Onward to Hopwas.

Travelled 16 miles, worked 13 locks in 8 hours.

Since leaving Uxbridge dry dock, we have done 124.3 miles, worked 106 locks in time of 63 hours and 20 minutes.

Well what a night, there was a lot of rocking and rolling with the wind blowing a gale. During the evening we got well and truly clobbered by another boat, I did not bother getting up, but heard shouts of sorry. In the howling gale there was probably little they could do, except keep the speed on a bit whilst passing us, but hey ho no damage done. I slept well until 1am and was up at 1.15am. Having had a drink it was back to bed until 6am and then we had a cuppa. 7.30am up and walking Paddy in the field. Thankfully the wind seemed to have died down a little, which would make cruising so much easier.

We left lour mooring at 8am with light rain falling and the wind gusting. I think I may have been hasty at getting my Summer clothing out if the chilly breeze was anything to go by today, it was a hat and gloves day.

Another sunken boat, this time near bridge 36, but Canal and River Trust are aware.

Heading into Atherstone, a gentleman walking his dog warned us of a boat adrift at the bow. Just as we approached the boat a nother gentleman arrived on the offside and said it was his neighbours boat and he would see if he could get the rope. He managed to grab the centre line and we helped him get the boat in so he could secure it to the bank, so another good deed done.

We arrived at the Atherstone flight at 9.30am with the first 4 locks against us.

The lock cottage looks so sad without Tony there.

At lock 5 we had the lock in our favour and a boat ready to come up.

Between lock 6 and 7 the towpath is closed due to work being carried out opposite the old Barry Hawkins boat yard.

Nice new brick work, which I hope will stay that way for a long time. The locks from then on were in our favour with boats coming up as we approached the remaining locks.

At lock 8 we met up with Dean and Chris on Hotel Narrow Boat Takara. It has been a good couple of years since we last saw them and so I was pleased to catch up on their news and the progress of their business. When we last met I told them about Tesco delivery and they have not looked back since, saving them loads of time from walking around the supermarkets. I hope they have a wonderful season.

Coming out of lock 10 was Historic Working Boat Auriga with Rick of the Gravenor Boating Company. Rick sells coal on the Coventry, North Oxford, Ashby, Trent & Mersey Canals. It was the first time we had met since we chatted on Facebook, so nice to put a face to the name. We made it down the flight by 11.15 which was pretty good. Moored up on the moorings below the lock was the Solar Afloat Boat Plum. John was busy helping a new customer, so we pulled in and Keith bought aluminium strips from him for the solar panel we got from him last September. It was nice to have a quick natter with John and Julia and we hope they have a good trading year.

On the move again, I ducked down into the galley and made us some rolls for lunch and coffee.

Ominous dark clouds as we passed by Grendon Dry Dock and the good old April showers came and went. We arrived at Glascote locks at 2.15pm. The bottom lock filled very slowly due to one of the paddles not working, so I will be sending in a report to the Canal and River Trust.

Fazeley Junction and still the houses are not finished and show no sign of being finished, which is incredibly sad.

After a fantastic days cruising, we stopped at Hopwas with the sun shining and an excellent TV signal, because the TV signal mast is on the off side of the canal. This is why I love my way of life, we get to cruise in all weathers and see new things everyday, my life never gets boring. Having moored up at 4pm, Cider and Pork sausages went into the back cabin stove they would be enjoyed with cheesy mash and peas.