Bartimaeus

We started the day by reorganising the outside of the boat a little.  The bridges on the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal that we are now on are reasonably high, but not always the same height the whole way across the canal.  There are also quite a number of low-hanging branches.  All of this made me quite nervous about leaving the tandem on the roof.  We have asked Ortomarine to add some fixings on the roof to let us secure a tarpaulin over the tandem, but they haven’t been fitted yet.

So after a number of experiments with turning handlebars etc., we have brought the tandem back in to the saloon.  I also removed the “cratch cover” – the tent on the front of the boat.  I think we will get more from it in cooler months as a porch or conservatory.  Without it, it is slightly less awkward to handle ropes and cross the deck while locking. It doesn’t block the camera from inside the front doors either.

The major achievement of the day was mooring at the edge of a large supermarket car park.  I was able to bring the trolley to the canal side to unload.  We again set off out of town for a rural night.  We think we should have a better look at Kidderminster, but today it was just too hot.