Owl watching and plastic boats

The delightfully isolated mooring

Yesterday was the first calm, dry and occasionally even sunny day of the trip so we decided to stay put on our isolated little mooring at Fiskerton, have a wander about, do a spot of reading and generally potter.
There were two other boats with us, an elderly but handsome Les Allen narrowboat and a moderately flashy looking plastic - a Sealine. As ever, you tend to keep yourself to yourself at moorings, bar the occasional passing nod. And narrowboaters never talk to plastics! Nor they to us I imagine.

Watching for the owl

But sociability broke out all around when Vicky spotted a barn owl patrolling its stretch of riverbank in the evening - a big, handsome, ghost coloured bird. Soon everyone was up on the bank, binocs in hand and following its progress. Mr Plastic defied all our sorry prejudices. No gin swilling marina-pub-marina poseur he but a knowledgeable and enthusiastic bird watcher and a very serious boat user. He was just on the way home from a trip up the coast toward Whitby, then back down as far as Wells in Norfolk. I have to admit I was quite envious of his ability to cruise to Holland and all points around the coast. Until he told me the fuel consumption of his two 200hp engines – 1.5 miles per gallon. I think I'll stick to narrowboating; this week has cost us well less than 20 gallons I reckon.
Today dawned warm and sunny; the river flat calm. We headed off to Woodhall Spa, a timewarp little spa town in the middle of nowhere famous for being the home of the legendary 617 Squadron Dambusters.
The six miles of river was near deserted with just a couple of narrowboats heading the other way and we moored up at an almost empty jetty on the edge of the town with just another nb down at the other end.

Fiskerton Fen was created from an old clay pit dug out to line the river for flood defences

We've had a quick wander round and returned to doze in the sun while we still can. Tomorrow it will probably be raining - I'm afraid I've had my shorts on.