GH Marina to Tixall Wide

Lovely sunny day, so decided to take the boat out for the only saunter of the summer so far. Got a pump out before we left. Tixall Wide looking great in the afternoon sun.

Contacted Amazon about the failed delivery to GH Post Office. They promised to contact the driver about deliveries to the Post Office.

1 hour engine

GH Marina

Mains electric was down to zero. Bought £60 = 461.54 units (KwH), as price is about to go up by over 30%.

Ran a wash load, after which the reading was 460.88.

Rubbed down the sags on the undercoat above LH kitchen window. Did another coat slightly thinned with WS.

GH Marina

1st undercoat on LH kitchen window. Re-applied the masking tape to provide a bigger area, top to bottom.

Moved across to the other berth to facilitate removing RH kitchen window. Came out without much difficulty, though the inner wooden frame fell off. Removed silicone, rubbed down and applied Fertan.

GH Marina

2nd coat of primer on LH kitchen window.

BBQ in the shade, while England / Stokes beat Australia.

GH Marina

1st coat of primer on LH kitchen window.

GH Marina

Drilled and tapped the extra M4 holes on the LH kitchen window, using the new Volkel tap and the cutting paste. Went very well.

GH Marina

Drove up, finding everything as it should be.

GH Marina

Packed up the car during the dry morning and drove home in torrential rain in the afternoon. Dremel arrived.

GH Marina

Dave Freeman came to do the low-setting adjustments on the hob, and also to remove the two rusted kitchen window screws. He did them with an angle grinder, which prompted me to research and order a Dremel tool with metal cutting disks.

Window came out, so I cleaned out the screw holes with my M4 tap. No countersunk holes were apparent for fixing the wooden inner frame, so I'll have to create some.

Replaced the window with M4s to check how everything sits. Will leave it in place and covered with a tarpaulin while we are south for a week.

GH Marina

Pump-out (£20 with blue)

Then far too hot for anything.Washed the pram-hood cover.

GH Marina

Dave Freeman came to install the new gas hob. The cover underneath was considerably larger than that on the old hob, so we took the cover from the old one, and managed to get it into shape, though the screw holes were in different places. Also had to use the hexagonal nut from the old hob to secure the ignition switch.

Dave said £40, which was way too cheap. He pushed it up to £50, but I gave him £60. He was worth every penny – he'd been here over an hour and a half and had to use a lot of ingenuity.

GH Marina

Getting settled in. Shopping at Rugeley. Rain in the evening, some heavy.

GH Marina

Came up to Erin Mae, setting out about 17.30. Brought the bikes on the carrier, so some nervousness, but the journey was uneventful, apart from a tyre pressure warning sorted out at Cherwell Valley.

Partial eclipse of the moon.

GH Marina

Rang Dave Freeman and arranged that we could ring him again towards the end of next week to arrange a time to come and fix the gas hob.

Brunch at the Canalside café.

GH Marina

Late start following a late night. Lunch at the Hollybush. Idle day.

GH Marina

Drove up to check how Erin Mae was coping with the 3 month absence – we'd been concerned about the electric supply given that the inverter seemed to have been consuming overmuch during the winter. But found everything OK.

GH Marina

Locked up and went to take part in the BCF Dudley Tunnel trip.

GH Marina

De-winterised. All seemed to be in order. Left the new gas hob on board to be fitted at a later date.
New water filter gives a first-rate flow. Hoping it's not because it's not sitting correctly.
Sorted out the electric with Steve, though it is still not entirely clear how the calculation worked!

Stayed overnight in order to go on the Dudley Tunnel trip next day.