22nd May 2024 - Day 2

We woke this morning to the rain, not unexpected but it was very wet but at least it was not too windy.  We took the dogs for a walk and then we set off on the next stage of our journey.  It was too wet for the dogs to join us on the stern so it was just John and I today.  We put on our warm coats and headed onto the canal.  Our aim was to go to Wolseley Bridge visitor moorings.  Another fairly short journey especially in the rain.  A pleasant cruise through the Staffordshire countryside, through the town of Rugeley.  However when we got to Wolseley Bridge all the visitor moorings were full, most people had decided, due to the rain, to just stay put for the day.  So we passed Wolseley Bridge and decided to stop at the next available mooring place.  We eventually came to Colwich and Colwich lock.  This was the first lock we had done for quite a few years so a little nerve racking.  I did the lock and then John brought the boat in, we made a rocky error and forgot to take our fenders off so they got dragged into the lock but John managed to retrieve them both.  Had a bit of a problem with the engine which overheated when we moored up.  We were a bit surprised at this as we have only just had the engine repaired for overheating and didn’t have any problems yesterday or on our last day out.  We will see how we fair tomorrow but if we have the same problem we will call out the Canal River Rescue to sort the problem out.   We then moored up just after the lock for a well deserved rest and a warm shower. The forecast is better for tomorrow so hopefully we can get the dogs on the stern with us again.  A lazy afternoon and evening on Merlin.