Weekend Visit

We came up to the boat on Friday, arriving around lunch time. The principal reason for the visit was because we had a meeting all on Satuirday in Rugby (for Waterways Chaplains) The times are such that these days we do not feel comfortable trying to do it in one day (just possible with an early start and a return home in the dark). It was quite convenient as onlt 10 minutes drive from the marina to Rugby Central car park (this was even cheaper than usual as the ticket machines were out of order and parking was free!)

Our fuel tank was quite down and we usually try to leave it as full as possible over winter. However, the marina has slightly reduced the days they are open for services. Having unloaded the car we sat down to take breath and before we thought, we suddenly realised that it was fast approaching 3.30 and the office closes at 4! We checked that it was OK to come down to the fuel point which we did  asap! As well as filling the tank we also collected just one bag of solid fuel.

As we were preparing to return to our berth, we spotted a tiny leak of fuel down the outside of the stern. Since the marina staff had filled up we did not think that it was careless filling - this has happened a few times since the boat was painted (actually the first time was as soon as we collected the boat after painting and we did query this with the painters who could not see any issue!)  On this occasion we were alongside with the starboard side to the mooring and better able to take a close look.

When someone stood on the boat edge nearest land, a faint leak could be seen - as soon as the boat levelled up it stopped. The leak was coming from one of two holes near to each other just at the top of the stern. At that point there was not much we could be return to our pontoon - darkness was fast approaching. Once tied up again, Mike used some matchsticks to plus the holes as a temporary fix. At least we were no longer polluting the marina.

The marina were holding one of their social events Friday night - a bonfire with a catering wagon on site. Aquavista do not allow fireworks - presumably for safety reasons - so they could only build the largest bonfire they could manage. We had been emailed a few days earlier and it was supposed to be lit at 6 pm. Someone must have been trigger happy as when we came out of the boat we could see that the pile was well alight and the guy (which we saw as we arrived, being hoisted aloft) was no longer visible.

It was certainly blazing well and kept us nice and warm even at some distance. We had taken a gamble on what the food wagon might be serving - turned out to be just filled jacket potatoes. A choice of fillings, ample portion sizes and a reasonable price.

Saturday was the meeting in Rugby - it finished on time and we were back on the boat before five.

During the night, Mike had been dreaming about the holes in the stern and woke to the thought that they might have been fixing a small plastic plate - a vague memory that did not extend to recalling was was inscribed on it! It did occur to us that it might have been lost during the repaint.

Sunday morning we went to the parish church in Brinklow. As this was Remembrance Sunday the church was full, with a good attendance from the cubs and scouts. At the end everyone was invited walk to the other end of the village to join with another church at the war memorial. Perhaps we should confess that we did not feel keen to walk all the way down and then back again to the car so skipped this bit!

Christine suggested that we should go straight into Rugby to charge the car and also for her to have a chance to visit M&S and other stores at Elliots Field retail park. This time the charger worked perfectly. Mike adjourned to the associated Starbucks and when Christine texted to find out how it was proceeding, Mike was already on his way back to the car. By then it was at 90% so that would do. Christine only had limited success at the shops - she did buy some things but by no means all that she was seeking (no wonder on-line shopping has become the default option for many purchases if the outlets do not bother carrying a full range of sizes, colours etc.

Monday was a chance to catch up on a few tasks - including sweeping the solid fuel stove chimney! We might have gone for a walk or visit somewhere but, as it happened, it was a rather wet day so not ideal for that.

Tuesday we returned home. Rain arrived as we were loading the car - Mike was quite wet at the end but had planned a change out of 'boat clothes' before driving back. We repeated our route from last time, mainly to call at the Lidl store in Rugby where, slightly to our surprise, we had found the sandwiches to be better than many other stores. The main drive back home was uneventful although for a while we had some unpleasant drizzle which meant hard concentration on the motorway.

Before Launch

A few days into Maiden Voyage

Zoomed In

In the evening, with some help from Andrew, we closed in on solution to the stern holes. We found some photos on file from when the boat was very new (despite extensive searching nothing more recent seems to have attracted the camera's attention!) Indeed, there was originally a small plastic plate there but the text was too small to be legible. Then our investigations discovered that it is a requirement to display the unique CIN just at that position. Indeed, we also found that it was only fitted at the last minute by the builder, between launch and handover. Normally the number is engraved into the steel hull but the method used seemed o be acceptable for RCS compliance (regulations for new build) Once we knew what we were looking for, and looked up our CIN in the boat's user manual, it was just possible to correlate it to the fuzzy image as above.

Missing plate - note matchstick in hole!

We also discovered that this is not BSS requirement (unlikely to have safety implications, the raison d'etre for BSS. Hence it had not come up at the last BSS examination! But it is good finally to have an explanation for something that had been niggling away for over a year. All we now have to do is get a replacement made,