A rude awakening... and a big day.

The sight of all the working boats at Alvecote was one to savour, and they always get my attention when we see them out on the cut, so much so that I have often said to Louise that I would quite like to own one (which always falls on deaf ears). However, on Sunday morning at precisely 5.49am, we weren't quite so taken by the first boat passing us, obviously leaving the gathering. Now one wouldn't be so bad, but it was as though we had hit the 'snooze' button on an alarm clock, as by 6.15am, SIX had passed us. I must admit, the sound of the engines is much more pleasant than an alarm clock, but a lie in would have been nice.

They say if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, so we decided that as we were up we'd set off. We left about 7.15am and were soon rewarded by a flying display by an adult kestrel and three of her young - a birds version of follow the leader as they swooped and changed direction in line.

Atherstone locks are always pleasant to work and we dropped lucky as we arrived with just one boat ahead already entering the bottom lock. Two quickly followed behind and so many hands made light work. We passed quite a few boats going down, but were never held up and reached the top lock soon after 11am.

Atherstone Locks

The sun was shining and there were plenty of boats passing in the opposite direction, but for some reason today, so many steerers looked miserable and couldn't raise a smile. Louise nearly gave one a heart attack as she said hello quite loudly to him as we passed, causing him to raise his head - worse than some of the anglers we have encountered recently. Why do an activity that makes you so miserable - get off the water and try something different !!!

Louise took the helm as we left Nuneaton and I walked the dogs towards the junction with the Ashby Canal at Marston Junction. We always seem to meet boats here and today was no different. A cruiser was just leaving the Ashby as a 70' narrowboat was about to make the difficult right turn onto it. The narrowboat steerer was moaning that the horn of the cruiser had confused him and words were exchanged. Louise held well back until they sorted themselves out and then moved forward, just as another cruiser came into view from Hawkesbury. I signalled to her to stay back and waved the cruiser to come through which worked well. Louise then started to proceed through the bridge as a narrowboat appeared at speed. There was another narrowboat behind us by now, so I signalled to the steerer to slow down, to no avail. As it got closer I shouted to him to slow down as there were two boats coming towards him. 'Where?' was the reply !!! 'In the bridge, I suggest you hit reverse' was the advice. It was all a bit tight, but Louise coped with it all very well and didn't spill a drop of her wine.

When we arrived at Hawkesbury, there were plenty of moorings, but we decided to carry on and find a quiet mooring on the Oxford. I had forgotten how few opportunities there are along this stretch and there are certainly many sections of bank in need of attention. We wished we had stopped at Hawkesbury, but we finally moored beyond Ansty in a nice spot at Hopsford Aqueduct although a bit close to the railway line. I had a decent evening fishing catching some good roach and skimmers.

Monday will be a much quieter day... we hope.

Off to a good start

A cracking start to the trip today. We left Kings Bromley with clouds overhead, but the sun soon shone through as we approached Wood End lock and onto Fradley. No queues at the locks today and we were soon turning onto the Coventry.

We arranged to meet our friends, and previous owners of Blue Moon, David & Sarah, at Hopwas for lunch. We had a steady run down in the sunshine and moored in behind them. We had a lovely lunch at the Tame Otter and caught up on tales of their last three months cruising since we last saw them. They've clearly enjoyed the whole experience, if not the weather. It was great to meet up again and we may get chance again on this trip.

After lunch we said our goodbyes and continued on towards Fazeley and then up Glascote locks. Some light rain, but not the predicted heavy thunderstorms we were promised. Alvecote was packed with countless working boats attending a rally over the bank holiday weekend. What a great sight to see so many together.

Working boats at Alvecote

Unfortunately no mooring spaces, so we went a little further and moored at Pooley Nature Reserve which is reclaimed mining land. We climbed the spoil heaps this evening and got some lovely views for miles around - we reckoned we could almost see home !!

Tonight we have had a call from our eldest son who is at Leeds Festival and we were able to listen to one of our favourite childhood bands 'The Cure' who were playing there. The sound quality down a mobile phone in amongst 80,000 people was not good, but it was the thought that counts.

Always have a Plan 'B'

Well that's work finished until 10th September for both of us. We are off to the boat this evening and do our shopping in Lichfield before setting off tomorrow morning. The weather forecast looks a right mixed bag for the Bank Holiday weekend with heavy showers tomorrow, a reasonable day on Sunday and then rain, rain and more rain on Monday. A slight change of plan for us in that we are going to head off in an anti clockwise direction around the Leicester Ring and once we get to Market Harborough, decide whether to continue or re-trace our steps, depending on the weather, river levels on the Soar etc. We've also still got plans to meet up with friends and have guests with us for a few days, so we can't wait to get going on what will be our last major trip of the season - let's see some sunshine... please !!!

Ready to go

We think we have decided the route for our final trip of the season starting next Saturday. It looks as if we are going to go clockwise around the Leicester Ring and also take in the Ashby Canal again. Lots of reasons for this route in that we hope to have guests with us for parts of the trip, plus John could do with being close to Derby (top the Ashby will do) for 4th September. So all in all the route should fit in with our plans. We really wanted to head back down onto the Avon again, but the forecast is for 'changeable' weather with 'above average rainfall' and we certainly don't want to be caught out ourselves again or as others have been unfortunate this summer. It's getting on for 3 years since we were on the Leicester section and we have actually never been through the centre of Leicester, so that will be a new experience too.

