Jobs to do, time to do them.

Because of our concern about the risk of diesel bug because of  the fuel tank being half empty (the bug thrives at the point where diesel oil meets the water it's floating on, and water arrives in the tank as condensation forming on the cold sides) - and because of an irrational need to finish fitting the stern gland greaser - and wanting to sweep the chimney so that I can be confident of it not being a problem when we next light the stove in a wintry hurry - and needing to spin the boat around simply because we didn't do it at the start of summer when we should have done (it's good practice to ensure that the sun doesn't fall predominantly on one side of a boat, so that the paint fades pretty equally over time), we came back to Kantara yesterday.

It was rather cold on board. 8°C when we arrived, but up to 23° within a few hours of  lighting the stove. Then it was a massive 16° when we awoke this morning, quickly pushed up to a more comfortable level by our trusty Alde.

The temperature was no surprise to us. What did astonish us was the plague of flies! Houseflies. Okay, the Egyptians had it worse, but we did away with two dozen or more of the things yesterday. They came out of the folds of our six Roman blinds when we lowered them in the evening. I literally sucked most of them up with the vacuum cleaner. Those that missed that treatment got swatted. Their reflexes seemed to be impaired. Why they were there and how long they'd been there we have no idea. I squashed the last two as I was going to bed, and we've seen none today. Very strange!

The wind yesterday had been rather too strong to move the boat, but the weather forecast suggested that today, Thursday, it would be better. We'd do it then, we said. So I fitted the greaser with Heath Robinson flair, forgot to clean the chimney, and then kicked myself when...

...today we filled both fuel tanks as planned, and returned to our berth, backing in to point the port side to the sun. The chimney is now on the water side and I won't be risking sweeping it, lest I fall in in the process. [Three hours after writing that, I took the risk and did the job without getting the slightest bit wet. I also remembered that I had intended to Hammerite the rusting edges of the stern hatch, and did that, too. Now I'm feeling dead chuffed!]

To round off our busyness, we found the ideal solution to the loss of 56lb of ballast from the front, right-hand (forward starboard 😁 ) side of the boat when we removed the safe from there. It was easy, really. We moved the anchor from the forward port (front left 😜 ) hold to one on the other side where we've been storing paints and varnishes. The combined 16kg weight of the anchor and the 7kg of the chain, added to the effect of taking that weight away from the port side, will give us just the trim we needed to correct the bit of a list to port we've had for a long time.

Now all we need to do is get out there and test it!

PS - It's Friday morning and I just killed another flipping fly!!

On the cut again!

And when Michelle arrived on Saturday, the wind speed was extreme. I'd already contacted her to tell her to take it easy on the roads, there was no hurry because we weren't going anywhere in that wind. Nor did we on Sunday, for the same reason. Only wetter. So we chatted, had a Sunday roast at The Wheatsheaf, played games and enjoyed the pattering of the rain on the roof and the rocking of the boat by the gale.

Monday was much better, so off we went, Crick Tunnel, Watford Locks, and first stop below Buckby Top Lock.

As you can see from the photos, the weather was in our favour. Once moored, we wandered down a few hundred metres to the Anchor Cottage Crafts Canal Shop. Grace and I had sailed or walked past it so many times, but never given it more than a glance. We expected it to stock bread, milk, tea and coffee, that kind of thing, along with a handful of crafts. How wrong were we!? Its tiny space was cram packed with a huge range of lovely crafted items. Not a loaf of bread or bottle of milk to be seen, though there are ice-creams.

Grace bought a wooden egg-box, having searched low and high for one for months. It now sits happily on our galley worktop.

Our descent of the rest of the Buckby flight the next day was simplified by sharing with another boat, and more often than not finding locks ready for us to enter. There was a nationwide shortage of water across the whole network and, like many other locks no doubt, opening times were restricted and boaters encouraged to share as often as possible.

We stopped at the bottom of the flight for shopping at the marina, and for lunch, before moving on to Weedon Bec.

