Wending our windy way along the windy cut

Things were a bit breezier than expected this morning, but fortunately it was Sheila's turn to steer and her helming skills were more than equal to the task. It's a steady haul from Streethay to Sutton Road Bridge at Tamworth, along a canal characterised by tight bridgeholes and lots of bends.

It took us two and a half hours, starting before half seven and ending just a bit before ten. On the way we met just two other boats moving, though things have got busier this afternoon. I ran a wash load and pottered about below, tidying, doing the washing up and catching up with blogs and emails.

From time to time I did nip out onto the well deck as lookout at blind spots; the radio wasn't always a lot of use because of the wind noise, which also created some interesting sound effects in the hearing aid.

The laundry was about done as we arrived; after a quick coffee we went and did the first tranche of shopping; a new stylus for Sheila's iPad from Maplins, her old one having packed up when the tip fell off, and a load of perishable stuff from Sainsbury's.

We've ended up tied under a large solid oak which has been blessing us with immature acorns all afternoon. The gusts are not supposed to get above 30 mph, so we should be safe. It's not like it's a willow tree.

There's a short, two hour stoppage posted for Atherstone Top on Tuesday morning to clear a blocked culvert but it should all be done by the time we get there. Draft plan is to stay here until Monday morning, pump out and diesel at Fazeley Mill and then go on to Polesworth for the night. We'll head up Atherstone Tuesday, stopping near or before Hartshill and carry on to Sutton's Stop on Wednesday.