We put the alarm clock on early as we had been told that Sam, the electrician, would be in at 7:30. Indeed he was but there were more urgent needs on one of the hire boast so we had to wait our turn. Just as well it was a brilliantly sunny day - autumn at its best and we enjoyed the chance to sit outside and read. Christine used the lamb bones she bought with us to make a 'proper'autumn soup.
Sam began to investigate around 10 o'clock and was soon mystified: with the batteries charged over night the alternator was now working properly (it turns out that it does need some input voltage to get started) However, Mike realised that the battery monitor showed that over 3 amps was being drawn from the batteries even though we had switched everything off.
Sam methodically checked all the circuits and also confirmed that the load was actually being drawn. Mike suggested that it might be the alternator but Sam found his improbable. Just in case he checked it and, much to his surprise, discovered that this was where the problem lay. Fortunately he found a suitable replacement in his store and installed it - success!
So, it was just after 1 o'clock that we were able to set off, pleased to be able to cruise in such beautiful weather.
Having discovered Geograph, Mike was armed by a list of canal features to photograph and made sure of capturing them on camera, to be uploaded to the internet at a later date. (He uploaded a lot of photos from the trips earlier this year in the last month at home)
At the weekend there was a special Canal Festival in Banbury so by the afternoon there was a steady flow of boats coming down as we made our way up the well-spaced out locks of this section.
At one point, where the canal is close to the railway line we were surprised to spot a steam locomotive and a single passenger coach behind!
As the sun was thinking about setting, we pulled into the bankside just above Kings Sutton lock - Mike believed that this would be a good location for a TV signal but it was much to his disappointment that he failed to make any connection!
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