Hawford and About Turn

 Today's Canal - Droitwich

After yesterday's very dull weather, today began very bright with largely blue skies. Even so, whilst in the sun it was warm shaded it could be noticeably chilly. By the time we had arisen had breakfast it was time to join the Zoom service from Devizes. A short while before, we thought we were going miss out as we had no mobile signal but it perked up in time.

Just as the service was coming to an end we received a phone call from Pete the electrician, responding to an email we sent last night - not expecting any response until Monday at the best! We were able to talk through what we have found so far. In the middle of the night, Mike woke and discovered that the heating was on. This prompted a blinding flash of what should have been the obvious - our controller (a modern design with all the possible bells and whistles!) functions very much like the one in our new house but very differently from those in all our previous places. The two main factors that possible had been the root of our difficulties are, firstly, that it has the choice of a 5-2 scheme or a 7 day one. In the former, the times and temperatures are set once for all the days in each part of the week. We had assumed that the 7 day scheme was similar but set just one schedule for all days, However, it actually has a separt3eschedule for each day of the week and all of them have to be set up separately!

The second issue is that we are used to controllers that essentially turn the heating on and off for the different times of the day, subject only to not exceeding a set room (usually hallway) temperature. However, modern controllers set both temperature as well as time and aim to keep the place heated to the temperature specified on each period. Hence, it is possible, along with a default frost setting, for the heating to be called for at any time of the day. If, as we prefer, the heating is off trough the night, the closest we can get is to set the night time temperature at the minimum frost temperature. Eventually we discovered the settings that had been entered when we first had the boat and - lo! - they were just about what we had now re-discovered! That cannot have been the whole story as, until we set everything again did it seem to do what we wanted . . . 

However, the chat with Pete the Electrician led us to conclude that the batteries probably are coming to the end of their life and that it would be best to replace them asap. (The pre-emptive maintenance that some folk keep urging CaRT to adopt - save that it is actually quite an expensive option and needs quite a bit of admin and monitoring)

We had also had second thoughts about our route for the remainder of Shakedown 2. Instead of competing the ring from Hawford by going down to Worcester we turn around at Hawford. Christine now has a longer list of things to look for at IKEA other than just one part that was out of stock when we went a week ago. Hence we shall have to allow more time on our trip back home.

By half past ten we were ready to set off - as we have already noted, it was a very pleasant morning - the high road bridge giving access to the tiny village of Salwarpe was just ahead.

The bridge is on a very sharp bend and takes some care to get through in one go.. We are gradually getting better - when we first moved the boat here it sometimes was a very messy move! The quantity of wake in this photo shows just how sharp the turn is, needing quite a few engine revs to make it.

It was only a 20 minute run t the top of the Ladywood five locks.

And more bright blue and fluffy white as we continued down.

At Lock 6 we thought that we were about to be offered a tow in the original style! Just like Thelwell.

At the bottom lock we missed seeing the lovely lady who lives in the former lock cottage - she is often out chatting to boaters and is a delight to talk with. Hope she is OK.

After the solitary Mildenhall Lock we looked for a mooring that is marked on Waterway Routes' map but in a somewhat tentative way. It is not a gold-plated mooring and needs pins but in a pleasant spot with an open aspect. There is only really room for one boat so we were releived to see it as an empty spot.

After lunch, Mike took a short time to start an experimental treatment of some of the unsightly rust patches on the roof. He sanded back to firm paint and then applied some good quality rust cure, hoping that the rain will keep away in three hours time so that he can put the first coat of paint on. The instructions say that at least one coat should be applied on the same day as treatment.

We then continued down the two locks to Hawford Junction where Mike took nb Alchemy out for a spin turn in the middle of the River Severn before coming back into the lock he had just left.

We were again fortunate that the isolated mooring spot where we had lunch was still free (a couple of boats had already stopped for the night on the better moorings above Lock 2) At least we can expect to be able to watch the Line of Duty finale tonight!

4.9 Miles - 10 Locks