To date : 630 miles, 358 locks
This morning we decided we would move on to moor in the Saltisford Arm. We weren't disturbed during the night where we'd moored in Leamington Spa but thought it would be nicer to have a rest for a few days with the luxury of electricity and water. I'd had a comment on the blog from Fiona on nb Epiphany suggesting it's the best place to moor in the area and they were heading out today.
We said farewell to Carol as she went off to the train. We saw there was a new Morrisons on the opposite side of the canal to a retail park and thought it might be a good place to stop for shopping. There really wasn't much in the way of moorings so we stopped in front of "The Moorings" and I went off by myself. Access to the retail park wasn't easy and there were very busy roads to cross. I ended up just grabbing a couple of our Sainsbury favourites and coming back to the boat. Mick just didn't feel comfortable leaving the boat unattended there.
We thought it best to move on to the moorings outside Tesco in Warwick and do the groceries there. It proved to be a better choice. We tied up to a couple of trees and off we went shopping. So nice and convenient. We rang Maggie and Ray who have just moved to Warwick and they walked along the canal to meet up with us and have a ride back to the bridge near where they live. Pity it drizzled while they were aboard.
When we got under the bridge Mick handed the tiller over to Ray with no instruction whatsoever! Sorry Ray.... I've got to tell.... he steered straight into the blackberries on the side of the canal! We salvaged things and got the bow rope out of the water where it had fallen. I went inside to take a photo of the others at the stern from the front of the boat. There was a bit of chaos on the living room floor with every book off the shelves on the floor. Back on track we cruised on and stopped opposite Kate Boats for a cup of tea and a chat before Maggie and Ray headed off home. Mick accidentally dropped one of the mooring chains into the cut as he tied up so he got out the sea searcher magnet. Success!
We shared the couple of locks with a lovely couple. The first lock we even had a pair of young lock volunteers. The teenage girl kept saying "this is wicked!". The weather had cleared up so that made life easier.
Turning into the Saltisford Arm is quite a tight turn but Mick managed it fine. The instructions were to turn at the winding hole and then reverse down the arm to the only vacant spot. Any more boats coming in for overnight mooring will now have to breast up.
The moorings here are fantastic. It's a pretty spot with grassy areas and framed with green foliage. There are picnic tables and barbeques! We're plugged into a landline for electricity, we have a water tap beside the mooring, the internet reception is good, phone signal good, tv reception good. We'll enjoy our few days that's for sure. Out came the electric kettle, the toaster, the microwave got used, and.... I was allowed to turn on the galley lights!!
And courtesy of Maggie and Ray....
No comments:
Post a Comment