A dark day

Don't get too worried, its not that kind of dark day. Kath came out of hospital last Wednesday and is doing fine (thank you to readers who sent their good wishes).  She was in there for 8 days in all, which will give you some idea of how ill she was.  However although she is recovering well she isn't yet strong enough to go boating in the cold, so something had to be done to return Herbie to Cropredy after she had been blacked and a couple of other jobs at Tooleys in Banbury.  So our daughter Claire and grand daughter Grace stepped up to the plate and did the job for us.  

It was quite a long job, driving 70 miles to Cropredy to drop off the car, getting a taxi back to Banbury, picking up the boat and taking it a mile up to the winding hole to turn and head back to Cropredy, then of course driving the 70 miles back home. I was at home playing nurse maid and directing operations over the phone, giving advice when they had a small technical hitch, then again when they ran aground by Slat Mill lock, chivvying them along. and getting anxious because I could see that they were unlikely to get the boat back to Cropredy before dark.  In the event that was the case. By the time they entered the marina, feeling cold and rain spattered, it was just too dark to find their way to our berth at the other end of the marina, so I advised them to  parked up on a vacant pontoon next to the services.  The marina office was closed but I managed to phone a member of staff who OK'd the idea and either he or I will move Herbie to her proper berth later in the week.  Phew!

Down at Tooleys, Matt and co  had blacked Herbie's hull, removed and renovated the chimney collar, cleaning up up a lot of rust around it which had caused a leak or rainwater into the boat and then located and replaced the Eberspacher heater fuses which had corroded to the point where they were not conducting.  They also cleaned up and repainted the stove and the flue where the water leak had dripped.  Add to that the work they had done a few weeks ago to replace the calorifier hoses, pump out the engine coolant spilled into the bilges when the old hose failed and refilled with antifreeze, and we ended up with a substantial but not unreasonable bill.  I wish car garages would only charge what boatyards do per hour for labour.

We'll stop off at Herbie later this week to do some winterisation on our way up to stay with our Peter in Cambridge.

December is nearly here and that means the annual Herbie Awards are drawing near.  Something else for me to think about.