We have been away from nb Alchemy for the last week whilst the Windsor family have taken over. They cruised round from Aston Marina, down the Trent and Mersey, the Staffs and Worcs and back up the Shroppie to Nantwich. Alas, they chose a week with very variable weather, including days with constant heavy rain.
The previous week the two girls had been with us in Cornwall until we drove up on the Friday for a Saturday handover.
Rather than drive back down to Cornwall and up again a week later (we had already done it it twice recently) we opted to take a cottage in North Wales at Llanrwst just outside Conwy.
This morning we left the cottage and rove to Nantwich, arriving shortly after the boat which had found a very convenient mooring only a few metres from the road in a housing estate. Loading and unloading cars was very easy. After unloading our car, Mike and Adrian set off to Aston where the other car had been left. We left our car there and drove back to Nantwich in Adrian's car. (Are you following this? It gets more complicated yet)
After a short lunch break the Windsor car was loaded - they had left their suitcases in the car to make better use of the room on board so they still had to be packed. Soon after 2 they were ready to drive back home.
Half an hour later, Andrew arrived, laden with supplies from Devizes Market on Thursday - OK so the drinks came from somewhere else.
Believing that the boat was still not far enough down in the water, we popped to Morrisons in Nantwich for the remaining stock, especially dairy items and some ready ,made pizzas for tonight.
As soon as we returned to the boat we set off - at last - bit only a short distance at first to the service block at the other end of the embankment. There was a queue but only one waiting whilst the previous one was finishing off so leaving it until late afternoon probably paid off as quite long waits are often found here - only a single tap which is quite slow. We completed the usual round of servicing.
Christine had put on a first load into the washing machine so we needed to continue long enough to power that from the engine rather than the battery.
After passing under Bridge 99, just before Barbridge Junction we spotted some clear mooring spaces so pulled in. We could have gone a little further but risked not finding and room until the next lock. It also gave Mike a chance to try out a trick which he had just seen on a canal forum: the famous Shroppie Shelf prevents boats from coming right up to the back and against which the below waterline hull grates especially when other boats pass by. The gap, typically around 100 - 300 mm, cannot be filled with normal fenders. Boaters that use this canal frequently sometimes use small tyres instead. However, the forum recommended the use of heavier than water fenders and lower them down between the boat and shelf. We had not previously realised that ours are like this and so we moored more cushioned than we have before.
3.9 Miles - 0 Locks
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