Well it's been quite an interesting few months!

After a week in hospital and a two and a half week stay in the marina, and with the invaluable help of our old friend Derek, we managed to get back to base at High House Wharf in a time that surprised us all.

Derek had travelled up by train on the Tuesday evening and at 7.00am on Wednesday morning we were on our way again. We had decided that Elaine would be all right to stay on the boat but would be boat bound as she couldn't put any weight on her leg for 6 weeks after the operation. Although it was frustrating and a bit boring for her, she was able to spur us on!

Derek is a boat owner himself but due to family circumstances he and his wife Jane are not able to get the time so they can use their boat at all. So Derek looked on this particular trip as a bit of an unexpected holiday and being able to cross a few more bits of the network of his to do list!

The canal experiences of Derek and myself go back many, many years - to 1975 in fact. We have had many canal adventures down the years over which we'll draw a veil. With me also acting as head cook & bottlewasher, Derek kindly offered to work all the locks, although I guess neither of us had planned for the amount of lock miles we would work in a day......

The first day saw us travel from Church Minshull to Market Drayton. It may not seem much by car, but by canal it is a full day's journey. 10 hours later 18 miles and 24 locks had been completed - 42 lock miles in total is a cruise any party of 20 year olds would be proud of. It was a miserable day as well - drizzly rain off and on for most of the day.

The next day was much the same - just over 10 hours and 30 lock miles - mainly miles as we had all the Shropshire Union's lock flights out of the way now. We tied up on lovely moorings just 4 or 5 miles from the outskirts of Wolverhampton. So quiet it was that it could have been in the middle of nowhere!

Another 10 hour + day (26 lock miles) on day 3 saw us get as far as Tixall Wide on the Staffs & Worcs Canal. By now the weather had turned and we were being treated to some lovely weather - had summer arrived after all!

Day 4 - Saturday - saw a quiet day and by mid morning we were tied up for the weekend in the salubrious surroundings of Rugeley. Derek is a lay-preacher in the C of E and had to be back home to be able to take services on Sunday. The train station is not too far from the moorings and the town centre and a supermarket a handy.

Day 5 - Derek re-joined us in late morning and we were soon under way again as far as Fradley Junction. Here, for the first and only time, Derek & I adjourned to The Swan (aka The Mucky Duck) for a couple of jars of good beer.

Day 6 - another long day, in fact longer than we anticipated. By now our early morning routine was so slick that we were often under way by 6.45am.....!!!! Just as well today. We had intended to get as far as Atherstone and tie up either just 2 locks up the flight of 11 or make it to the top and the town centre.

Over 10 and a half hours later, we tied up some way past Atherstone as the long line of visitor moorings were completely full. Another 35 lock miles. However it was fun to be climbing up the Atherstone locks behind the steamer 'President' and her butty 'Kildare' and we were able to see at first hand the effort required to bow haul the butty through the lock flight.

Day 7 - by now we had broken the back of the journey. We could afford to cut the cruising time down and so it was a mere 6 and a half hours and 20 lock miles today to our usual mooring at Brinklow.

Day 8 - a similar time today and 25 lock miles and our first broad locks since leaving the Grand Union at Kingswood Junction towards the end of April. Our mooring at the top of Braunston locks and an early start tomorrow would guarantee us a clear passage through the tunnel.

Day 9 - again leaving at some God-forsaken  hour we achieved our clear run through the tunnel and were soon cruising the lovely summit pound between Braunston and Norton Junction. We had a remarkably good run down the Buckby flight where most of the locks were full and waiting for us with gates already open.

After just over 4 and a half hours we were tying up on our mooring, albeit a lot sooner than e had anticipated. Derek's wife Jane came over in the afternoon and we took them out to our local restaurant for a slap up meal in the evening.

In those 9 days (bearing in mind we took three days over the weekend to cruise what we would probably have done in one) we had travelled 145 miles and worked 78 locks. What we would have happily done when we were in our 20's was perhaps a bit much for two, geriatric and slightly creaking 60 somethings!!

We said a fond and very grateful farewell to Derek as he left for home and we can now concentrate on getting Elaine's leg mended and back to normal.

It has made us think seriously about our future, and has brought home to us just how easily accidents can happen. We had been thinking about moving back on to dry land for some time and 2014 would probably have been our last full year's cruising.

However, Elaine feels her confidence has been damaged and she no longer feels she will be able to step/jump off the boat with a mooring rope again with any certainty that her knee will not collapse under her.

We have therefore decided to make the move ashore now rather than wait another winter and see what happens next year.

We have had an offer accepted on a place adjacent to Torksey Lock in Lincolnshire and the boat is now up for sale through ABNB brokers, and it looks likely that we will be living permanently ashore by the middle of August - we are fortunate that we don't have to wait for the sale of 'Patience' to complete the purchase of our new home.

So this will be the last entry in our boating blog. It will be a very emotional day when we lock 'Patience' up for the last time and turn our back on what has been our home and our way of life for 10 very enjoyable years.

We have been to some amazing places and met some wonderful people - making a lot of lovely friends which we hope to keep in the future.

Thanks for reading the blog.

Cheers!