On Schedule !
2/3 August 2011
We were both entertaining guests on 3 August and going out for a meal with M & A in Aylesbury on 2 August so with all other tasks duly completed we loaded the car on the Tuesday afternoon and set off for the boatyard about two minutes after M had called on the phone to ask what our plans were.
We arrived at the boatyard shortly after 4pm. We turned electric and boiler on, generally unloaded the car and unpacked whilst we waited for the kettle to boil and then sat out in the open with M & A to enjoy a delayed afternoon cuppa.
The showers started as we finished. We had a few jobs to do in the forty five minutes before we were due to head off to the theatre but we managed to keep out of the worst of the rain as, amongst other things, we attempted to top up the water tank. We changed, ready to go out, whilst the tank was filling and the showers were getting heavier and more frequent.
M & A were ready just before we were and walked up to the car under their respective umbrellas. H followed on whilst R stopped filling the tank, recoiled the hose and stashed it back on the boat, all in the rain! He then made a mad dash for the car, discarding his damp top coat once he was safe inside.
We'd planned to eat in the chain pub opposite the theatre and were there in plenty of time to take our seats and deliberate over what we were going to eat only to find, when we ordered, that neither of the dishes that R or H wanted were available. Alternatives were quickly decided upon and the resultant food served quite promptly.
We crossed the road afterwards and stood outside the theatre whilst A had a smoke. Then we went inside and enjoyed the show although we were slightly surprised to find ourselves walking out afterwards, just two hours after we'd gone in and after a twenty minute break midway through the show.
We returned to the boatyard and joined A on Rachel for a hot drink before we returned to our boat, secured the outer doors and were soon in bed. Despite the warm and humid atmosphere and with a relatively thick duvet still on the bed, apart from one brief nature driven interruption, we slept well and had to force ourselves to get up at 7am on Wednesday morning so that R could spend the morning on the accounts in the office with M. H, meanwhile, was busy preparing for our visitors who were due at 12.30pm.
Our visitors arrived a little earlier than planned, just as R had finished in the office. He showed the visitors to the boat and set off in search of H who was amongst the missing. He found her just leaving the café, en route to the office with some paperwork for M. R relieved her of the paperwork, which he hurriedly took to the office, so that H could return to the boat.
Having been caught slightly unprepared, R had to quickly complete his boat preparation duties. However, within a few minutes we were inching backwards and struggling through the narrow gap through which we now have to pass to get off our mooring. We slowly manoeuvered our way into the main channel, turned and set off northwards for what was a largely uneventful journey.
We stopped after the first lock for lunch amongst gathering dark grey clouds but despite making sure that all doors and windows that remained open were quickly reachable if the inevitable happened, we escaped rain of any description. We were to discover later that other boaters in the area and those at home were not so lucky, suffering quite extensive downpours that lasted for upwards of thirty minutes and were accompanied by the usual summery flashes and bangs.
We re-started after ninety minutes and carried on northwards. One of our guests was helping H work the locks (and thoroughly enjoying doing so) whilst the other was lording (or, in her case, ladying) it, sat in the front well deck and watching the world go by.
We did see some boats heading south, one of which delayed us slightly as they completed working through a lock that we then dropped down through.
We turned at Slapton and promptly moored for afternoon tea just as three boats escaped from the lock the other side of the road bridge in front of which we turned. They would be long gone by the time that we were to set off again but they'd turn all the locks against us as a result.
Our refreshments were taken on the towpath using the more moveable chairs that we have. In a little under an hour we were done and packing up, hastened by the need to take avoiding action when a couple of passing dogs looked hell bent on either scoffing the cakes that sat on a plate resting on the towpath beside R or, worse still, possibly trying to lubricate the content of the plate!
We met one boat heading north as we returned and they again delayed us as they worked through a lock that we needed to use. The delay was extended because, as we later discovered, one of the bottom gate paddles wasn't completely closed whilst they were trying to fill the lock.
We shared the third lock from home with another local boat out on a much shorter trip with their friends. We were joined from here by A who had walked down from the boatyard for some exercise. She helped us back through the last three locks and even allowed H to stop and have a brief chat with the occupants of another boat who have recently taken delivery of a young one.
We were back at the boatyard a few minutes after 7pm. We had a further few brief words with our guests before they departed, to be followed by R & H about twenty minutes later after they had packed everything up, loaded into the car and secured the boat, remembering (this time) to switch off the 12v systems before doing so.
We were home shortly after 8pm, had a quick snack and then R spent a short while on the computer before we turned in at the end of an enjoyable day (and a bit).
