Test Kit, Tyre and Going Nowhere Much

Today's Canals : Grand Union Main Line and Slough Arm

After mooring yesterday, Christine had a call from her GP to say that something had been mixed up with the tests she had done whilst we were at home and that one of them needed to be done as soon as practical. We ummed and ahhed - the GP had been a bit equivocal about what to do as we may well be away for up to three weeks - but in the end decided that it is better to get it done now. The practicality is that the test kit has to be collected from our surgery in Devizes, the test done and  then posted off to a specialist lab.

So, we set the alarm for this morning and Mike prepared to do the round trip in the car - we are about 90 minutes away. Alas, the car was now a couple of miles away back at the boatyard so we unmoored and Mike cruised back along the Slough Arm whilst Christine finished getting up and having breakfast. All went well until we arrived at the spot we needed to moor, as close to the car as possible. Then, whilst still in mid canal, the boat came to a standstill. We realised that there must be something around the prop.

Mikle dived into the weed hatch expecting to find an unusually large lump of weed but was, instead, met with a large tyre, evidently wrapped completely around the prop. He stood no chance of getting that off with the equipment we carry. So, we poled outselves to the bank and tied up.

Mike set off to drive to Devizes, leaving Christine to contact RCR. In some ways, both of us had a successful morning. The M4 was remarkably quiet and Mike arrived at the surgery several minutes ahead of the original ETA and soon had the special envelope in his hands. He then made a brief stop at home to pick up a couple of items we forgot yesterday (neither was critical). By then Christine had texted four items to pick up from Morrisons and once that was done, he set off on the return trip, again arriving dead on the ETA despite stopping at a service station to take a phone call from Christine.

Meanwhile, Christine had had good response from RCR with an engineer arriving soon after 11. He eventually, after more than an hour's effort, cleared the prop. Not only the tyre but also the rope which someone had used to convert the tyre into a fender were tight around the blades. he checked out other parts of the system that might have been affected by the incident and concluded that it was not sensible to drive the boat anywhere much.

After checking with our insurance company, RCR undertook to put in place a repair plan the first part of which entailed the engineer (by now joined by his daughter, another RCR engineer) writing a description of the problem and damage, together with photos. They then left us - with the tyre!

Later we learned that arrangements for the repair are being made and an estimate is now with the insurers but by the end of play we have no confirmation of when and where the work might be done. We may well have to stay here until we at least have a firm date but at least we are close to the car.

Later, Christine completed her test and Mike drove into Iver to drop it off at the nearest Post Office.

We wait . . . 

2.4 Miles - 0 Locks