Alright in Alrewas

A pleasant if routine run has brought us to Alrewas, leaving Kings Orchard just on half seven and arriving at a bit after ten. It was my turn to steer and for once I made the turn off the Coventry and into Junction Lock in one smooth sweep despite the audience of one volocky.

We had a straightforward trip down the locks, Sheila, Elanor and Sally lockwheeling. There was a moderate amount of traffic, so I had to hold back above Common for a while, no problem on an airless day. We've tied above Bagnall as usual.

After coffee, Sheila and I walked into the village to get a last batch of supplies including pasties for lunch from Coates. It's actually been raining a bit this afternoon, but the main shower is scheduled for six o'clock, just when I'm due to fetch the fish and chips.

We'll return to Mercia tomorrow – I won't blog about that unless there's something unusual to report.

Pottering at Alrewas

We've had a very pleasant day, with a lazy start after wrestling with a Bonus! Level Killer Sudoku. It took so long, the Webasto had finished its one hour run before we got up. After breakfast we ambled into the village and visited the butcher and the Co-op. This meant pasties for lunch, yum, yum.

Back at the boat we had coffee then walked down to the lock to look at the river. It was still running very fast – a drake just ambling along, as they do, went shooting by at a fast jogging pace. On the way back, Sheila spotted an odd looking bird standing at the river's edge. Examination through the binoculars showed that it was cormorant shaped but buff and dark brown coloured rather than black.

Later research on the RSPB site found that it was a juvenile. Presumably, it was standing there trying to remember what Daddy said about learning to fish.

After scoffing the pasties and spending some time inspecting the inside of my eyelids, we set to and washed the roof. One or two boats came up and a couple went down whilst we were doing this and we had a chat with Steve and Sal off Smile and Wave. They are on their way back to Mercia, having picked entirely the wrong weeks to go out for a cruise.

We've since been taking it easy. We do our best to keep fit during the winter, walking twice round the marina every day, but every Spring we realise how soft we've got. A certain amount of creaking and groaning occurs when getting up from the easy chairs...

Tomorrow, we'll probably settle for locking up to Fradley, then go on to Handsacre on Monday.

A bit too thrilling

It rained again overnight, disturbing our sleep with thoughts of rising rivers. In fact, it rained all morning too, so we boated along encased in our Dickies rain suits. Getting away at half eight, we had a straightforward if damp run through Tatenhill, Barton and Wychnor locks. Not surprisingly, we didn't see many other boats moving. In fact, the first boat we met coming the other way was an ABC hire boat emerging from Wychnor as we approached.

They cheerfully said that the river was fine – "only just out of the green"– so instead of tying above the lock and reconnoitring for ourselves, I decided to press on. The river was indeed just into the yellow band on the marker below Alrewas lock but it was running like a train.

Sanity Again coped very well, making 3.2mph over the ground at 1500rpm, implying a current of around 4mph. (SA's hull speed is 7.5mph at 1700rpm – any more revs than that and all that happens is the tiller starts shaking like a thing demented.) It doesn't sound like a lot, but deep spring runoff water has a lot of weight behind it.

It was not a pleasant situation, especially for Sheila as lookout. It's not so bad for the steerer, he can see that the engine gauges are all fine and that the boat is coping, but even so, you're stood there just hoping that there's not a fuel problem or that the prop doesn't pick up a load of weed.

After we were safe and sound on the visitor moorings, we agreed (over coffee laced with Famous Grouse) that in future years, we're not leaving the marina until it's been dry for a week. I reckon that this year it will take that long for the Trent to calm down, there's so much water waiting to drain off the riverside fields.

The boat is now full of damp clothing, what with the rain suits, gloves and boots we were wearing and the wash load Sheila ran as we went along.

Readers will not be surprised to learn that dozing in front of a well stoked Squirrel has been the principal activity of the afternoon. We'll stay put here tomorrow, hopefully in better weather, enjoying one of our favourite canalside villages, then press on up Fradley on Sunday.

