Atherstone lock 8

 We rose earlier than usual for some reason  so we were on the road at about 9am. This was lucky as we heard on the radio there was a large transformer heading for Cambridge along the A14 and luckily we got to the A14 at Bury St Edmunds before it. We normally fill with diesel at Bury but this time we gave it a miss. I can just imagine joining the A14 right behind the rolling roadblock and then following it to Cambridge. Although we left home in bright sun as we drove west we ran into cloud and then very heavy showers. We went in and out of these on regular basis. As we turned down the road to the marina it started throwing it down so we sat in the Samuel Barlow carpark to eat our sandwiches rather than get out of the car to open the gates into the marina. It didn't last too long and we were soon unloading the car into the boat, this took a bit longer than normal as we have the floor tiles for the corridor that we took home to clean as well as new, second hand ones for the lounge.

It was 1-15pm before we untied and headed out of the marina turning right towards Coventry, we hadn't reached the first bridge before I spotted a boat belonging to friends from the Ipswich IWA so the next 20 minutes or so was spent talking to them, good job we don't have a schedule. Once the world was put to rights it was off in light rain towards the Atherstone flight just in time to see a hire boat going up in lock 11. On the way we passed this face on a tree, its the only one I have seen on the Coventry Canal.

Lock 11 now has a brand new set of balance beams attached to the  old gates. All the levels were good until between 9  and 8 but that is a very short pound and always loses a bit, but passable, Once clear of lock 8 we moored for the night, I must admit the stern rope has got a turn round the last lock bollard.

Todays Journey 5¾ miles, 4 locks in 3 hours