Out for the first time in 2026

 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.

Approaching the M45 bridge

Alpaccas (?) grazing by the canal

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

Back home after early end of November cruise

 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

Bad weather - A short cruise

 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.

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

Turn around

 The journey so far has been rather slow going because leaves falling into the canal are getting trapped around the prop. Each time this happens the boat slows down and we have to stop and give it a quick blast in reverse to flush water around the prop removing the leaves.  So we have not got as far as we would have liked.

To make matters worse the weather forecast is showing heavy rain all day Friday which would make travelling very unpleasant.  If we stopped for the day we would have difficulty getting home by Sunday and in any case spending a day stuck in the boat would be very boring.

So after setting out at 9:50 we cruised 3/4 mile to the next winding hole and turned around to go back towards Rugby. On the journey back we were delighted to see a kingfisher, our first sighting this year. By 13:00 we arrived back in Rugby and moored up for the night.

 

Typical North Oxford Canal Scenery

Site of last year's major landslip in cutting near Brinklow

Recent major earthworks at the landslip site

Journey Statistics

Distance - 6.27 miles
Duration - 3 hours 10 minutes

A rainy day in Warwickshire

Entering Newbold Tunnel

There were blue skies and a bit of sun when we set off from Rugby at 9:10. and passed through the short (250 yard) Newbold Tunnel.  Further on there was some light rain which soon got heavier. Our waterproof jackets and trousers and a large umbrella kept us dry but but there seemed little chance of an improvement so we moored up at Brinklow at 11:10.

Moored in the rain at Brinklow

Although the rain stopped during the afternoon it was not worth restarting our journey as the light would soon be fading.

Journey Statistics

Distance - 4.7 miles
Duration - 2  hours

Start of November cruise

 I think this is our first ever cruise this time of the year.  The weather forecast looked reasonable and not too cold and we had not been out since June so it seemed like a good opportunity to use up an otherwise free week.

We had driven to the marina yesterday and put away all our clothes, privisions and other paraphenalia on the boat.  So we were ready to cast off at about 9:50 having dressed up in 4 layers of clothing.   

Our route took us north from the marina up the North Oxford Canal.  The water level was high and the canal seemed to have recovered from the drought during the summer so we made good progress. reaching Hilmorton Locks at about 11:30 after 3.5 miles cruising.  

Denise driving Densie toward Hilmorton Middle Lock

On the North Oxford below Hilmorton Locks

Moored in Rugby

We arrived in Rugby soon after 1:10 pm and moored up for the night.

Journey Statistics

Distance 7.12 miles
Locks 3
Duration 3 hours 20 mins

Back home

 We completed the final sage of our month-long travels this morning.  We left the mooring at Hilmorton at 8:50 and arrived at our marina entrance about 1.5 hours later.

Long straight stretch of canal

It was then the fun started.  There was a strong wind blowing from the direction of the marina entrance when we arrived.  There was also a boat leaving. This meant that I had to try and stop Densie being blown well of course until the departing boat had left - canal boats are very susceptible to be blown around by side winds.

To add to the complications, behind us there were 2 or 3 other boats wanting to carry on down the canal but they could not move forward until we were out of the way, so they were also being blown around.  Plus the boat which had left the marina was also trying to go up the canal, but could not easily get through.

When we had a clear path through the entrance we went straight in leaving everyone else to  sort themselves out.  Ideally we would have wanted to stop at the services wharf to empty our waste tank and dispose of the rubbish but it was already occupied and manoeuvering in wind was impossible so we went straight into our berth and will visit the servces tomorrow when the wind is forecast to be much calmer.

Moored at our home berth

Today's Statistics

Distance: 4.04 miles
Locks: 0
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes

Total Journey Statistics

Distance: 156.05 miles
Locks: 97
Movable bridges: 1
Duration: 85.1 hours over 28 days