A horrible disturbed night. Plan B then

 5th Jan 

This wasn't the ideal mooring and when Kat came past late afternoon yesterday we had thought to follow. She was stopping at boats giving out sacks of coal (gosh she's strong) and fuelling those that needed diesel and one took longer than we anticipated. By now the light was fading, not great for travelling so we stayed with the thought of leaving early and hoping the ice wouldn't get too thick overnight. 

Having watched an episode of House, noticed it was snowing as the bedroom curtain was pulled, we then departed to bed. Something woke me before midnight. Not sure what, and thought no more about it. Starting to drift off, this time the loud thud on the cabin side had me sitting up and elbowing Ian in the side. What was it? Were we being attacked? Unfortunately, yes! Opposite this mooring were what looked like posh flats. Ian had rapidly got up when another missile reached its mark, dressing gown hastily put on and back hatch opened. What he saw were two adult males, one just about to lob a snowball at FS. Ian shouted to stop, they cleared off, but that was short-lived. We were bombarded continually and if you have ever had a snowball hit the side of the boat.... it's loud! With our bedroom the main target, sleep was impossible. Should we phone the Police? But I imagined their merriment when we told them we were under siege by men throwing snowballs, so we didn't! Anyway having quietened down we went back to bed, time 1.45am

I took this from the bow. Where the blue light was, was where the men throwing snowballs came from.

 This morning the thought of another night like that one filled us with dread, snowballs yesterday...possible stones tonight! We had to move. Unfortunately gauge showed minus 6 again, another refreeze, so what to do.  Ideally heading toward Hopwas would have been preferred and after breakfast we tried.

First break the ice behind FS so I could reverse enough to get to the water tap and top up the tank. That tap was frozen, should have known that! Next, get the bow away from the bank.

 

Had to break through this.

 Ian did a grand job with the pole, then with a shove at the bow, revs were put on and I headed out. But the thick ice stopped the bow turning, and I was heading straight for a moored boat. Okay...that didn't work! Plan B then, reverse back through the bridge 'ole and onto the visitor moorings. An hour and 15 minutes later, we achieved what we had set out to do. Goodness knows what has been done to the rudder reversing into the ice sheets, and the tiller was constantly being snatched from my hand, so stood well back from it as I didn't fancy a shove from that into the canal. Also, the paintwork on the tunnel bands have gone completely. Ian's constant breaking of the ice with the pole has ruined the end, and I nearly lost my footing trying to break the ice with our rake on the port side. Anyway, we made it and, talking to a couple enjoying a walk, told us the flats housed several men with mental health issues and one in particular regularly caused problems by shouting and pacing up and down night and day. That could be the one that kept bombarding us because Ian, having shouted a warning of Police being called if they didn't stop, one of the men said (in his own words) "It wasn't me, my mate is a nutter and it's him"

Back through the bridge 'ole

 

 More freezing temperatures to come, so fingers crossed we won't have to move again until the thaw starts.

That was a turn up for the books!

 Jan 4th

Gosh, it was freezing this morning. Getting out of a warm bed, our first thoughts, had the stove gone out. Our temperature gauge showed minus 6.8 outside and only 11 degrees inside!

 

 But the fire was still in, only embers left, which was quickly fed by a couple of logs. Because it was so cold, we stayed in bed until well after 9 am. Once the inside had warmed up, time to get up.

With such a low temperature outside, the ice was even thicker. My thoughts of walking to the lock seemed pointless, nothing was going to move today...or so we thought! Image our surprise when bangs, crashes and FS suddenly freed from the ice and starting to move. Rushed to see what it was and to our amazement and delight, Jules Fuel boat appeared. Out of all the boats that could have come past, this working boat, being as heavy as she was, was the ideal icebreaker.

 

Kas on the back. 

What a great opportunity to follow in her wake, so quickly putting on coats, hat, scarves etc, we walked to the lock to ask how far she was going. With the reply of Hopwas if possible sounded like music to our ears, but first she had to service some boats on the Birmingham and Fazeley canal, winding at the marina, and then continuing along the Coventry. This was just what we wanted to here. We would be through the stoppage at Sutton Road Bridge (although notification had been sent to say it was being postponed from the 9th January and would now start on the 19th Jan) and well on our way back to Langley Mill. Vaccinations for our South Africa trip were booked for the 14th Jan at Eastwood and, having already changed the appointment once, really wanted to keep that date. Anyway, we borrowed a windlass from Kat (self-employed but working for Jules) and helped get her down both locks. Ice behind the gates were a bit of a problem, a hefty bash from the windlass broke it up nicely.

 

 Returning her windlass and wishing her a Happy New Year, it was our turn to follow. First a shop at the Co-op for essentials, milk, eggs etc so it was gone midday before we set off.

 The ice might have been broken, but that didn't stop it from accumulating behind the lock gates. Ian made several attempts at opening and closing the gate before resorting to finding a big stick and bashing the thick slivers into smaller pieces. That did the trick.

 

Below were cruisers, Kat had broken the ice but even so, our going past still shoved those ice shards toward the hull. 

 

 Just before Fazeley Junction we were told by a fellow boater that plenty of spaces to be had, so instead of stopping on the visitor moorings before the bridge, went through and turned right. Almost immediately, we came to a stop. The only clear channel was where Kat had turned left, but was still under the bridge on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.

