A bright orange branch...beware.

No rain to stop us moving this morning, that, according to the met office, was coming later. In light of this we set off before 9 with the hope of being moored by the time the rain arrived.

The Ashby canal can be quite challenging, overhanging trees, low water etc, my previous posts have all shown the problems. Since storm Francis, many a tree and large shrub had come down which has effectively narrowed the channel even more. So coming up to this small tree across a good part of the canal was no exception. I can only assume this boater in his blue boat was unaware of the difficulty he was creating, maybe having left the boat for a length of time, as surely no one in their right mind would cause such a navigational problem mooring so close to it.

Photo doesn't do it justice. There was just enough room between those branches and that boat for FS to squeeze through.

Marston junction came into view. Since bridge 6, I had been sitting in the well deck waiting in heightened anticipation to see a water vole. This stretch has always been a hot spot where, if one is lucky enough, a vole could be seen. But today was not my day. I was however, in the perfect place to make sure no boats were coming along the Coventry Canal so Ian could make the turn.

 

A change of pace now that we were on the Coventry. With water deep enough and no moored boats to pass, the revs were increased and a dizzy speed of 3.5mph was achieved! But then, around a right hand bend, just past bridge 18, red and white aware tape was spotted. Ah, it was that tree that had come down during the storm. C&RT had managed to remove most, but not all, and a large part of the trunk was still underwater. Good job that orange paint had been painted on the branch sticking up. Would make a right mess of the boat super structure if hit.

It's always a challenge at the Starline boatyard beyond Boot Bridge. Today seemed worse than ever as even more boats were moored on both sides and some double-breasted making it an impossibility for two boats to pass each other! Gosh, we had to keep our wits about us today. 

That boat had to reverse and await an oncoming boat.

That's one tight squeeze.

And yet another boat was following.

Having filled with diesel nearly three weeks ago, a look on the gauge showed us to only have about 30% left in the tank. Springwood Haven by bridge 27 was the obvious place to fill up, and at 80p ltr, quite reasonable too. Having stopped, a large reed complete with roots came away from the bow. Crikey how long had we been pushing that?

Top of Atherstone flight would have been our destination. We could do a decent shop here as the supermarket was only a short walk from the canal. But we never made it, not because of the impending rain but because I bu**ered my left knee! It's been playing up for a while but today, passing the bed, my foot caught on the bed support pushing it one way and my knee the other. So not being able to walk any distance put paid to the shopping spree. Instead of pushing on to Atherstone Ian felt we should stop which in a way was quite fortuitous as, within 10 minutes of mooring, down came the rain! Hopefully and with plenty of pain killers, I should be okay for tomorrow.

This was seen on the route. Could be me as I have had no luck at all with fishing just lately and there's Ian who died of starvation waiting!

 

And wildlife