Still plodding along

First thing yesterday morning I dismantled the prop shaft clamps and have given them a good clean. I am hoping that when I hurriedly put it back into working order last time a layer of grease was left so that there was not metal to metal contact and that the grease made it easy to come apart again.

Spun the boat around to return to Farndon to pick up fuel and I mean spun in the flow of water. I was going to go further but with the level in the fuel tank being lower than I would like it safety took precedence.

I arrived back at Farndon in half the time it took to get up river and went straight into the marina to turn around first. After some shuffling about this was due to the fuel tank being at the stern and the length of the hose being long enough just to reach smaller boats I filled the tank up to the top for the first time.

The engine is still hunting so will have to do a few checks to see if there is anything I can do to improve the situation.


The Town Lock was ready for me when I arrived so yet again went straight through but with only one gate fully open. There were two very stroppy male swans in the lock and they were terrorising one of this years cygnets in the corner behind the other gate. With the gate open I chased the hooligans out into the river.



As the mooring outside the BW Regional HQ was full I turned the boat and moored astern of the Barge. The name on the stern says Ril Elsie it is used as a bar restaurant and is very popular locally.



As soon as I was alongside and tied up Dash woke up and was soon at home taking in the sights ashore. The path take one to Aldi but the choice there was limited so stuck to Morrisons which is just a short walk away.

Before I leave I will check the marks on the prop shaft to see if there has been any movement. Then it is down to Nether Lock for water and dumping rubbish and on to Cromwell Lock to await a tide.