Enough cleaning!

Clean inside - and ready to go

The rain lashed down in the night always noisy on the steel roof. It was still wet in the morning so after breakfast we thoroughly cleaned part of the inside of our boat. I cleaned the bathroom from top to bottom and the Captain tackled the kitchen area, and cleaned the cooker. By 11.00 the rain had become drizzle and we were bored with cleaning so the Captain decided to move off. Thankfully there are no locks for a while as they can be slippery and unpleasant when wet.

The drizzle became faint while he drove and stopped completely by the time I took over. It was still dry when the Captain took the boat through the narrow cutting and promptly met another boat! That’s canal boating – you see nothing moving for over an hour then meet another boat in the rocky cutting. He managed to wait at a cut out and held the boat over while the oncoming boat slid past. Lottie Lurcher thought the stop signalled her walk and nipped off unaccompanied.

Near Autherley junction

I grabbed her lead and we walked through the pleasant park to Autherley junction where the Shroppie canal turns off. Sniffing satisfied she consented to return to the boat by the junction.

We carried on down The Staffs and Worcester, something we have never done before although we have come up it twice while doing a ring. We passed the tranquil Wolverhampton flight leading up into the BCN and I wondered if it was working. The last thing we heard was that someone had gone down the whole flight opening paddles so that the pounds and locks emptied of water. It can take a while to sort that out on a 21 lock flight! As we cruised on the clouds grew heavier.

Below Aldersley Junction

Compton lock was the only one we had to do today – and it was ready for us to enter. It started to rain as we locked down but the moorings were in sight. I closed up after the Captain drove out of the lock and followed him to the mooring. I checked round the corner and found more moorings complete with rings. As it was in a quieter spot away from the road he moved the boat to them. Thankfully there was a shop nearby to stock up on milk and bread, as the Captain gets through them quickly.