Great Haywood

Came up for a single night.

Fitted the AudioCast device, but found there was a lot of noise when both it and the amplifier were connected to the same 12v power socket. Assessing that took up a lot of time.

Great Haywood

Came up for a single night. De-winterised – all the water systems seemed fine. Fitted new filter cartridge. The new one is flowing slower, but possibly that means the old one was not seated properly.

Gas took a little while to get flowing to the burners at full rate. Perhaps we need to turn off the supply nearer to the cooker over winter.

Fitted the Lepy amplifier, connecting it to the front L & R speaker cables. It's clear that it would be straightforward to connect the sub-woofer, if we had an amp with a separate bass channel.

On Saturday we cleaned / polished the floor with the Osmo stuff.

Little Haywood to Great Haywood

Walked to the farm shop café for a birthday breakfast. Then back to the boat, one lock and home.

1 mile, 1 lock, 1 engine hour

Ingestre to Little Haywood

Mostly cloudy and cold, some drizzle and then rain. Decided we could get back to Bransgore at the weekend, so came past the marina and down to the Taft for diesel. 63p now, as against the 55p it was when we left. 141 litres, with an allowance for the Webasto use, gives about 1.5 litres / hour – a bit less economical than the stretch to Norbury Junction. We've probably been going faster and using the Webasto more.

Coming back, tied up between Colwich and Great Haywood locks, leaving one for tomorrow.

9.3 miles, 4 locks, 4.7 engine hours

Stone to Ingestre

Chilly day, with bright start and rain later on. Picked up a sweatshirt round the prop at Aston lock. All the moorings at Weston were taken so came on and tied up at Ingestre bridge in the rain.

7.5 miles, 3 locks, 3.7 engine hours

Barlaston to Stone

Coming through Stone, got a woven nylon bag round the prop just as we were going into the second lock going down. Fortunately it was removed without much hassle – even kept the lock gates open while we did so.

Washed trainers again (dog dirt from Barlaston mooring) and took on water at the water point below the final lock in Stone.

4.6 miles, 8 locks, 4 engine hours

Westport Lake to Barlaston

Day alternated between sunny and warm (shall we go up the Caldon?) and chilly and overcast (make tracks for home). Bit of a to-do at Stoke top lock when the boater in front didn't appreciate my manoeuvring to both get in line and avoid the Viking coming up the lock. Tied up on the moorings above the Wedgwood Works Bridge, opposite the Alpaca farm.

8.1 miles, 6 locks, 4.3 engine hours

Kidsgrove to Westport Lake

Church at St Thomas's, Kidsgrove. Found our way down to the entrance to Harecastle tunnel and walked back along the towpath. Sunny day at this point, but got gloomier through the afternoon as we came through the tunnel and tied up at Westport Lake.

3.7 miles, 0 locks, 2.5 engine hours

Buglawton to Kidsgrove

Winded before the Bosley locks. Found we had more dog mess on my shoes – probably picked up in the act of setting off. So we stopped at the "Secret Water" to clean it all up, and to re-fill the tank since we'd done a wash. Cloudy, cool and slightly damp day. Pump-out at Heritage Narrowboats (£17). Tried unsuccessfully to call on Roy and Audrey (NB Rosie). Tied up at the aqueduct moorings shortly before re-joining the T&M.

Taybrite fire took a long time to get going tonight – had to intervene before it properly caught.

9 miles, 0 locks, 4.5 engine hours

Rounds Nº2 Bridge 86 to Buglawton

Keith and Sue from NB Claddau were moored near by and came to chat before walking down to Little Moreton. They knew of a water point at Buglawton that's not on the Nicholson's map – a relief as it means we won't have to go all the way up the Bosley flight for water. A day of sun, cloud and cold wind – had the body warmer on for most of it. Tied up just round the corner from Buglawton, with a view across to the Cloud.

5.2 miles, 0 locks, 3 engine hours

Rounds Nº2 Bridge (Bridge 86)

Ran the engine first thing with SG on 50. Went for a walk up Mow Cop via Bridge 85. Fine weather but very windy at the top. Expected to have a pub lunch, but one had closed, one was closed till the weekend, and the one down the hill doesn't open at lunch time. Lady gave us a lift back to Bridge 85, so we got back to Erin Mae at 1 p.m. Ran the engine again in the evening.

0 miles, 3.5 engine hours

Moreton (Bridge 81) to Moreton (Bridge 86)

Winded and went back to Heritage Narrowboats for solid fuel (2 bags Taybrite), since none of the coal boats are passing immediately. Turned again in the marina entrance and came up to the 48 hour moorings at Bridge 86 (Rowndes Nº2 Bridge). Went for a walk to prospect the route up Mow Cop for tomorrow.

2.3 miles, 0 locks, 1.8 engine hours

Kidsgrove to Moreton (Bridge 81)

Sunny day meant we decided to turn aside and go up the Macclesfield Canal. Tried to tie up near Bridge 85 for a walk up to Mow Cop, but shallow water made mooring hard, and eventually tied up just beyond Bridge 81.

Realised too late we were running out of solid fuel. Will need to go back to Heritage Narrowboats tomorrow for a few bags.

4.4 miles, 2 locks, 3.1 engine hours

Kidsgrove

Sunny day. Walked about a mile to St Thomas' church for an all-age service. Then caught the bus to the Toby carvery for lunch. Ran the engine morning and evening for charge and hot water.

0 miles, 3 engine hours

Rode Heath to Kidsgrove

SG down to 39% overnight, from 83. Conclusion is that the batteries are shot. SG is being fooled by the surface charge, especially with a day of reasonable solar charging, but the batteries are depleting very quickly. Ran the engine from 8, and set out just after 11.

Showers promised, and they turned into some quite heavy rain later on. Came up to the pound between the Macclesfield aqueduct and Harding's Wood junction, with water at the Red Lion Wharf on the way. No TV signal whatsoever, though mobile broadband seems OK. Fire lit early. Visit to Tesco.

2.6 miles, 11 locks, 6.5 engine hours

Rode Heath

Stayed put and went by bus to see NT's Little Moreton Hall. Weather mixed, but SG (50% overnight + 1 hour engine for charging), was reading 87 when we returned. Decided not to run a further charging period and see.

0 miles, 1 engine hour

Wheelock to Rode Heath

Very windy today, but mostly good sunshine. Tied up in Rode Heath 100 yards before Bridge 140 –excellent ringed moorings.

3.8 miles, 14 locks, 4 engine hours

Ettiley Heath to Wheelock

Cruised into Wheelock, found a good place on the almost empty 48 hour moorings, and caught the bus into Sandbach for a visit.

1 mile, 0 locks, 1 engine hour

Middlewich to Ettiley Heath

Came down Wardle Lock to Kings Lock Chandlery to get the Webasto serviced and the heating system antifreeze changed. Mick also looked at the warning buzzer (etc) problem, to no avail until Steve suggested changing the ignition switch. That resolved all the warning lights / buzzer issues. Still no tachometer, and a lower than expected reading on the analogue voltmeter on the control panel. Bought their Sikaflex substitute to seal up the control panel when I do the remaining jobs back in the marina.

Then pushed on towards Wheelock, but stopped short in case, at this late hour, there was no space to moor. Beautiful late afternoon for cruising.

5 miles, 6 locks, 3 engine hours

Middlewich

Drizzly day – stayed put. Arranged with Steve at Kings Lock for the Webasto service tomorrow. Ran the engine in the afternoon for hot water and to top up the SOC.

0 miles, 2 engine hours