Hot water, and home

Friday 20^th and Saturday 21^st 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.

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.

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.

Catkins in the icy wind

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.

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.

Christmas Soup and a new mixer tap

Thursday 19^th February

The weather doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing does it?  The Met office keeps getting it wrong and whoever the BBC uses seems to be worse.  The hours of rain forecast for today didn’t turn up till the evening, which I was pleased about, and yesterday’s biting wind had dropped too.  But it is very cold still and the windows were streaming with condensation this morning when we got up – the window vac was deployed three times as the boat warmed up.  We needed some milk, so we all walked down to Droitwich.

The canal at the M5 bridge had risen overnight

Dave and Jess went off with the ball and I went into Waitrose, wishing I wasn’t wearing thermals and fleecy-lined trousers!  I cooled down afterwards by strolling along by the Salwarpe in Vines Park with my free cup of Waitrose coffee.

The brine spring outlet is usually well above water level.

The canal shares the Salwarpe’s course between lock 7 (closer to the motorway) and Barge lock (on the edge of Vines Park), and is where the Droitwich Barge and Junction canals meet.  It has been on red boards continuously since 4^th February.  In the summer, the weir alongside Barge lock is usually completely visible and kids play below it.

The pink football was being swirled around below the weir.  Periodically it was sucked below the water, popping up again some distance away from where it disappeared.

Red board at lock 7.  A tiny bit of yellow was beginning to show, but the heavy rain later on would have dealt with that.

I know the Salwarpe is only a tiddler compared with the Trent for example, but I still wouldn’t care to fall in when it is in flood.

I wouldn’t want to be boating on it either

Back at the boat, we warmed up with Christmas Soup from the freezer at home – stock from the bones of turkey and ham, stuffing, various veg – delicious!  Later in the afternoon I took Jess out again, this time up to Hanbury Junction where we turned north along the Worcester and Birmingham for a bit.

Remains of a burnt-out cruiser. I wonder if it was an accident or deliberate - the municipal tip is just over the towpath hedge, they could have waited for the fire to go out and taken the bits there themselves.  Instead it’ll be CRT picking up the bill.

The towpaths were very muddy in places but I wasn’t too worried - the residents’ facilities block at the marina has a dog shower, with a hot water supply!  Jess wasn’t impressed, even though she usually has to put up with a sponge and a bucket of cold water, but I was delighted – a clean(ish) dog and warm hands!  When we got back Dave had replaced the mixer tap in the galley.  It developed a slight leak last year, but yesterday it got worse very quickly – luckily he had already got the new unit.

It rained again this evening.  At least Jess didn’t fall in again.

Might it be warmer and drier in the Midlands? No.

Wednesday 18^th February; in the marina

So much for our anticipated New Year trip on Bonjour!  Instead we were in bed with flu (probably).  By the time we were fit again the rains had well and truly arrived and appointments too got in the way of planning.  When at last the weather forecast intimated there would be a few dry days in Droitwich, and even sun today (Wednesday), that was good enough for us. 

The banks of the Avon near Bredon are well and truly burst

The sun had disappeared from the forecast but we had an easy journey up the M5 and got the car unloaded in the dry.  But by ’eck that wind was cold.  It was only about 6 degrees inside the boat but at least it was out of the wind!  Apart from some cupboard doors having swollen a little, the boat was dry inside, though as always on a winter visit we needed a fair few matches to get the gas lit for a cuppa.  Then before we really got the boat warmed and sorted Jess needed a good walk so we went down towards Droitwich.

The rain has meant the canal from the M5 bridge to Droitwich has been closed for several weeks.  It’s always a bit of a tight fit to get under the M5 but it doesn’t take much rain to close it. It's affected by the Body Brook, normally a gentle trickle but a bit full at the moment.

Everything was grey and drear, and apart from a lot of paw and boot prints there was little to see – no birds, people, early flowers or leaves – just us and the icy wind.

A deer had been by earlier

Once we were back the Eber went on and the fire was lit.  We had already run the engine and connected the shore lead so we hunkered down for the rest of the evening.  Heavy rain had arrived and the boat was rocking in the strong gusts.  Dave drew the short straw and took Jess out before bed – not only was it wet and windy, he also had to haul her out of the water – in the dark she failed to realise you can’t cut corners on marina pontoons!