Down Fradley with lots of help

Today was scheduled to be rainy, but it held off for most of the morning and only really got going as we were mooring. Sheila set off a bit before eight as we were keen to get to Fradley in good time in view of traffic levels yesterday. It was quite pleasant first thing and we merrily chugged along to Woodend.

Here there were two boats waiting to go down and one coming up. Both boats in front of us were heading for the Huddlesford Gathering this weekend. At least both top paddles are working at Woodend these days so it only took half an hour for us to get through. On we went to Shade House where we had to queue again for a bit. In view of the expected traffic going to the Gathering, CRT had rostered a volockie at each lock and two on Junction.

It made life very easy for Elanor and I – Sheila had the harder task juggling the boat about waiting for each lock. As usual, the lockwheelers walked from Hunts to Common. Since the fields are all down to arable production round there, it was possible to give Sally a run off lead which she much appreciated. She’s been scampering about a lot in these last few days, clearly enjoying her holiday.

For the last couple of locks we were following fellow Mercia moorers Bill and Jo on Lady Victoria – rumour has it that we are being pursued by Wynne and the other Jo in their newly repainted Voyager coming back from Streethay.

One tale we were told by a boat coming up was that Coates the Butchers in Alrewas is closed for refurbishment. A brief discussion amongst the crew led to the decision that this was an excellent excuse for having fish and chips tonight…

The forecast is fine for tomorrow with not too much wind, so we plan to finish the trip by carrying on all the way to Mercia. I’ll try and do a final post after that, then take a break until we move Sanity Again to Shobnall next month for blacking.

Location:Alrewas

And it's Alrewas Again

We’ve had a very pleasant day of it, despite the weather being much cooler. In fact I actually wore a fleece whilst steering, the first time I’ve had one on for several weeks. Expecting to take three hours to get to Alrewas, we set off in very good time, so that we were locking up Tatenhill by eight o’clock. As it was, there was a certain amount of traffic about, though we didn't have to queue for a lock until the last one, the Alrewas river lock.

In this case, Sheila doing look out in the bow saw a boat leave the lock as we came round the bend by the weir, but by the time we got to the second bend onto the final straight a boater was turning the lock and I had to pull onto the lock landing and wait. Sheila was muttering a bit since she reckoned we were visible by the time he was drawing the top paddles, but it wasn't worth making a fuss.

As it was, we’d made good time and it was not yet half ten. The moorings immediately above the lock were almost empty, with just the one boat at the far end, so we tied bow to bow with them. They’ve proved to be a very pleasant South African couple who spend a few months of the year over here boating. Needless to say, the moorings have all filled up now (5 o’clock), pretty well the whole length through the village.

After a quick coffee, we made a shopping expedition to the butcher and the Co-op, treating ourselves to pasties for lunch. I’m having a lazy day of it since we plan to get some fish and chips for dinner, the Alrewas Fryer being one of the better chip shops round here.

Two other bits of good news – my fix behind the rev counter seems to have worked and indeed the engine heater plugs are performing slightly better as a result. They’d started to drop off a bit, needing eight seconds preheat to get a start on the first turn, but just five seconds today did the job. Since the repair included the negative from the heater plugs relay, they must have been being starved a bit.

Even better, Sheila has just had an excellent dry trim from Ann Sutton of Haircuts Afloat on NB Eclipse – and for only a tenner at that. They are presently on their way up the T&M to Etruria, but are thinking of coming into Mercia for the winter having just had a good couple of days there. I’m sure there would be plenty of demand around the marina if they do so… Meantime, if you are the Stone/Stoke on Trent area over the next couple of weeks and need a haircut, you could do worse than ring Ann on 07900 146042.

Location:Alrewas

How many volockies?

The mooring on the towpath outside Kings Orchard is very handy but not as quiet as you'd expect. For one thing, both the A38 and the West Coast Main Line are within earshot and, although it seems to be out in countryside, dog walkers come past at regular intervals. In addition, the marina is only just over the hedge and so odd disembodied voices are to be heard from time to time.

