A morning of drama.

Hi Friends.

Nothing ever quite goes according to plan with us and this morning was no exception.
Yesterday we did an oil change on the engine and it all went really well. Yep just a little to well as it turned out.
Having been awake pretty early listening to the Peacock on the island, I was up and had made a cuppa, which we enjoyed in bed. If it had not been for the fact that the hound needed walking, I could have quite easily have stayed in bed for another hour or so. But after enjoying my cup of tea, I was up, dressed and walking the towpath with Pad, who was it has to be said desperate to go.
So there we were all ready to go, engine started, ropes untied and boat pushed off. We were in the middle of the cut and the engine died arghhhhhh. We were now drifting towards the island above Black Jack's Lock. So I started off down the gunwale to get a pole to pole us back to the bank, when there were shouts of "Throw us a rope". So Keith threw a rope to a gentleman on the island and he secure the stern for us, whilst I battled with the over hanging branches of a Beech tree. John from NB Lincoln then secured the centre rope, so I had no need for the pole, which was useful, because I was having problems getting to one, due to the low branches. It was like fighting my way through the jungle. Boat secured we then had to find out what the problem was. To cut a long story short it turned out to be an air lock in the diesel system. This had come about when Keith had drained off some diesel from the filter to clean out the oil filter on the engine. (Note to self: Make sure you check it next time, before moving off). So drama all sorted out, and whilst we sorted out the airlock, John from NB Lincoln very kindly made us a coffee. We then got chatting to him and Jane who owns the cottage at the lock and the island, which is absolutely stunning. Chris and Lise on NB Baldock have their boat there was well. A lovely place to live.
Having enjoyed our coffee, we said our goodbyes and set off for the bottom of Coppermill Lock to fill up with water and get rid of rubbish, which took us half an hour. Whilst waiting for the water, Keith set the lock in our favour and we were soon underway.
It was a little dismaying to find a diesel slick in the water from above Coppermill Lock to the Sewage Works well below Springwell Lock. Someone had either pumped out their bilges or there had been a diesel leak from something, because there was a lot of the surface of the water and I could smell it. We came up through Stockers Lock and as always the moorings were crammed full of boats. Some which had been there when we had gone down, so clearly they do not move much. Where are the BW warden's when you need them?
We did however pass a boat with this beautiful Ginger cat on the roof. It looked like it was having a conversation with this wooden figure. The first mooring we tried to get into was to shallow, so we managed to get in on the moorings below Batchworth Lock, which will do us nicely for a couple of days.