And we thought our engine problems were over...

 Tuesday 25th to Thursday 27th August 2020 at Great Haywood and then Aston Marina.

It rained heavily overnight; stormy winds and rain were forecast all day.

M wanted to dry her hair as usual, but the engine refused to start at all. R tried everything that he could think of without success. Eventually he called Anglo Welsh and spoke to Ben. Despite being very busy, Ben came out to find us, carrying his heavy tool box more than half a mile from the nearest road.

Even Ben was stumped and it took him a good hour to get the engine to start at all. Eventually it reluctantly started but again with clouds of smoke, and  it would not tick over slowly without running very unevenly. We agreed that we would nurse MM back to Great Haywood where Ben would have proper facilities to investigate. We had to go quite a way ahead before we could wind (turn around) and we suggested we take Ben back on MM but, as he had to rush back to work, he decided to walk all the way back to his car while we went on, turned around and quite slowly made our way back.

Two rather nerve racking hours later, we moored up on the Anglo Welsh service bay. Ben couldn't do anything today but tomorrow is his day off, so he very kindly said that he would come in to help us.

On Monday, we had checked the fuel and the filters and they seemed fine but it seemed likely that there was something wrong with the fuel. The feed for the engine is fed from a fitting a couple of inches above the bottom of the tank, so R decided to open up the normally sealed drain that comes off the very bottom of the tank. This was the result:

It is cloudy with a small amount of black liquid at the bottom. If you shake it, the liquid goes into suspension. It seems likely that this has been sitting at the bottom of the tank for a while and got sucked into the engine.

On Wednesday morning Ben arrived, after we had yet another Big Breakfast.  It was his day off, too. What a star!

When Ben pulled the injectors, the injector pins were literally welded in place. The pins should be able to be pulled out by hand, Ben couldn't get them to budge even by putting the injectors in a vice and pulling the pins with pliers. All this happened to new injectors in just one day. It seems likely that whatever is in the diesel worked fine when the engine was running and hot but welded the injectors shut when the engine cooled down.

Ben rigged up a jerry can full of clean diesel connected up to the engine, put in yet another set of new injectors and started the engine up using the jerry can diesel rather than the boat's tank. The engine ran fine and we left it running to get the engine really hot.

In the meantime, the only solution was to suck all the fuel out of the boat's tank (and throw it away), rinse the tank with clean diesel, change all the filters again and then put 100 litres of clean diesel into the tank.

We left the engine running for about four hours and then switched it off and left it overnight to cool down completely.

On Thursday morning, supposed to be yet another day off for Ben, he came back and we tried starting the engine, still using the clean jerry can diesel. It started first time and ran fine. Finally, Ben reconnected the boat's fuel tank and ran the engine on that. Again, it ran fine.

R went and paid Anglo Welsh for the injectors (again), the diesel and for Ben's labour, while Ben went home to his interrupted days off with our heartfelt thanks ringing in his ears. All credit to Ben and to Anglo Welsh, who couldn't have been more helpful.

We decided that we would travel back to Aston Marina as the final test will be to see what happens tomorrow morning when the engine has had a chance to cool down overnight again but this time using MM's diesel tank. At least if there are more problems we shall be in the marina where there is also engineering capability.

We set off back to Aston just as it started to rain so R got wet and M, very sensibly, spent most of the time inside MM, although she did come out for each of the locks and keep R suppied with coffee and cake. Nobody fell in (!) and we arrived back at Aston just after 2:00pm and moored up in our familiar bay, A22.

Tomorrow, we shall start MM to make sure all is well and then drive home. We had to be home by the middle of next week anyway so there wasn't time to go anywhere - so it seems sensible to go back home now.

We will be back on about 7th or 8th September and hope to set off for a second time - this time we hope with no further problems. Watch this space!

Today: 8 miles, 3 locks and 6.9 hours (including engine testing).

Trip: 19 miles, 8 locks and 15.9 hours.

Another Big Breakfast and a Maiden Voyage for Georgie and Yvonne.

 Monday 24th August 2020 at Taft Bridge No. 69

A lovely sunny morning. Our good friends Mel and Peter, on hearing of our problems over the weekend, had very kindly offered to pick us up if we needed to be fed and to have a shower if the engine wasn't fixed. But, as it is fixed, we agreed to meet up at the café for the "Big Breakfast" when it opened at 9:00am. It was so good to see them again. Breakfast was even more enjoyable as it was half price thanks to Mr. Sunak!

We are seriously thinking of cruising together next year as we are planning to bring MM down to the Wey & Arun Navigation again and it is a waterway that they have never done, and would like to do.

M said that she was quite relieved to be leaving Great Haywood, as having the Big Breakfast three days in a row was not doing her waistline any good and was not doing anything to reduce what she calls her "Lockdown Podge".

