We woke to a bright day, and then the sun came out! We had breakfast, and pulled the pins at just after 8.30. The first locks of the day were the staircase pair at Bascote. A boat was coming up and was in the top chamber, so I went to empty the bottom one. This caused a certain amount of consternation amongst the crew of the other boat, until their skipper explained that I knew what I was doing.
We stopped for water at Fosse wharf, then waited in the next lock for another boat which we'd seen coming. We shared the last three locks down to the sump pound through Leamington Spa and Warwick. As we went through Leamington, the weather seemed to match the surroundings, with the clouds coming over and the temperature dropping.
At Warwick, we wanted to stop at the Tesco moorings, but they were full so we went through the bridge and found a place to stop. Adrian and his mum went to get a few things from Tesco, while I discovered that we had a 3G connection and did yesterday's blog post. The sun had come out, so I sat on the front deck, peering at the laptop screen against the glare. It was too nice not to be outside though.
Setting off again, we went up the two Cape locks, where a Chinese family wanted to know whether it was OK to open just one gate. Then we embarked on the bottom of the Hatton flight. At the third lock, a couple who'd been sitting on the offside balance beam having a drink, helpfully opened the gate -- only to (less helpfully) wander off, so I had to walk round to close it. We were aiming for a mooring just above the fourth lock, and moored up at about 3.45 (very early for us!), a good time for a glass of wine and some crisps.
The towpath was busy with walkers, runners, and cyclists, and there's the odd train going by quite nearby. But there aren't many boats on the flight -- just a couple of Kate hire boats going up so far. Tonight, we'll eat on board. Tomorrow, we'll do the rest of the flight, and carry on to Catherine de Barnes.
10 miles, 16 locks. (Total: 12 miles, 26 locks)
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3 comments:
Wine and crisps, Adam, pleeeease
I see a few pictures of boats set up along the canal's edge and wondered if that's something one could do overnight if needed. Is it safe, legal, etc.?
Hi Seth
Tying up by the tow path is exactly what you do at night. You're allowed to stop anywhere on the tow path side. Most places are pretty safe, although you sometimes need to choose your place carefully in town centres.
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