Wheelock and a Double Decker

Wednesday, the start of our third week of this cruise. Another day of locks. Fourteen of them in fact, over just 2½ miles of canal. Mostly paired, as yesterday's. Some single, and some of those single only because the other one is in a state of disrepair. Paired locks seem to increase your chances of finding a lock already set to your advantage. Full, in our case today, ready for us to descend.

We arrived at Wheelock in time for lunch, and moored just beyond the road bridge, 154. I'd arranged at the start of the day for Ed Shiers to meet us here, to install the modified regulator to the alternator to he fitted a few weeks ago, and to check and adjust if necessary the new belt. He arrived mid-afternoon, and did the job quickly and efficiently. As last time we saw him, he also gave us a host of little bits of very useful information which other engineers had failed to give. Once again, we heartily recommend Ed for work on boat engines.

I'm writing this sitting on the well-deck, under a bright, hot sun, with an excellent cup of coffee (we're abstaining from alcohol at the moment) and a Double Decker. If I think about it, there's road noise and the sounds of a more distant railway. It's easy not to think about it, though, and it all goes away.

Hillmorton to the M6?

Our overnight mooring

We got excellent phone and internet connection here!

 So the first thing to do the next day was to go down Hillmorton Locks. There wasn't much traffic, so we descended quickly. There are three sets, each of two locks here, remember, to speed the passage of boats.

At the bottom lock, I had the great pleasure of meeting vollie Maurice Farndon. We're mutual Twitter followers. No only does Maurice have the distinction of being a really nice man who loves his volunteer work, but also that he features in one of Cruising the Cut's vlogs (in which he speaks about a new project at the locks), that he has a golden windlass, and that he's read and "really enjoyed" my book.

Maurice Farndon - The man with the golden windlass. Narrow Boat nut. Volunteer Lock Keeper at Hillmorton and Watford.

There was a lovely mood of helpfulness amongst boaters at the locks, with people operating paddles and gates for others who weren't on the right side of the lock at the time. I think Maurice sets a good example.

The sun was out, the sky was blue, and rabbits bounced into the hedges as I walked down the towing-path.

From Hillmorton, on now through Clifton-upon-Dunsmore and into Rugby, where we moored to do shopping at the nearby Tesco. This is our third day out, yet this spot is just a 25-minute car journey from our marina! After lunch, we moved on again. Brownsover, Newbold-on-Avon, and through the very short Newbold Tunnel. 

Tiny, or what?

We passed NB Glascote, moored at the side. The woman was cleaning the roof.

"Hatton Flight, pouring rain, two years ago!" Grace called out.

"Oh, I remember it well!" she said, pulling a wry face. We laughed and drove on.

The sky was looking a bit threatening, time was getting on, and we were needing somewhere to moor. The problem was that the bank now was not really moorable. In places, it was breaking up. Elsewhere, it was edged with bags of cement (which absorb water and become solid blocks) against which mooring's not recommended. Everywhere, it was overhung by grass and other plants. At one point, I told Grace with great confidence that we could moor "right here!". I jumped off the bow with a rope, expecting to help pull Kantara in to the bank, and tie her up. Instead, we found the water was too shallow there, and I lost the opportunity to get back aboard. I walked ahead, hoping to find a spot. Behind us, NB Takara, a hotel-boat, was trying a similar manoeuvre. They failed, too.

At a point where the M6 motorway crosses the canal, I waited for Kantara. I'd be able to get on from the concrete bank here. Takara had failed to moor, too. Grace waved them past as she moved to pick me up, and the skipper called out that he knew a place to moor.

"Follow me!"

The spot was the length of the two boats, and moorable. Far too close to the railway, but now was not the time to be fussy! We moored.

Views through our windows...

>>>***<<<

I said I'd be reporting back on the alternator replacement job done by Ed Shiers of Four Counties Marine Services in Leek on Tuesday. I'd contacted him just the day before. I'd seen his advert on Ebay, selling a package deal on a replacement for Barrus alternators (now hard to get, and rather pricey). The job took him a couple of hours or so, during which time he also told us all sorts of things we didn't know about our electrical systems. His work was tidy and through, and his charge - including a per-mile travel cost - was less than I would have paid simply to buy a Barrus model, let alone having it fitted. When we're close to his home in a few weeks' time, he'll come out to us, tighten the new alternator belt, and fit a modified regulator on the alternator, to make it even more efficient. All part of the service. We'd not hesitate to call on him for any other work on our engine, and we recommend him very highly.

Alternator alternatives

I'd heard nothing from Simon, but never mind. I had a look at RCR's handbook, to see if alternators were covered in our Bronze membership - and they are! So I rang them, and an engineer was lined up to visit. However, the roadways in the marina are in the process of being resurfaced, and there's no vehicular access at the moment. So I arranged for the RCR guy to meet us at Yelvertoft Wharf instead. It's only a matter of a fifteenish-minute trip by boat. So off we went, the engine hunting pitifully as we went.

Yelvertoft Wharf is no longer much of a wharf, but it's a rather good spot for mooring.

Yelvertoft is apparently well-known by RCR for being an area of very poor phone signal, so communications between us were dire. But a young man arrived around 2:00pm and poked, prodded, tugged and tested, and concluded that, yes, the problem was with our 16 year-old domestic alternator. That is, the one of a pair of alternators that charges our domestic batteries; the other one is exclusive to the starter battery. The problem was that, having diagnosed the problem, there was nothing he could do about it. RCR's service is focussed on dealing with issues that stop boats from travelling. And this problem wouldn't actually stop us from cruising, it'd simply make it more difficult for us! 

So I'd have to get someone else to supply and fit a new alternator. (The two alternators co-exist in a very small space with little access. There was no way I was going to even attempt the job myself!) RCR have a list of trusted engineers, and they could get one of those to do the work for me, so I asked RCR to email me their best quote. I still haven't received that. I texted Simon, too, and haven't had a reply from him, either. Meanwhile, Grace looked on Ebay for the replacement alternator, and found a really good-looking fitting service from a man who specialises in Barrus engines like ours. Ed Shiers of Four Counties Marine Services in Leek. Ed's travelling down to us today, to fit a bit of kit for less than we can buy it for elsewhere. I'll report on the result in my next post.

When Tom, the RCR engineer had gone, we now had to turn around in order to return to the marina. But the nearest winding hole is beyond bridge 28. That's a total of an 8½ mile journey, simply to get us to back the marina just half a mile behind us! But the weather was good, and it's always a pleasure to be cruising. Smiling, we set off. With a hunting engine.