The oil filters arrived earlier at Kings Orchard Marina than the courier's text indicated - excellent service. So I decided that I would do the oil change then.
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| 5 new Lister Petter filters - one had already been removed ready to install. |
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| The engine bay without 17 litres of oil and antifreeze in it, no rubbish and no water - well done, that man! |
But, in my fear of the engine getting too hot for me to be standing in close contact with, I didn't leave it on long enough to heat the oil so it was runny enough to be pumped out in the new pela pump. I tried and it dribbled thickly into the bowl of the pump and I was hot, bent over with an increasingly sore back down in the engine bay. So David took over at my request. It was too thick and gluggy for him too. So at a litre pumped out, we abandoned the oil change, I poured back into the engine what we had struggled to remove, and we arranged to stay another night, then cruise away very early to beat the rain and be in a good place to rendezvous with the Jameisons.
So we unhooked the electric and David paid at the office so we could sneak out at 6am before the weather turned pants.
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| Rain was due to be heavy-ish from about 8am, so my plan was to be moored at Fradley by then. But no... |
Early out of bed, the quietest preparations for leaving as there was an occupied boat moored right next to us. Pram cover down, buffers up, jackets, hats, scarf, gloves, windlass all ready, tiller attached. Turn the key to start the engine and there was a most pathetic sound - not of an engine turning over, but a sort of a whine.
I couldn't even swear out loud ...
David immediately diagnosed battery problems and checked the charge - it was down at 11.something. Bad news. Very bad news.
So a WhatsApp message to Ian who was awake, and a bit of a discussion. David plugged the electric back in to see if that would bring the charge up enough to start the engine, and we had a cooked breakfast (baked beans and a fried egg on sourdough toast) while we waited for the marina office to open to see if they sold a suitable battery - at 11.something, it was not coming back to life on any kind of permanent basis!
Their batteries were lead acid, not suitable for being left for 7 months of a year unchecked, and we couldn't stay on in the marina as they had hirers returning boats and filling the place up.
So, given the electricity had charged the battery enough to start the engine, we did so and moved out - no turning the engine off till we had reached a meeting place with the Jameisons so we could deploy Ian's charger cables for the next start - until we could purchase a replacement battery.
However, just along from Kings Orchard Marina is Streethay Wharf. So we called in - yes they did have the right battery! Yay! Did we require left or right facing. David went down to check and came back not sure, I went down to check, and came back with my verdict. David didn't believe me, so I went back to take a photo. Why didn't he appear to believe that either? Still, we bought the one that matched the photo (right facing).
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| Right facing, i.e. red terminal on the right. No maker's label facing forward. No worries. |
It was raining, so I suggested that he stay inside so I could reduce my grump (at publicly not being believed) without spitting fire and so he could keep dry - although the rain and my fire would have cancelled each other out, n'est ce pas? As I steered I wondered what had caused David to demur about matching what we were replacing with what we bought. I worked out that it was not the orientation, but what label was facing outwards. I asked, and he said yes that was it. He thought the instructions should be visible and on both the one we had and the new one, the label was at the rear.
Bah humbug! Couldn't he have just said that at the time? AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
So battery purchased, we boated on in the wind and rain - I am so brave and stoic. I am sure you have noticed.
A few boaters out but not many - others are not so stoic. Or maybe they are not so stupid?
We had decided that we would aim for a mooring at least after the second lock (Shadehouse) above Fradley Junction, and there was a space. It wasn't quite long enough, so while David and a couple of guys from a boat that had preceded us up the locks held Waka Huia, I bravely went and knocked on the window of the boat behind and asked if I could move them forward a bit - it was raining, and I didn't expect them to do it. The man was very happy to oblige - either he had left a boat sized gap behind him or a shorter boat had departed. He is South African and he did note that there was a rugby match on the next morning between the Springboks and the All Blacks and wondered if it wa ssafe for us to be moored up next to each other ...
Once moored up, pram cover up and wet clothes removed, I showered to warm up and then we blobbed for the day. The coats were hung up in the pram cover but mine was so wet and there was very little warmth that it pretty much hadn't even stopped dripping overnight!
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| Five crowns - I lost by 1 point!! |
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| You may be aware that David is a soup fan, and he loves lentil soup. The contents of this can were a hit so the container needed to be photographed so its purchase can be replicated ... |
Ian and Irene texted at about 7.30 the following morning, telling us they were in Common Lock and on their way to Fradley Junction. We got out of bed and dressed and went down to meet them at the services area - we arrived as they were emptying their 20 full toilet cassettes - OK, I exaggerate, it was 3.
So lovely to see them! Hugs all round even though they had cassettes in hand...
