Off for May Day

Today's Canal : Staffs and Worcs

Last night Mike was singing in a concert by the Wadebridge Choral Society, of Bach's St John Passion, which seemed to have been well received. This was why we did not leave a day or so earlier but as we had no duties this morning we went, unusually, to the early morning service so that we could make an earlier start than previously planned.

As a result of the better start and a clear run through, we arrived at Oxley Marine just after 2:30 where we were greeted by Phil who made a start on telling us all about the works that they have been doing to the boat over the past three weeks. Once he was in full flow, Orph joined us and we went over it all again!

The main reason we were booked in was to have the bottom blacked but also so that they could take the opportunity to check over the prop shaft, stern tube etc. Once they had lifted the boat out of the water they emailed us to suggest almost a complete replacement of everything aft of the gearbox! The skeg was badly bent and the rudder quite distorted at the point where it went through the stern of the boat to the outside world. They also recommended a new propeller, one a bit larger than before which Orph dismissively described as an egg whisk!

A new water pump had also been fitted as we discovered a serious leak just as we were packing up at the end of the last trip.

This all means that pretty much everything at the working end of the boat has now been updated. Mike took the car around to Napton Narrowboats where he had arranged to leave it for the duration of the trip. By the time he walked back Orph had prepared the invoice which Christine settled along with paying for a fill up of he fuel tank.

We had not planned on leaving here until tomorrow morning but it was still only half past four and Christine proposed that we set off for at least an hour's trip to find a more rural place top moor for the night.

We cruised just north of the M54 motorway before there was anywhere sensible to come alongside - much of the earlier section is very narrow and then there was a sewage works to escape. Although iyt looked a good straight section with a couple of boats already happily moored just ahead, Mike did have quite a bit of difficulty, not helped by the strong wind blowing us away from the bank. The main problem however was that although the boats ahead found sufficient depth, we were stuck about a foot away from the piling. At least it gave us a chance to try out the  new drive and we made excellent speed at much lower revs. We will have to wait until tomorrow t4o see how it goes when manoeuvring around a lock.

2.2 Miles - 0 Locks