Monday 8th May
It was to be a chilly day, so I decided to stay here another
day. I had several jobs on the imaginary list to be done anyway. The TV is
awful; no news programmes at all, so it has to be acquired on the internet. I
appear to be tuned in to Crystal Palace, but only get limited programmes. Maybe
my transmitter finder app on the mobile is giving me false info or directions.
Last night I went to The White Bear and had a very good Indian
meal, although the service was rather slow. The big snag is that it is a Greedy
King house, so most of the beers were theirs. I have eaten here before and the
food is always good. This evening I went to a local Wetherspoons and on the way
back I popped into a Thai restaurant for a good prawn phad Thai, before
wandering back to the boat. On the way back I met the lady and young daughter
presently living on Rose in June. They actually live in this area and are
living on their boat at the moment whilst the house is being renovated. The
interior of the boat has been stripped and refitted; the exterior is about to
be done and the name will be changed too.
As well as doing some washing, I tried closing the tap to
the skin tank to see if I could get the engine to heat the water more
efficiently. Keeping the tap closed I could take the engine temperature up to
100
C before the cap opened
and leaked water over the engine. At that temp I cracked open the tap to the
skin tank. All in all, I don’t think it will make much difference. I find that it
takes about two hours on the move to get enough hot water for a shower, whereas
more modern engines will heat the water in half an hour just on tickover. I believe
the modern engine has a thermostat in place of the tap to the skin tank as well
as the one in the engine head.
C before the cap opened
and leaked water over the engine. At that temp I cracked open the tap to the
skin tank. All in all, I don’t think it will make much difference. I find that it
takes about two hours on the move to get enough hot water for a shower, whereas
more modern engines will heat the water in half an hour just on tickover. I believe
the modern engine has a thermostat in place of the tap to the skin tank as well
as the one in the engine head.
Tuesday 9th May
It was time to move on, but Tesco beckoned
first as I had a long shopping list. No solid fuel was available, so I needed
to find a supply as well as diesel. I had to wait whilst a wide beam boat
reversed through Batchworth Lock ahead of me. Normally he would have winded
below the lock after watering up, but other boats were in the way. He did wind
above the lock as I went through and was then ahead of me, so I was cursing for
a while at his slow speed until he stopped and cleared his prop down the weed
hatch and waved me on.
I had nine locks ahead of me now to
Hunton Bridge. In all it took seven hours and I had had enough by the time I
got there and moored up. I called in at Cassio Bridge for diesel and a bag of
Phurnacite, which should see me out now that days and nights are getting
warmer.
After mooring up, I made my customary
visit to The Kings Lodge for a pint and finished off my written description
that I made a year ago as well as taking photos of both that and The Kings
Head.
.
Not a very impressive exterior, but good beer and food,
by the number eating in the bar.
Back on board, I was too tired to cook,
so just heated up a dish that had been previously frozen from home.
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