I got on board with Irene, and David and Ian did the locks. We hovered below Shadehouse Lock and the boat owner whose permanent mooring has no gap between it and the lock landing was walking back down to the services with his water barrel. We had chatted with him at the services area and he was chirpy then. But when we spoke to him while on the water, about two boat lengths away from his boat and in the middle of the channel, he declared that Irene should moor up on the landing. We told him we were happy to hover and Irene noted she'd been boating for over 30 years. He said he'd been boating since the 1950s (he must be much older than he looked unless he was a baby when he did his first lock) and we could hold against his boat as long as we tied on. No, we're happy to hover, said Irene. Well, it's you experienced boaters who are the worst at banging into my boat, sez he. Bloody cheek! I noted that we were at least two boats away and in the middle so he was safe.
Question: if Ian had been at the helm, would he have made those comments? Somehow I doubt it. And would a man have responded without telling him to rearrange two words? Probably not.
Once we had come up inside the lock, I got off and headed to find out if there was a mooring spot for I&I near us. Yes!! And my task was to prepare cheese scones so Ian could be sustained after sorting the battery installation with David. But as I walked past the South African boat I heard shouting. Surely they are not having an argument, I thought. Then I looked at my watch - ah, the rugby was on. So I rapped on the window and asked how it was going. The ABs were up 20 - 0 and had scored 15 points before the Springboks arrived at the grounds, apparently...
Battery installed and tested, and yes, the engine started happily. Yay.
And the ABs won convincingly - Richard, the SA man, kindly came over to give us updates.
Irene declared that we should move on - it was going to be windy, but she declared we would be fine. So off both boats moved - and at that very instant the rain started - I'd hardly got my coat dry enough from the previous day's deluge and here I was getting wet again.
And the one who said we would be fine is the woman who declares she doesn't boat in the rain - bollocks, she doesn't boat in the rain!
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| Lovely woods that we boated through. |
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| So very different from New Zealand bush - open, little undergrowth, easy to walk through. |
To be fair, it didn't rain the whole time we boated to Handsacre and it wasn't raining when we moored up.
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| We did the oil change as a team - David pumped the very warm oil out; I changed the oil filter and filled with the new oil. The pela pump is a boon! |
But boy did the rain hammer down that afternoon and evening.
- Cards: Quiddler
- Nibbles: cheese, hummus and crackers
- Cards: 5 Crowns
- Dinner: Roast vegetable Thai green curry (Donna Hay recipe originally with chicken, but roast veg are great)
- Cards: 5 Crowns again I think
- And then an early night.
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| Quiddler - a very close game for Ian, David and me. Not so close for Irene... But a huge amount of hilarity... |
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| Nibbles about the be served in our saloon. Mel is keen but Irene wasn't sharing! |
Off to Rugeley the next morning to just do a supermarket shop. However the weather was pants and so we stayed overnight. Cards, dinner, cards, dessert, cards, and an early night.
This morning we left Rugeley about 9am.
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| A view of Free Spirit that is not often seen - Ian was steering while Irene sorted some stuff in the galley - I think it was to do with dinner. |
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| I got David to take this for our friend Leith who has a mannequin in his front garden that he dresses differently for the interest of passersby. |
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| People are very creative about how they use their canal frontages - my hunch is they let loose much more towards the canal than to the street. Probably a more appreciative audience for the wacky on the canal. |
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| Ready, ladies? Love the clothes! |
It was very bad timing leaving at 9am - we got stuck behind two of the slowest boats I've ever followed and the trip from Rugeley to Great Haywood took 3.75 hours instead of a more standard 2.5-ish... Painful stuff.
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| We passed this boat near Shugborough Hall. I took the photo for Kurt and Charlotte's son, Ollie. |
Above the Haywood lock, we stopped for cake (Irene's - coffee and walnut: very yummy) and cheese scones (who made them?) and tea and coffee. I'd not had breakfast and we all needed the stress relief of a food break.
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| David and I went on ahead because Ian and Irene had to stop at Anglo Welsh at Gt Haywood to get oil. We found a lovely place to moor not far from Weston Upon Trent. and waited for the Jameisons to arrive. |
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| The chairs and tables came out and the remainder of the cake was consumed. Well, it did have to be or it would have gone off, or Irene would have thought we didn't like it. Couldn't have that! |
Dinner onboard Free Spirit tonight. A lovely vegan sausage and cabbage bake with roast potatoes, carrots and broccoli. Dessert was Irene's delicious homemade cheese cake. There is a second one in our fridge - I think we may accidentally eat it for breakfast while we are cruising tomorrow and Irene can't stop us...
We played a new to us game tonight: Mexican Train. It's a dominoes game and it's fun. We are going to buy it and get it delivered to Marta for them to bring down in early August.
Time for sleep now - David and I couldn't cope with this morning's snail's pace, so we are going to head away early. Fingers crossed the new battery continues to do its thing!
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