We stayed at Coventry Basin all day. Denise had a Zoom meeting in the morning whilst I did what shopping I coud at the nearby Sainsburys city centre shop. Sadly it seemed rather rundown with half the self scan tills not working and several of the items on the shopping list not available.
After lunch at the small Portugese cafe in the Basin we walked into the centre again, found most of the groceries we needed at M&S and returned to the boat.
For only the second time ever in our boating career we went into central Coventry where we hope to stay until Friday.
We set off at 10:15 after filling up with water. Firstly we had to descend the 1-foot stop lock down from the North Oxford Canal to the Coventry Canal and then turn left at the subsequent junction towards the end of the canal at Coventry Basin in the city centre.
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| Hawkesbury Junction Stop Lock |
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| Modern canalside housing on the way to central Coventry |
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| Impressive footpath bridge over the Coventry Canal |
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| A tight squeeze at the entrance to Coventry Basin |
The journey was uneventful but quite interesting with, for the most part, tree-lined sections separating areas of attractive modern housing. We passed through the narrow bridge at the entry to the basin and temporarily stopped at 12:30 at some no-mooring signs to look for somewhere to moor.
At first sight the whole basin seemed full of narrowboats but we then saw an area off to the side with convenient mooring rings and bollards where no-one else was moored. Since there were no signs saying otherwise we tied up there for the night.
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| Moored in Coventry Basin |
Daily Statistics
Distance 5.73 miles
Locks 1
Duration 2.5 hours
Another bright and sunny morning. We left our moorings near Brinklow at 9:55 and arrived at Hawkesbury Junction visitor moorings on the outskirts of Coventry just before 1pm. Very pleasant scenary but the only photo today is of stationary traffic on the M45.
Daily Statistics
Distance 7.84 miles
Locks 0
Movable bridges1 (photo on our return journey)
Duration: 3 hours
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| Leaving Hilmorton Top Lock |
At 9:45 we set off from our overnight moorings above Hilmorton Locks in sunny and calm weather. Then down the 3 Locks and on to Rugby. There we shopped for the next few days' dinners.
After lunch onboard we left Rugby travelling towards Brinklow where we moored up at 15:30
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| Attractive views on th way to Brinklow.... |
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| Mooring on spikes at Brinklow |
Daily Statistics
Distance - 7.8 miles
Locks: 3
Duration: 3 hours 35 minutes
We arrived at the boat yesterday lunchtime and after unpacking the car drove to the local Sainsbury's to stock up on provisions for the next few days. In the evening we visited the marina's monthly street food and beer event enoying a pint and a half of local beer and some very tasty jerk chicken.
The night was exremely windy and noisy as the waves splashed against the sde of the boat. The morning was slightly better though there was a strong wind blowing across the marina from the west. We finally decided to set sail at 11:30 revving the engine to get the power to avoid being blown against the pontoons and moored boats.
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| Approaching the M45 bridge |
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| Alpaccas (?) grazing by the canal |
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| Moored near Hilmorton Locks |
Out of the marina on to the North Oxford Canal the weather was pleasant and sunny with very little wind thanks to the shelter provided. by the canalside hedges. We arrived at the visitor moorings above Hiltmorton Locks at 1pm where we decided to stop for the night.
Daily Statistics
Distance 3.89 miles
Time: 1 hor 35 minutes
The weather when we set off at 9am was sunny with light clouds, the best we have experienced on our whole journey. But the forecast for both Friday and Saturday remains dire. After ascending Hilmorton locks we cruised on to our marina service dock and filled up with diesel, bought some smokeless fuel for the stove and a canister of gas for the oven and hob, and emptied the waste tank.
Then we carried on to our mooringse with the boat ready for the winter.
Today's Statistics
Distance 5.36 miles
Locks 3
Duration 3 hours 15 minutes
Total Cruise Statistics
Distance - 25.15 miles
Locks 6
Time 12.5 hours over 5 days
Averages
2.49 lock miles/hour
2.5 hours/day
There were intermittent periods of light and heavy rain for much of the day. During the morning we remained moored up in Rugby keeping track of the continually updated weather forecast on the detailed Met Office map.
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| Moored half a mile before Hilmorton Locks |
Finally after lunch there seemed to be a break of 1-2 hours in the forecast rain so we set off towards Hilmorton Locks. But we could not cruise for long as we did not want to operate the locks when the walkways would be wet and slippery. In any case after 45 minutes the rain started up again so we moored for the day out in the countryside about half a mile from the locks.
Journey Statistics
Distance 1.7 miles
Duration - 45 minutes