16 August 2011
Don't run away with the idea that we've been boating again. We haven't and there are tales that even if we'd wished to boat last weekend we wouldn't have been able to because the bottom of the canal was too near the top and our boat was stuck on its mooring, with the stern at least 50mm out of the water.
No, early Tuesday was spent in the office on the accounts but R had arranged with M that afterwards, and before R headed for home in the early afternoon, M would show R how to service the engine, including changing the oil and filters as required.
And so it was, at around noon that we left the office slightly later than planned and headed for the boat. R ran the engine up for about ten minutes, giving him a chance to remove the engine room floor before the tuition started. R had more or less finished this when M re-appeared to see if he could locate the source of a high pitch whine that has long been a nuisance. R had initially noted this when he started the engine because, unusually, he'd switched on the engine electrics and started the engine before switching on the domestic electrics. As he did the latter the noise started suggesting that the cause was related to the domestic (and bigger of the two) alternator. This was confirmed by M almost as soon as he started his investigation.
Several minutes later and after a similar number of reasonably minute adjustments to the alternator's position, we'd managed to at least tame the noise even if we hadn't completely stopped it. We'll have to see what happens in the longer term after we've been cruising for a while.
With alternator re-secured we turned our attention to the engine which was nice and warm by this time. M explained to R how the lift pump drained the oil out of the engine. This involved removing the bung in the outlet and opening the valve on the pump - both of which have been noted here (along with everything else) so that R has a reminder of what to do the next time the engine needs servicing.
Soon the first five litres were in an empty container, the only one we had available. With a similar amount of oil still remaining in the engine we needed another container. A visit to the re-cycling bin in the car park failed to produce anything suitable as the bin had been emptied the day before. Luckily a diversion via the café yielded an empty five litre vinegar container which R hot footed it back to the boat with. The remaining oil was soon extracted so we started refilling.
We were using a two litre oil can/jug and a funnel so after the third attempt we checked the oil level. It was just beginning to show on the dipstick. Another jug full and the level was about halfway up the stick. We decided to halt there.
Next came the air filter. It wasn't clean but it wasn't filthy either so we turned it round and after a little difficulty re-securing the clips on the lid, turned our attention to the oil filter. That was just about hand tight so with an empty margarine tub underneath to catch the oil we gently unscrewed it. Numerous turns later and it was free. It was inverted in the tub to drain as much oil out as possible then it was exchanged for the new filter in the cardboard box in which the new filter came and the new filter was fitted to the engine.
A quick check of the drain on the fuel/water separator between engine and tank revealed, as previously, nothing but neat fuel. A check on the drain on the tank yielded the same results, although we had to assemble the drain's valve before we could use it.
Finally we decided to check and if necessary change the gearbox oil. There oil level was adequate but the oil looked a little stale so we decided to change it. Alas, the gearbox doesn't come with an integral pump so we thought we'd try to drain the oil through the drain in the bottom of the sump. However, we didn't want to do this straight into the bilge so we attempted to get a pot underneath the drain. No such luck; the engine was too near the floor of the boat to allow us to use any of the containers that we had to hand.
Instead R had to go and find a friendly engineer and beg the use of his syphon pump. Even though obtaining the pump was a relatively quick job, syphoning the oil took a while because the diameter of the pump's pipe was only minimal. Nonetheless we eventually drained the oil out and started refilling. We checked after the first jug full, no sign of any oil on the dipstick. We added a little more and checked again. The oil was over the top of the maximum mark so we had to syphon some of the oil out again. This seemed to take an age and several attempts before we were happy that we had the level right.
We refitted the dipstick - it screws into the gearbox - and after a final check that everything else was secure together with a quick wipe over of all the possible places where we might encounter leaks, we started the engine and left it running for a few minutes. Luckily there was no sign of any leaks. We'd successfully carried out our first service of the engine.
There was an accumulation of small debris in the bilge, mainly dead leaves and dust. R decided that he'd clean this up before refitting the floor. M, meanwhile, decided his stomach was rumbling and returned to his boat for lunch.
R had an appointment near home at 3pm and had glanced at his watch several times as the engine service had progressed. He remembered that 1pm had passed but thought it was still nowhere near 2pm, let alone after it! How wrong he was. He looked at his watch as he extricated the last of the debris and was horrified to see that it was after 2.15pm. He had less than fifteen minutes to refit the floor, tidy up, secure the boat and head for home. He didn't quite make it and he left the boatyard a few minutes later than necessary to keep the appointment punctually. Luckily he'd managed to contact the person he was meeting and warn them that he was running late. It was a contented R that left the boatyard that afternoon.
