And we’re back, with a clean, shiny bottom too!

 I left you several weeks ago as we came out of Llangollen, heading back to Chirk and our appointment with the bitumen brush at Chirk Marina. We steadily worked our way back downstream, arriving outside the marina a day or two before we were due in.

It all went a bit pear-shaped, though, pretty well straight away. The marina uses a slipway to haul boats out, and with limited headroom we had to remove the large top box from the roof. That turned out to be a waste of time though, as Seyella was too deep to get onto the trolley to be hauled out! To be fair they did try hard, but I got a call at Val and John’s (where we were staying) on the Tuesday afternoon saying that they couldn’t do it.  So John dropped me off to collect the boat again on the Wednesday afternoon, after I’d had my second Covid jab (Hurray!), and we were all back aboard later that afternoon.

We cruised up to Fron to fill the nearly empty water first, then turned around to head back downstream. Ringing round secured us another slot, this time at Ellesmere’s Blackwater Meadow Marina, but not until the end of June.

Amber making life a little difficult as we cruised along…

Back over the Ceiriog into England for the last time this trip – hopefully!

So we spent the time pottering back and forward, a few days near Frankton Junction and back to Ellesmere, then a few more at Hampton Bank and Prees Junction and back to Ellesmere. Now you can see why I haven’t bothered to post! We seem to have been doing that a lot!

Our first cygnets of the year near Ellesmere.

Amber enjoying the sunshine…

Feeding time for the moorhen chicks.

Ugly little blighters but their mother loves’ em!

I’ve not been idle though. I bought a recovered oak restaurant table top, then cut it, planed and chamfered it, and finally oiled it, and it’s now our dinette table.

A lot better than the one we had before made from a piece of chipboard with an edge glued on!

While we enjoyed that period of fine, dry, weather towards the end of last month I also repaired a few spots, mostly around hinges and fittings, where rust had bubbled the paint. They should be good for another year or two.

We spent the last weekend of June around Ellesmere, then Seyella finally went in for blacking on the Monday morning. John picked us up to spend the duration of the work with them.

I spent the first couple of days waiting for the phone to ring, them telling me there was a problem. The expectation was too much so I made the call on Wednesday, to be told they were running a bit behind, but the hull had been washed, scrubbed and scraped, and the first coat of Intertuf 16 had been applied that afternoon. Hallelujah! Hull, stern gear and anodes were in good condition, requiring no immediate remedial work, although the edges of the baseplate at both ends will need to be reinforced the next time she’s out of the water. No big deal, that one.

Mags enjoying the sun in Val and John’s garden.

It was Saturday afternoon before we could get back aboard, they’d applied two coats all over and an extra one along the water line. They also coated the inside of the weedhatch, a place where another boatyard I’d entrusted the work to conveniently forgot…

By half-two I’d paid the bill and we were heading out onto the cut again. 

We pulled up at the moorings near Hampton Bank for the night, then moved on down to past Prees Junction to meet a Tesco delivery to top up the cupboards on Monday evening.

Out on the moss yesterday morning.

Moorings near Roundthorn Bridge.

We were intending to move on today but Amber has been poorly, neither of us got much sleep last night as she needed to go out every hour or two. A bad case of the runs… probably something she picked up. But she seems to be better today.

And that’s about it, all up to date. I promise I’ll try to keep up now.

Locks 2, miles 61½