None of this is a problem, you understand, it's just an interesting example of the way what seems to be the back of beyond isn't.

Another start just before eight found us chugging along the cut to and through Streethay Marina. There were folk about already in the yard and plenty of signs of industry going forward. It's an "interesting" bit of canal from there to Fradley village which for some reason is always a) shallow and b) overgrown on the offside. It's not quite in African Queen territory yet, but if CRT don't do some dredging and vedging soon, it will be.

As it is, the steerer has to stay alert for oncoming craft. Fortunately, there weren't too many of these for the first hour, though once we were into Fradley village it got very busy indeed. There were volockies on both Junction and Keepers Locks and nothing coming up as we arrived. I managed another smooth evolution out of the Coventry, round onto the T&M and into the lock without touching reverse, a source of quiet satisfaction given the watchful eye of the lockie.

We crossed with boats at each lock on the way down to Hunts, following another down the last two. Sheila was chuckling as she rejoined me after Common Lock – apparently the chap on the boat in front had taken her for another volockie. In fact, he thought she was two volockies as he didn't realise that she'd walked down from Keepers to Hunts. He said he thought her double at the first lock had been a bit older...

I think she's still trying to work out if that's a compliment.

Although there was so much traffic on the move, there were lots of spaces both here above Bagnall, where we've tied for the night, and on the village moorings, as we found when we walked along them on our way to the shops. One boat we did find was Soda with Colin and Maureen, fellow lodge owners from Mercia. We were sorry to hear that Colin had been taken ill whilst they were tied on the Wedgwood moorings (they've been up to Chester and back) and had had to spend three days in hospital. They are taking it easy travelling back to Mercia and have already had offers of help from fellow moorers there.

The notice above Bagnall still says that the river section is in the yellow, Proceed with Caution, though in fact it's way down and the notice by the lock itself says Normal Conditions. I'll check them all and then drop another email to CRT when we get back. It's not good enough – if they are going to have the notices at all, they should be kept up to date. Of course, there are few staff at either Fradley or Peel's Wharf Fazeley now, since the abolition of the Central Shires Unit, and this is the result, I reckon.

Tomorrow, on to and into the marina.

Location:Alrewas

On to Alrewas

I've just lost an entire post thanks to BlogPress not warning me what would happen when I popped into Settings to set up the photo album access, so this is going to be a condensed account of what I wrote.

I forgot to mention yesterday that as we were passing the Mill House pub, we saw one of the black swans formerly of Mercia, swimming about near the offside reed bed. As we watched, he approached a mute swan sitting on her nest, pecked her until she got off and tried to climb up there himself. Mike Coates, who's just arrived on Aphrodite with Julia, says they saw him doing the same today.

Maybe he is a she and is trying to take over the nest.

We got away in good time today, just on eight and had a good run to Alrewas. The river is reasonably low, though the sign at Wychnor winding hole said Proceed with Caution. CRT needs to sort itself out with signs around here, there still several, some quite new, which claim that the rubbish point at Oakamoor is 100 yards from Barton Marina when it's quarter of a mile away.

The only one to get it right, a brand new one, says it's on the right when it's on the left coming from that direction.

This afternoon, We washed the side of the boat, which was very dusty, and hung the framed cross stitch on the saloon wall:





Tomorrow, eight more locks to above Woodend then on to Handsacre.

Location:Alrewas

Damp day to Alrewas and many meetings

It was wet all morning, not a heavy rain, but a fine drizzle which could have been quite penetrating. We put our waterproof overalls on and just got on with it. It wasn't cold nor very breezy most of the time, so conditions were by no means impossible. It did mean that the cut was much quieter than yesterday, making Sheila's task of steering easier.

We got to Woodend in an hour or so and found a boat just leaving. I worked us down and we plodded on to Shade House. Most of the Fradley Locks were against us, but we found a steady procession of boats coming up for the second half of the flight, which helped a lot. They were a complete mixture of hire boats and privateers, part of the September traffic of those not tied to the school holidays.

