Shiralee Cruise 2011 #31

Thursday 6th October.

We finally made it to Weston this morning and, by the time we arrived the wind was really picking up. However, with just three bars up on the dongle, I did at least manage to post the 30th blog of this trip.

This morning, even though the engine had been run for five hours yesterday, the batteries were down to 9.9 volts again and we didn’t bother watching TV last night. We did listen to the radio though, but that alone should not account for the drop in power overnight. I’m now beginning to wonder if we have an earth leak somewhere. I also think we should avail ourselves of a couple of days in Aston Marina on the way back from Stone. But, since we only have another two weeks before we’ll be in the marina at Willington, this would seem to be a waste of money.

I’m hoping the weather will be kind to us tomorrow morning, we really would prefer to get to Stone tomorrow and spend three nights there. We don’t yet know which day Alan and Chris are planning to visit, but we’re quite looking forward to meeting up again. If we can take a walk into town tomorrow morning we should be able to find a decent eatery to take them to for their lunch or evening meal.

Friday 7th October.

Yesterday afternoon I received a text message from my Alan asking me when we would be at Stone. Our plan was, as I explained to him, to be there for Friday through to Monday morning. Unfortunately, he said, they would not be able to meet us on Friday as they had urgent business to attend to. Neither could they meet us over the weekend, because they would be baby-sitting. So that would leave us with Monday.

Now, some time ago, I’m not sure when, but knowing that my brother Alan would not be able to meet us with the car until the third weekend of the month, we drew up plans that would take care of the extra week. Instead of turning right off the Coventry onto the Trent and Mersey heading for Mercia, we would turn left at Fradley Junction and head for Stone.

This would serve two purposes, we would have another week on the cut and we would guarantee meeting up with Alan and Chris before they return to Germany on the 15th. Of course, Alan and Chris would not have known this, all they knew was that we were heading for Stone and, since they knew they could get a bus there from Stoke, it offered them the same opportunity for us all to meet up. With hindsight I should have suggested the weekend, but that would have been too easy and cruising, in order to be fun, also has to be somewhat erratic.

So, all being well and assuming we are not obliged to cruise in foul weather, in which case all bets are off, we’ll meet on Monday.

Well, surprise, surprise, the weather has decided to stay nasty, thus preventing us from moving on today. I’m beginning to believe we should have returned to Mercia early and met up with Alan and Chris in Willington, or Derby. Still, it’s easy being wise with hindsight.

4 pm on the same day.

It has been persisting on and off for most of the day, but we at least managed to walk to and from the local shop without getting a soaking. Although somewhat late in the year, the weather is consistent with summer showers, rain one minute and sunshine the next. However, according to those nice weather people at the BBC the weekend should be much better.

We’ve now decided to leave overnight stays at Aston Marina altogether, but first we have to get to Stone, and it is six miles away with two locks to go through, which should take no more than 2½ hours. What chance of the rain holding off for that amount of time in the morning?

Saturday 8th October at 7 am and it is still breezy, but just a wee bit damp in the air. Whatever happens weather wise we have to get to Stone today, otherwise we may have a problem finding a mooring spot. Stone can be a pretty busy place for boaters.

Sunday 9th October.

Yesterday we were pretty lucky with the weather on our trip here to Stone. There are times on the cut where, due to the position of the boat in relation to the bends in the canal, it seems far windier than the tops of the trees would suggest, and Weston is one such place. Although the tree tops were virtually at a standstill, the water was moving quite strongly towards us, giving the impression of a strong head wind. But, once we moved off and rounded the first bend, there was hardly any wind at all. In fact we made it here to Stone with just a few drizzly spots of rain, and we made the six miles and two locks in just over two hours. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived and with it being Saturday, everyone and his uncle were already moored there, so we had to settle for a place right at the back end, which means a longer slog into town.

Now, I mentioned in an earlier blog, that we are in desperate need of a new radio/CD player. We also need a unit with which we can transfer our old vinyl to CDs. Yesterday we were presented with an opportunity to lay our hands on just such a unit, and not that thing that costs £200 either.

