Pumping it out

Last night we had an early bird meal (2 for £9) at the Brewer's Fayre restaurant opposite where we were moored. It was good value and we didn't mind having to get in before 6 p.m. The building is rather fancy, with a high, sloping vault over tables that look onto the canal. From where I was sitting I could see, just down the wharf a little, another sloping construction that, from behind, looked as though it might be a huge solar panel or a placard of some sort.

It turned out to be the roof of the pump-out station! Since we knew the tank was nearly full, we pulled across in the morning and availed ourselves of the facilities. Then it was dodge-a-shower time as we headed back towards the start of this cul-de-sac canal.

Finding a good-enough mooring, we had lunch in the sun, then under a few drops of rain, then in the sun again. I thought it was worth while trying to get the next coat of primer on the front locker. Half-way through the clouds started playing silly games again, so I had to improvise.

That's me, painting under the tarpaulin, photo courtesy of my best beloved. When we bought our solar panel, some years ago, I had discovered the value to the intrepid boater of car-roof magnets. You may be able to spot two of them, holding down the two ends of the tarpaulin, while I work underneath. Now that's something you can't do on a Sea Otter!

Dovecote

This was certainly a first! Approaching Hinckley from the north this morning, we looked, and blinked, and blinked again.

Yes, it really was a group of doves, on a cover over the stern of this boat.

I know that pigeons are trained to know their home, and return to it. But how do you teach them that home is a cover over the stern of a narrowboat? Wonders will never cease.

And what do you do with the doo-poo?

Donkey

Coming south from Congerstone, we came past a field with some donkeys, though there weren't quite as many as when we were going north. Not sure whether or not it is a donkey sanctuary.

It was a suitable metaphor for the way I'd got grounded five minutes earlier. We had passed a sign for a farm shop "just a minute away", so I was trying to get into the side to stop. Unfortunately the canal is so shallow here that you certainly grind to halt, but not at all in the position you want to be. I managed to get off the front, but no amount of pulling on the bow or centre lines had any effect. I tried to pole the front off, without success. In the end I took the pole to the stern, and managed to push it into slightly deeper water, where I could reverse out. Carefully, because we were in danger of hitting the shallows on the other side of the canal.

It was 10 minutes of unwanted activity, and we never even made it to the farm shop. Donkey indeed! 

Primer

We joined in with our church on-line today, and then went down into Congerstone for Sunday lunch at the Horse and Jockey. Fortified and back on Erin Mae, it was time to continue with sorting out the right front locker.

Yesterday's application of Fertan to "convert" the rusty bits seemed to have been successful, so now it was time for some primer.

The darkest bits of the base are where the Fertan has got to work, while the lighter section on the right is where the old Hammerite was still apparently doing its job. On the left is the first coat of primer going down.

The datasheet for my International Yacht Primer says to give it four coats, and I'm quite happy to put that amount down. The tin I had is from two years ago, and I'd already used about 80% of it, so there was a solid crust which took a bit of removing. Even after a good stir the remainder had lumps and bits in it, but I picked those off as we went along. This is not a cosmetic affair, especially given the roughness of the base from the corrosion. However, I'll probably open my new tin for the sides.

So far, everything is going according to plan.

Locker

We had all sorts of plans for bits of boat maintenance while on this trip. Two years ago I had painted the inside of one of the lockers in the cratch, and was pretty pleased with the result, given that I was still in the process of learning to paint Erin Mae's metalwork. Now it was the turn of the right-hand locker.

I think the previous owner had encountered some rust in this locker and had used Hammerite paint on it. You're supposed to be able to apply it over rusty bits, but my past experience is that the result can be a bit hit and miss. The entire base was showing signs of corrosion and I wasn't sure – or especially competent to determine – how deep it went. I asked engineering John in the marina, and he was very unconcerned. 1 mm of steel, he said, produces about an inch of rust – it always looks worse than it is. He recommended hitting it hard with a ball-ended hammer to break up the rust. He even lent me an angle grinder with a sort of flexible sanding disc to take off the loosened rust. 

After a first session with a hammer I went down to B&Q to get some ear protectors – my tinnitus didn't need the extra excitation. The overall results were promising, though I gave up on any attempt to get back to bare steel. The angle grinder wasn't as productive as I'd hoped. I thought we'd be continuing with this project as our cruise got under way.

It didn't quite work out as planned. First there was simply the business of getting used to cruising again. Then the heat wave struck. But today, finally, progress was made. We cruised for just a couple of hours back from the terminus of the Ashby Canal before tying up at Congerstone. The temperature is down about 10˚ from what it was, and at last I could continue the work on the locker without melting or burning. I used my Dremmel with a wire brush attachment to finish cleaning up the base of the locker, and got a coat of Fertan rust treatment down.

No pictures today – it was too late by the time I'd finished. I don't know whether my efforts will even out the roughness caused by the corrosion – I have plans for a great many coats of primer / undercoat / bilge paint!

Terminus

We did 10½ miles today, made possible by the complete change to the overcast conditions of today. The downside of less sun is that the photos are less sparkling! 

The canal tends to close in a bit north of Sutton Cheney, though at one point we did encounter the broadest and deepest stretch of all, making good speed for half a mile or so. Towards the end of our journey we had to go through Snarestone Tunnel (250 yards).

It's still a bit scary going underground, even though we're used to it by now. It's especially so when the tunnel has a slight curve or is offset from the main direction of the canal, so you can't see the other end as you approach. However, all was well and, shortly afterwards, we tied up at the 48 hour moorings at the furthest extent of the navigation.

Just around the corner is the swing bridge that leads onto the Ashby Canal Association's section, with a wharf where they have a shop and café.

Beyond that is a stretch of a few hundred yards where you can take your boat if you ask nicely.

One of the notable features of the Ashby has been the bench-seats donated by members of the society and others, dotted regularly along its length. and we've been struck by the numbers of couples making use of the towpath for a walk. Just round the next corner you come to Bridge 62.

Seeing the notice up close, you might be fooled into thinking this bridge had quite a history.

In fact, I'm reliably informed it's an old farm bridge recently renovated. Whatever, I went up to get a picture of what the ACA are hoping to turn into fully fledged canal-in-water.

This hole is fine for winding if your boat is 50' or less. If we brought Erin Mae up here, we'd have to reverse the whole way back.

So here we are at the current terminus. One of the interesting features at this point is an old pumping station.

In the grounds of the shop are a couple of beams from the old engine.

I assumed that this would be the pump for the canal, but the chappie in the shop (bored out of his mind on a customer-free day) informed us that it was for providing fresh water for Hinckley, and that the canal's water comes from the Coventry Canal (which we left at Marston Junction).

Over 4 hours travel today. It wasn't quite the slog that it might have been, but I don't think we'll be in a hurry to repeat the exercise! 

Sutton Cheney

When my best beloved was a little girl, she and her mum called willow herb "Maggie Anne's weed", for reasons best forgotten. We've tied up today at a CRT 2 day mooring where Maggie Anne could have gathered her fill.

It's a busy spot, Sutton Wharf, with café and ice-cream boat 100 yards back, where we countered the heat of the day with an iced latte each.

A couple of days ago I wrote about the isolation of our spot in the Warwickshire countryside. That was before the evening brought out a load of boy racers on a nearby main road, and a kennel full of dogs began to give tongue for a couple of hours. This bit of the Ashby may well be a little like that but, for the most part, it's a much more pastoral affair.

The farmers have been making use of the hot weather.