Tixall Wide to GH Marina

Second coat of gunwale paint on the stern – cabin end round to cabin end. Got it done early enough to be touch dry by the time the rain arrived. Cruised back to the marina late morning in light rain.

Bought washing and drying tokens and 2 25Kg bags of Supertherm (£12.50). Shopping in Rugeley later.

1 mile, 0 locks, 0.8 engine hours

Tixall Wide

Another sunny day, the warmest of the week.

Put 1st coat of gunwale paint on the stern counter. Used a roller and that didn't go very well. Need to use brush tomorrow. But roller on the sides of the gunwales to repair travel damage worked very well. Swung the boat and did the other side as well.

Ran the engine in the evening.

0 miles, 1.2 engine hours

Tixall Wide

Sunny and, eventually, warm. Second coat of undercoat on the stern counter.

With SG at 50% overnight, engine and Webasto in the morning. Ran engine again in the evening, which gave SG of 100, and still 90 at bedtime.

0 miles, 2.9 engine hours

Tixall Wide

Ran the engine and the Webasto first thing for a couple of hours. Cool, windy but dry conditions made it OK for painting after lunch, if not ideal. Put black undercoat over the stern counter, including in the engine compartment down to the drainage channel. Went on well. Decided at the last minute to do the dollies as well. The venting dolly had a small amount of corrosion on top, so didn't paint that –rubbed it down and applied Fertan instead.

A brightish afternoon had the solar panel contributing, but I think it is thoroughly confusing the SG, which, at 78 after engine charging, was reading 95 by the end of the day. About 2.3 hours TV was the main extra, but it was back down to 65 by bed-time (and 50 by 8.30 next morning).

0 miles, 2.1 engine hours

Tixall Wide

Very cold overnight. Ran the Webasto from about 7 a.m., and got the fire going at the same time. Joined in with the engine at 8 a.m.

Walked to Shugborough for coffee and the Canalside Café for lunch. Bought some more kindling from the shop as we stopped by for veggies.

Expected to paint in the afternoon, but it felt as though it was a really too cold.

0 miles, 1.7 engine hours

Tixall Wide

Raining overnight and through the morning. By early afternoon it had stopped, and I was able to put a second coat of primer on bits of the stern counter.

Ran the engine and the Webasto first thing, and then the engine again in the evening.

0 miles, 2.9 engine hours

Tixall Wide

A bit concerned that the SG was reading only about 65 this morning, even though we've been on the landline for the last few days. Had used the TV a fair bit in the evening – but even so…

Applied primer over yesterday's rust converter on the stern. Removed the weed hatch cover so I could turn the prop while applying more silicone grease to the seal on the water-lubricated transmission. Since the weed hatch was showing signs of corrosion, applied Fertan liberally to that while the cover was off. Left for four hours or so before replacing the cover to avoid accidents when running the engine for charging / hot water.

0 miles, 2 engine hours

GH Marina to Tixall Wide

Ran a wash-load first thing, and used the marina dryer. Needed a pump-out, and then decided that the weather forecast might just allow painting to continue. So carried on out of the marina. On the way realised that we hadn't filled the water tank, so stopped at the GH services to do so. Tied up in usual spot at Tixall Wide.

Rubbed down the slight corrosion on the stern and applied Fertan.

1 mile, 0 locks, 1.8 engine hours

GH marina

Keith Wilson came to measure up the pram-hood panels. Drizzly and a bit windy, but he seemed to think it would go OK. Expects it to take inside three weeks.

Jennie from Engineering rang to say they could black the boat starting 8th November. So we can probably winterise after that. Also have to decide when to get the BSS certificate done.

Ran the Webasto for 3 hours in the morning.

0 miles, 0 engine hours

Tixall Wide to GH marina

Came back to the marina in the morning. Now have no neighbours, with Dave and Jo having moved out onto the cut, and John and Abi not in residence.

Re-fitted the pram-hood frame supports onto the stern rail, so that the hood could go up.

1 mile, 0 locks, 1.4 engine hours