I emailed a friend back in NZ
yesterday evening and here is what I wrote to him: ‘I should be preparing
dinner here, but I am had it. Did a big grocery shop this morning before taking
the rental car back. Spent £250 - we do have 4 people coming on Wednesday to
stay (2 for 2 nights and 2 for 4) so lots of booze, bedding, meat, and various
supplies for longer term. The shopping took over an hour and the trolley was
chocka and therefore very hard to push/pull or slide sideways! By the time I'd
filled the trolley, emptied it on to the conveyor belt, packed it in the
trolley again, emptied the trolley into the car boot, emptied the car boot into
the boat, I was had it. But then we set off to cruise up to moor up opposite Lyme
View Marina to get a new smaller alternator fitted by Ed Shiers, the mobile engineer.
Since we arrived, while Ed did his magic, I've re-organised all the food
cupboards, the fridge and the freezer, stored most of the groceries (David had
put the booze away and unpacked the bedding), and I’ve made a chilli con carne
for one of the guest dinners. I am starting on the chardonnay soon! I think a
few cheese and crackers and I'll be sorted for an evening meal.’
After emailing Gregor, I
modified my dinner ideas and had fresh pineapple alongside a gu pudding –
people, if you haven’t tried them, do! They are yummy. And the bonus is that if
you eat lots of them you build up a set of little glass ramekins that can be
used in the oven. Now what could be better? Yummy puddings and ramekins! Just
so you don’t think he went hungry, I will tell you that David used up the last
of the frozen thai green chicken curry that was too hot for me.
This morning we moved off to
Higher Poynton to get a pumpout. Had planned on getting it done across from
where we moored last night, but when we pulled up there there was no hose for
cleaning it out and the diesel pump had a notice saying cash or cheque only. We
do have a cheque book, but the lack of cleaning hose put us off. Obviously they
use canal water to clean it out. I guess that is reasonably common, but it
seems weird to us.
We were delighted as we moved
on – the engine sounds wonderful now: there is no shuddering or vibrations, and
in neutral and tickover the engine just purrs instead of rattling. I can go
along in tickover which is now as slow as it should be instead of fast and
noisy. So in our book, Ed Shiers is a genius. He is helpful, responsive,
willingly works after hours, tells you what he is doing and why. And what he
does works – that’s the main thing, of course! He is Four Counties Marine
Services – if you need him, look him up on his website. The testimonials are
great to see and we agree with them wholeheartedly. He travels quite widely – all he needs is for you to moor close
to a road so he can park nearby.
We’ve had the pumpout – not without
hassles as the onboard pump seemed to have something stuck in its valve (it is
in line, so even with a commercial pump out, everything goes past it). Andy from
the Trading Post, at Higher Poynton, helped sort it out and wouldn’t take any
additional fees for his time. A good kind trader, and we are delighted to find
him.
While that was being sorted, we
met a family (Jackie, Simon, Matthew and Theo) who are having a 3 day trip on nb
The Wandering Duck, which is a narrowboat backpackers (as opposed to a hotel boat). It
is run by a couple who spent a year running a backpackers’ hostel in NZ and
have replicated it on a smaller scale on a narrowboat. Excellent idea!
I moved the boat back for the water
(it is so easy to move it at low speed now, that I could do it by myself without
David there to take ropes etc) and while David went in for a shower, I met a
lovely lady called Linda who is dead keen to come to NZ for a holiday but her
husband did lots of travelling for work and now doesn’t want to travel. I
suggested she come over with a friend and leave him at home – without filling
the freezer for him. She said he’d just go to the pub – no worries, I said,
that’s what you’ll be doing too! I think a seed has been sown so I won’t be
surprised to hear from her re coming to stay at Cherswud, whether we are
B&Bing or not. Here’s hoping!
After the water fill up, we
moved backwards through the bridge (another easy move, thanks, Ed!) to the visitor moorings and have tied up for
the day. I know, it’s a b*gger, isn’t it, finishing up by lunchtime? When I
have posted this we will go out for a walk. We have seen several groups of
walkers (ramblers they are called in the UK) come past us here so there must be
good public paths available to explore. I can’t see any hills (am keeping my
eyes firmly downwards) so we won’t need to repeat the White Nancy- and Mow Cop-type
treks!
Am feeling very pleased at the
moment – getting the alternator replaced and the resultant change in engine performance,
and then resolving the pump out hassle has a sense of victory about it. We are,
fingers/toes/eyes crossed and touching wood, gradually sorting out hassles and
understanding the boat better. It feels good. I do hope putting that feeling in writing isn't tempting fate ...
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