Giggles and Plumbing Excitement.

Hi Everyone.

Before I begin on today's post, I just have to tell you about yesterday afternoon and evening. During the afternoon, we were hailed by a voice which sounded familiar. I looked out of the galley doors and saw NB Valerie with Les and Sue onboard. I had been a good while since we had seen Les, so it was wonderful to catch up with him as he waited to enter the lock with another boat. Les has had a tough year, and has clearly struggled through this year to get moving. We exchanged news and wished him well as he went on his way. Happy cruising Les and here's hoping your year improves.

8.30 pm and dusk was already beginning to fall. Oh heck Winter is someing. Anyway I heard the roar of a boat engine and saw a boat coming along side us to use the lock. I got up to see if it was anyone we knew, which it was not. There was then voices shouting from another moored boat, asking this couple on the move, where they had been. The reply was " We got lost on the map and have come the wrong way, so we are going up this lock and then mooring up, because we have had enough". I just stood in the galley and giggled.

How on earth can you get lost on the canal?

Which map were these people reading?

You see and hear it all on the canal that is certain.

So here we are, it is now Tuesday and a bit overcast. It looks like we had some rain during the night. My morning began at 7 am with a cup of tea in bed which was very welcome. It is a real luxury for us to be able to sit in bed and drink a morning cuppa. When we lived in the house we rarely did it. Still our lives were a little more rushed in those days.

Paddy and I took a walk down the Aylesbury Arm and met a boat just beginning down the locks. The first locks down are staircase locks. I offered to close the gate as the boat descended into the second of the staircase, which was accepted. I then carried on with our walk down to the fourth lock and then began walking back to the boat. I on the boat coming down it had Market Harborough sign written on the boat, so I was interested to know if the couple were from Market Harborough. It turned out they were not, they had bought the boat secondhand and had not been afloat for long. The Aylesbury Arm was certainly not lacking in water. Water was flowing over the gates and into a field on the offside. I then discovered from the gentleman on the boat, that he had left a bottom paddle open on the lock above because the lock was flooding. I explained to him, that if he does that, he will drain the pound above, which will flood the pound he is in and this will therefore flood into the field. I could see I was not really making any sense to him, as he was new to this. So I told him that he should not leave any paddles open unless advised to by a BW notice on the lock, because he could end up draining pounds and flooding areas. I am still unsure if he really understood what I was saying. But this is happening more and more. People are coming on to the Waterway's and do not have a clue on what they are doing. When people buy boats they really need more education about the waterway's before they embark on their new life. Just my opinion.

Back onboard and breakfast dealt with. We set about sorting out our plumbing job. Keith wanted to put in some stop cocks in the engine room for the back boiler pipework off the saloon stove. We had bought all the bits at Cowroast Chandlery a few days previous. We dismantled the shelving in the engine room and he set about adding new stop cocks. That went fairly easily, which is amazing, because normally when we do any work on the boat, it always takes far longer than it should. Keith also put a stop cock in the galley cupboard for the pump which pumps the water from the back boiler to the radiator in the bathroom. I filled the system with water and Keith checked for leaks and nothing was found phew it is a miracle to behold.

After some lunch, we took off for a walk around the village of Marsworth. The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, Mæssanwyrth, and means 'Mæssa's enclosure', it is a very pretty little village. Marsworth is located at the Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire border, about seven miles east from Aylesbury, Marsworth village sits at the junction of the Grand Union Canal and and its Aylesbury Arm. The village can be dated back to 970, before the Domesday book started, and one of its oldest buildings is All Saints Church, which is delightful. There are also some very pretty cottages to be seen as well. Having seen the village we walked back down to the canal and past the British Waterway's yard, which we have used for the Sanitary Station on occasions. We were heading for the Aylesbury Arm.We noticed that on a post was planning permission for 12 dwellings to be built on the site and conversion of the old workshop. The boaters facilities are going to be upgraded as well which is good news.
From what I understand there was planning put in back in 2009 for 14 dwellings, so this must be a revised application, after there was uproar over the original plans. It will be sad to see another British Waterway's yard go. As boaters we can but hope that the people who move into the homes, love the canal and its heritage. Having read all about the plans for the BW yard we made our way on to the Aylesbury Arm and walked down a few locks to some lovely open countryside. There was a pair of Buzzards flying overhead calling to each other and the sound of water pouring through lock gates. It was very tranquil. Unfortunately for us, our boat is a little to deep in the water to get down there at the moment, so we will have to save the 16 lock trip for another day. It does look very pretty though and I would love to do it, just so I can say I have.

Now there was I saying all went well with our plumbing work, I just knew I spoke to soon, because as I sat typing this posting, Keith jumped to his feet and said "What the hell is that". There was smoke in the engine room. He immediately switched off the generator which had been running for about half and hour. We were running early, because we have people moored behind us and we want to be anti-social. With the generator switched off, we stripped down the shelving again and found that a pipe had come apart, so there was no water in the skin tank cooling the system. At least it was an easy problem to solve. So we have just reconnected the pipe and filled the system up with water and all is now running again after I bled the cooling tank under the bed. Oh what a day of great excitement. I think I need a stiff drink now.

Special gentle hugs to Heth from NB Takey Tezey who has been in hospital after a fall on their boat. Lots of TLC needed. Take things easy Heth xxxxxxxxxx