Another short trip

After the electrician had visited the boat he found that a shunt attached to the Mastervolt system had blown. On replacement he found that everything appeared in working order including the starter battery which it seems was the immediate cause of the problems. he advised that we visited the boat as soon as we could to check it out again.

We had a delivery scheduled for first thing this morning and we were able to set off mid morning, arriving just before lunch. The boat appears to be in good form so we shall see.

Two different plans ended up in conflict: firstly, Christine suggested that Mike should take our Karcher pressure washer from home to try out and see if it made the task of washing the outside of the boat any easier or more effective. The second plan was to set off fairly soon after arriving so that we could make a start down the Droitwich to the Netherwich basin moorings overnight. From there we could pop to Morrisons, or other shops if needed.

Lunch was our first priority after which Mike set about using the washer - the more obvious benefit would be on the roof. As the roof has a rough non-slip surface it always tends to collect dirt and, sometimes, even algae growth. As with the small patio at our previous house in Cornwall, the pressure washer is very helpful for a start-of-season thorough clean and this proved to be the case with the boat. However, a good hand clean with a scrubbing sponge remains the best way to clean it - just takes a very long time! The port cabin side was also cleaned but we did not attempt to do the other side as we are unsure whether the mains lead reaches when the boat is bow-in on the pontoon. We normally moor with the stern closest to the land so that the mains hook-up point is near to the supply. May be we will have to do a hand wash when the towpath permits.

By the time this was complete and other preparatory tasks done (we did not have time to empty the elsan before leaving so that was urgent) it was after four and we felt that it was more sensible to to leave our departure until the morning. We are only planning the short ring - down to Droitwich and Hawford Junction, Severn to Wor4cester and back up the Worcester and Birmingham to Hanbury junction. This is long enough to test out all of the systems - as we discovered a couple of weeks ago!