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Monday spent initially in re-storing, then in contacting engineers and examiners for repair work and surveys. Mixed bag weather-wise, with both heavy rain and sunshine. Tuesday and Wednesday were lovely sunny days throughout, but very cold. Dates now arranged for the repair and survey, and almost completed the e-paperwork. Parts for next stage of another project arrived.
Tuesday started fair, allowing me to get the car packed dry. The run north wasn't too bad, with the worst of the rain while I was stopped for lunch. A lot of run-off from the fields and surface water from the very heavy rain. Fair again for arrival home.
Visits from both Fhi and Kenney (with Louise and Aria) on Wednesday. Funeral on Thursday. Friday morning spent house-sitting to allow the TV engineer in while Kenney and Louise were at work. Slept in on Saturday, so quiet day.
Return drive south again on Sunday. Very wet and windy for most of the trip, but all safe.
Change in the weather on Saturday - blue skies gone, and the rain set in (still cold). No change in routine - continued with e-paperwork and small inside jobs. Rain turned to wet snow in the afternoon and, although it didn't lie, it continued through into Sunday. After a small amount lay on Sunday morning, it turned back to rain. Monday was a beautiful sunny day, and much warmer. Spent the day getting ready for a return north to the house (another funeral to attend).
A dull day on Sunday turned to heavy rain and wind overnight. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were a mixture of heavy showers interspersed with periods of bright sunshine. Trying to get caught up with the e-paperwork I'd promised people I'd do, and get some of the small (inside) jobs done while its cold and wet outside.
Went to the IWA local branch meeting on Wednesday evening - it suggested an interesting talk on the Cannock Extension Canal (part of the BCN). Unfortunately the speaker was poor, with most of the audience probably knowing as much (or more) than he did. The old maps, pictures and videos were interesting. Overnight, we had gale-force winds and battering rain (one boat came off its moorings, and trees were felled round the marina). Poor night's sleep, getting battered against the pontoon. Morning broke with blue skies and almost no wind (apart from the damage, one could almost have dreamed it had happened!).
Thursday and Friday back to the e-paperwork and small jobs - still too cold to work outside. Marina showing signs of freezing-over on Friday morning.
Managed a full uninterrupted morning on e-paperwork. Fantastic surprise as I dished up lunch - JD Boat Services called to say they had fixed the heater with parts in stock, ready for collection. Headed out to Gailey after lunch and collected - fitted on return. Now have a toastie boat again
Cold again with a breeze starting to pick up - the breeze has a distinct bite in it. Light cloud which looked as though it was going to clear, but never quite managed it.
Another cold and misty start, but today it didn't clear. Decided that some exercise was in order so took my circular tour via Glascote, Tamworth, Ventura (collecting some essentials as I passed), and Bonehill. Met up with Kym & Tracey and had a good natter before returning to base for lunch. Obtained extra stocks of coal, kindling and lighters for the weekend. Hopefully can now settle into getting some work done.
Misty start, but cleared fairly quickly. Heater unit dismantled and taken to Gailey - JD Boat Services are agents, and could work on it tomorrow. Once they have found the fault and if they have the parts, it could be back and operational by Monday evening.
Beautiful morning, slightly warmer than yesterday! Autoglass attended to fix the car screen; excellent service. Major storing ready for living aboard again. Assessed the heating - not something I can tackle so will have to make arrangements tomorrow for a repair.
Expecting the fuel level to be getting low (having left the heating running over the festive period), I drove back south to Fazeley. A reasonable run south although there was a bit of drizzle. Just as I was approaching Ventura retail park, there was a sharp noise as a stone hit the windscreen. Another noise followed shortly after and the chip turned into a 6" crack! Nursed the car to the marina and parked up.
Got aboard to find that the heating must have failed very shortly after I went north (judging from the amount of fuel left). It failed to start manually. Got the stove going, services back on, and the car unpacked. Cold evening!
"Paws" has been laid up at base since mid-November so that I could be home for Aria's first birthday and Christmas.
Happy New Year to all our readers. Starting to look forward to this year's cruise, with plans being discussed. Booking made on the May "Explorer Cruise" run by the BCN Society .
For those of you who use the interactive map, I have found a problem - I have reached one of the limits of the "MyMaps" application. I will need to find an alternative display method (write the map from scratch) or display layout (combine data). This will take some time, but I hope to get started before the 2018 cruise gets under way.
