Captains Log Day 6

Today (Wednesday) we left The Mailbox in Birmingham (after filling up with water for an hour!!) & headed back out through the city the way we came in. The locks under snow hill station & the BT tower were no longer a challenge. We navigated them with ease then traversed through Aston where we encountered a) some of the industrial sites of inner city boating David craved & b) 2 of the 5 boats we would pass all day.

The trip through Aston and out under Spaghetti Junction held a slight sense of apprehension as we had all heard horror stories of these areas. The journey through some of the narrowest locks we'd seen for a fair while passed without much incident. In fact only one group of youths we encountered threw things our way. Fortunately for us it was only insults! The oddest thing for me was that underneath spaghetti junction we came across a motor vehicle reclamation yard and 2 chaps fishing!!

As we left the city and rejoined a more countryside-esque vista an air of calm befell the crew. We all relaxed a little and started to think of cricket scores and tea and cake.

We stopped at Tysely for a short break and set off again replenished, heading for Minworth.

Minworth has a short set of 3 locks that, up until the Monday before we set off, had been empty due to a leak. It was a sight to behold descending the lock into what had previously been a dry silt bed!

From Minworth we chugged on to Curdworth where we came across a pub, the Dog & Doublet (which Mrs The Admiral tells me my slightly crazy Great Aunt Mim used to hitchhike from to Keresley to visit my Nanna). Some kindly fellow boaters rearranged their moorings so that we could slot ourselves in between. After a lovely dinner, a few pints & a discussion with non-boaters about the pros & cons of a boating holiday and a lengthy discussion with a lovely couple from the boat Cormorant II about routes, reaches & weather we retired to our bunks safe in the knowledge that our hardest day, 33 locks, had been done and from here on in it was plain sailing (knocks wood!!). Oh and we were a day ahead of schedule!!!!