Friday 20th and Saturday 21st February
On Friday morning when I drew the curtains I could see one of the swans who breed on Swan Island (at the end of the main pontoon) laying claim once more.
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| The view through two unoccupied boats |
We walked Jess on the Worcester and Birmingham today. If it wasn’t for the trees, we would be able to see the junction with the Droitwich canals from our berth – it's only about 400 yards as the crow flies, but a mile on foot once you’ve walked round the marina and up the locks. A boat was going into the middle of the three Hanbury locks – they had just started their journey to Dunchurch Pools. They could easily get there in two weeks with plenty of time to stop if the weather was bad, but they will need to plan around a 10-day stoppage in March, when the HS2 viaduct near Wood Lock – the bit actually above the Grand Union - is due to be constructed.
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| River levels board at the top lock – Severn and Salwarpe on red |
We called in at the chandlery at Hanbury Wharf for some Marine 16 and a browse. They are quite small but will order stuff for you which usually arrives the next day. It wasn’t raining for once, and it felt quite mild if you weren’t walking into the wind.
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| Catkins in the icy wind |
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| The hawthorn and other autumn berries have mostly been eaten - now it's time for the ivy berries |
The showers started again after lunch, and although small fragments of blue sky appeared now and then they didn’t last. The wind got stronger and by evening was buffeting the boat again, blowing directly towards the bow, so the boats moored each side weren’t protecting us.
Last January we realised that the Eberspacher was only heating the radiators and not the domestic water supply. What with all the hassle around replacing our hugely heavy leisure batteries – in the end we had to get help with that – it got shuffled down the list of jobs over the summer and forgotten about. As we tend to only turn it on to warm the boat up once we’ve finished cruising for the day, when the engine has already heated the water, it wasn't a problem. To access the Eber, the stern steps have to be removed and a panel unscrewed. The steps had swollen slightly and were jammed in place, but luckily we have an immersion heater so as we have been on shore power we could use that. Eventually Dave managed to get the steps out, remove the panel and turn the control knob which was on the ‘radiators only’ setting. Easy.
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| It’s the blue knob |
It must have been on this setting when we bought Bonjour in 2022; the previous owners we gather had health problems and hadn’t cruised much. Being in the marina and on shore power they would have used the immersion heater for hot water, with no need to use the Eber for anything but heating. When I had a look last year, while Dave was out with the dog, I hadn't thought to look at the instructions, or wonder what the blue knob was for .....
With the two main jobs completed we went back home on Saturday morning, which was sunny and dry. Lovely cruising weather! If only it had been like this on Wednesday ... heigh ho.
I am posting this on Monday 23rd; notification has just come through that the little Salwarpe is back in the green, so navigation is possible down to Droitwich. It's quick to respond when the rain stops.
