Back for a rest

Tuesday 3^rd June; Springwood Haven Marina to Marston Junction (nearly)

Dog roses in Nuneaton

We were pleased to be afloat again after a busy month at home, as we had an unexpected crisis a few days after our last trip.  Our water comes from a well, not the mains, so it is rather a predicament when you suddenly find the pump which supplies the tank in the roof is continually running – at least till it overheats and cuts out.  With an empty water tank and, we discovered, no water coming down to the (gravity-fed) pump from the well, it was a bit of an emergency.  We switched into coping mode, with Dave managing to find someone to come and have a look while I asked our lovely neighbour for use of her outside tap!  By the time the chap said he couldn’t help but knew a firm who could, we at least had a full tank of water, by means of two sets of hoses running from her tap, over the garden fence and up through the Velux in the roof.  Good thing we live in a bungalow!  But at 5 o’clock on a Friday, the recommended firm was only accepting emergency calls from existing clients.  At least as boaters we know how to be careful with water!  It was late on Monday morning before we found a business which would take a new client as an emergency, and by 6 pm we had a water supply again – but a critical part had broken, and with the rest of the original pipework starting to fail too, it had to be a running repair.  We now have a blue alkathene pipe running 100 yards overground from the well, through the orchard and across the lawn to the house, very tasteful when you’re aiming for the natural look!

The alkathene pipe runs behind this little bit of meadow.  We are rather proud of the yellow rattle we collected from Calcutt several years ago, which has taken well.

Anyway, after all that excitement, and the annoyance and expense of emergency dental appointments for me, we finally made it back to the boat.  And it wasn’t even raining unlike most of the country!

We arrived around 2, and after arranging for another month’s mooring after this cruise, we finally left around 4. 

Mum, I’ve been ready for ages!  Why aren’t we cruising yet?

 

 

We didn’t go far, and after escaping the clutches of Nuneaton we moored a couple of bridges before Marston Junction.

It was very chilly outside, but not quite cool enough to need a fire tonight.  We hope to have received an estimate for making good our water supply system by the time we get home again.

Less than 3 miles covered, no locks or tunnels, but a great relief to be back afloat.