Yesterday did not start well, I had told two people at
Trinity Marina that I was leaving in the morning and asked how I would get back
in once I had handed in my gate fob and been refunded my £20 deposit for it,
the Harbour Master told me he would let me back in, so at 9:30 I walked along
to the office to find it closed on Wednesday’s, hmmm, no-one thought to mention
that to me, there was an emergency number for said Harbour Master, that went to
answer phone so I left a message, having no phone signal on the boat I resorted
to sitting on the stern and waiting for a call back, just after 10 I saw the
Harbour Master walking along the road with two bags of shopping, obviously his
phone was on his boat, that’s what emergency phones are for. I explained my
dilemma and he said he would refund me out of his pocket and let me back in, I
then asked him about my missing coal and asked if anything showed up on the
CCTV, sadly the camera covering my area was not functioning!
I was glad to get moving again, although it was a bit ‘breezy’
I managed the sharp left, right, left tight exit without hitting anything, it
was a short cruise to my first stop for water and my timing lately is poor, as
I rounded the bend and saw the water point I also saw another boat was about to
stop to fill up and he beat me by two minutes, never mind a cuppa and a chat,
water points and locks make for good chatting areas, he told me to watch out
for a great pub on the Shropshire Canal but sadly I have already forgotten the
name of it.
I have a rough timetable to get through various points
avoiding the winter stoppages (navigation closures for lock and other repairs)
but I was not in a hurry and had decided to stop at Burton Hastings about 3
miles away as I had passed through it on my way down the Ashby, having moored
up and looked on Google maps I found virtually nothing around so decided to
test out my new Kipor generator that I had purchased while in Surrey, it will
be used for charging the batteries when not cruising and there is too little
sunshine for the solar panel to cope. I read the manual, filled with fuel and
oil, set the switches and yanked on the starter cord, 2nd pull it
started, not bad, it’s quite noisy even though described as ‘silent’, so I
tested it in various locations bearing in mind noise to me inside the boat and
noise to my potential neighbours, I think I will build a soundproofing box and
then try again.
Just one picture of the journey as I am just covering the same
ground.
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| That's all one garden, hope he's got a sit on mower. |
Last nights mooring.
This morning was bright and beautiful, and I set off just
after 10, I wanted to catch a fuel boat at Nuneaton who I knew through his
Facebook page was heading through, as it turned out I miss timed that too and
missed him by about half an hour! Anyway from Burton Hastings it’s about 3
miles along the Ashby back to Marston junction, the approach from the Ashby is
very narrow.
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| Approaching Marston Junction |
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| Leaving the Ashby behind, another canal done. |
Then onto new ground back on the Coventry Canal, what a
lovely little cruise through open country with twists and turns in nice warm
sunshine, a real delight meeting only 3 other boats (two at bridges and one on
a tight narrow bend of course), I was happy as a pig in muck J
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| Sad looking Tree, I think he's done for. |
A bankside fisherman shouted “it’s lovely and sunny now but
get moored up, wind and rain forecast” I had already decided on a general
mooring place and carried on just a little way to try to get any wind blowing
along the boat rather than across it, I think I achieved it but the boat is
rocking a fair bit now as I type this. I will stay tomorrow and do the washing and some other bits.
Tonight’s Mooring
Total Travel (2 days) 6 miles
I’ve just looked at my logbook and the last lock I went
through was on the 22nd September, I’ll have forgotten what to do !
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