 

We stopped briefly at the water point, walked ahead to see where we could moor and were greeted by wall-to-wall boats! Exactly where had that boater seen free moorings? With the ice too thick for FS to travel through, especially as another cruiser was moored by the pub, we took the last bollard at the water point and moored on a bend! Not ideal but will have to do for now.

 

 

I don't think we have much blacking left!

 Jan 3rd 2026

Minus 3 and yes we had some ice. Mainly behind FS, in front a slight breeze was disturbing the water which kept the ice formation at bay. 

 Took ourselves off for a walk to the road bridge and, looking through the bridge 'ole and beyond, could see clear water with no ice. We had high hopes, therefore, that the breeze had kept the channel clear, making the journey to Glascote relatively easy. Decided then and there to pull pins and head for Glascote.

The distance to go was only 4 miles, roughly an hour and a quarters travel. Apart from pockets of very thin ice, going through both bridges 52 and 53 hardly anything at all. But then, through bridge 54, and we almost came to a standstill. Crikey, at least a 1/4" of ice had formed, and more power was required to get through it. From that moment on, most of the way we broke ice. Our speed was about 1 to 2 mph even with the revs up and in unsheltered areas, I reckon the ice was thicker still! 

It was very lucky for us that the only moored cruiser we passed was in very thin ice, otherwise going past would have had me worrying. One sharp sliver of the rock hard ice could easily pierce the hull! Anyway, not many boats moored at all until we came to Alevcote. The ice by the marina entrance was particularly thick, and it was here one boater poked his head out of the front cratch and shouted for us to slow down! I was amazed! I asked him if our speed wasn't slow enough considering we were doing a mere 600 revs. His grumpy reply was we should be almost at a standstill going past his boat! Oh, well....I just smiled at him and blew him a kiss!

It was with some relief that Glascote was reached. I really didn't fancy going down the locks today, and Ian agreed. No ice had been broken on the approach to the locks, and we expected the gates to also be frozen in. 

 

 

Managed to moor with a lot of toing and froing because although the bow broke the ice towards the bank, the stern still had the ice to contend with. The 4 miles had taken 2 hours 30 minutes, a far cry from the one and a quarter hours we expected.

And there were.

 Then, having secured the boat, suddenly from behind came another boat. He got level with FS and came to a dead halt! With cries of "I've lost all steering and power" Ian laughingly told him he had just hit the ice. Having used our channel which was of course ice free, now it was his turn to start ice breaking.

 

He carried on toward the locks, wanting to go down. Not sure if he did or if he is moored on the landing. Maybe a walk tomorrow to see. 

Us? Fickle?

 2nd January

Turning on the TV, the first thing we heard was the weather forecast! It didn't bode well for the next week and checking the outdoor temperature, it was below zero. A look outside showed no solid water, frost or snow, but ice had formed on the towpath and our center rope was solid!

 

So now we had a dilemma. Concerned about getting iced in with the overnight minus temperatures, and fully aware that once we left Atherstone, no more services until Fazeley, (at the Marina), we decided to stay. With the facilities nearby by the top lock, we set off to do water, rubbish and empty both cassettes and then reverse back through the bridge to the mooring we had just left. But us Jameisons can never make up our minds, I think fickle is the best way to describe us, and so it came to pass that we headed down the Athertstone flight with thoughts of trying to make Polesworth. We had talked it over while the water tank was filling and decided that with 3 empty cassettes, a full tank of water and if we forego our every other day showers, do a stand-up wash instead, we could manage for at least 10 days. So Polesworth, with its shops nearby, was the obvious choice to sit it out at whatever was thrown at us.

At the facilities top lock Atherstone.

 The first three locks had to be filled, but at the 4th, a boat was coming up.

 

The sun was really low, always is this time of year, and I was so thankful we weren't looking directly into it.

 Town moorings had nothing but a workboat moored. We try not to stay along this section unless we have too. It's that blasted Cockerel that greets the dawn with a very loud 'cock a doodle do' that we take umbrage at! It is handy for the shops, though, closer than by the top lock, and that's the only reason we moor there and then move off once the shopping was done. Our preferred moorings are always in the long pound below lock 9. 

 Another boat met after lock 6 which meant the rest of the flight (apart from lock 8 which leaks like a sieve) were all with us and the whole flight was completed in 2 hours.

 An hour later we reached Polesworth. The fire was stoked, and we are now ready for the freeze. Bring it on!

 And seen on route,

 

Best laid plans

 31st Dec

The last thing we wanted to see was ice! I thought it strange the boat didn't move when Ian got up to make the first cup of tea. It wasn't until we opened the curtains that the reason was revealed.

 And the temperature gauge came as a bit of a shock too.

 Well, this was a bit of a to-do! And us hoping to reach Atherstone to top up the water tank too! Resigned to staying another day, suddenly the sound of cracking ice and a boat engine in the distance.

 

That changed our plans again. No need to stay, just follow the channel left by the boat. At least it saves our blacking from being scraped off. So not 10 minutes later, the bow was given a hefty shove while I put on the power and FS was on her way.

There were areas where no ice lay, mainly in Nuneaton, and where a breeze was sufficient to move the water and stop ice forming.  

 During the 3 hours it took to reach Atherstone one boat was seen on the verge of sinking and 2 already on the bottom. Those two had obviously been vandalised!

 

 

Plenty of space at Atherstone so we decided not to go down the locks today. Got ourselves settled after a massive shop at Tesco, nibbles and wine, all ready to welcome in the New Year. So Happy New Year to you all. Let 2026 be the year all our wishes come true.