those guillotine locks can take ages.