After three days on the mooring below Lock 10 we wanted to move. Jan walked forward and prepared the first lock for Waiouru. The boat was very slowly moved forward into the lock taking care not to snag her on that large white submerged object (looked suspiciously like a safe) under the bridge.
The first three locks were completed without any issues. Actually whilst going through Lock 8 we noticed a boat coming up behind us.
It’s a long pound between locks 8 and 7. There’s also a bend in the canal which means there is no direct line of sight between the locks. Visibility is further compounded by the M6 Motorway bridge.
This will be the fourth time we have passed under the M6 since departing the mooring at Star City and it’s not the last time we will see this particular motorway before leaving the greater Birmingham area.
Approaching Lock 7
There was a problem above the lock. All the pounds were very low and the locks empty. We had to walk up the flight to run just enough water down to enable us to move through each pound. By the time this had been completed the boat behind had caught up.
Both boats then slowly made their way up the flight. We stopped at the CRT services above the top lock to dispose of the rubbish and top up the water tank. It’s been a week since we last filled the tank and it was now reading ¾ full (yes we do shower every day!). The water pressure wasn’t great taking 40 minutes to fill the tank.
Meanwhile the crew of nb Sceptre pressed on. It’s a timeshare boat and they were out on their winter cruise. Their immediate cruising route is the same as ours, but we are going to do it much slower.
This next part of the canal consists of two long straight cuttings and an embankment. Spoil from the cuttings was obviously used to build the embankment. In winter the cuttings are cold and damp so it didn’t surprise us to find the first cutting devoid of moored boats. What did surprise us was this sign.
Why would CRT think anyone would want to pay for a winter mooring in such a miserable place? If you look closely you can see the dates are for last year.
We continued on to find a mooring lose to Perry Aqueduct. The shops aren’t too far away and we’re up high with good TV and internet coverage. CRT’s vegetation contractors were just finishing cutting the grass as we arrived!
Four hours of engine time, but we haven’t actually moved very far.
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