It was just on eleven when we got to the top of Bagnall, where there was just one 70' space, nicely above the road bridge. As we tied, we realised that the boat already there behind us was Black Pearl. Geoff used to moor alongside us when we were on Grebe pontoon in Mercia and he popped out as we were getting sorted and had a natter with us.

Just after lunch, we saw some more old friends when Adam and Adrian came past on Briar Rose – we knew from Adam's blog that they were on their way. They stopped alongside for a bit to catch up on Braidbar gossip.

Later in the afternoon, we took a walk into the village, going along the towpath to the Wharf Bridge to see who was about. Sure enough, there was Rubyjack with "Dangerous" Dave and his dog Ruby. We had a bit of a rabbit with them too. Dave's an on and off moorer in Mercia as he likes to prowl round the system, presently heading for Llangollen, he said.

We stocked up with meat from Coates the Butcher and were pleased to get back to the boat.The rain has stopped, mostly, but we are glad to have the Squirrel on again, keeping us warm and dry in this distinctly autumnal weather.

Good and bad

First off the good news. Nev turned up last night with his big spanners and we were able almost to stop the weeping joints. There's still a trace of ooze from one of them, giving a bit of a niff after the engine's been run and then turned off, but hopefully it's something we can live with until we get to Poynton and get Andy to remake the joint. I don't want to nip it up any further and risk stripping a thread or sheering something, thereby going from trivial irritation to broken down in one easy move!

Anyway, we're very grateful to Nev for taking the time to help out and it was good to have a catch up natter with him into the bargain. Boating is still amazing for the way people help each other out when in difficulties.

After all the excitement, we settled for fish and chips from the Alrewas Fryer for dinner. They're still some of the best we know.

Now for the less good. Incredibly, someone has managed to steal a boat from Mercia Marina by sheer brass neck. The thief got himself through the security gate somehow and then asked the way to Moorhen Pontoon. Once there, he walked confidently up to the boat, opened it, started the engine and boated off. It was all done so smoothly that those who saw him assumed he was taking it at the owners' request to work on it.

The theft wasn't discovered until the owners arrived to stay on it and there it was gone. It's a dreadful thing to happen to anyone, but the entire online canal community is on the case and there's every reason to hope it will be tracked down and recovered. There's a thread about it on CWDF with photos of the boat and phone and crime numbers to use if anyone spots it.

If you are near a canal, please visit http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=86179&page=1, brief yourself and keep an eye out! There are possible sightings on the Staffs and Worcs, at Hillmorton on the North Oxford and at Stoke Bruerne on the GU. The boat's been gone for between one and two weeks so could be anywhere on the connected system by now, just about.

Weirdly, this case is almost identical to a theft from Kings Bromley Marina the other week. Again, the thief, this time dressed in overalls, just walked up to the boat, started it and took it away and the onlookers assumed he was taking it to work on. That boat has been found on the Staffs and Worcs with a lot of the thief's possessions inside, including a repeat prescription form.

The police are anxious to interview the person concerned, as they say.

We've had a quiet day today. A bit of tidying has been done, turning out some cupboards and sorting out stuff for the charity auction at the Owners' Weekend. The plan for tomorrow is to make an early start and work up Fradley, aiming for Kings Bromley before the rain arrives.

A good day in lots of ways

OK, so the boat that just squeezed in in front of us on the VMs here in Alrewas promptly got out and started a Honda suitcase genny :(, but apart from that we've had a very good day. As planned, we set off just before half seven on a fresh sort of day but by no means unpleasant. I steered most of the time with Sheila taking over for the locks.

Anyone who didn't know us would think I was some dreadful chauvinist who only let the wife near the action when he had to (shut up, you lot ;) ) but in practice it's working out about right. Until the swelling is well under control, there's no need to take chances with Sheila's recovering foot and anyway, I need the exercise.

Land and Water were blocking the winding hole below Wychnor lock, dumping dredge and reeds on the banks around the hole, but we weren't kept waiting long before getting through. All the locks were against us and it was gone nine before we started meeting boats coming the other way. On the other hand, there was plenty of room on the moorings just above Alrewas lock, which we reached just before half ten.

