Buddy and I set off on a
cruise at about nine on Monday morning.
I wanted to get some washing done, top back up with water and get to
Leamington by lunchtime.
First, we had to go down
the two Cape locks; these locks had been closed for maintenance during January
and therefore one reason why we’ve seen such little boat traffic lately.
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Top lock nearly emptied –
note the new wooden boards on the top gates
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The new bumper boards have
been fitted as part of the maintenance works.
Most of the previous boards had come off, making it quite hazardous for
ascending boats, especially if the driver hadn’t noticed the bow getting caught
under one of the gate cross members or the balance beam. If the bow gets caught under the balance beam
when the lock is nearly full it can actually lift the gate up causing all sorts
of damage.
If the bow gets caught under
a cross member when the lock starts filling, then there is a great danger that the
boat will capsize through water flooding in on the front deck whilst it stays
caught but the back is rising. It only
takes a moment’s lack of attention to cause a nasty accident.
Fortunately, we got down
both locks without any mishaps and pulled up by the water point to wait for the
washing machine to finish.
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Moored at the water point
below the bottom lock
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The pair of boats moored
the other side of the water point were there when we last came along here in October,
so I wondered if they were on a permanent mooring. I chatted to the guy who was just going off
to work and he said it was just a coincidence and he moves every week or two
like we do.
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After setting off again we
approached the Kate Boats boatyard at Warwick.
This is one of their two hire boat bases and from a distance it looked
like they had moored their boats right across the cut. Most hire boat bases are like this in the
winter and breast as many boats up as possible to take up less linear space.
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They had, in fact, left
enough room for a widebeam to get through but it reminded me once again how
difficult I find it to judge gaps from a distance.
Next, we passed another
boatyard where Mharie and Andy live on a boat with their three children. Karen would have been jealous as I noticed
quite a few of their daffs were in bloom; ours are still in bud.
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Theirs is the far boat
with a pot of daffs on the hatch – most of their flowers were on the front of
the boat
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No boats coming this time
so all was OK
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The only other items of
canal interest on the journey are the two aqueducts on the approach to Leamington.
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Aqueduct over the River
Avon
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Aqueduct over the Great Western Railway
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It was by the railway
aqueduct that Buddy and I were watching a grass snake swimming last summer.
Round the next corner was
Lidl which was where we wanted to moor for the next week or two. Once Karen is fully over her flu she will
have an easy walk to work from here and I will get the opportunity to do all
those things that I have been putting off because we haven’t been in a
town. You know, things like sight and
hearing tests etc.
I mentioned yesterday that
Buddy has been a bit under the weather, so I took him to our vets at the top
end of town in the afternoon to get him checked out and get him a passport. It turned out he has an ear infection, so he
was unable to get his passport. One of
the passport prerequisites is a rabies jab and he couldn’t have that whilst
under a course of antibiotics. That
means another trip to the vets in a week or two.
There were four of us
moored at Lidl with us at the end; I recognised the two boats at the front as
they are local ccers like us but the boat in front of us was brand new and I didn’t
recognise it. I realised that it was built
by Aintree boats as it had the same design as our hull. They are a very popular boatbuilder it seems,
Mike and Lesley are due to have their boat finished by them this week and other friends, Chris and Sue, have just booked
a build slot with them too!
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Moored outside Lidl
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I have to admit that one
of the advantages of mooring outside Lidl is that they do the best pain au
chocolate of any supermarket. They are
also cheap and, if you go at the right time of day they sell them at a discount. My first of my three daily breakfasts is
always a pain au chocolate and coffee – so I’ll be a happy bunny for a while 😊
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