After filling MM's water tank, we set off for the shallow lock just round the corner at Little Haywood where M befriended seven year old Georgie and her grandmother, Yvonne. Neither of them had ever been on a boat and were fascinated watching how the lock worked. M had plenty of time to talk to them as there was a queue of a couple of boats waiting for the lock. M suggested that they should come on board and we would take them down through the lock, which we did.

The next lock is Colwich, which is one of our favourites. Today, there were no cows watching us from the bridge, as has happened sometimes before, but there were cows and their calves in the next field, some of them standing in the canal or having a drink.

We passed a beautiful sculpture carved out of the truck of a dead tree. As we admired it, we were delighted to find that the gentleman sitting next to it was the sculptor himself, so we were able to congratulate him on his lovely work. He was clearly pleased!

M had been running the washing machine as we cruised and when we saw a nice open spot just before Brindley Bank, we decided to moor up so that M could peg out the washing on our rotary line.

The washing line is stored in the engine room and when R opened it up he found that we had a diesel leak. One of the pipe unions was not quite tight and it was dripping slowly. The next couple of hours was taken up with cleaning half a litre of diesel out of the engine room. Diesel is really horrid smelly stuff and difficult to get rid of. After soaking up as much as possible with a sponge and bucket, R washed out the engine room with a lot of dishwasher liquid and water. Eventually everything was clean again, except R!

Today: 3 miles, 2 locks and 4.1 hours (including engine testing).

Trip: 11 miles, 5 locks and 9.0 hours.

Help from Ben, a Super Engineer!

 Sunday 23rd August 2020 at Great Haywood.

After the Big Breakfast in the café with Angela and Stuart, R went off to the Anglo Welsh base to see if they had an engineer who could take a look at MM's engine. Fortune smiled on us when a very cheerful chap called Ben came to take a look. Leaving a trail of diesel smoke behind us, R manouvered MM into Anglo Welsh's service dock where Ben set to work. 

It rapidly became apparent that the diesel injectors were siezed and not delivering fuel as they should. Luckily, Ben had a spare set of injectors and after checking the water trap (which was dry) and replacing the fuel filter, the engine started up as sweet as ever.

In the middle of this process, Angela and Stuart brought their two boats in for fuel, so we were able to wish them all the best as they headed south and said that we hoped that we might catch them up as we were heading the same way.

Our luck continued when we found that our original mooring was still free, so back we went and moored up confident that our troubles were behind us.

On to Great Haywood and a Sick Engine.

 Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd August 2020 at Great Haywood.

M woke early to the sound of rain on the roof but it cleared up by the time we joined Bridget and Peter for coffee at 10:00am with Bridget's cousin, another Peter, and his wife Sue.

We finally set off about midday for the short trip to Great Haywood, where we planned to stay the night, pick up water and have breakfast in the café in the morning. As we arrived, another boat was just leaving the moorings opposite the café so we were able to slip in behind them. This was taken from the veranda of the café.

Just after we arrived, another boat pulled into the last space behind us. Their boat had a "Boaters Christian Fellowship" sticker in the window, so we asked them if they knew our friends Jan and Bob Wayment, whose boat "Barocha" was in build next to MM in the KG workshop. They have just retired from the BCF as Bob is not well. They did know each other, of course. Their names are Gill and John, a lovely couple, and we ended up having tea and Victoria cream sponge cake with them on the towpath.

Each morning that we are out cruising, we switch the engine and the power inverter on so that M can use her hairdrier. Putting the engine on minimises the drag on the batteries. So early on Saturday morning, M turned the engine on - but it stuttered lamely and clouds of smoke poured out of the exhaust. Clearly the engine was very sick. 

We had arranged to meet Andy and Michelle Kellaway for breakfast in the canalside café and it was lovely to see them waiting for us under the gazebo outside the café building when it opened at 9:00am.

There is an Anglo Welsh hire base at Great Haywood so R went to see them. They were very helpful but, as it is a changeover day with hire boats coming in and out, they asked if would we mind waiting until tomorrow, when they wouldn't be so busy. R agreed. We did try several other options, but no-one else could spare the time as every engineer was busy.

In the afternoon, our friends Angela and Stuart passed on their two boats. They moored up at Tixal Wide, just round the corner on the Staffs & Worcs canal, and walked back with their combined total of four dogs to join us back at the café for tea.

Yesterday: 3 miles, 2 locks and 2.8 hours.

Trip: 8 miles, 3 locks and 4.9 hours.

Off at Last!

 Thursday 20th August 2020 at Weston-upon-Trent

Only four months late, but well worth waiting for! A wise decision to wait until today as yesterday it poured with rain and today is bright and clear.

We set off mid-morning and Nick, the Marina Manager, waved to us and photographed us from the bridge as we left the Marina. Fabulous to be off at last.

Soon after we set off, our good friends Mel and Peter on nb "Inkling" passed us going the other way; they were going north escorting a friend who was "single handing" on her 70ft boat. It felt strange to pass without stopping. But we waved cheerily!

