This isn't really May, surely? We've had appalling weather for several consecutive days; persistent heavy rain driven by very strong, gusty wind. Kantara's been pitching and tossing for hours on end, water's been sloshing against the hull, and we've been rocked to sleep at night. The BBC's forecast has been nonsense.
I have to say, though, that it's actually been quite entertaining in a perverse way, but it has stopped us from doing any of the work that needs to be done on the outside of the boat.
We were visited by the resident swans this morning. We'd had reports of their nest having had eight eggs, and that sort of number is what we've come to expect over past years, but there are only two cygnets this time.
The male seemed intent on drowning himself!
We overfilled our water tank. Put the hose into the tank, turned on the water supply, and forgot all about it. The first we knew about it was when we heard water pouring into the canal through the well-deck draining holes. I think we were so used to hearing watery sounds that we didn't register it straight away. In the flooding process, the tank's air vent pipe got water in a u-bend so that air could no longer be drawn into the tank to replace water being pumped out when taps were turned on, thus putting an excess load on the pump. The problem would have been easily solved if the vent pipe hadn't been in such a remote corner of the void under the deck, and if I wasn't looking after a hernia. So we gladly called in Colin "I hate boats!" Rowe to solve it. He also fitted a new stop-cock (or "cock-stop" as I inadvertently spoonerised it) because the original would no longer close fully. As always, the jobs were done quickly and efficiently, and with a good serving of laughter, too.The problem we were left with was the possibility of dirt - always present on the well-deck - having been washed into the tank by the overflowed water.
"Aqua Tabs", said Colin.
Duly bought and deployed. Sad, isn't it? but the twenty mile return drive to Midland Chandlers in Braunston was almost exciting, despite - maybe because of - the weather!
