Winter Cruise countdown

Our two-week winter cruise starts on Saturday.  We're planning an early start, so we can get to Norbury Wharf in good time and set off.  Norbury does quite well in the pre-Christmas winter stoppages this year: the route north is blocked at Hack Green Locks, but we have plenty of options going south.

We're planning to do the Black Country (or Staffordshire) Ring.  We've done every part of the route at some time or another, but never all together in the ring.  It's a route that in the summer would be a fairly easy week, so even with the short November days, we'll be able to take things fairly easy.  Still, we'll have a few busy days, particularly near the start of the trip, as we need to get up the Wolverhampton 21, and then a couple of days later there'll be plenty of locks as we descend out of Birmingham.  We're also hoping to meet up with a couple of fellow bloggers, and we'll keep an eye out for other familiar boats who might be lurking en route.