No Start

The day began as planned - but that did not last long . . .

Mike walked to the usual nearby paper shop and then we waited for the RCR engineer to arrive for the pre-arranged inspection and service. Christine set off for a walk down the towpath to Tesco for a few items just as he arrived.

A couple of minutes after he started looking around the engine bay he turned on the ignition. So far so good. Then he turned the start key: nothing happened.

He checked everything - the battery seemed fine and the solenoid clicked but there was not the slightest movement from the starter itself.

Eventually, after checking with a colleague he removed the starter (not located for the easiest of servicing) and, after testing, declared that it was seized up. He then ascertained that it will take at least until next Wednesday to be fixed. So we are going nowhere by boat this trip.

After a good portion of the vegetable soup Christine had prepared whilst waiting for the engineer, together with the bread she bought whilst out, Mike set off to collect the car from Cowroast. Walk to West Drayton, train to Paddington, underground to Euston, train to Trying, half hour walk to marina and back by car. That took all afternoon even though there were no waits or delays.

We will now re-plan but whilst Mike was away, Christine had arranged for us to go to Windsor for lunch on Sunday and then we will visit Mike's mum on Monday returning home a little earlier on Tuesday than expected.

Watch this space to see what happens next!