1st August 2011 - The way back home

I wake up and it's daylight, without looking at the time I get up and put the kettle on. It's 0500 and I'm going to get away. Very grey this morning and some short spells of light drizzle, but all alone along the Coventry canal I go. I do meet another boat at a bridge coming the other way, so I'm not the only nutter around. I pass Fazeley junction and can see people beginning to wake up, but I'm on my way out of the first Glascote lock before I see another boat on the move, and that's following me. I shut the gate and raise a paddle for the boat behind and carry on through the second, then by Tamworth, then by Alvecote with all those really nice working boats tied up there. Uneventful morning really, the weather improves to warm and sticky, a boat out of control at a water point, then I arrive, second in line at the Atherstone flight of 11 locks. Two more boats arrive so it's getting busy. The chap on the boat behind thanks me for the Glascote paddle, and I'm rewarded by him helping me up a lot of the flight. There's a lot of boats coming down as well, so progress is easy and slow, but not excessively so. Two and a half hours to the top and I feel very tired, I tie up a mile or so later, my batteries needing to be recharged as well as the boats!! I top my cells up with the remaining lager. It's good to be up the Atherstone flight, I'm sure it's going to be very busy over the next few days with boats returning from the festival. Andrew Phasey on 'Doris Katcher' went by, he was running the St Pancras cruising club trip up the Thames tideway last year which introduced me to cruising through London. So R&R for the remains of the day!

Oh, here's the trophy:

And what I keep:

You're only allowed to win two years in succession, so now to plot retention in 2013!

Today:   18 miles -   13 locks -  9.5 hours
So Far: 620 miles - 486 locks - 316 hours