I’m off on another season of narrowboating! The trip over to the UK was uneventful (thankfully) and the boat was in the water and in fine shape upon arrival, thanks to the amazing Mick. I wasted no time once here, had a grocery delivery the day after, a wonderful visit with Wendy and her son David, then off toward Nantwich. Dinner with Phil and Ang, then off the next day.

I won’t bore you with the details of the stops and locks I did, but the general route I chose took me around the west of Wolverhampton. It was a bit longer (and slower) this way but had the most ‘new’ waters. Those are canal sections I hadn’t ever been on.

After a few days, I stopped on the outskirts of Wombourne and met up with Rianne’s mom and niece! We had a fantastic few days aboard, doing locks, pubs, and just enjoying the scenery. We even went onto the Severn River, where Sue took a turn on the tiller.

Even though we were a bit remote, I did manage to do Mother’s Day! A bit…

Once off the Severn at Stourport, we turned eastward for a couple of days until we reached Droitwich Spa. Once Sue and Alix left for Edinburgh, I got the boat in order (laundry, shopping, water, etc) and was soon joined by Bob and Cate! I first met them in 2018 on the Kennet and Avon canal, near Bath. We did the imposing Caen Hill Locks together (they were on Guy’s boat) and we’ve remained good friends ever since. They kindly offered to help me on the next stretch, from Droitwich to Warwick.

On this stretch, we would traverse parts of four different canals, the Droitwich Junction Canal, the Worcester & Birmingham canal, the Stratford upon Avon Canal, and the Grand Union Canal. Each had its ‘difficulties’, hence the off of help from Bob and Cate! The main obstacle was the Tardebigge Flight, a series of 30 locks that had to be done in one day as there is no room for stopping between each one. It was a daunting prospect but turned out to be quite a pleasant (if tiring) day. Volunteers were there to help as well, and Bob and I shared driving duties. Cate was a machine, putting many many steps onto her fitness watch!

The very next day was much different. First came the 2.5km long Wast Hill Tunnel (pretty wet inside!) and then after King’s Norton Junction, a long, lock-free day to Hockley Heath. We paid for it the following day, with the 19 locks of the Lapworth flight. The another long day on the Hatton Flight of 21 locks. These are all ‘broad’ locks, made for wide-beams up to 14′ wide. They can hold two regular narrowboats which is actually preferable as it keeps them from drifting around too much inside the lock as it fills or empties. But they have huge, heavy gates and paddles and take longer to fill (or empty). In other words, I was glad to be done those major flights! I was very sad to see Bob and Cate off though, they are wonderful company and dear friends. They left me at Warwick so I took off and headed for the boat show at Crick. Don’t think it was all easy from there though! I still had the Stockton flight (10 locks), the Braunston flight (6), and the Watford flight (7 locks with a 5 lock staircase). It poured rain all the way through Braunston and Watford, I was so glad to be finished that day!

So, I’ll wrap this up with my arrival at the boat show. Crick is an annual ‘pilgrimage’ for many, it’s the largest inland waterways boat show and has a music and beer (and cider) festival to go along. I’ll show that in the next episode!