Farewell Cropredy, hello Banbury!

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!