Friday 3rd May
It was a challenging start to the day when we tried to get in to the services point at Aynho Wharf. There was a boat already there when we came through the bridge, they had been moored there over night waiting for a pump out this morning. At the time when we arrived they were still having breakfast.
We had to pull in along the wall of the shop, under the canopy, where incidentally there was very little room for manouvre with our chimney! To moor up we had to nudge the bows a little way past the end of the shop so I could get off with the rope, then Ken had to reverse back so the stern was past the other end of the shop so he could get off and moor.
Then he had to come through the boat and get the rope off me to moor the front because the bow was now so far back along the wall I couldn’t get back on! I had to go through the boat yard and round the shop and get on the back of the boat.
We needed water, a new gas bottle, 4 bags of coal (don’t want to run the risk of running out), to empty the loo and of course to get our rattle cured. Our first job was getting the water and to do this Ken had to sidle along the gunwale (between the boat and the wall) and pass the end of the hose through the side hatch to me so I could take it through the boat to fill up the tank. With that underway I took the full cassette off the boat to take to the elsan when we could get the key from the shop, then I went back in the boat to supervise the water.
‘Magic’ Matt arrived to look for our rattle and took up residence in the engine room. He spent some time with all the boards up, starting and stopping the engine and listening with his head down the engine bay.
Meanwhile the water tank was full and as I couldn’t take the running hose through the boat to the hatch I had to throw it over the side, wait for the engine to go off and shout to Ken to turn the tap off. I then passed the hose out of the hatch to Ken and when he had rewound it on the reel he passed it back to me. A bit like doing the Hoseky Kokey, groan!
After this, with the engine room still occupied by Matt, I had to get off the boat to empty the loo. This was easier said than done and I had to creep along the gunwale for a bit then climb over the roof!
I returned from the elsan to find Matt, mirror on stick in one hand and the rest of our sheared off bolt in the other. It had fallen down under the engine when it sheared off and was rattling on the bit the engine sits on (can’t remember the technical term) when the engine was running.
One last manouvre was required to change the gas bottle. I had to go back through the boat yard to the front of the boat and when Ken brought it forward, tie it up so we could reach the gas locker from the bank to get the old one off and the new one on. Phew!
So, with our rattle cured, loo emptied, gas and coal supplies replenished and water filled we pottered off a few hundred yards to Bridge 189 and moored up for breakfast. We are going to stay here a few days and we may be doing something which involves paint!