After coffee, I took a walk into the village to buy some supplies, including indulgent Cornish Pasties from Coates's. Mind you, I didn't know Cornish Pasties were 50% peas... Still they made a very filling lunch after our exertions.

That excellent chap Nev from Percy is stopping by on his way home from work with a serious spanner set to see if we can nip up the oozing joints in the fuel pipework. It's not a major worry, but that smell of diesel does get everywhere from even the merest smear. It is so good to have friends, it makes all this blogging worthwhile.

The forecast is not too good for tomorrow, so we may well take a rest day here before pressing on on Thursday. The next section involves quite a lot of locking and therefore steering for Sheila, so letting her foot recover for a day seems advisable.

On to Alrewas

It's been a routine but very pleasant sort of day. We set off just before eight with the familiar run to Alrewas in prospect. The weather was much better than yesterday, though still with a chilly wind, and I didn't need to wrap up anything like as much for my stint on the back.

By the time we got to Woodend, we'd had coffee and Sheila had started a wash load. We passed some old acquaintances from our WRG days, the Bakers on Enbee, and they followed us down the locks as far as the junction. The locks were against us until we got to Middle, where a volockie had set it for us. We then had this excellent service at every lock through Fradley. In contrast to some complaints that have been aired on CanalWorld, they were courteous and considerate and took particular care to ensure that, as the steerer, I was happy with what they were doing.

There was quite a bit of traffic about, especially Canaltimes, but nothing to cause inconvenience. We've tied just above Bagnall lock, as usual when going in this direction, but there would have been room on the controlled moorings if we'd wanted to stop there.

After lunch and a rest, we walked the towpath to the river lock. The boards all say "Proceed with caution" though the river level is well down in the green. There's a fair flow on, mind, so not much different from when we came up three and a half weeks ago.

We took a path across the fields into the centre of the village, emerging onto Dark Lane. I don't honestly think that it saved much time, if any, but made a pleasant change when we weren't in a hurry anyway. We popped into the Coöp for some bits and pieces and ambled back to the boat for a cup of tea.

Tomorrow, we'll go on to Branston, then to Willington on Thursday. At the moment, the plan is to tie in the village for the night so as to sample the produce of the new chip shop, then go into the marina on Friday morning.

It's always hard

That first full day's boating after the winter break is always hard work. Despite getting lots of walking whilst we're at Mercia, it's not the same as locking and steering. In addition, we've set ourselves to do around six hours a day this trip, double our normal ration.

So it's very quiet in the boat this afternoon...

Sheila did one of her early morning starts, rising just after six, taking the hound out and sorting the boat for cruising whilst I made a cup of tea. The Willington pound has been low all winter, I'm told as a result of a leak somewhere downstream, and Sanity Again was hard aground. Sally was by now snuggling with me on the fixed double but the combined effect of the engine noise and the grinding underneath as Sheila unstuck the boat sent her scurrying through to Elanor on the dinette. She lay on the outside, unusually for her, presumably in case the order came to abandon ship.

By half seven we were all more or less fully functional. I steered so that Sheila could eat breakfast and handed the helm back as we chugged through Burton. Elanor, Sal and I did the six locks to Alrewas, where we arrived just after one o'clock. The river section was just in the green on the level board but with a strong flow. Sheila reported achieving 3 mph at 1400 rpm, at which engine speed the boat would be making around 6 mph through the water, implying a flow of 3 mph.

It doesn't sound a lot, but the stopper wave below the weir is pretty impressive.

After lunch, Elanor and I walked into the village to buy meat at Coates and some bits and bobs at the Co-op.

Tomorrow, we plan to get right through Rugeley and tie at Taft Wharf, aka the pig farm. That'll be another eight locks, then...



