A frustrating day

 I'd rather not have too many days like today.  We got up at a reasonable (for us) hour and prepared to leave Banbury.  

Frustration number one:  

Just as we were unroping ready to set off, who should come gently cruising by but Adam and Adrian on Briar Rose.  We haven't spent time with them for ages and ages but neither of us had time to stop for a natter.  They were stopping for a quick bit of shopping before moving on and we were on our way to get to Cropredy for a planned lunch at the Mulberry Cafe in the village.  So quick greetings were exchanged but not much more.  Grrr!

We've been having trouble starting the engine in the mornings and by my brilliant deduction I could guess that it was that a diesel leak on top of the fuel filter was draining the fuel back overnight, so it was a bit like having to reprime the engine in the morning.  Anyway I had plans to fix it later.

Frustration number two:  

As we were rising in Slat Mill lock, I noticed that the red charging light was on.  What was more, all the gauges on the instrument panel has stopped working.  Maybe the alternator had failed, maybe the fan belt had broken.  Everything else was as normal - the engine was purring nicely, there was no smoke or steam from the engine 'ole.  Clearly an electrical fault.  We decide to limp on back to our berth at Cropredy marina which is a good place to be if you need work done. From our Smartgauge, it was clear that the alternator was working and the battery was charging.

Frustration number three: 

I noticed that the stern gland was letting in too much water despite me screwing down tight on the greaser.  Now I have a lot of water in the engine 'ole.  I made a mental note to tighten the packing bolts when we got back. (I did do it later)

Frustration number four.  

When we stopped, I could see diesel leaking ever more rapidly from the fuel pipe unions at the top of the filter. Tightening the bolt only seemed to make the matters worse.  I consulted my box of copper washers only to find I had none the right size.  A trip in the car to Halfords should deal with that in the morning. Hopefully by then the diesel will have drained back and I won't get a lot of spillage when I replace the washers.

Frustration number five:  

There was no one at the marina available to look at our electrical problem so they gave me the name and number of someone who could, but on the phone he said he was unlikely to get to us this week.  In desperation I looked at all the wiring connections and fuses that might cause the problem and found nothing.

Frustration number six:

I had another go at starting the engine and it fired up and lo and behold the problem of the charging light and the instrument panel had gone away.  It was all working fine! Don't you just hate it when electrics do that to you? No point calling out the man now.  Maybe me wiggling all the connections and fuses had settled something.  Too late to resume our cruise today and anyway I need to drive to Halfords in the morning and fix that leak before we go any further.  

So new plans have been drawn up for the rest of the week.  Stay tuned.

Out at last, and a real find in Banbury.

Herbie is in Banbury tonight.  We're out for a cruise with our son Peter. Want a good place to eat in Banbury?  Well we can really recommend The Old Auctioneer in Parsons Street.  We've walked past it many times over the years but only recently tried it out. Not only is the food and service really good, the atmosphere inside and the  set out of the garden yard at the back are a long way better than yer average boozer. It's now our favourite place in Banbury.

We ate fajitas which came out sizzling hot with steak or chicken and lashings of onions and peppers and little pots of sour cream, guacamole, salsa and grated cheese, and of course tortilla wraps.  There was well kept Timothy Taylors beer as well.  What's not to like? To cap it all, as the evening cooled at about eight o'clock someone flicked a switch and a roof slowly extended over the back yard area not unlike centre court at Wimbledon! I would show you  a video of it in action but that would take too many megawotsits so here is a still image

There were heaters over every table too so I guess it's an all season outdoor space.

Herbie is currently a boat of two halves, or should I say two sides.  The port side is the one where we recently repainted the dark grey panels and it looks very respectable.

Here it is just after painting 

 and here we are on our new berth where we can now access the starboard side

By the way do you like our new mooring spot at the end of the main basin?

As to that starboard side, I'm sorry to say it's looking incredibly scruffy. After fourteen years there isn't a lot of the old paint surface left. I hesitate to reveal it but here it is.

We haven't been able to get at that side of the boat until very recently and now we don't want to polish it because when we come to repaint it like the other side, we don't want wax on it, so it'll have to say looking scruffy until then.

Our new crew member Gertie the kitten has settled quite well inside the boat, but she's not used to the noise of engine yet so when we start up she runs and hides under the bed.  She's only just out of her pre vaccination quarantine and we've just started taking her outside, albeit on a lead until we are sure she knows where the boat is and won't get lost or run away.  Today in Spiceball park she has met her first squirrel, a baby rabbit and a number of bees.  All very exciting. one unfortunate habit she seems to have taken up is sitting on my laptop keyboard.

It's wonder I've got this post typed out without interruption.