It has been seven weeks since we were last out on the cut and Oh! how we’ve missed it. My little girl Amy (OK she’s 24 years old but she’s still my little girl) told me that she misses the blogs so this one is especially for her!

We did have a bit of a boating fix last weekend when we visited Joe and Lesley on Yarwood when they were moored at Aynho. We had a fabulous afternoon with them, enjoying lunch in the Great Western Arms followed by coffee so good that we have indulged ourselves by buying a Dolce Gusto machine so that we can recreate Joe’s magnificent cafe con leche.

So with the country sitting under an area of high pressure for the time being, we decided to escape for the weekend. I finished work at lunchtime on Friday and met Sue in Hinckley where we had a drink outside the Hansom Cab before going home to prepare for the trip. While Sue gathered some bits and pieces, I went to the marina and released Caxton from the clutches of its mooring. A few minutes later and I was picking Sue up from the towpath near our apartment, one of the benefits of living next to the canal.

Marina, Home, Lime Kilns

With the full crew now on board, Caxton slipped through the water as far as the visitor moorings opposite the Lime Kilns pub on the A5. After securing our mooring we sat out on the front deck and savoured the late afternoon sun, a bit of a rarity for October. On the spur of the moment we decided to have dinner at the pub and then embarked on one of our shortest ever cruises, yes we untied and pushed Caxton all of twenty feet across the cut to the pub garden thus saving the walk there and back. Lazy or decedent- you decide!

No complaints about the food, drink or service, everything was excellent and we only had a two minute walk to get back to the boat.

Saturday dawned and we set sail just after nine with the intention of turning left at Marston Junction and going to Hawkesbury for the weekend. By the time we reached the Coventry canal we had changed our minds and headed north. An hour later and we were tying up in Nuneaton, a town often maligned by boaters but we think unjustly so. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the home of George Elliot before returning to Caxton and moving on to Boot Wharf where we blocked the canal as we shoved 180 litres of diesel into the tank. Fortunately we only inconvenienced one boat for a couple of minutes before we set off again and made our way to Springwood Haven where we moored for the night. After dinner we settled in for the evening and I was asleep before nine o’clock. Like the evening before I slept for eleven hours – proof positive that I sleep better on the water than anywhere else.

The fire was still lit when we got up on Sunday morning so the inside of the boat was still warm and toasty. It wasn’t too cold outside either so we untied and set off, turning in the winding hole just beyond the marina. We had a pleasant cruise back to Hinckley in the autumn sunshine passing a few boats along the way, including Phil on nb Mister Pip and Stuart & Treena on nb Carpe Diem.

The wind had picked up by the time we got back but it did not hinder our entry to the marina. We had enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to end the trip with lunch at the Marina pub; Sunday roast for the crew, Chicken and Ham pie for me. Suitably refuelled we walked home and reflected on our wonderfully relaxing weekend.