We set off at the usual time expecting to start the 23 locks down into Wigan around 8 am, giving us time to carry on at the bottom should we so desire, although there will be grocery shopping to do. At the top lock we found nb Beech waiting and we joined them for the descent. One of the crew went ahead and the other stayed to open one bottom gate and close up, the two skippers helping out where possible, mainly shutting top gates and opening bottom paddles. This all worked very well and good progress was made until lock 83. The pound below was totally empty. It appears that all the paddles on the lock below had been raised and locked. CRT was called and appeared eventually letting water down from the two pounds above. We had a delay of about 50 minutes. By this time the promised rain had arrived - heavy showers. We decided to stop at our usual mooring in Wigan, not far from Wigan Pier and good access to a large ASDA supermarket.
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