Ashton locks cacher and more rain

Dawn raids this morning, and made a pigs ear of it, attempted 3 found 2 and should have got 4. read the logs
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=f5f944ec-1a73-468d-b0b6-1452177f8e7d

Got to work at 6.59 so straight out into the rain as the chain lad hadnt shown up. setting out on level 15 deck, rain lashing down got very wet, though did get to watch 2 boats make a hash of the locks outside the site, 1 was a private boat and the 2nd an Alvechurch boat from Anderton, I assume that they had tied up for the night at Piccadilly basin, they got extremely wet working lock 1.

Later on in the morning at about 10.30 a que of 4 boats going up and passing them 2 boats going down, all in the rain, the 2nd boat up was Ye Dolphin off our marina, yelled down to the fella steering to wave, but couldn't hear me, he appeared to be single handed as he tied up below the 2nd lock under the scaffold that is around the lock building, but the crew of the claymoore navigation hire boat behind were giving him a hand.
The hireres were also moving there boat up to the bottom gates whiulst they waited for ye Dolphin to work through the lock, all good practise, but not so good when there is a boat coming down as well.. some very amusing manouveres followed..
The 4th boat was the swedish crew that i saw leaving anderton on saturday, they were working very effitiently.
But every boat but the last 2, came unstuck with the bottom left gate paddle, which sticks half open, when you try to close it whilst the gate is open, lets the lock water flow through, like leaving the plug of the bath out, and means that the lock takes a long time to fill and water is wasted, not that that matters today....

Finaly the sun came oput and between 11 and 2pm stu and I got the setting out done, whilst looking over at lock 2 saw a bloke in a motorbike Jacket wandering around lock 2 suspiuciously, after a few minutes my suspicions were confirmed, he was a cacher looking for my 'Ancoats for Islington' cache, which is hidden by the lock, not tell you where.

It was amusing watching him looking in every nook and cranny, walked past the hiding place at least 4 times before he found it, will have to watch for his log tonight, wonder who it was?