Blue Lias and back

 A day out with friends - looks like painting the handrail on the other side will have to wait until next spring though.

Before and after

Over the weekend we caught up on fixing some damaged paintwork.  Normally we do it as we cruise, but we were doing long days on the Thames Ring and didn't feel like it, and then it rained for lots of trip to Stratford, so we couldn't.  The first picture shows the undercoat I put on last Autumn.

Somehow once we got fresh dings in the new undercoat before having a chance to put new gloss on last Autumn I sort of lost interest.  It looks a lot better now, and if you look closely you can see the first of the horseflies that thought it was so attractive that they would land for a closer look, and get stuck.


No cruising, but at least there were some fantastic views to be had on the evening before and the morning after the first frost of the winter.

Home again

We went up the Stockton flight in heavy rain and wind, and decided to go on past the marina for dinner at the Bridge.  This turned out to be a questionable decision, as the heavy rain turned torrential, and the visitor moorings were full.  Along with half a dozen other boats we fought our way to the bank across the shallows, and tied up against what felt like a bank made of cream cheese after eventually finding some firm enough spots for pins.  It was early so I set off to walk the dog down to the Folly to see if it was open, but gave up after the rain running down my legs filled my (waterproof) shoes.  A good meal at the Bridge, with the experience marred only by the state of the towpath that you wouldn't normally expect until later in the winter.  Back to the marina in the morning.

Long Itchington

Making the most of the last of the holiday we travelled, mostly alone, up the few locks to Long Itchington.  Leaves are starting to turn now, and some were quite spectacular like the Virginia Creeper growing up through other shrubs by the Bascote staircase.  A walk into the village to find somewhere to eat was achieved before the monsoon overnight and most of the next day set in.

Leamington

A slow chug along the sump to the other side of Radford Lock today, visiting the various retail opportunities Leamington has to offer.  Having never visited The Moorings we stopped there for lunch to find it closed for refurbishment.  Handy for a retail park though for us to visit a DIY store to buy stuff to fix the shower.  We looked in at the Tiller Pin to find it packed with not a table free, so ended up lunching on board.  Nice sunset though.

Hatton and the Cape

On a surprisingly quiet day we made a solo passage down Hatton flight, remarkable only because of the assisted passage down the first few locks because BW workers wished to get us through before draining a pound for maintenance.  Walking back up to see what was happening and have lunch at the Cafe was pleasant enough, but by then the work was over and all back to normal.  Overnight at the visitor moorings at the Cape of Good Hope, which seemed quieter than on previous visits.

Shrewley Tunnel

Our slow perambulation between watering holes, aiming tonight for the Waterman at Hatton, took us through Shrewley Tunnel.  And this picture marks the retirement, (subject to establishing the feasibility of repair), of my camera which shortly after took an unscheduled bath.  At least it's an excuse for a new toy!  Pictures may be less frequent for a while though.

Arriving back after dinner a little before nine o'clock, the visitor moorings in the cutting before the locks were rather noisy.  A furiously revving engine on an Anglo Wesh boat turned out to be the cause, apparently a reaction to some battery charging problems.  Still, after a polite request to stop the engine, we all settled down for a very peaceful night, and next day as we passed them in the locks there was an engineer wheeling in new batteries to fix the problem.