 

Back at Alrewas

It's a very familiar route back to Alrewas but still one that passes through some very pleasant rural canal, especially the section from Kings Bromley to Woodend. It takes us around three and a half hours, give or take 15 minutes, so we set off a bit before half seven, the idea being to arrive between half ten and eleven.

As last time, we made very good time for much of it. There were comparatively few moored boats and the locks, when we got to them, were largely with us. Then everything slowed down after we got past the junction at Fradley – I guess the reason why it happens that way is that we follow the same logic from Handsacre every time and that means that we get halfway through Fradley before we start meeting and following those who started off a bit later.

Anyway, a single hander set off from the Fradley visitor moorings as we were working down Junction Lock. We waited above Keeper's for a boat to come up, then again above Hunts for the same reason. Sheila walked on to Common and, lo and behold, there was a boat waiting to work up after the single hander had gone down. The crew of this last told Sheila that there was plenty of room at Alrewas, so we weren't too bothered at the delays. It was another fine morning, albeit with a bit of a chilly breeze, just enough to keep life on the tiller interesting for me.

There were no boats tied above the bypass bridge at all, so we've stopped on the Fradley end of that stretch of piling, as far from the road noise as possible, getting here at a quarter to eleven. A couple of others have arrived since, though there's probably room for at least one more, certainly if the guy in front of us shuffles up a bit instead of tying in the middle of the available space. :(

After lunch and a rest, we walked down into the village, going the long way round to see who else was about. Fizzical Attraction is tied below; on the way back we gave a knock on the roof, but Yvonne and Roger must have been out.

All our shopping got done in the butchers, where we bumped into Chris off Eleventh Heaven, visiting by car.

Once I've posted this, Sheila is going to cut, or rather, mow my hair, after which I'll get a shower to get rid of all the little bits. We're planning to stay tomorrow, then carry on to Branston on Sunday.

What a good day if you are not an Aussie

It's been a beautiful day for boating, especially if you're an English cricket fan. We set off at half seven, having left too early the last time we came this way so that we arrived at Alrewas before the overnight boats had left. As it was, there was a risk that folk had arrived on Friday and planned to stay for the weekend. As it turned out, we had another good run, though there was a worrying moment when we got to Wychnor Lock and the sign said that the river section was closed.

Sheila walked up to the lock and found Ami Bovard about to work down. As we thought, the sign was somebody's idea of a joke – the river was well down in summer mode. After exchanging greetings with her crew, Sheila helped work Ami Bovard down and then Sanity Again up. By the time we'd done that, another boat had arrived to go down. It was all in all an excellent morning's boating in perfect summer weather.

And, what's more, there was a huge amount of room on the water point moorings by the former Rebel's Field. We tied in front of the only boat there, sharing a ring in the expectation of more boats arriving as the day went on. As we finished, the guy on the boat behind came out onto his deck and praised us for neat mooring. Apparently, the moorings had been full last night but everyone set off at six this morning. He commented on the wasteful way folk had tied – pacing out the spaces he reckoned there would have been room for at least one more boat.

After a quick glass of squash, we popped into the village for supplies; pasty and salad tonight, yum. The rest of the day has been divided between staying in the cabin when the sun was at its worst and sitting out on the spacious towpath. The moorings were indeed full by mid-afternoon, much to the chagrin of later arrivals.

Tomorrow, on to Handsacre, probably, depending on how bad the morning rain turns out to be.

John, look away now if you don't want to know – England won by an innings and 78 runs. Broad was the man of the match, not surprisingly. Alister Cook is only the third England captain to regain the Ashes twice in his career, the others being WG Grace and Mike Brearley.

Heading for home

With around three hours boating to do, we set off just after seven this morning, the time between ten and eleven being optimum for getting a mooring at Alrewas. It was a bit overcast with the sun trying to break through by shining under the edge of the cloud. As I looked back at one point, the light had caught the cooling towers and stack of Rugeley power station in dramatic fashion. A latter day Omar Kayyam might have written

Awake! for morning in the bowl of night

Has flung the stone that puts the stars to flight

And lo! the Hunter of the East has caught

The Rugeley smokestack in a noose of light.

