Friday 11th April
Well, we have had to wait a bit longer than first anticipated for our alternator to be fixed and as a result have spent a week in Droitwich Spa Marina. Apart from all the hanging around waiting for things to happen it has been a good week. The marina is very nice although not quite finished yet as it only opened 2 years ago. The office is a container from the back of a lorry but there are footings in for a proper building and the elsan disposal is rather a Heath Robinson affair! We found the staff to be very friendly and obliging.
It is a very pleasant 25 minute walk along the towpath to Droitwich from here which has been a valuable bit of exercise for us every day! We had to walk in to town to get the bus to Worcester too. Droitwich is a nice town with all the shops you need and several pubs which we tested while we were here!
Why were we here so long then? Well, when we arrived on Friday we spoke to a chap called John who said Gordon, who was going to deal with our alternator, was still on holiday and not due back until Monday. Anyway, Monday we went to Worcester to sort out my broadband contract and John came and removed the alternator to be sent away to be looked at. We were told it would be back on Tuesday. We didn’t see anyone on Tuesday so we had to pay for another night’s mooring fees.
Wednesday Gordon (who actually did our service while we were at Saul Junction) turned up and said he was using a different firm from his usual one to look at our alternator and they were taking longer than he had thought. Apparently they had ordered the part they needed but it wouldn’t arrive with them until that lunchtime. He said if he got it back in time he would fit it later but he also said if it was too late he would come Thursday. However, not until the afternoon because he had a hospital appointment in the morning. We went out but and when we returned nothing had been done so we paid for another night.
Thursday afternoon when we got back from town Gordon was in the engine room fitting the refurbished alternator. However when he started the boat it was obvious that something was still amiss and then when he turned it off it wouldn’t stop running! He had a fiddle about for a while before admitting defeat. Not wanting to cause further problems phoned someone he knew to come and have a look. At first this person said he couldn’t come until next Tuesday! Gordon persuaded him to come today as we had already been here a week.
In the midst of all this we had a call from the marina office to say that Tardebigge locks were shut due to a bank slip. This was a bit of a nuisance because we were planning on going that way into Birmingham. We had to revise our plans. We could either go back down to the Severn at Worcester or try to get under the motorway bridge on this canal and go on to the Severn at Grimley. Then go up the Severn to Stourport and on to the Staffs and Worcester. After some frantic measuring we realised the chimney, which had been wedged on since we got it caught on the rafters while getting diesel at Aynho last year, would have to come off. Ken set to with a crowbar and I went down to Hanbury Wharf for a new one!
This morning the chap turned up with his two children and he turned out to be Jeremy, the same chap who had not fitted our immersion heater element when we were in Gloucester! The children were ensconced on the dinette with a dvd and Jeremy set about finding our problem. He quickly established that Gordon had wired the alternator up wrong, understandable as he hadn’t taken it off himself. This was soon rectified and all was working properly again.
By this time we had decided to stay another day and go tomorrow!
