A very different day from yesterday. It was a bright and cloudless sky when we awoke. It had been very cold overnight and the ropes were stiff with frost. However, the sunshine, even in winter, soon warmed the air and it was very pleasant indeed.
An information board alongside where we were moored explained that this site - now a popular open space - was once an important industrial area together with its own canalside loading wharf. Little can be seen of that today.
we set off in reasonable time as we wanted to make sure that we arrived on schedule at Little Venice to meet with the lady supervising the new moorings at Rembrandt Gardens. She even rang to check we were OK before we had time to leave!
Although we know that there is urban sprawl not far away, quite a few stretches almost convince us that we are in the countryside. Just around the corner from this quite elegant wooden footbridge is Western Avenue, one of the busy routes in and out of London.
Bet it's cold up there, waiting for a meal to arrive!
Last year when we came into London at the end of March, there was a significant problem with plastic bags which it seems had, for reasons no-one could quite agree about, floated to the surface. This bend near Greenford, acted as a trap with the result that there was a serious mass of detritus right across the canal. Thankfully, this time the surface was clear.
We had wondered before about the name of this next bridge: Ballot Box Bridge. Looking it up later it seems that a brewhouse was built nearby especially for boatmen in the middle of the 19C. There is a record of a case at the Old Bailey in which a man was sentenced to twelve months hard labour for tipping a woman over the edge of the bridge. The court did not seem to be concerned to learn about the reasons for the altercation! Later, the pub was demolished and a new one, also bearing the same name, built further up the hill.
For some while we skirted around Horsenden Hill - in the foreground here is a popular golf course.
Just before 11 o'clock we were approaching Alperton - we had planned to stop at the second Sainsbury store much closer to our destination - when Mike spotted that the rev counter was dropping quickly, even though there was no change in the engine sound. Very soon it showed no reading at all. A minute later, Christine puts here head out of the cabin to let Mike know that the inverter was sounding an alarm. By now the main engine control panel not only showed a warning about the starter battery but also the over temperature light started to show.
Clearly something was amiss and so we pulled in to the mooring outside the Alperton Sainsbury where there are some good bollards for a quick moor. Lifting the engine floor boards it was even more obvious that there was a problem - clouds of smoke or steam billowed out.
It took neither expertise or more than a couple of seconds to diagnose the problem - a failed main alternator belt! The report from RCR on Saturday ticked the box that it was OK although we were reminded that it is a good idea to keep spares. After several problems with the domestic alternator belt we did have a spare for that but of course that is not the same size!
After a phone call to RCR, Christine went off to the supermarket to do the small amount of shopping needed. A call back from RCR get us an ETA of 2 o'clock for an engineer as he was currently out on another job at Limehouse. We advised Rembrandt Gardens that we might be a little late!
Over the past few years we have seen old buildings being demolished and bright new ones constructed in their place. Just the other side of the supermarket car park could be seen the latest project, with bight colours breaking up the otherwise plain facade.
Mike took a look around the immediate locality - just the other side of the last bridge we had come under was a long line of small shops. An article on the BBC website today recalled the criticism of Ian Nairn in 1955 that warned that Britain's high streets could become bland clones of each other - a picture that many still fear with the rise of shopping malls and large national retail chains. However, the report also that 66% of retail units are occupied by independent shops. So it was interesting to find an example! We also learnt later that there is also another similar row nearby in a different direction.
In the end it was almost 3.45 before the engineer arrived - it turned out that it was the same one that did the service! Although he had picked up a couple of spare belts on the way, neither was close enough to the correct size so he found a nearby stockist and went off in search, leaving his seven year old assistant Molly to be entertained with Christine's iPad!
Alas, the shop did not have the correct size but could order one (actually two so we now do have a spare!) within the hour. This gave time to adjust the alternator which seemed just a little out of alignment. All in all it as around half past five before he was able to declare everything fixed. Obviously, with a couple of hours still to cruise to Paddington we had to let them know that we were not going to make it today but that we were looking forward to getting there tomorrow late morning. We have to say that Sarah has been very understanding and pleasantly chatty on each of the times we have called - she lives on a boat near the moorings.
Alperton Visitor Mooring is not a place we would have chosen to stop for the night but it seems safe enough - so long as we are not attacked by the hordes of swans, the result of endless bread feeding by locals, many standing right under the Do Not Feed The Birds sign!
Just as well we had not actually booked tickets for the concert we had thought about going to tonight but at least we can have a good chili instead. Alas, tall buildings stand between us and the TV satellite.
4.8 miles - 0 locks
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