Knighton to Market Drayton

Fairly prompt start so as not to get into a queue at the Tyrley locks. Beautiful morning through the cuttings. Stopped for water at the unexpected point just after Goldstone Bridge, so we could get a wash going. As we started to go down the Tyrley flight, we were caught up by Sharon and Dan from Florida, who had also followed us through the set at Penkridge.

Tied up to investigate pump-outs at Market Drayton, and found Mike and Diane in nb Epitome 2. Mike had a BW card two years old, which he sold to me, and it worked fine in the BW DIY pump-out. So that was a first. We were almost out of Blue, so have to buy some very soon.

Walked half a mile into Market Drayton to the Asda. It was now getting a bit late so we have stayed – opposite the green where they had the narrowboat festival when we were here five years ago, just looking.

6.5 miles, 5 locks, 5 hours engine time.

Cowley to Knighton

Beautiful day – sun at last. Idled slowly along for the most part. 44 litres of diesel at Norbury Junction, two bags of Taybrite and a check of the front fender which has slipped. Stopped to check the near the Anchor Bridge to check out a boat with a cruiser stern and a pram hood. Moored at 48 hour moorings just past Bridge 47

8.5 miles, 0 locks, 1 tunnel, 4.5 hours

Brewood to Cowley

Lunch at The Bridge Inn, Brewood, and set out at 3 p.m. Moored up just south of Bridge 31. Water at Wheaton Ashton. Two tyres from a helpful farm at Little Onn.

7 miles, 1 lock, 4 hours

Laches Bridge to Brewood

Dull, overcast, chilly. Down to Autherley junction and up the Shroppie. Even with this weather, you can see why people love this canal. Tied up between bridges 13 and 14 at Brewood. Chatted briefly with Sandra on nb Maranatha.

9 miles,  1 lock, 4.5 hours

Penkridge to Laches Bridge

Early rain dried up, but remained overcast and quite cold. Set out at 11.  Followed through the locks by a couple from Florida who boat over here three times a year. Lunch at Gailey Wharf, above the lock. Set a washing machine load going as we started again – still going when we arrived at Laches Bridge, but seemed to do the wash well. Raining again tonight. We're snug with a fire.

6.25 miles, 5 locks, 4 hours

Through Penkridge

Rain early, but cleared by 10. Bought a second centre line and a litre of hull blacking paint from Midland Chandlers. Sauntered through Penkridge and filled up with water at the BW point. Moored just above Filance Lock.

Shopping in Penkridge – Jaspers the baker for tea-time goodies, butcher's for two pork steaks and Co-op for the rest.

New Roberts solar DAB radio bringing in the test match loud and clear.

1.5 miles, 3 locks, 1.5 hours

Great Haywood to Penkridge

Filled up with diesel: 92 litres declared at 60/40. Set out at about 12.45. Stopped for lunch at Tixall Wide. Easy journey with hardly any traffic. S&W seemed not quite so shallow at crucial points. Around 3 mph or even more possible for the most part when not passing moored boats.

Temperature, oil and charge readings normal

10 miles, 4 locks, 5 hours

Hailstones, work inside and a cruise booked

Huge hailstones bouncing on the roof, up into the ventilators and down into the cabin!

Finished adapting the supporting frame of the TV, and connected the optical audio and HDMI links. Neet cables' HDMI auto / manual switch worked well, first time. Disconnected the yellow video led to the TV as it would now seem redundant.

Mgt made a fresh batch of bread and soup – very good. Tonight it's turkey breast in the Morphy-Richards gadget.  Then we have to decide between watching Silk and going out to the session at the Spittal Brook. Which will set us up best for travelling tomorrow?

Today we booked our 40th anniversary cruise next February to see the northern lights in Arctic Norway.

Setting up for summer

16/04/12  Engine serviced. Paid 08/05/12

5th - 9th May on board. TV hung on the frame, but needs extra piece to bring it forward 15 mm. Locker covers treated with preservative.  Pump-out on 9th.

Returned home on 9th May for dental check on the 10th. Came back up on 12th. Today fitted the retaining struts under the two side covers. Rang Coverit to start the process of getting the pram cover made. Gary will ring me when they have a space when the weather is good enough for making the template.

Went into Stafford to try to get a charger for Mgt's phone. No joy.

