Thursday 17th August - Sarah's entry
Last night we moored in a beautiful spot midway between Atherstone and Polesworth amidst rolling fields of straw bales. Whereas last trip in June was full of the renewal of animals – baby specimens of all things fluffy and furry – this trip is ripe with the renewal of the plant kingdom. ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’. Autumn has arrived early, in the middle of August. Out on the waterways we are confronted by a veritable chaos of evergreen, an English jungle quivering and dripping and bursting with fruit. This must be the juiciest and heaviest harvest I’ve ever seen. The branches on the trees and bushes are laden to the ground. A multitude of apples, acorns, blackberries, sloes, conkers, elderberries, and so many unidentifiable berries of blushing crimson. However, it must be said that gazing dreamily into the landscape around me, does not match well with the responsibilities of boating. I am working on my technique though, and getting quite good at looking in two directions at the same time. Today, we set off at 9am. Then a quick stop for breakfast and back on course again. We discovered the ideal helmsman’s companion – a walkman, plugging a person into a whole new sensory experience whilst getting from A to B. And our destination for lunchtime – Streethay Wharf boatyard where we needed an oil change. We’d almost motored for 50 miles, after which the oil needs changing, (most people look at you as though you have the brain of a flea when you tell them this, modern engines need an oil change every 250 miles or so, but being a ‘classic’ old engine, without an oil filter, ours requires a little more care). Once our engineer, Fraser, had seen the full glory of our ‘Saab’ engine, he had to agree that we were right to follow this guidance. However, before we reached the boatyard, Penny’s boyfriend John informed us by text message that ‘you have 45 minutes before the arrival of 2 hours of heavy rain’. He was absolutely right! We were met by pelting rain and a thunderstorm. Sarah, interneting in the warm down below, broke off to dress P in suitable waterproof leggings. (Don’t try this one at home!). After the oil change (during which we wrote down instructions to do it ourselves next time), emptying the porta-potty and refilling the water tank, a quick cup of tea, and oodles of chocolate to recharge our batteries, we set off again about six o’clock , in a glorious return to sunshine, for an hour’s pootle down to Fradley Junction. This was to be our stopping point for the night, being the junction at which we left the Coventry Canal, and joined the Trent and Mersey Canal for our continued sojourn north. When we arrived, and as we attempted to moor, (not minutes from the luxuries of a pint in the pub), Penny took a wrong step and caught her foot as she leapt from the boat to the towpath to tie us up. Within seconds, a curious looking red onion had appeared on the side of her ankle. This was shortly followed by sickness, loss of breath and general ‘this person is not alright’ symptoms. I phoned 999, a neighbouring boat helped to tell the emergency services our location, and the result was an evening in Casualty. LUCKILY, nothing was broken (much to my surprise), and we returned to the boat eventually at midnight, with Penny on crutches and a bandaged foot. Nothing was going to stop her though, and plans were already being made to make up for lost time. Knowing that the next day would need to be taken slowly, we were glad to know that we were a day ahead of schedule. Perfect for unexpected incidents! Friday, 18 August 2006 A rest day for a damaged ankle at Fradley Junction, updating the website in the pub, raining cats and ducks outside, eating bacon butties inside! |