OK, maybe not.

It was a pretty straightforward run to Woodend which we reached almost exactly an hour after setting off. The lock was full so I was able to go straight in after Sheila had swung the top gate. Down and through we went and on to Shade House which, like all the subsequent locks, was against us. Nonetheless we made good progress with some traffic beginning to appear in the opposite direction.

There was a boat ahead of us at Keepers which proved to be Ann and Iain on Kelpie, the renamed Prairie Crocus II that they've not long acquired. We only had time for a brief chat as there were boats on the move both ways by now. We got to Bagnall just before half ten, so three hours cruising and a bit of waiting time for boats to use locks in the opposite direction. No problem finding a space here. We had a coffee and filled the time before lunch with some emailing and similar online work.

Since lunch we've been shopping, Co-op and butcher, and I've made some bread dough which is presently proving in the shape of eight baps. The forecast is not too bad for tomorrow, so we'll probably head on down to Branston and carry on to Mercia on Wednesday.

Locking up

Another day went to plan today. We got away around 7.15, Sheila locking and yours truly steering. Sheila coped with all eight locks without too much trouble, though I'd have taken over if necessary, naturally. She got a washload running between Shade House and Woodend and we had an excellent run along one of the Trent and Mersey's best rural sections.

Alrewas had been packed solid, so it was quite surprising to see Fradley downright deserted, with just three boats on the Visitor Moorings between Keepers and Junction Locks. Similarly, the handy stretch of towpath moorings just beyond Kings Bromley marina had one boat on it, though that's always less popular in the summer. It's a lurking spot for continuous cruisers, really, there being no facilities like pubs or shops anywhere nearby, and in the summer the overhanging trees encourage birds to sit above your boat and engage in a bit of modern art all over your roof.

Well, the modern art looks a lot like what the birds produce as far as I'm concerned. ;)

We've tied just beyond the winding hole in Handsacre, one of three boats here and with another two on the official VMs opposite the Crown. One of our co-moorers is Dave on Anon..., but he's not advertising any chocolate today to Sheila's disappointment. The washing is drying and we've been largely loafing in the sun after our exercise this morning.

Checking the batteries immediately after we stopped showed that the forwardmost one was a bit too warm, between 40 and 45ºC. The others were progressively cooler until the sternmost block was between 30 and 35º. The steel rack on which they sit was at a similar tempreature, so it's not internal heating of the cells, it's the ambient temperature running too high for comfort. That first block is close to both the skin tank and the engine coolant header tank.

When we get to Braidbar in September I'll have to have a conversation with Peter about better ventilation there, as running at those temperatures will be shortening the battery life. We could probably manage without the first battery, in fact. The electrics are so efficient these days, and we don't do much winter cruising now, that 460 Ah is more than we need. 345 Ah would be plenty, I reckon.

Tomorrow, we'll make a later start so as to get to the Rugeley shopping mooring at around ten. A visit to Tesco is indicated, then carrying on to our usual spot at Bridge 69, aka the Pig Farm.

Hang on, it's going to be the hottest day of the year so far...

Finally, the photo of Sanity Again in Alrewas:

(c) Sheila Napier

 

 

Better and better

Gosh, what a day. The forecast rain did indeed arrive, but that just gave us a chance to try out the new coveralls, which performed admirably, I'm pleased to say. Time will tell how well they stand up to wear, of course, but the advantage of buying workwear, rather than fancy boating gear or the fashion items that Black's seems to specialise in these days, is that it's designed to be straightforward and hard wearing. After a morning of on and off rain, sometimes quite heavy, we were both still bone dry under the gear.

I'd done four locks, what's more, and hadn't sweated up at all. We set off at half seven, stopped to water below Barton and got to Alrewas just after eleven. We'd seen a fair few boats coming the other way for the last hour and hoped that that meant that there would be room to moor when we got here. There was, but only on the bendy bits between Wharf and Hangman's Bridges.

We've managed to tie on the straightest bit and it's fine for an overnight, but it's clear that the season is warming up and I don't mean just the weather.

