Thanks for your blog, enjoyed reading it.
Comments.
Trying to do too many miles is a common problem when you hire a boat, with your own and more time you learn to slow down and do more exploring.
Tyrley locks bywashes. They run more when the locks above are being emptied, hence the top one is easier. The secret is to watch and wait till the flow on the lower ones subsides before trying to enter going up. Best is to get someone ahead filling the next lock up if there are lots of boats coming down and up. They are vicious, I prefer to do the ring clockwise so that I am descending the Shroppie locks.
Tillers and standing. Semi trad and cruiser stern boats leave the steerer out in the elements hanging on a tiller. Try a trad stern and then you can lean in the hatches or sit on the roof and steer, much better than standing out on the deck. Then the height of the tiller begins to make sense, it just clears the top of the cabin.
Ratchet windlass is a waste of money, seen loads that are never used. What is needed is a windlass with 3 sockets at different lengths on the bar then you can use the longest throw providing your knuckles miss the lock beams. I make my own. The pressed tin rubbish that hire fleets give you are terrible, they don't fit the spindles properly and are too short in the throw.
Clothes. Bring cheap/used disposable underwear, wash it in the shower and dry it next to the engine. Charity shops for shirts and trousers and a pullover, dump them at the airport as you leave. Wash less, wear clothes longer, its good for the planet.
When are you back in the UK again?