Shiralee: Cruise 2014 #2

 

Thursday 10^th April to Friday 18th April

 Thursday 10^th April

 For last year’s entire cruise we were, as you may remember, experiencing problems with our electrics. The main problem being the lack of power first thing in the mornings and being unable to get the heater to fire up.

 You are also aware that Simon carried out an engine service and, most importantly, sorted out the heater. Thus far this cruise we haven’t needed to run the heater and, what is even more amazing we have always had enough juice in the batteries to charge the computer in the mornings.

 This could be due to the change of lighting, from Halogen to LED, but it could equally be due to Simon’s discovery of a poor connection in the heater circuitry. Whatever the reason, we now find we can run the engine much earlier in the evening and still have ample hot water the following morning, along with plenty of power in the batteries.

 We reckon the poor connection was draining the batteries, but we won’t know for sure until we try to run the heater in the morning.

 We’re staying here at Newbold today and taking the bus into Rugby as we are rather short of victuals. I’m also looking to find an electrical shop; although neither of us can remember seeing one there; where I can have a 12 volt lead made up for the TV. If we can plug it directly into the 12 volt socket, then there will be no need to turn the invertor on when watching our usual programmes. This will save even more power and thus preserve the batteries.

 However, prior to going into town, I really must check the universal joint for loose nuts. That’s another problem we’ve had over the years, those four nuts do tend to work loose, despite the fact that they are Nylok nuts and shouldn’t come loose. Simon had to replace one of them, because it had sheared off, and we don’t want that to happen again. What I really need to do, is wire-lock them, but that’s a pretty difficult job in situ. The nuts really need to be held in a vice to drill the holes for the wire to run through.

 Friday 11^th April

 Great fun this morning, my mouse refused to work. It seems to get through batteries like they’re going out of style and, since we only had one AA battery in our drawer, there was no way I could get it going again and I hate the built-in pad on the laptop.

 However, sneaky David always keeps a spare mouse for just such eventualities and I was soon up and running again. The old mouse is not a wireless one, so I do have a USB lead attached to the laptop. But, at least I am able to use the laptop, if only until Wifey gets some more batteries when she goes for the paper.

 Incidentally, I checked those UJ bolts yesterday morning and discovered, much to my surprise, that Simon had replaced quite a few and that they were still nice and tight.

 Sometime, back in March, I sent in a Driving Licence Renewal, because under the rules, once you pass 70 it has to be renewed every three years. This rule also applies to diabetics, so I’m liable twice, if you see what I mean.

 Anyway, having submitted the first one, they then asked me for a current photo. Having received the photo the wallies at DVLA Swansea then decided they wanted a medical questionnaire filled in, which I duly sent off. That was on 26^th March and I’m still waiting. It may well be that they have also requested information from the GP at Crick and they may also have requested my full medical portfolio, to which I say, “Good luck with that”.

 One thing is for sure, having sent all requests by Guaranteed Next Day Delivery, and having tracked that delivery, they can’t say it wasn’t received.

 Today we leave Newbold, for pastures new, which will be somewhere between here and Hawkesbury Junction, which is where we intend being for the weekend.

 Saturday 12^th April

 I received a reply from DVLA, who told me that my renewal application had been forwarded to the relevant department, which is no more than I expected. The good news is that, I can continue to drive whilst the renewal is being dealt with, provided I am able to satisfy a whole bunch of criteria. The bad news is, I’m cruising and can’t use the wretched thing anyway. Ah well, they’ll complete it when they complete it and have until November to do so.

 Having travelled just three miles, from Newbold to bridge 26 on the Oxford canal, we have about another five miles to go this morning to Hawkesbury Junction, where we’ll spend a lazy weekend before continuing on to the Ashby canal.

 Sunday 13^th April

 Do you ever get that tickle at the back of the throat that tells you that you have a cold coming on? Well, that was me yesterday and I made a quick lunge for the Beecham’s Powders. Having a cold at this time of year is very much a normal occurrence for me, but that doesn’t mean I have to put up with it. Whether, after taking two powders yesterday, I’ve nipped this one in the bud, only time will tell. Our mum used to say, ‘a cold will last for about a week or seven days, whichever is the longest’, or something like that. Or was that a fortnight or 14 days? Whatever, if I have my way; and I do beat it sometimes; it will bog off today and not return until October time, which is when I usually suffer my second cold of the year.

 Anyway, back to this year’s cruise. We’re now at Hawkesbury Junction, where we arrived at about 10 am yesterday, only to find very few boats moored here. This is most odd, as we usually struggle to find a space, and that’s usually just about as far away from the pub and shop as you can get. This time; the first in living memory; we managed the very first mooring spot, the one nearest the pub, the bridge over the canal that leads to the shop, and the waste disposal point. What’s more, only a few yards ahead of us lies the water point so that, when we leave tomorrow morning we can fill up again.