 

The weather was perfect until the next morning, when it poured with a wind-driven rain that made the camper-vans opposite look bleak. When that eased off, we pushed on towards Stoke Bruerne, but the rain paid a return visit and Grace and I got totally soaked while our guest was under orders to stay inside. Blisworth Tunnel was very welcome - it was a lot drier in there!

courtesy of waterways.org.uk

We changed out of our dripping attire and had lunch. Then an abatement of the downpours allowed us to go out for a stroll around the wharf, and the afternoon was really pleasant. Until I ran the engine.

Our batteries had been showing signs of failing. They're six years old, way past their guarantee age, and no longer holding their charge very well. I ran the engine for a couple of hours to recharge them so that we'd have 12v power throughout the evening, and I was on my way to switch it off when the engine coughed, spluttered and stopped. After a good deal of head scratching and not daring to try to restart it more than once, we left the flipping thing and went to the Boat Inn, where Michelle treated us to a fine dinner.

I called RCR first thing the next morning, and Dylan duly arrived within a couple of hours. It didn't take him long to find what was wrong. Diesel bug!

We were fortunate. There is a filter in the fuel line that extracts water as the diesel passes through, and this had collected all of the gunk that the bug creates (as seen above). It had got to the point where the fuel flow became totally blocked, stopping the engine. The second filter down the line was totally unaffected, but Dylan changed both filters anyway to be thorough, and left to attend to his next call-out. Excellent service!

The previous day, we'd moored a few tens of metres past the winding-hole, so we stern-hauled Kantara back to it, turned around and headed into the tunnel, on our way back now to Yelvertoft.

The weather was up and down, but never too extreme. We overnighted at the same spots we'd chosen on our way out, and stopped for an hour or so at Weedon for Michelle to see the old church, and to buy food and chocolate. Buckby Locks had to be navigated alone. There were no other craft behind us for miles as it happened. Anyway, the restrictions had been removed, so there wasn't the urgency about saving water any more. But that didn't excuse me for allowing a top gate to swing open and drop the level in the pound above quite significantly. Michelle and I hurried back to close it when Grace saw how low the water had got.

Watford Locks was... Watford Locks, Crick Tunnel was navigated behind a rather slow hire boat, Yelvertoft Marina presented a stiff breeze while Grace struggled a bit to reverse into our berth. We ate at The Wheatsheaf again, played our final game of cards, and Michelle drove home on Sunday morning. It had been very good to be out and on the move.

It's certainly worth it!

We've been away from Kantara for about two months now - it feels like a lot longer! We're not hurrying through our list of decorating and repair jobs. If we enjoyed the work more, we'd probably put in more hours each day, but we're resigned to be here now until next year. We will return to the boat some time soon, to winterize her. Colin tells me the injectors will be refitted on Monday, so then we'll be able to take Kantara across to the service platform to fill the fuel tank for the winter (to avoid the sides of the tank above fuel level attracting condensation of water, which would contaminate the diesel and possibly lead to diesel bug - although we religiously add bug-preventive fluid every time we add diesel. Belt and braces is better than falling trousers!).

And what have we achieved, and is it worth the time away from Kantara?

Well, the hall, stairs and landing have had the whole job - paper, paint and carpet - and we're very pleased with the result. Work's also been done in the living room and dining room, and we've started on the utility room. It's tiny, so it shouldn't take long. Then there's those jobs... you know how it is. You paint a wall, then realise that the ceiling really needs to be done, too. So you do the ceiling and decide that the light fitting ought to be replaced. And so on. We have a few of those. But yes, it's been worth it. Every hour spent is worth it.

Back in January, I used the county council website to report that the hawthorn tree on the grass verge outside the house was leaning rather threateningly. A few months later, I tried again. I've now phoned three times and sent an email.

The tree is still there.

It's going to fall, and it's going to cause damage. I just hope it doesn't fall on someone!

Lunchtime now... then more decorating!