Pushing on

Time is relative as Einstein or someone said and on board a narrowboat time certainly seems to have a way of behaving differently. The other day we had a long discussion trying to decide if we had been cruising for just over one week or two. In the end we had to refer back to Sarah's log and even then it was difficult to be convinced that we had only been out for 9 days.

We have been putting in the miles as we are keen to spend as much time on the Llangollen and Montgomery canals as possible. We are retracing our steps from last year at the moment although I have to say that everywhere looks so much more pleasant in the sunshine than it did in the cold and rain of 2012. Yesterday (Wednesday) saw us come down most of  "Heartbreak Hill" clearing 20 locks in the day, a record for us and one which might be a while being beaten.

Last week we had a good easy trip up to the Trent and Mersey and met John and Louise on Saturday who had bought our old boat (and are still talking to us) for a meal and a glass or two and then continued on towards that fine city of Stoke.

Sunday didn't start too well as when I did my checks I found that the water header tank was empty and on inspecting the engine compartment found a pool of water lying there. Some consternation but I refilled the tank ran the engine for 20 minutes and all seemed well so we set off keeping a careful eye on levels and it seems to have been a one off (touch wood) I can only assume a thermostat got stuck but who knows.

On Tuesday we decided to get through Stoke and the Harecastle tunnel and made an early 7.00am start You will see how attractive Stoke is from the following photos although the industrial heritage is fascinating - no wonder you can buy a house here for a £1.

Then there is the joy of the Harecastle tunnel. Luckily its only one way traffic and you have to go through in convoy but I still find the concentration of peering into the dark for 45 - 60 minutes daunting. Sarah goes downstairs and curls up on the sofa with the dogs who hate tunnels too. Just before we emerged at the northern end we were greeted with the sight of a bat flying around although when the boat in front reported this to the lock keeper he needed our confirmation to accept that there was at least one in there as they tell everyone its bat free.

When we decided to go to Llangollen we had a choice of routes, this one which includes Heartbreak Hill or using the Staff and Worc and Shrophire Union which is further but with less locks. One of the reasons we chose this route is because of a restaurant that Sarah wanted to revisit called, and at, Lock 57 where we had eaten last year and had a superb meal. You can imagine the angst when after traversing 20 locks we found that it had closed down! Never mind, I said, we will go on to Wheellock and visit the Italian restaurant where we had also eaten (although not over impressed). Imagine the further angst when we found that had shut down too. Gave up at that point but we have hopefully found a new one to try on the Middlewich Arm tomorrow. Sarah's just phoned and they are open so, so far so good!

We plan to stay put tomorrow near bridge 22 on the Middlewich Arm which has a superb view - see below - and recharge our batteries and then on to the Llangollen on Saturday.

Early morning sunrise over the Wedgewood factory

Stoke!

Ancient and modern in Stoke

View out of the duck hatch at Bridge 22

A delayed start

So we are off again but not without some delays. We had planned to return to the marina on Monday 12 August, spend a day or two doing some odd jobs and get away on Wednesday 14th. In the end we didn't get to the marina until Tuesday and it took us until Saturday to get away - here's why!

I had planned to do a couple of small maintenance jobs on the boat for myself this time, well how hard can it be to change the oil and oil filter? I checked the manual and it was a simple 3 paragraph job - pump out the old oil using the built in sump pump, unscrew and replace the filter and refill with oil - Simple. I got  a canister in place to collect the old oil, opened the stopcock as directed and stated pumping but when I got to 2 litres nothing else would come out (the sump capacity was 9.5 litres) Have I got the right pump? A hunt around the engine failed to reveal any other pumps and it fitted with the picture in the manual. So I phoned the manufacturer who was very helpful and said it sounded as though the pump had failed they would send me a new one, no charge but it wouldn't be in the post till Thursday so I should have it by Friday. In the meantime I spoke to our engineer and he assured me fitting the pump was simple - that word again - so I waited for Friday hoping that I could indeed fit it.

In the meantime we decided that having a bike on board would be a good idea so started to explore the possibility of a folding bike and eventually found a shop in Leamington Spa which had a selection in stock so went over there on Thursday and chose one which seemed to be adequate for our/my needs. We decided to have some more robust tyres fitted due to the hawthorn on the towpaths and arranged to go back the following day to pick up the bike which we did so I am now practicing for the Tour de France having managed about 5 miles the other day before my backside began to make itself felt.

Friday morning saw us get the boat provisioned with all the important victuals (see below) and Friday afternoon the new sump pump arrived.

I removed the old one very easily but when I looked at the new one it was obvious that all the old one had not come away from the engine and I could see no way of unscrewing the bit that was left, so another call to our engineer to plead stupidity and ask if he could do the job which he said he could but not for a few days so he suggested putting the old oil back in and starting on our trip and he would catch up with us. Great. So I put the oil back in and thought I'd just check the level on the dipstick to make sure it was OK and was somewhat surprised to see that it was way over the full mark by about an inch or so or say 2 litres! Had that oil I took out come from somewhere else? Another phone call and after some deliberation the engineer felt that if what came out went back in the level should be OK so go ahead anyway. I had some reservations about this but he's the expert so we agreed to leave the arrangement as it was and he would meet us in a few days.

Luckily however later that afternoon there was a tap on the boat and the engineer had arrived as his next job had been postponed so he could look at my problem. He quickly spotted that in fact that the pump had two stopcocks and I had managed to empty the gearbox and not the engine. Tucked away under loads of hoses was another stopcock which was the engine feed, the obvious one I had seen was for the gearbox. No mention of that fact in the manual of course! Anyway apparently I wouldn't have done any damage as if I had tried to put the boat in drive it would just have refused to turn the prop. So half an hour later and the oil in both engine and gearbox and filter were changed and we were good to go!

Its Wednesday as I write this and we are 9 locks down the 11 lock flight at Atherstone having had a lovely few days cruising in ideal weather, sunny but not too hot. We decided due to the dealys to change our planned route so that we would have time to get over to Llangollen so instead of going up through Leicester we have taken a slightly more direct route but are finding that we are on a very busy section of canal as there is a vintage boat rally at Alvecote over the August bank holiday and there are a lot of boats heading for it.

We moored up in the town before starting our decent and went shopping and in the local butchers. He asked if we were boating - yes we replied how could you tell? Well, he said all boating people who come in here are always so relaxed and unhurried! In spite of the problems of last week I think that sums it up.

At least we wont need to shop again for booze for a day or two!

NB Tixall with a wood burning propulsion

Interesting footbridge

Back to the marina

This week has seen us retrace our steps and tomorrow (Sunday) we will be back in the marina. Its been a fairly easy and uneventful week spending a couple of nights at the bottom of Napton Locks and having a great meal at the Folly. No sign of a recession here as we went to eat there the first night but they were totally full so booked for the following evening and it was heaving again. Not surprising really, great food very well priced and all the young female bar staff in short cut off jeans!

So 5 weeks out and almost wall to wall sunshine. We have had a few showers this week and did actually have to don the anoraks for an hour or two but compared to last year it was the other end of the spectrum. If anything I suppose one could complain that it was too hot but then we're never happy with the weather are we?

So back to Bungay tomorrow and then assuming Sarahs check up goes well we will come back to the boat in 7 - 10 days and set off again. This time we plan to go up through Leicester then over to Llangollen and back via the Severn and the Avon if time permits.

Waiting to ascend Watford staircase