Over the summit

17th & 18th March

Yesterday was another chilly start to the day, but feeling like hard boaters we decided not to bother with the heating. Standing shivering in front of the sink led to some regrets about this, but it was too late by then.

We'd both had a broken night; I've noticed that these tend to follow the consumption of tinned pies. It may have something to do with the high levels of salt, or perhaps the levels of tryptophan in the Oxo gravy. Either way, I think we'll be keeping such pies just as a backstop in future. In addition, the sound of the M6 kept going all night – it's another example of the onset of Spring that we've taken to sleeping with the Houdini propped open a crack again, thus getting the benefit of the dawn chorus, but also of any traffic noise that's going.

Having set off towards Pierrepoint Locks, we found ourselves passing a boat which, although otherwise anonymous, had a sign up saying Fenders for Sale. We stopped and I negotiated the purchase of a new bow fender, to replace my sad effort. At £70, it seemed a reasonable price for a vee fender. The woman who sold it to me was clearly not long up, though all her curtains were open. This is the first time I've bought a fender from a woman in a dressing gown.

The weather had been very pleasant, but as we approached Kidsgrove, cloud began spilling up over the hill from Stoke on Trent, and most of the day was rather chilly and cloudy; very frustrating when it so clearly could have been really sunny again.

The locks came and went steadily. After Thurlwood we stopped briefly at Rode Heath to get supplies from the little PO and shop there, before chugging on to finish just above Church Locks at coffee time. I lit the fire whilst we had coffee, then after lunch fixed the new fender to the bow.

The rest of the afternoon was given over to composing a post for the Building Sanity Again blog, followed by dinner and an early night.

This abstemiousness paid off with an early start this morning. We were drinking tea in bed before half six, and on our way by half seven. We wanted to get up the remaining six locks to the tunnel in good time, so as to get a reasonably early passage. On a misty morning, we arrived at the North portal by ten past nine.

Some boats were already on their way through from the South, so we had a bit of a wait. By ten to ten we'd been joined by Black Swan and Valkyrie, and led this mini convoy through in about 35 minutes. We had a bit of a problem getting into the tunnel, as the summit pound was eight inches down. Sanity rather ground her way over a reef of silt to get in.

Why on earth BW should let the summit get so low, I don't know. It can't be traffic – the stoppages either side have only just come off – and it certainly can't be lack of water after this winter. Sheila had problems for much of the rest of the pound to the top lock, grinding over sundry hidden objects in most of the bridge holes.

Once out of the tunnel, the weather started to improve. By the time we'd got to the bottom of Stoke Locks, I'd had to shed my puffa jacket. We had lunch on the move between Stoke Bottom and Trentham Lock, and have tied for the afternoon on the Wedgwood moorings.

The new fender has performed splendidly. In the first lock of the day, Sheila gently took Sanity up the lock until the fender was against the top cill, and then revved up in forward. This is a good doge with a new fender; it pushes it hard against the stem to shape it round the bow. When we stopped today, I adjusted up the fastenings, so that it's now snug and firmly in place.

Tomorrow we'll go gently down to Stone, the final eight locks making a total of 40 in four days, which is hard boating by our reckoning. We'll take a couple of days in one of our favourite canal towns, before travelling the familiar route back to Great Haywood and on down to Alrewas for the Spring check ups.