The 28th March has arrived and one repair, and three coats of blacking later we are ready to go back in the water and as we were told about 8am, I got up from my sleep and 5.45am. There was ice on the entrance to the slip but the sun was on the horizon ready to show itself to the world.

It wasn't till around 10.30 that the guys began to move boats around to give us a clear exit from the slipway, the JCB fork truck was connected to the trolley and we were about to go down the slip onto the canal again. As this was my first time, I was a little nervous as we started to move backward down the slope, but slowly we went until the stern was in the water and on until we were afloat again. We called out our thanks and said our goodbyes to the guys and we were off up the Coventry, heading for the co-op at Whittington.

We pulled over at Whittington for supplies of milk and were soon on our way again, passing a couple of fields full of huge poly tunnels. A couple of hours later we were pulling into Hopwas our stop for the night and a chance to get inside in the warmth of the boat, as by the time we had pulled over the temperature was back down to freezing.

Tuesday the 29th March, although up early, we decided to sit for a while as ice had formed a thin coat over the canal. Now with the sun out and blue skies it didn't take to long to clear and eventually leaving at 10am. With the village being left behind we headed for Fazeley Junction meeting the odd bits of broken ice as we passed between the shade of the trees, (good job we wrapped up well) as here in these spots it was still very cold. Passing under the A5 we were entering Fazeley and to my surprise there were not that many boats moored, only the live aboards.

Here we made a left turn at the junction and on over the Kettlebrook aqueduct with it's pill box, a relic of past wars, and on to the two Glascote Locks. As there were not many boats on the move we soon navigated the locks and at the top we pulled over to take on board water.

All that was left now was a two hour run into Polesworth our intended stop for a couple of nights. Passing by the rear gardens of the terraced houses along the canal at Amington. In the summer these gardens usually look a picture, but at this time of the year they are baron and now covered with snow. Here we spotted our first pair of Mandarin Ducks, with the brightly coloured male, and although with the same markings the female was shades of grey. I could not get a photo as Sally had the camera in her pocket (what a shame).
At around 2pm, we reached Polesworth and got a good mooring just before bridge 54. Today Saturday, we had a walk to the Abbey, got a few supplies and stopped for a fish and chip lunch before returning to the warmth of the boat.