Wednesday, a man from a
boat repair company contracted to CRC came to look at the fuel leak
problem. He confirmed the previous engineer's diagnosis and said he'd
get a replacement unit ordered for fitting within the next couple of
days. He tied a couple of rubber gloves over the leaky pump – an
old trick he'd learned when working with Ford diesel engines –
adjusted our stern gland at my request – the drip into the bilge
was still too fast – and told us we could move on as far as
Banbury, where he would meet with us and fit the pump.
The "two-glove fix"! |
Thursday, we at last
left Cropredy, and made our way down to Banbury, a journey of just 6
lock miles in lovely weather and through beautiful countryside.
Banbury moorings are very good. Narrow boats line both sides of the
canal alongside a fairly new shopping centre. The towing path is not
a useful thoroughfare for non-boaters, so the moorings are generally
quiet. We slept feeling entirely safe and secure, and woke to a very
quiet scene again.
Friday - John, the boat
engineer, did say that his company, Tooley's, would contact us before
4:00pm yesterday, to let us know when the new pump would be fitted.
They did not. Nor did they this morning, so I rang RCR and told them
and, finally (and not without a great deal of confusion on the part
of the guy on the phone who thought at first he was talking to
another customer) Tooleys rang. As I write, we are awaiting a further
call for confirmation of timing.
We, however, are
getting very short of water. There is a tap just a few hundred yards
down from where we are, but we would then have to find another
mooring below that which is accessible to an engineer.
I have just
got a call from Tooley's who tell me that they are having problems
finding a replacement pump. Since the leak is only slight, and has
had John's temporary fix applied, we have decided to move on now, and
let Tooley's come out to us when the part is finally located. This
means that we will be able to get the water we need, and that the
batteries, which have been running on empty for some time (the solar
panels have had very little decent light since about 3:00 yesterday
afternoon) will get recharged.
Equally
important, it means we can be on the move again!
We
moved on just a few miles towards the end of the afternoon, and
moored up at a beautiful, quiet, open spot between two lift bridges.
The sun even shone on us for a while!