We set out towards Alrewas

After a great evening with Peter and Susan, we made a reasonably early start this morning and by half eight had winded Sanity Again outside the yard and were heading south and west along theMacc. It was my turn to steer, and I was pleased to find that the reduction of ballast in the stern resulting in 2" less draught meant the handling was generally lighter, with decent speeds over the ground where there was anything like a reasonable depth.

Indeed, on the stretch from the Deeps to Bridge 16, I was surprised to see the Garmin showing 4.1 mph, and had to throttle back a bit to stay legal. Adlington was reached after a bare half hour, but things slowed down rather after that. Bridges 20 and 21 are the shallowest on the canal, and a certain amount of leaf mould and silt was still dredged up as we went through.

Nonetheless, we made Bollington in just under two hours, so Sanity Again is now performing comparably with Sanity. Peter will be pleased that his suffering in dragging 600 kg of paving slab out from under the bed was not in vain.

/sweat

The only downside of the trip was the weather, which basically rained pretty well all the time. Sheila had a good excuse for remaining below, in that she was tidying up after last night. (It seems I may have got a bit carried away making the chicken in tomato and basil sauce in the wok, and red splashes had to be removed from the cooker and its surrounds. In fact, looking at the trousers I was wearing, I see that I shall have to change them when I shower after posting this blog.)

 /blush

We've tied on the few remaining rings by the Adelphi Mill in Bollington, the mill owner's alleged vandalism in cutting off all the others not having been repaired yet, though the collapsing state of the wash wall suggests that major surgery is required, not just a quick repair.

The weather having improved after lunch, we managed a nice walk up into Kerridge from Bridge 28, along the road to the right out of the village and so back to the canal at Bridge 29, then returning along the towpath past Kerridge Dock.

Tomorrow, we plan to go on to the Royal Oak swing bridge moorings, as we've a rendezvous with Peter and Jan at the Fool's Nook for lunch.