Preparing to move

Here I am Rune

Distance 0miles

Total 817 Locks 39 Tunnels

Running total mileage 1237.9miles

We have decided that tomorrow (Wednesday) will definitely be the day for moving on. Weather forecast is (sort of) OK, I’ve checked the canal as far as Gorsty Tunnel and the only ice is a very thin skin about 500 yards along the canal from where we are and shouldn’t  take any real pushing through. In preparation we have fuelled up (120 litres for £62.40) and stocked up with shopping. The target for the day will be Parkhead basin which is the southern end of Dudley tunnel, so even though we are probably too high to actually get through Dudley tunnel, we will have seen both ends of it.

As I said yesterday I am quite keen for moving on since, whilst Hawne Basin is a pleasant location, I would like a change of scenery. I would also like to get some movement for the fuel that we have burnt! So tomorrow it will be pay for the mooring here and then on our way.

Starting to thaw...........

Here I am Rune

Distance 0miles

Total 817 Locks 39 Tunnels

Running total mileage 1237.9miles

It seems that things might be beginning to thaw a bit. The basin has now lost quite a bit of the ice with just an island of it in the centre. Tomorrow I may try to break it up as I go across to the fuel pump to refuel with diesel. I’ll then take another trip along the canal on the bike to see what the state of the ice is and if it has thawed sufficiently we’ll possibly be moving on by Wednesday.

As stated yesterday I took the opportunity of being frozen in here to go swimming at the Halesowen Swimming Pool, the design of which caught me out a bit. Usually when I go for a swim it is to do about a mile, which on a standard pool is about 65 lengths, this will usually take just under an hour. Today I found that after about 40 minutes I was only halfway there. I plodded on regardless and completed the swim in about 1 hour and 20 minutes thinking that my energy levels had possibly dropped off a bit. Speaking with a pool attendant it seems that the pool isn’t the standard 25 metres but is in fact 33 metres, what is that all about? How do they hold competitions there? If you had a 100 metre race it would be 3 lengths and then a little bit (it is 33 metres, not 33 1/3 metres as one might expect). More to the point is seems that in my mile swim I’ve now gone and swum over a mile and a quarter, no wonder I feel knackered.

Still Frozen in.......

Here I am Rune

Distance 0miles

Total 817 Locks 39 Tunnels

Running total mileage 1237.9miles

Took the bike out today to check out the canal as far as the junction with Dudley number 1 canal at Bumble Hole (yes, it really is called that!). It didn’t’ look too optimistic for being able to get away in the next few days, the canal is pretty much frozen all of the way. The depth of ice was such that when I lobbed a brick onto the surface of the ice it just bounced across it. I certainly wouldn’t want to be the first boat pushing through that depth of ice, unless I was travelling to get the boat re-blacked!

Making the most of staying where we are I may take the opportunity to go swimming at Halesowen Leisure Centre tomorrow depending upon what the opening hours are, haven’t been swimming for quite a while (back at Nantwich if I remember correctly).

Have to say that I am getting a bit itchy to be on the move again, we’ve been moored here since 18^th January now and I’d be quite keen on a change of scenery, although if you are going to be stuck anywhere Hawne Basin is quite high on the list of desirable places.

On the way to Gorsty Tunnel............

................At Bumble Hole

Iced in at Hawne

Here I am Rune

Distance 0miles

Total 817 Locks 39 Tunnels

Running total mileage 1237.9miles

Well it would seem that we aren’t going anywhere for the time being. Our plan of moving out of Hawne Basin today came to nothing. The workboat tried to get out onto the canal this morning and, whilst it did a stirling job of breaking though the ice in the basin, once it was out onto the cut it only got a few hundred yards before the ice stopped it so it had to reverse back. When we came down here the ice was quite thin and didn’t seem to cause much damage to our blacking paint on the bottom of the boat, looking at the ice now some if it is nearly a couple of inches thick and that would start to scrape the blacking off the boat, so until the ice thins we will be staying here. I have checked with the staff at Hawne Basin and they are quite happy with that saying that they wouldn’t want to send anyone out into ice like that. 

One advantage of being a ‘captive’ at Hawne Basin is that the clubhouse has a large screen on which TV can be watched, which is ideal for watching 6 Nations Rugby, and what a brilliant start by England! Might be not too terrible if we are still trapped here next weekend for the next round.

Looking across Hawne Basin......

........and yes that is pretty solid ice!

Hawne Basin

N52.457423 W002.0399812

Here I am Rune

Distance 0miles

Total 817 Locks 39 Tunnels

Running total mileage 1237.9miles

With all of the frozen canals around at the moment it seemed a good opportunity to take in a bit of winter sunshine so for the past week or so we have flown off to the Canary Islands, La Gomera in particular, and it is great how a bit of winter sun brightens the spirits. After the dull days of a UK winter it was a pleasure to get out in shorts and sandals in a place where it doesn’t get dark until nearly 7pm, it’s almost as though spring had arrived. The only downside has been a week of driving mountain roads (sheer wall of rock on one side, big drop on the other!) which isn’t exactly a laugh for an acrophobiac  like myself. Other than that it was certainly money well spent, although it does become a bit of a thermal shock flying from Tenerife at a temperature of 18°C  to arrive back in Birmingham to temperatures of about 0° C.

The frozen canals may hamper our plans for moving on over the weekend. It was our intention to leave Hawne Basin on Saturday but it seems that the canal re-freezes every night at the moment so we will have to see what the weather brings us. Meanwhile, just to add a bit of winter sunshine to the day, here’s a selection of holiday snaps.

Main Street of Valle de Gran Rey

Seafront statue at Vall de Gran Rey

A Dragon Tree near to Alajero (no, I didn't know they grew on trees either!)