Calcutt and home

Wednesday 3^rd and Thursday 4^th August

We set off before 9 to get a bit closer to Napton Junction, and moored between the two bridges that carry the A road through Lower Shuckborough.   Dave got changed and set off along the towpath, over the junction to bridge 109, which is the best one to get to the bus stop at the King’s Head.  He made it in time, though the towpath from the junction is in a pretty dire state, and he got caught in a heavy shower to boot.  But he was soon off on the bus to catch the train at Leamington Spa.  Meanwhile, once the rain had stopped, Meg and I walked to the junction and turned right towards Calcutt marina. 

Napton Junction

I wondered if I could get Meg across the top gates to come to the office with me, but as the lock was empty and the walkway is unprotected from the drop I didn’t even consider it.  So I attached her lead to the picnic table, left my hat so it was clear she hadn’t been abandoned, and nipped over to book us in.  Dave made good time to Ashby Canal Centre to fetch the car, and was back early afternoon.  We stayed put for the rest of the day, just doing a few jobs.

On Thursday we were away before 9, round the junction and along past the Napton Reservoirs to Calcutt locks.  They are pretty low – and this was 2 weeks before the time of writing, so the level will have got much worse.

As we turned the top lock, I noticed that a boat was waiting in the middle lock, so we had company for two locks.  As I had booked in yesterday, we could go straight to the visitor mooring and get tied up.  While I got on with walking Meg and taking the four carrier bags of recycling to the recycling bin – the first we have seen all trip – Dave lifted the engine board and the port side locker cover in the well deck to start a rather important investigation.

Bow thruster batteries have been losing charge

He knew that although the bow thruster itself is working well, the batteries were losing charge.  Out came the multimeter, confirming straight away that the batteries were not charging, so with every bzzz of the bow thruster they were getting more discharged.  The next check was back in the engine hole; the line fuse from the starter battery to the bow thruster batteries, which should be charged via the starter battery.  That was ok.  Then he bypassed the split charge relay which controls the charging; the batteries still weren’t charging, so the split charge relay wasn’t the cause.  Then, back in the well deck locker, he discovered an unobtrusive 50-amp Hella block fuse mounted on the positive terminal of the first battery.  It was broken. 

Bust

He temporarily bypassed the fuse, started the engine and we could watch the batteries charging on the multimeter.  I do hope I’ve got all the technical stuff correct here.  Anyway, a new fuse is the first thing to order when we get home, then a replacement carbon filter for the loo tank.

We packed up, and left after lunch.  We’re not sure when we will be out again – the grandchildren are visiting and I think we’ll want to come back for a rest!  The route is still to be decided – we had hoped to go down to Oxford, but we’re not so sure that’s such a good idea now in spite of the recent rain.  We'll see.

3½ miles, 3 locks.

Trip stats:  86 miles, 4 furlongs and 33 locks.  This is made up of 80 miles, 6¼ furlongs of narrow canals; 5 miles, 6 furlongs of broad canals; 30 narrow locks; 3 broad locks (thank you CanalplanAC).  Swing bridge at Rose Narrowboats;  Newbold tunnel.

86-odd miles seems a long way, but it didn't feel like it at the time!