Wednesday 2 Jan was cold and windy. Paul and I shared the steering as we headed back from Rugby via Braunston (the picture shows the approach to Braunston from Rugby with the Church Spire)…………
…….to moor up for the night near Priors Hardwick. This is a nice bit of towpath with piling before going across the windy Fenny Compton stretch. Unbeknown to us Brian and crew on Harnser were moored just around the corner.
During the night, about 1.30am I was off the boat with Roly having a widdle (thats Roly not me). I turned back to the boat to lift the cratch cover when I heard a loud splash – Roles had somehow managed to topple into the canal. He struggled to keep his head above the water, and his ‘head tilt’ meant he was only able to swim in circles, ever further from the bank. With a desperate lunge, clutching onto the boat, I managed to catch his collar and drag him to the side. One last heave of collar and clutching his coat by his tail I managed to get him out. Three towels, one soaked dressing gown and a hot cup of tea later we were snuggled up, back on the boat in front of the fire. Poor old Roly, not very dignified and a bit of a cold shock to say the least.
The next morning Paul had us up at 6 am again and we battled on through a cold grey morning on the final stretch to Banbury.