A subsequent check on how long that would take and we had to curtail our ideas a bit or we'd be chasing round like we've done in the past. So we had a rough scheme - we dare not use the word plan. And then British Waterways decided that the long dry Spring and Summer had depleted their water supplies somewhat so they had imposed some restrictions on some lock opening hours in the area that we were thinking we might cruise. These weren't too restrictive and didn't look as though they would impact on us.
Alas, within ten days those restrictions were made considerably more stringent with the result that we had to think again on the way we would get where we'd originally been thinking of going. Instead of using one route for our outward journey and another route for the return, we would now have to use the same route in both directions. This did have one slight blessing. If we found ourselves so relaxed that we didn't make the place we were considering, we could simply turn around and return home; there'd be no racing round the circuit to get back on time, something that we would have to do as our return date is determined by an hospital appointment that H had to keep.
We're now keeping our fingers crossed that there aren't any further restrictions imposed on other stretches of canal otherwise we may not be able to go anywhere worthwhile.
27 August 2011
We paid a relatively flying visit to the boat on Saturday. We'd primarily gone to the area so that H could visit the Marsworth Flower Festival and so that R could bring the boatyard's accounts up to date as he would be away at the start of the next month. We took the opportunity to take some non perishable items, generally clothing, to the boat to free up space in the car on our next visit and to hasten our departure on the boat in two day's time.
H returned from the festival first and R finished the paperwork about thirty minutes later. We then partook of lunch in the café with A. This was followed by some further preparatory work on the boat which included filling the water tank and loading the final few bags of the previous year's coal supply because the coal merchant had so far failed to deliver the new supply despite promising a delivery some days previously. We also turned the boat, pumped out the toilet tank and having then had trouble reversing onto our normal mooring because the water level was low, decided to turn back again to minimise the risk of not being able to float off our mooring on Monday.
Everything was finished shortly before 4pm so we retrieved the now empty crates that we'd brought the clothes in, secured the boat and headed for home via the local branch of Toolstation to buy a replacement smoke alarm for the boat. Despite R opening up the boat, walking through it from rear to front to open those doors and then returning and exiting through the rear doors, he'd not heard the alarm beeping to indicate a low battery. However, as soon as H got on board she heard the alarm and pointed this out to R when he came by again.
Having ascertained which of the three alarms it was - there are two smoke alarms and a CO alarm, R removed the noisy one, changed the battery and then replaced the alarm. There was no way that he could get the alarm to remain fixed to the ceiling mounted mounting plate despite trying the alarm in several different orientations. He eventually discovered that one of the internal fixing clips was no more and must have broken off when he removed the alarm to change the battery. With the alarm unable to remain in place, even gently scraping a lock wall would have no doubt caused it to fall, we had to replace it, hence the visit to Toolstation.
29 August 2011
R had had a relatively (for him) fair bit of exercise on Sunday and H had been busy at church for much of the day so it probably wan't surprising that we slept well on Sunday night; so well that we didn't wake until after 7am. We hadn't intended to rush (and didn't) so it also wasn't too surprising that with various things to do at home, taking advantage of the nearly empty fridge to clean it and the like, we didn't leave home 10.15am
We had an uninterrupted run to the boatyard, unloaded the car, unpacked the crates (which we then returned to the car) and then paused for a belated morning cuppa, joined by both A and M. With a few last minute things still to do afterwards we finally wound the engine up at almost precisely midday. It took a bit of effort to reverse off our mooring and head north - plans to face south, reverse back off the main channel and then swing the nose to the north came to nothing - so it was some fifteen minutes later that we passed under our local railway bridge.
A was joining us for a couple of hours as she said she needed the exercise and because she said that she had nothing to do. Latterly she also realised that she could be separated from H's cakes for almost a month so helping us also allowed her one last fix!
A had opened the swing bridge and was standing guard over it when we came into view. She closed the bridge after we'd passed through the opening but not before H had alighted with two windlasses to walk to the first lock. There were two boats exiting the lock as we arrived and a small cruiser waiting to work down through the lock. We nosed into the lock first and the cruiser followed us in. We then saw a further boat coming up behind and waited to see if they were small enough to get into the lock with us. They weren't, so we closed the gates, drained the lock and went on our way.
H and A had walked onto the next lock, which was thereby ready when we arrived although we were told that it had only drained a little after the passage of the two boats that we'd seen at the previous lock. The cruiser shot off from the lock when the gates were opened. By this time there were two boats from the local boat club waiting to enter the chamber as soon as we left so we could leave the gates for them.
