Wednesday 30th January 2019



It was a cold night and the canal had frozen. We had a plan to cruise up to Nuneaton, wind and return to give Aaron a day out and to leave us facing the right way for going into Coventry.

However, we had to wait until 11am before the canal had thawed enough to move. The ice was about a ¼” thick when we started out and I had expected it to thaw more as the day wore on. This was not the case and, if anything, the ice got thicker so we were just creeping along, breaking the ice as we went and regretting moving at all.

Ice affects the steering characteristics so you have to start a turn well in advance because the boat will tend to keep going in a straight line. At worst, if the ice was thick enough, it could pierce the hull in which case you would be a fool to move at all. At best, with thin ice, the boat will push her way through but you remove paint from the hull sides at the water-line which is then difficult to touch-up.

We went just as far as the Ashby Canal junction at Marston before calling it a day and winding. There had been times when the temperature dropped considerably and we were concerned about the canal refreezing. The turn was made very difficult by the ice as the bow would not come around. Eventually, with much reversing, we did complete the turn only to meet two boats that had followed in the channel through the ice we had created from Hawkesbury.

We returned to Sutton Stop and moored in the same spot. At least Aaron enjoyed his wee cruise with him steering all the way apart from the turn.

Once moored, Aaron and myself took the dogs for a long walk after which we again went to the Greyhound for our dinner and again, managed to get a decent table. Not easy in there, it is a very busy, popular place. Lovely food, their pies especially. One of the bar staff commented they had been seeing a lot of us lately and we would soon be on first name terms and asked if we had just moved into the area.



                                   Night-time view of the junction bridge at Hawkesbury

We returned to the boat early’ish and had early nights. Unusually for me, I had been suffering a bit of a hangover all day. As I said, our Aaron is a terrible influence.  



Weather: a cold clear day, ice on the canal all day.



Day Total: 0 locks; 6 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 2.2                                  

Overall Total: 331 locks; 715 miles; 32 tunnels; 7 Swing Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 442.8




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