 We’ll be partaking of a brew or two at the Greyhound at lunchtime today, and then move along to the Ashby canal tomorrow morning. Hopefully, if it’s a dry day we’ll be able to start tidying the paintwork up when we stop. There’s quite a lot to be done, starting with the roof, which is non-slip and will not prove easy. Still, our home really does need some TLC, and this is the year that she’s going to get it.

 Monday 14^th April

 Hallelujah, my cold has virtually gone now, and it’s all due to those wonderful Beecham’s Powders. All I have left is a slightly blocked nose, no cough, nothing else to worry me.

 Yesterday we enjoyed our usual hour in The Greyhound and then relaxed for the rest of the day.

 Now, we’re heading off for the Ashby canal today and, if the weather stays fine, as promised by the forecaster on Countryfile yesterday, we’ll get cracking on the paintwork. However, we have changed our minds about a new colour scheme, simply because the cratch cover is green and, having re-coloured a photo of Shiralee using ‘Paint’, we don’t think it would match and we don’t much fancy paying for a new cover just to match new paintwork.

 Tuesday 15^th April

 We are now moored by bridge 3 on The Ashby Canal and will be moving on to Lime Kilns this morning.

 After arriving here yesterday morning and settling in with a coffee and read of the paper, I set to with the paint repairs, and I started on the rear roof hatch. This is centrally painted with non-slip green with the edges normal green. We usually have the life belt sitting there, along with a few pieces of thin, perforated matting, which serve to protect the paintwork from damage when we lay the hooks and/or windlasses there whilst cruising.

 Removing loose paint was simple enough and this was followed by a good rubbing down and a couple of coats of non-corrosive undercoat. Later today I’ll apply a good coat of non-slip black, followed by two of green. We do have a cream, non-slip paint, but this is not as thickly impregnated with sharps sand, or whatever they use for non-slip paint.

 Of course, there are similar patches to do all along the roof. We have no idea why these ‘bald’ patches appear, but they do and will have to be attended to. Last year we managed to clean and re-paint the rest of the green, along with the cream trim, but we didn’t have sufficient time to do the roof. So, that and the rest of the green and cream are being attended to this year and if we have the time, we’ll have a go at the maroon sides.

 Earlier in the year, before we left Crick, Andy suggested that we rub down both sides; including the Shiralee logo and wording; give it all a good undercoat, or even two and then, one of us could roller maroon over the sides and the other could follow with a brush. On the face of it this looks like a good idea, but we would then have to arrange for new logo and wording transfers to be made and affixed to the sides.

 But, do we really want to go through all that hassle? We’ve discussed this at length and have decided on an alternate plan. Yes, we’ll clean up and fill in the bad patches along the sides, after which we’ll clean up the maroon within the logos and wording. We can then take our time about rolling and brushing the rest. Of course it will all have to be ‘keyed’ in order for the new layers to take, but we think we can achieve near perfection in this manner, rather than stripping it all down and applying transfers. Besides which, we do have all the necessary paints with which to go over those bits if necessary.

 All we need is some good weather and, if we don’t get it this season, there’s always next year.

 Friday 18^th April

 So, what have we been up to since Tuesday?

 Well, for a start, we’ve had some pretty fine weather.

 So, let’s consult the diary. Well, on Tuesday we find that we moved from Bridge 3 on the Ashby canal to Lime Kilns; about 3½ miles. We first trotted off to the local garage for the paper; no shops hereabouts unfortunately.

 After our coffee I added some black, non-slip paint to the hatch, and that was that as far as painting is concerned.

 On Wednesday morning, which was another bright start, we moved less than a mile to Hinkley Wharf, where we caught the bus into Nuneaton for shopping. Then, having returned from town and read the paper, I slapped some undercoat on top of the black paint. This undercoat is a dense grey colour, which I thought would take the green topcoat easier than the black.

 Later in the day, having noticed some rather flat areas on the hatch, I added more black followed by undercoat later that afternoon. All seems to be going well so far, my only concern being that we run out of the black non-slip before finishing the roof.

 Yesterday morning we moved just 2½ miles on to bridge and the Farm Shop, where a nice man delivered us a sack of coal. Oh yes, despite it being bright and sunny, the mornings still need the chill taken off. Sheila had bought the paper before leaving Hinkley, so we went through our usual, boring routine of coffee and catching up with the news.

 Although my attempts at repairing the hatch have not produced professional results, it certainly looks much better that it did before I started. In fact the roof will look much brighter once it is finished. We’re hoping to complete all green and cream paintwork by the time we get back to Crick, but that all depends on the weather.

 Today we’ll be moving about 6½ miles to Market Bosworth but, since it is Good Friday today and there are no buses out in the boondocks, it will mean a rather long walk, up a very steep hill, if we are to buy a paper. Personally I’m not too bothered, as I’ll be having a go at a small section of the roof, rubbing down and filling in with undercoat and black, non-slip paint.

 And that’s about it for this blog. Enjoy your Easter weekend, we certainly will.

 Best regards.

 Dave and Sheila.