The crew off the cruiser had got the next lock almost ready for us when we arrived and we were soon in, dropping down and then leaving the lock. Once again the cruiser shot off. Although they did lower the paddles they didn't close their gate, so A walked round the lock and closed it for them.
There is a longer distance to the next lock so the cruiser soon disappeared from sight. However, by dint of the fact that they had to top the lock up again, we were there before the lock was ready. H had walked on to the following lock and signalled back to us as we left our lock, indicating that we should leave the gates open for a boat heading towards us. They in turn left their lock's gates open for us.
The cruiser was about to disappear off again without closing their gate but did close it when A asked them nicely if they would do so. They were in the process of moving their boat from Harlow on the River Lee, were gates are normally left open on leaving a lock, which may account for why they didn't shut gates. They were also on a tight schedule, which may be another reason.
We shared the next lock with the cruiser but told them that it was a couple of miles to the following lock and that if we weren't there when the lock was ready they should go on without us. They had done just that by the time we arrived at the lock but had linked up with another boat. This left us to turn the lock for our use once they had gone, a process that we had to repeat at the following lock although by the time that we arrived there the cruiser was history in our sights.
We gratefully bid A farewell at the lock where the cruiser left us as she was walking back to the boatyard - we were grateful that she'd helped us, not grateful that she was going! We carried on and moored for a while in Leighton Buzzard to top up supplies at the large canal side Tesco. We also attempted unsuccessfully to get a handle to go with the new head that we'd bought to replace the outdoor mop that had disappeared from the roof of our boat sometime since the Spring cruise.
We took advantage of the stop to have a belated afternoon cuppa before casting off just after 5pm, heading for Soulbury Three Locks partly because we wanted somewhere to get a good television signal and partly to reduce the amount of cruising on Tuesday as daughter had been busy arranging for us to entertain one of her friends and that friend's two children in the afternoon. We also wanted to stop off at the local playboat for H to meet the organiser that R occasionally volunteers for and, if time permitted we'd call at a nearby ironmongers to see if they could supply the wanted mop handle
We approached Leighton Lock to be rewarded with the crew off a boat heading towards us actually topping the lock up for our use rather than draining the nearly full lock for themselves. Consequently we soon through the lock and on our way to our intended overnight stopping spot.
We arrived there just before 6.30pm and were soon moored up securely, which was more than could be said for the boat in front which had managed to lose its front mooring pin with the result that the nose of the boat was halfway across the canal. So, having secured our own boat, we secured the hire boat and were just returning to our boat having done so when the boat's crew returned from the nearby pub. We explained what we had done and were thanked for our trouble. We disappeared into our boat and more or less immediately the hire boat departed. We needn't have bothered re-securing it!
We ate fairly soon afterwards and then later H watched TV for a while whilst R checked his mail (which contained more social arrangements for Tuesday) and then wrote up this page either side of watching some television himself. We made our evening drink just after 10pm and were in bed not long after. The Internet connection wasn't good enough to attempt to upload the updated version of this page, a task that would have to wait at least until the morrow (once it had been proof read).
30 August 2011
Apologies dear reader for the delay in uploading yesterday's page (and for a similar delay in uploading the reports for next few days). A poor Internet signal and other things to be revealed below should explain why.
We didn't start moving from our overnight stopping spot until 9am for a several reasons. Firstly we didn't wake too early. Secondly, we had in mind to wait and see if we were joined by another boat to work through the three locks in an effort to minimise the use of water. Finally, we'd showered before breakfast and had discovered that the shower sump pump had failed thereby filling (a slight exaggeration) the domestic (or non engine) bilge with water. We weren't sure of the reason for the failure but decided to check the battery voltage level and found it was just 10.2 volts! For the non-technical this is around 20% less than what it should ideally be.
There had been a couple of boat movements in the opposite direction before we set off, the later being what we determined was a late running hire boat, returning to base. Despite their passage only a short while before we started moving, H still had to top up the locks before we could use them. One does wonder if these seemingly endless problems with leaking locks are playing a significant part in the increasing number of lock usage restrictions that are being imposed because of the continuing dry weather which has badly depleted supplies in reservoirs.
We cleared the three lock flight within thirty five minutes. We arrived at the next lock as another boat did so in the opposite direction, with the lock in their favour so we had to wait for them to pass through the lock. A further boat arrived from the same direction just before the first boat left the lock but they had to wait for us to drop down through the lock. They all but entered the lock (after we'd departed) when a third boat approached the bottom gates. We were out of sight of the lock by then and weren't able to see if the two boats had been able to share the lock.
