Thursday 29th September, 2016 back at Aston Marina.
Michaelmas Day, and the last day of MM's travels for this summer. A dramatic sky-scape greeted M as she sipped her customary early morning tea on MM's back deck.
The rising sun illuminated the spire of nearby St. Andrew's church.
Bridgett and Peter dropped in to bid us farewell. We hope to call in to see them again around Christmas; it was so good to spend time with them again. The four of us never stop talking!
We waved goodbye to them as they returned to their house through the gate on the towpath.
Bridge 82, "Salt Bridge", is another of the very ornate bridges built to placate local landowners whose lands were crossed by the canal, in this case, the owners of Sandon Hall. However, the family seems to have embraced the canal, using it to bring in coal and limestone for their own limestone kiln and also for transporting their locally produced salt.
Finally, we reached Sandon Lock. It was our first lock in May and is also our last lock today in September.
R watched MM as she rose slowly in the lock, gently nudging the gate and impatient to leave as soon as the lock is full.
As M is still a tad nervous about driving MM, she prefers to do the locks. To protect her hands, she bought a pair of strong gloves at the beginning of last year. Last year, we did 345 locks and this year a further 323 - so a total of 668 locks, which have certainly taken their toll on M's poor gloves! The gloves (and M) have done stirling service and we think that they should be retired (the gloves, not M!), perhaps to the strains of "The Last Post"! (M thinks they should be buried with full military honours!!)
The final bridge this summer...
And then we turn into Aston Marina...
R sets up MM to back into her mooring, while our trusty Touran watches attentively from the car park.
A strong prevailing wind put R's steering skills to the test but as ever, with MM's help, all went well and she was soon safely moored in her familiar berth. Home!
One of the very few problems that we have had over the years has been with the stern gland that seals the hole for the propellor shaft and prevents water coming in. The stern gland seal was replaced at the end of 2013 but soon began to leak again because the seal had damaged the propellor shaft. A close-up of the shaft shows the wear marks on it.
At the beginning of last year, R replaced the tube holding the seal with a tube of a longer length to position the seal on a fresh part of the shaft, which worked for a while. By occasionally shortening this tube, the seal could be repositioned each time it started to leak but eventually it was clear that the seal needed to be replaced again. Some research indicated that there was an alternative make of seal made by Radice, that came highly recommended by an experienced engineer we know. It was supplied by Cheshire Marine Equipment and sent to Aston to await our arrival. R fitted it this afternoon.
An added advantage is that the new seal is much shorter than the old one and so seals on a completely different part of the propellor shaft, which means that it is not necessary to change the damaged propellor shaft, which would have meant taking MM out of the water - an expensive operation. The two seals side by side, shows the difference (the old one on the left).
We treated ourselves to dinner at the Marina Bistro after watching the sun go down behind Aston Church.
Then it was early to bed to make up for our late night last night. Tomorrow is a "sorting and cleaning" day before we drive home to Reigate on Saturday morning.
Today: 5 miles, 1 lock and 1.4 hours.
Trip: 476 miles, 323 locks and 326.4 hours.
Since MM's Launch: 2,585 miles, 1,774 locks and 2,010.4 hours.
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