Chimney

When Dave Freeman was installing our new gas hob during the summer, I asked him about the chimney rising from our Squirrel fire, because the bottom two or three inches were showing signs of corrosion. He said it was a double flue, and that the rusty bit was on the, largely cosmetic, outer tube – would probably respond to a bit of rust treatment and paint. Tonight I ran a finger over the offending part to see how easy it would be to rub down, and my finger went right through it!

So I rang Dave, with two questions in mind. (1) Would it be safe to have a fire tonight? He is, after all, a Boat Safety Scheme inspector. Answer: Best not to. (2) Is it something that would fall within his competence / remit / work schedule to fix? Answer: By all means. In fact, he thinks he should be able to do it towards the end of the coming week, while we are away from the boat. All very satisfactory – apart from the coming bill, of course.

Meanwhile, we'd come back to the marina. Tixall Wide was a treat in the sun this morning, as the traffic got under way.

We sauntered around, waving to the clients of the Canalside café on the way. Everyone is very chilled. In order not to be too chilled tonight, we'll have to use the central heating instead of the fire. But at least the electrons to run it will come from the mains supply, not the batteries. The outside temperature is likely to be pretty low, but the meteorological conditions have produced a fine evening.