A hot day threatened, but a chilly morning. Sam was due to arrive later today and stay overnight before returning with his family tomorrow, however, as he was able to arrive earlier than expected and given the expected temperatures it was decided that he would be best leaving today. A crowded boat not a very pleasant place in the heat with dog and 5 year old. We needed to turn the boat ultimately, so we could get in a morning jolly going to Sutton Wharf, turning and getting a water top up at the same time. The canal seems very shallow between bridges 30 and 33, progress being quite slow. No point in trying to hurry. On arrival at Sutton Wharf we discovered that the water point was actually a little way up the canal further on. There was a boat there having a wash but there are two taps, though the mooring is a little bit random requiring a cats cradle of ropes to maintain some sort of recognisable position. Good flow of water though, so soon done. Reversing was another matter. First of all a boat appeared behind just as the boat was finally untied, that put the plan on the back foot. Then, with one side bowthruster still inop. The wind was a problem, so getting near to the bank stirred up all manner of rubbish and blew it into the channel for other boaters to enjoy. Finally we were off and found a better mooring at Stoke Golding by the benches. While all this was going on, phone calls were getting made to try and resolve the gas problem we have. A very strong smell emanating from the gas locker and getting worse. I have had to turn the gas off. Another reason why Sam should not stay; we have no means of cooking.
My gas engineer daughter had put a message on the Facebook Gas Group that we needed someone, and so there were a couple of offers. One led to a non starter really as it wold have meant an hour drive each way, but the other a referral leading to another referral and a local Guy who came, diagnosed a regulator problem after a thorough examination and test, but was unable to offer a quick repair. Finally Jim turned up and offered to find a regulator and fix it on a Sunday at Hawkesbury. What a nice Guy, and into steam engines as well. Long chat!
So the next surprise was to order a take away for delivery from Mango Tree and to accept the location (no street addrsss or post code) as the road on the end of the High Street at the corner where all the ducks are, and to actually deliver on time, the best curry we’ve had in ages.
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