After coffee, I popped round to the Co-op for some bits and pieces. After working all those locks (aah, I hear you say – sardonic lot, aren't you?) I wasn't in a mood for complex cooking tonight, so I've cheated by getting a pack of fresh tortellini and a jar of tomato and basil sauce.

It's just as well that I did, as on the way back I noticed that Alrewas is having an Open Garden weekend this weekend. After lunch and some post-prandial eyelid internal surface inspection, we went out to see what the gardens of Alrewas are like. We managed about half of the 20+ available to view and very good value for £4 per head they were. All kinds and qualities were taking part, from narrow back terraces to a magnificent Georgian walled garden, from classic herbaceous borders to an "Architect's Garden", very structural.

One of them was attached to one of the new houses that abut the offside of the canal and we had a great view of this excellent looking boat just opposite. Sheila took a photo but she's not uploaded it yet; I'll try and get her to do it for tomorrow. We weren't the only Braidbar on view, in fact. Phil and Barbara in Bessie Surtees, number 92, had turned up just after lunch and could also be seen.

Once we were all gardened out and even Sheila had had enough, we came back via the Co-op, ice cream having become essential. We've been chilling with cups of tea since and letting our feet cool down. Tomorrow, onwards and upwards to Handsacre or thereabouts.

Stopping short

It was fine enough overnight to sleep with the Houdini hatch over the bed cracked open on the cork, so we woke quite early and got going by seven. The weather was ideal during the morning and we made good progress, despite the single hander who saw us getting ready to go and pushed off the towpath in front of us. Unfortunately, he then had a bit of a problem getting into Tatenhill Lock and we caught him up...

I said nothing, indeed helped him work up the lock; long experience has taught me two things. Firstly, apart from the courtesy aspect of it, it's never a good idea to pull a fast one over your fellow boater; Sod's Law says you'll end up sharing locks or needing his help within the day. Secondly, if you are the victim of that sort of thing, don't meet like with like but smile sweetly and carry on. It leaves you feeling better and heaps coals of fire upon the transgressor's head.

We paused briefly at the refuse disposal point at Oakamoor Cafe to dump the rubbish we collected at Branston Lock. When we got to Barton, the water points were empty so we decided to stop there to fill up and allow the other chap to get ahead of us. Just as we were finishing, an Avante hire boat arrived, so I helped them work up before resetting the lock for Sheila. The single hander had in fact backset the lock for us, a good way to make up for his jumping in front in the first place.

On we chugged to Wychnor, now being followed by another privateer. A boat was locking down Alrewas river lock, so Sheila held back in the calm area alongside the Quartermile Bridge until he emerged, then neatly slotted Sanity Again into the lock, your correspondent nimbly hopping off as the bow entered the tail of the lock.

We'd planned to stop to shop then go on to Fradley for the night, but there was a nice mooring just before the water point, it was beginning to look a bit cloudy and anyway, it was coffee time. So we've settled for Alrewas for tonight and will go on to somewhere near Hopwas tomorrow.

After coffee I walked into the village to post the check to my sister, to buy some pasties and other meat at the butcher and to get a supply of bread for the next couple of days at the Co-op. Since then, we've been doing things inside the boat. The rain finally arrived just after lunch and has been coming down on and off all afternoon. The fire is lit and a quiet evening is in prospect.

Cruising schedule for the next couple of days is Hopwas tomorrow then on to Polesworth on Sunday and up Atherstone on a warm Monday by the looks of the forecast.

Good dentistry

I'm not long back from phase II of my root treatment. All went well but I'm quite weary.

Proper blog tomorrow.

So far, so good

I'm writing this standing in a bus shelter waiting for the 17.15 back to the marina. All's gone well today: the Ocado delivery was in good time, my dentistry was not especially painful.

I just wish the bus service to Alrewas coordinated a bit better with the V3. I got back to Burton just after four, but had to hang about until now for the next bus.

Heigh ho, a proper blog tomorrow, folks, promise.