Cats and Dogs comes to mind!

When I finished work last night I went home and did some painting on my own boat. The rain began about 9 and I think it has rained pretty much non-stop since. There can't be that much up there, can there?

I don't blame anyone staying tied up in this weather! There's only us nutters that keep going when we are boating, come what may! That reminds me... When we were coming back from Northwich in July we had a torrential rain storm. I had taken the motor out of Colwich lock, filled the lock and Michael bowhauled the butty in. We could hear rumbles of thunder, but thought it would pass over. No sooner had I hung the butty on and Michael passed me my full English breakfast then the rain started. Well, the water couldn't drain off the motor's cabin top quick enough, it was flooding over the handrails. We had also pumped the butty dry the night before and within minutes she was at a near 45° angle where the water was running to the one side. Getting to Wolseley bridge, I dropped the straps off and let the butty run up on the inside, strapping her to a stop abreast of the motor to take cover under the bridge. We were that wet, that we both had to get changed. After we had dried out and the rain had eased a bit we pressed on for Rugeley for a shopping stop. When we got into the town a lot of the shops had been flooded out.

It's been much the same today. I hear that they have shut schools in Shrewsbury due to floods and I've had a number of emails come through from Waterways saying that rivers are on flood alert. Let's hope the water subsides as quick as it rose.

Simon's back tomorrow, so I am sure he will tell you all about his latest boating trip!

Until the weekend, keep dry!

David.