Settling in again

Set out from home about 3.15. Amazing what we managed to get in the car. About 30 minute delay on the M40 for a vehicle that seemed to have lost a wheel. Stopped for tea at the Harvester, but they were going to keep us waiting half an hour, so we had a McDonald's instead.

Plenty of electricity on the meter when we arrived, so presumably a bill to settle with the marina tomorrow.

Everything on board seems OK. The temporary water-proofing of the window seems to have kept out most of the rain. Significant reflux in the toilet, in spite of the new valve we fitted. Ran the central heating all evening – the boat soon warmed up.

New SIM in the dongle worked straight away.

Payment

Paid Engineering for de-winterising. Weather looks appalling at the marina, and the temperature down to 1 or 2º.

Ready for Spring

Engineering have done the de-winterising. £60 to pay. The marina want to see the boat licence and insurance certificate.

Up and down

Went up to Great Haywood yesterday to complete jobs for the winter, especially aimed at preventing problems with damp. Turned off the fridge, opened all possible cupboards and drawers, opened the spaces under the dinette and stood the cushions vertically. Brought away the duvets and some spare bedding. Checked the spar supporting the tonneau cover. Left the new coal scuttle.

Paid for the winterising done by Engineering, and saw workshop people, Dave and Jenny and the marina staff to wish them a happy Christmas. Steve wasn't there.

Were able to complete everything Wednesday afternoon. Stayed overnight at Rugeley Travelodge – basic, functional, much cheaper than Premier Inn. Curry for two at the Ash Tree – happy environment, good value, food a bit slapdash, puddings were good. Breakfast at the Colliers Arms next to Premier Inn – very filling, but the bacon had probably been cooked some time before.

Easy journey home on a bright mid-winter's day.

Clearing out

Yesterday Jon Sharp talked me through what they would do to winterise the boat. Seemed straightforward and fairly obvious obvious, except for what they will do with the calorifier. Agreed that Jenny will let me know when they're going to do it so that, if possible, I can see what they do. Jon said there should be no need to do anything to the toilet.

Today fixed the tonneau and its support. Checked the level in two of the leisure batteries. It seemed fine, but I need to understand what the extra (7th) cap is about.

About £25 left on the meter. The heater is set for frost-protection. Weather forecast is for a lot of wind and some rain, but no snow yet. Friday night looks as though it could drop below zero for the first time.

Getting near to winter

Pump out. It was full, and winterisation demands it anyway.

Bought 25kg of Taybrite (£12) from the marina. Seems a reasonable price even against B&Q's special offer. It's also supposed to be completely smokeless. Calorific value seems about equal to the B&Q stuff.

Engineering to come over and see about winterisation.

Bathroom jobs

Used Milliput on the shower tray. Fixed the lock on the bathroom door. Bought screws from Central Fasteners in Hixon to mount the smoke/CO alarm. Wanted 2, bought 200! Nº8 half-inch countersunk could be a generally useful screw on the 9mm panels.

For the first time, noticed strips of condensation this evening down the panels above the gunwhale, presumably where it contacts the supports to the side of the boat.

Toilet repair generally (one-way valve) seems to be effective so far.

One-way valve

Keith got one of the AW engineers to fix the toilet valve (£20).

Firing up the engine I followed the manual's instructions to turn the key to the "On" position for a minute before turning it to heat. But after 30 seconds the alternator warning sound stopped, all the voltage readings went horribly low, and the engine turned but didn't fire anyway.  Gave it a break and then did it normally, switching straight to heat for 10 seconds. Fired up fine.

Note to self – don't forget to turn the inverter on before disconnecting the landline, if you want the breadmaker to run!

1 mile (to AW and back). 0.5 hours engine time.

Stuff arrives

Picked up the Milliput from college. The stainless steel screws arrived in the post.

Screws

Ordered stainless steel screws (grade A2/304, Nº6, 25mm, self-tapping) from UKfixings.com

Clearing up

Cleared out the front left locker of lots of stuff, mostly old paint / varnish bits.  Filled up the water tank, but had to borrow an adaptor as some ratbag had stolen the one on our tap.

Non-return valve for the toilet arrived. Checked out Central Fasteners in Hixon for stainless steel screws. They have a box of 3/4 inch Nº 6 (about £2.60 for 100), but not the inch ones needed.

Journey home uneventful.