Today we popped down to the marina and filled with fuel, changed the engine and gearbox oil as they were both almost ready to be done and I didn't fancy doing it whilst we are  away. A quick calculation of engine hours and fuel used over the 18 months we have owned the boat shows we are using 1.3 litres of diesel per hour overall, which, when you consider we also run the heating on diesel seems to be quite economical.

We also had a quick run out to Handsacre and moored up for lunch on board as we had John's mum with us for the day. Lots of boats on the move and everyone enjoying the sunshine...will it hold for another couple of weeks - we can but hope.

The Golden Spot

It is said that you always remember where you were at significant events in history...the shooting of JFK, the death of Princess Diana etc. Well what about three Olympic gold medals in the space of 45 minutes at a home Olympics. The spot where we were moored on the Coventry Canal on Saturday night is our 'Golden Spot' - just beyond Hademore Farm Bridge.

We had decided to spend the weekend aboard with our good friends Steve & Madeleine. The forecast of 'torrential downpours' was not good, but we were determined to make the most of it. We left Kings Bromley just after midday on Saturday in bright sunshine and made our way down towards Fradley. Approaching Woodend Lock, we came across Louise's 'boss' and his partner who were spending their first weekend aboard their new boat 'Fly'. We had a chat with them as we descended the lock and then got through Fradley quite easily, turning right onto the Coventry.

We had a pleasant run down to Huddlesford with Steve taking the helm for a while before mooring up outside The Plough where we stopped for a pint (or two) and a meal. The food was good and reasonably priced, plus it is dog friendly too. We watched the Olympics, seeing the womens cycling team pursuit take gold in a new world record. As we ate, the heavens opened, so we were glad of our surroundings. 

We then moved down to our 'Golden Spot' surprised to see only a couple of other boats on a normally very popular mooring location. The atmosphere inside the Olympic Stadium was electric. It was pointless looking for a friend of ours who had been lucky enough to get a ticket - how lucky was she !!!

We had a great night shouting home Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah (what a race that was). At least we weren't moored too close to anyone else as we were a bit loud !!!

After one of Louises special breakfasts, Sunday saw us travel down towards Fazeley, before winding and heading back towards Fradley. The sunshine defied the forecast of heavy showers until we approached Fradley when we endured 20 minutes of torrential rain, just as we were working through the locks. By the time we cleared Fradley, the sunshine was out again for the run back to Kings Bromley. A great weekend with great company.

An alarming call

Whilst at work this morning I received a surprise call from the marina office at Kings Bromley to say that there was an alarm going off on Blue Moon. Strange I thought... we don't have an alarm !!

Luckily I was not too far away - I was actually having a coffee in a cafe about 20 minutes drive away - so off we go with that worried feeling getting stronger and stronger. I had left Blue Moon on Sunday evening hooked up to the electrics - could it be the alarm on the Victron inverter / charger signalling that it was overheating - now that could be expensive was the thought. By the time I arrived, would the boat be on fire?? How things get twisted in your head the more you think about them. As we approached the marina, scanning the sky for signs of smoke, I was relieved that there was none to be seen. Pulling up close to the boat there was a lady looking questioningly at Blue Moon. 'Is there an alarm going off?' I asked. 'Yes' she replied...'It's been going for a couple of days now'. It was actually quite loud and could clearly be heard as I approached the mooring. Three sharp bleeps, a slight pause and then three more. On entering Blue Moon, it was found to be the carbon monoxide alarm that was going off. Even stranger as everything was off, and the gas isolated in the front gas locker. On checking the alarm itself, it says that it has a 5 year life and should have been replaced in Feb 2012, so I can only think that the alarm is defective. For now the batteries have been removed and the problem will have to wait for the weekend - an excuse (as if we need one) to pop down to the marina at the weekend !!

Quick fix in the sun.

Well, after a week back in reality, we needed a boating fix. The sun was shining and John's mum felt up to a day out, so off to the boat it was to be.

We had a run from Kings Bromley up to beyond Rugeley. Plenty of boats moving which I suppose is to be expected on the first week of the summer holidays and the long awaited good spell of weather. How great to feel the sun on your back at last. Having passed through Plum Pudding we negotiated a fishing match, but the sun hadn't made these chaps happy. Only one of the line managed a smile and bit of a joke. It's quite amusing as I have been an angler most of my life and still do a fair bit whenever I can, but if it made me look that miserable whilst I was sat there I don't think I'd bother. Louise likes to play a game of getting them to say hello, and often greets the really miserable ones with a very cheery 'hello' and asks them if they have caught much, whilst I try and keep a straight face. Having winded, we moored up for lunch at the aqueduct over the River Trent which still had a good flow on it.

The return journey was just as pleasant and Louise even had a good spell on the tiller which was very welcomed. It was nice to sit in the front deck and watch the world pass by with a cold beer. All too soon we were arriving back at Kings Bromley, but passed this interesting steam powered narrowboat near to Handsacre - I bet it was hot stoking the fire today.

Oh well, back to work tomorrow for some of us - enjoy the weather if you are lucky enough to be out on the water.