More Heat

Not a lot of snow overnight and, if anything, the temperature today was a couple of degrees less cold than yesterday. However, there had been a biting wind and it is hard to be outside for other than a brief time.

Taking the elsan to the disposal point seemed like a major exercise!

The majority of the marina is not frozen although around the edges, between the boats, there is quite a lot of ice and the exit to the canal is now blocked as well as the few metres alongside the service wharf. Thankfully we filled the diesel tank last visit so that should last a while although it is surprising just how much was used by leaving the heating on its frost setting whilst we were back home. However, this ice is not very solid and we have not experienced disconcerting noises in the night that other boaters have mentioned recently. The movement of the boats in the wind seems to keep the ice broken into smaller sections.

Mid morning and we went along to the office to pick up a couple of cards for electricity as well as two bags of coal (where were the more urgent).

Our stock of logs has been disappearing the fastest and unfortunately the marina does not sell them. Last time we discovered that the best source we could find in town was at B&M. So we next drove into town and, although they were low on stocks, we managed to come away with six nets. They seem much better quality than those we bought from filling stations before.

Christine had thought to bring her soup maker from home and yesterday we picked up a bag of frozen casserole veg so she started off a thick winter soup before we set out. By the time we returned from town it was soon ready and was a welcome warmer-upper!

One of the elsan cassettes had developed a small leak when being carried to disposal points and Mike had ordered via the internet a couple of new seals whilst we were at home. He managed the replacement process easier than last time he had to do this (on our old boat) but as the other one is now in service we will not know how well it works until a little later.

The afternoon was back to reading, writing blogs and other such tasks . . .

Just after five, Mike ventured outside for a two minute walk to the service block! By now, the snow had blown into drifts and covered much more of the ground and paths. It was blowing bitterly and strongly so that by the time he returned to the boat his earlier footprints had almost disappeared. The ice cover in the marina had extended much further.