Thursday 2nd

Part of the picture-book account of The Booze Cruise

link to photo: Abandoned factory

We get woken by an unhappy British Waterways official. So, after a quick visit to Wolverhampton's town centre for supplies, we set off, passing the tired-looking industrial wasteland that lines the canalside.

link to photo: Nosy builders

The boat gets stuck in an awkward position, and while Ben gets to work freeing it, a nosy group of builders stand around pointing and laughing.

link to photo: Green junk on a stick

The journey is made worse by bizarre floating green junk that clogs up the propeller.

link to photo: Birmingham

We reach Birmingham eventually...

link to photo: Mooring in Birmingham

...and moor by the boat facilities point while we fill the water tank.

link to photo: Cruising for a space

We spend a lot of time looking for a space to park in the centre of town, but find none. So we end up parking in an ominously quiet spot. This causes arguments amongst the crew.

link to photo: The crew on the street

Arguments settled, we head out into Birmingham...

link to photo: Baskerville House

...where we admire...

link to photo: Steeple thing

...the sights.

link to photo: New Street

The crew spends a long time trying to find the pub we're looking for, and when we finally find it we get thrown out for not having sufficient ID to prove our ages. So we head to another pub very close to where we'd left the boat.

link to photo: Drinking at the Figure Of Eight

We have a good night at the other pub, enjoy a meal, make a lot of noise and eventually head back to the boat. Ben tells me the tale of the Little Green Man before we try to get to sleep.