Can you hear me now?

It's been so long since we had wi-fi, I think it best to start with Friday's post, then Saturday's, and then today's. Sorry for the silence, but we've somehow found all the wi-fi-free places in England to stop for the night.


Monsoon narrowboat:

September 22, 2012

Today, the rains came. First thing this morning, the sky was grey, but before long, we were motoring along in a steady downpour. Robin was still sick, although he claims to be on the mend. Now I am sick, too, despite copious amounts of Vitamin C. (Who suggested Airborne? Thank you. I'll have a look around, but I suspect it's too late.)

There wasn't much to cheer about, or to write about, either -- except one incident that took place around noon. I looked out the window, then ran back to the stern to point out my find to Robin. "Look at that!" Floating in the canal, in the pouring rain, was a bright yellow sign that " "CAUTION: WET FLOOR!

At that point, apparently, I still had a sense of humour.

Around suppertime, we came to the Atherstone Locks -- eleven of them, all in a row. Someone was coming in the other direction (Oh, bliss. They will have left the locks empty!) so I took the opportunity to ask whether there were a place in Atherstone to do some grocery shopping. Yes, there was. We should moor up after Lock 6 and walk into the village.

So that is what we did. We moored up across the canal from a pub and walked to the Co-op, where we stocked up on food and water. Having stowed our booty, I put my laptop into my backpack, and we walked across the bride to The King's Head for our dinner. It turned out that their wi-fi was broken, the food wasn't very good, and the music blasting from the speakers over our heads was pretty well unbearable -- but on the bright side, there was the pub's mascot, a lovely border collie named Blaisey (I think) who completely charmed us both. Robin sneaked chunks of chicken to her when nobody was looking. (Shhhhhhh)

Dinner over, we trudged back to the boat, hung our wet coats over the rads, and settled in to play cards. The heating system aboard the Monaco is excellent, and I am having cause to be truly grateful for that.

Ah, Currant Bun!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Robin stood beside Lock 5, spread his arms, and cried "Ah, currant bun!", which is to say, "Ah, the sun!"  We have had sunshine all day long. We still have to wear our coats, because it's cold out there, but the rain has stopped. We moored at a canal shop to buy yet another map, and the proprietor told us to expect rain both tomorrow and Monday. Accordingly, we're making plans for a two-day layover. We can get pretty close to Coventry tonight. That would involve another detour, but one with no locks involved. In fact, we've been looking at the big map, and it appears that we have only three more locks to work between here and Napton, the end of our journey!

I am looking forward to seeing Coventry Cathedral, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, the original cathedral having been destroyed by bombs during World War II. I'm told there is a good collection of modern art there.

Here's a truth I have discovered on this trip:  Narrowboating in the rain is no fun at all.

And here is something I found tacked to the wall at Atherstone Lock #1. Please click to enlarge.

Me and Lady Godiva --

We are in Coventry now. Last night, we spent the night about halfway up the Coventry Canal. While we were mooring, I had a text message from David to the effect that he hoped we were safely moored, because Nadine was on the way. I took it that Nadine is a tropical storm (hurricane?) due to hit here, so I was a little nervous during the night. As it turned out, there was no weather at all, to speak of, so we came up to the end of the canal this morning and moored in the canal basin, a rather forlorn dead end to the canal.

The first thing we did was come hunting for Starbucks, and here we are, charging the laptop, catching up on The Turtle, trying not to go deaf from the "music" (quotes intentional) blaring at us from the square outside. That's where Lady Godiva is, and it's a wonder she hasn't galloped away.

Once the laptop is fully charged, we'll head over to the cathedral. I suppose we had better check the weather forecast, too. It wouldn't do to be out in the middle of nowhere if a big storm strikes.