On the way to Sandon Lock, a kingfisher played tag with us, flying off ahead as we reached it each time. Sandon Lock was full and ready for us to go straight in. Anna, a nice Danish lady, came up to help us, as she and her husband were waiting below the lock to come in after we left. M chatted to her and Anna said that she and her husband had been waiting months to come to England for a canal holiday and hoping nothing would prevent their holiday. M said that it was always the case that things could go wrong - at which point Anna slipped and fell into the lock!

Anna, who was fine, just surprised and very wet, was very good humoured about it and laughingly said that when her husband heard about it, he would "laugh his arse off!" (Astonishing command of the English language, thought M!) We said that henceforth, we would always refer to the lock as "Anna's Lock". She managed to climb out with the lockside ladder but was soaked through. Still, she let M take her photograph for posterity.

We arrived at Weston at midday and moored up outside Bridget and Peter's garden gate. Bridget invited us to join them for tea in their garden at 4:00pm, which was lovely.

We had agreed that M would cook supper but that we would eat it sitting in their garden. We had a super evening and sat in their garden until the stars came out.

Today: 5 miles, 1 lock and 2.1 hours.

Provisioning MM , catching up with Angela and the "Freedom" brewery.

 Monday 17th to Tuesday 19th August 2020 at Aston Marina

We left home early to drive up to Aston Marina. We stopped off on the way at Aynho Wharf to see Simon; he was the engineer who built MM and he now works there. It was great to see Simon again and we agreed a slot in March next year to have the faded green parts of MM repainted. We also arranged with Simon for him to come and service MM, probably at Braunston as that is where we are going to aim for when we set off.

We arrived at Aston about the same time as a very dark cloud! Sure enought, the heavens opened just as we reached MM and R had started to remove the covers and unlock her, so we began the summer cruise by getting wet! We have heard that the canals are quite busy and that may be judged by the fact that the nine boats moored next to us are all out. We have never had such a clear view from MM!

Thunder and lightning accompanied us as we made up the bed and unpacked. We had booked into No.26 for dinner but the only slot that they could offer us was 4:00pm as they are so busy, thanks to the "eat out to help out" government initiative. Dinner was half price - Brilliant!

Tuesday was a day of mixed weather, heavy showers interspersed with bright warm sunshine.

Our friend Angela, whom we first met on the Caen Hill Flight in 2012, is by chance moored up just a mile away with a gearbox problem. We arranged to go and meet her and drove to Bridge 92, where we also met her travelling companion Stuart, whose boat is moored next to Angela's latest boat nb "Glad" (formerly "Galadriel"). Angela hasn't changed! She is now on her 15th boat by the latest count! She has a new dog called "Tilly" to keep her and her collie "Ruffy" company. That's Tilly looking very relaxed on the floor!

"Glad" is a lovely little boat with a very welcoming feel to it and we spent a happy time catching up over a cup of tea.

After a quick trip to M&S for some essentials, we had dinner again at No.26, again at 4:00pm. Chips two days running said M! Bliss!

Wednesday was, as forecast, a very wet day so we delayed setting off until Thursday.

Adrian had asked M if we could get him some of his favourite beer from the "Freedom Brewery" which is based in Abbots Bromley just about 20 minutes from the marina. Abbots Bromley was a lovely village, somewhat reminiscent of Braunston. The satnav delivered us to a narrow tree-lined lane with no apparent habitation. Soon after, we saw a small farmyard and turned in to ask directions. The farmyard was lined with small businesses including a tea room and they kindly directed us to a tiny room in the opposite corner which turned out to be the little unmanned brewery "shop".

One of the other businesses had a stack of open brewery boxes in the corner. Interestingly, the brewery produces six different beers, distinguished on the outside of each box with a different coloured star - but no name. So unless you knew what each coloured star meant, it was just pot luck! The rather burly (and very jolly) chap who served us, probably the farmer R thought, very kindly put together a two dozen mixed case of the six different beers for Adrian. Outside it was still pouring with rain. That's the tea room below.

Mission accomplished, we had a coffee and cake in the lovley little tea room and then went back to Stone to Morrisons (for peas in their pods) and M&S for staples for the boat.

2020 The Year of Covid-19

Thursday 30th July to Sunday 2nd August 2020 at Aston Marina

Hallo there!  We're still here! 

Some four months later than normal, we finally drove up to see MM at Aston Marina and to do our belated "spring clean".

It was lovely to be back on board and to find everything just as we left it on our brief stop in February on our way to and from the Lake District.

 

We had supper in No.26 on Thursday. On Friday, R washed down the outside and M spruced up the inside of MM. It was a very hot day and that evening, we drove down to Weston-upon-Trent and had dinner with Brigette and Peter in their garden - but had to move inside when it started to rain! On Saturday, we continued with the cleaning and then went to visit Mel and Peter in the evening. So nice to spend time with four such good friends - we have missed them.

The journeys up to Aston and back were both very quick as we didn't have to stop or slow down in either direction because the traffic was so light.

Our plan is to come back in a couple of weeks to start cruising properly at last! Can't wait!