Rugby Shops

Captains Log Canal Date 18th May 2009 Travels 8 miles 3 Very slow and congested locks Current Location Nr. the village of Barby SP52400 – 71090 We waited for the rain storms to slow down before we moved off. At 11.30 we set off for Rugby, the guide book says that there is a Tesco within a 5 minute walk. I have often wondered who they time for some of these walks. The last one was a 15 minute walk in the book – it took me 30, and then I had to get back again! This time they were right- the shop is alongside the canal. We restocked the food cupboards and went back to the boat to eat some of it. After lunch we went back to the shops to look for some materials to make a glass cover for the side hatch. It would be nice to have the light and a view without the cold draft. I spent hours trying to decide how to make it with the materials that were available in the DIY shops. Every time I designed a method it was thwarted by lack of stock in the shops. Eventually I came up with a simple method, purchased the bits and went on our way. The rain held off for the rest of the trip. I was surprised by the amount of traffic in both directions after all it is mid week and not school holidays. We arrived at a set of 3 locks, there was a queue of boaters waiting for these locks, all of them straight out of the local hire base, and none of them had the slightest idea of what to do. It took ages to get through these lock. Pam, bless her, took control and got the first timers sorted. It was getting later than we would normally travel and we decided that we would moor up at the first suitable mooring point. There was not one! We travelled for ages before we found something. A nice open area, without other boats. By the time we had moored up there was another 3 boats had moored next to us. We are planning to stay here and catch up with a few jobs, including making and fitting the Perspex window.