From previous experience we had found that, even though lie-ins are often the norm on holiday, an early start paid dividends in giving a different view of the canal and making the day more flexible, so we were up at 7.00am and were away just after 7.30am. The canal really is at its best this time of morning even though some of the industrial surroundings were not the most delightful of scenery. The morning was crisp and the skies blue, promising a good day ahead and we ambled along pleasantly, tea and toast in hand, until within half an hour we met our first challenge - Bridge 36. This looked impossible to get through, but of course boats had been through here for a hundred years or more so we were not daunted. I must admit though that I had to put the tea down to make sure we got through without touching the sides!

Tatenhill Lock and Branston Lock passed by and we had views of the backs of factories and breweries before arriving at about 9.15am at Shobnall Basin, home of Jannel Cruisers. We wanted to get some coal to try out the stove, so we moored up here and spent a good twenty minutes looking around the chandlery, coming back with a bag of coal and quite a few things we hadn't planned on buying!

Dallow Lane Lock was our first 'handcuffed' lock and we hoped that it wasn't a pointer to what to expect as we cruised though the outskirts of Burton-on-Trent but all was well as we passed Horninglow Wharf with its excellent mural trying to disguise the concrete road bridge of the omnipresent A38. A few miles further on and we lost that road forever and regained countryside again. The aqueduct over the River Dove gave us a grand view of Monks Bridge which can also be seen from the road and I believe that the aqueduct itself is of similar structure though, of course, impossible to see as we were above it.

Now in Derbyshire we continued for a few pleasant miles arriving eventually at Stenson Lock, our very first wide-beam lock! Having read the recommended procedures for wide locks we weren't too concerned but, boy, did that lock look big! As luck would have it there was another narrowboat coming up and I struck up a conversation with the lady lockworker who informed us that they were having quite a few problems adapting to the wide locks on this stretch which, she said, were totally different from those on the Grand Union that they were used to. Their established procedure was to open the paddle on the same side as their boat which would normally have the effect of pushing water under the boat onto the far wall and thus rebounding to hold the boat against the lockside. This however was not working on the Trent and Mersey locks, having the opposite effect. The problem was that the paddles opened at the foot of the gates so that the incoming water was forced between the boat and the lock walls thus pushing the front of the boat across the lock. They had determined that the best action was to open the opposite paddle first and this was the advice we followed as we made our way. It worked fine.

We intended to stop at the Ragley Boat Stop for lunch and moored up outside, but we couldn't tell if the pub was open as it is a few hundred yards from the canal and we also realised that we could catch the last 15 minutes of the Grand Prix qualifying so it was a bottle of wine and baguettes on board. The peace and quiet were only interrupted once when a Canaltime boat came by at such a rate of knots that the wash nearly knocked the wine glasses over. I looked out quickly but couldn't spot the water-skier being towed behind!

An hour later we were on our way and life was wonderful (how strong was that wine!) as we tackled our next wide-beam lock at Swarkestone and then on to Weston Lock where we had to wait for a boat coming up. Spotting a water point we decided to pass the lock waiting time by filling the water tank. Wrong decision! Three-quarters on an hour later, after letting two other boats go through, we gave up and decided to top it up later. After Aston Lock we came to the delightful village of Shardlow, a real canalside environment built up around the canal trade, and spotted the Clock Warehouse where we would eat later, however our objective was to get down to the River Trent and then turn to moor at Shardlow on the way back. Going through we were able to spot a mooring place, of which there were few, and we hoped it would be still there when we returned.

Through Derwent Lock and a short stretch before the canal joined the River Trent at Derwent Mouth and opened up into a huge (and somewhat scary!) expanse of water which even had a current! After the enclosed confines of the canal this came as a bit of a shock but allayed the anticipated problems of turning since even a leisurely 360 degree circle would be no problem here. Back up through Derwent Lock we were able to find our mooring spot still empty so we tied up for a short rest before venturing out to dinner.

Our first full day on Slipstream had been completed and was excellent. We arrived at Shardlow just half an hour after we anticipated, but then we hadn't realised how long it takes to fill up a water tank!