New Year Cruise - Day One

Having looked at the weather and seen how much warmer it was, we took the decision to head to the boat. We set off a little bit apart, in two cars, as we'll be heading in slightly different directions at the end of the trip.

I arrived first, just before 1.30, and was relieved to see the canal was mostly liquid. The temperature was 7 or 8 degrees, and it was a nice sunny afternoon, with plenty of walkers on the towpath. It was still very cold on the boat, so I immediately lit the fire and put the central heating on. I unloaded my car onto the boat, with more difficulty than usual. We knew Norbury Wharf would be closed, and that there would be no vehicle access onto the wharf itself. What we didn't know was that I'd have to climb over the fence. I knew Adrian's mum wouldn't be able to do that, so I set off northwards, mooring just beyond the bridge, opposite Starcross.

At around 2.30, Adrian and his mum arrived, and we made several trips along the towpath to unload the car. We decided not to go any further today, so we sorted ourselves out and had an early dinner on board.

200 yards, 0 locks.