In the Saturday issue of the Daily Mail there was a copy of the Cooper’s of Stortford home shopping catalogue. On the back page is a music system that does vinyl recordings into MP3 format onto a memory stick. It is also has a radio and CD player and will sit nicely underneath our TV, which means we can do away with the radio/CD player in the cupboard. It also means that when we come across old vinyl records in charity shops; which we visit quite regularly to dispose of books; we’ll be able to buy them and convert to MP3. All we need to do then is transfer to laptop and copy to CDs. Terrific.

Oh! I forgot to mention the price, £69.99, the price of a new radio/CD player from Halford’s and that’s at the cheap end of the market. That’s one problem solved for the winter jobs to do.

Actually we have a multitude of jobs to do during our winter moorings, many of which I was unable to carry out whilst recovering from the knee op. Some of them, such as servicing of engine and heater system, can wait until we are ready to leave in March 2012. But much of the paintwork needs repairing, as does exterior woodwork after the effects of sun and rain. I also need to design and build a seating cum storage system on the stern that will give us comfortable seating whilst cruising and will enable us to store our tiller arm, windlasses and other bits and pieces that are currently stored inside the boat. We also need a telescopic clothes prop onto which we can mount the TV aerial, which will save climbing out of the boat as I do now.

Yesterday morning we took a stroll into Stone for shopping; just a few bits at the local Co-op; Sheila has taken a fancy to their 99 brand of de-caf tea and wanted to stock up before we get back to Willington. Fortunately we have a Cop-op at Willington too, though just how many boxes of 99 she’ll buy before we leave in March and, more importantly, where she’ll store them, I dread to think.

Tomorrow morning at about 11 o/clock we should be meeting up with Alan and Chris, who have both visited Stone in the past and know the layout pretty well. No doubt they’ll come back to the boat for a cuppa and a chat, after which we’ll probably stroll back into town for a lunch time feed.

For future reference and assuming the weather holds good, we’ll be heading back to Mercia on Tuesday morning.

Monday 10th October.

Yesterday morning, with nothing better to do with ourselves, we walked to Morrison’s for a few bits and pieces, and then, just for a laugh we did it again, only this time to the nearest pub, The Swan. After just one drink we fancied a change, so we walked through town to the Wetherspoon’s pub and discovered that their Guinness is the cheapest ever at just £2.75 per pint. What is more all their bitters are only £1.99 per pint. This begs the question, why are the other breweries not following suit? Even those pubs in the same locale as Wetherspoon’s are still charging way over the odds. If Alan and Chris are planning on dining out today I can see no reason not to go there for lunch, their food prices are very good too and some of them include a free drink.

I have been a silly little Billy! Something has been nagging at me since I ordered the music centre from Cooper’s on Saturday. Last night that something surfaced. This system records onto a memory stick in MP3 format which I thought I would be able to copy to my laptop and then onto CD. However, I remembered a customer of mine last year complaining that he was unable to play his language course on his car radio/CD player. I had to explain that he would need an MP3 player, because that is the format in which the language courses have been recorded.

So, after kicking myself up the you-know-what, out came the laptop and off went an email to Cooper’s, where I explained the problem and asked them to cancel the order. Luckily it was the weekend and the order had not been despatched yet. I’ll have to check later for a reply. Incidentally, Cooper’s do not have a 24 hour order service, despite what it tells you on the back of their catalogue. All you get when you phone out of hours is a message telling you their office hours of 10 am until 4 pm, or some such. You would think by now, that they would have engaged the services of a telephone ordering service by now.

Now, if anybody out there knows of a relatively inexpensive unit that will record old vinyl onto CD, and I don’t mean that £200 job, I’d love to hear from you. Alternatively, if you know how to convert MP3 to CD format, that would also be good, because I could then cancel my cancelled order!

Stone is a rather erratic location for Internet access, one minute five bars, the next it’s down to three, but I’m going to try posting this blog now, simply because I won’t have another opportunity until Tuesday, and goodness knows where we’ll be on that day.

Cheers for now from,

Dave, Sheila and Rusty.