R had watched a spider busying himself on the roof spinning a web between the vent for the gas boiler and the top of the marine band antenna. The spider suddenly appeared from nowhere, seemed to race along something invisible (to R) until it was midway between the two fixed items and then it stopped for a rest. R continued to watch but the spider never moved until R's attention was drawn elsewhere briefly. The next time he looked the spider had vanished. Had it blown away? No! A few minutes later it re-appeared where it had previously been resting and took another rest. Later R discovered that there was a third fixing point for the web, on the boat's roof ahead of the rear hatch and just out of the steerer's viewpoint.
We subsequently crept past the playboat and moored shortly after. We then walked back and R introduced H to the team leader with whom he works. We then set off to find a mop handle in the local ironmongers but refused to pay the £7 or thereabouts that they wanted. Instead we went to the home store a short way away and bought a mop handle and mop for less than £2. We also bought a few other things as well!
We made our way back to the boat via the local branch of Halfords where we bought a five litre bottle of battery top-up water, just in case the batteries needed replenishing to improve their performance.
We had lunch before we re-started and then set off for the agreed point where we were to embark daughter, her friend and two children. We arrived almost thirty minutes before our visitors and sat pondering what was causing the problems with the shower sump pump. We cruised on to the first available turning point with the guests on board, turned and retraced our route to drop them off where we'd picked them up.
We were doing a similar stunt on Wednesday and had contemplated cruising further south to the last winding hole before one of our favoured overnight stopping spots which is within a few hundred metres of the house of some friends who had offered to feed us on Tuesday evening. We were going to turn, moor up and then walk the half mile or so back to our friend's house, with the intention of repeating the afternoon's trip for the following day's guests. In the end we decided to do something completely different and cruised on to that favoured stopping spot where we moored for the night facing south.
We had a little time before we were expected at our friends so R decided that he'd check the electrolyte level in one of the batteries. The levels in all six cells were way out of sight and before we left the boat we'd used the entire five litres of top up water in the three batteries that we'd checked. We called daughter and asked her to buy us another five litres for use in the remaining three batteries as we expected that they'd need similar treatment. This she did and even delivered it to the boat for us whilst we were being winded and dined at our friend's house.
We returned from our friend's house at about 8.30pm and watched television for an hour before we retired.
31 August 2011
We woke in plenty of time on Wednesday and set about checking the remaining three batteries after breakfast. The last two domestic batteries were just as short of electrolyte as their three cousins but the starter battery was still in good order. We also checked the sump pump and declared it a failure and wondered what we could do to replace it. We'd been keeping M aware of our problems and he later offered to let us have a spare pump that he had in stock. As we'd be heading back towards the boatyard on Thursday with daughter we decided that we'd call in then and pick it up.
It was a lot cooler on Wednesday morning but it remained dry so we took advantage of our location and went twigging - picking up suitable twigs that we could use for kindling on the fire as the supply of offcuts from home has temporarily dried up. We set off at 9.35am and had only seen one moving boat by that time.
We stopped at the appointed pick-up point twenty minutes later and twenty minutes after that were on the move again with the second party of visitor's - daughter's ex head teacher and her two grandchildren. We arrived at the solitary lock that we were to use a few minutes after another boat had vacated the lock heading towards us. Luckily we just managed to beat the crew off a further boat who were about to turn the lock for their own use.
We passed through the lock and carried on to the turning point a few hundred metres further on where we turned and made our way back to the lock. In the short time that we were away we passed two boats that would use the lock before we could, thereby extending our journey time slightly.
We dropped our visitors off near to where we'd picked them up and stayed at that point whilst we had a slightly early lunch. We then set off again to resume our journey northwards. A further friend who had said they might visit had had to cry off because they were a little off colour so we were free agents for the rest of the day.
It seemed like we passed almost the entire fleet from the local hire company as we made our way north. One of their boats seemed to appear around every bend as we approached. We stopped off at Linford Abbey primarily to wander into the village to post a card to America. We found the store after a pleasant stroll but the Post Office was closed - it was their half day! We walked back to the boat, collecting conkers on the way to use inside the boat to ward off spiders. We then had a cup of tea and both promptly nodded off.
We restarted after just over two hours and made our way onward, soon catching up a very slowly moving wide beam boat that we had to follow for some distance before they pulled over and waved us by.
We eventually arrived at Old Wolverton at 6.30pm and took the last mooring space there. A short while later one of the other moored boats moved off and another arrived. We ate on board and then watched television for a while and managed to update part of the cruise's diary page before going to bed.
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