An unexpected visitor and a simple repair

Where we’d moored on Saturday afternoon was OK but a bit narrow alongside. With the traffic volume likely to be high on Sunday we decided to move on to a wider spot I’d spied when out with Meg.

So we pulled pins at around 10:00 and headed the ½ a mile around the corner to the new mooring. Would you believe it, someone was just tying up there. The cheek of it! Anyway, we had to motor a bit further and moored for the rest of the day near Kings Bromley Marina.

Another problem with the mooring near Handsacre was the overhanging oak tree. It must be a good year for acorns. Every hint of a breeze brought a shower of them down onto the roof, sounding like a machine gun going off!

Unfortunately the mooring near Kings Bromley suffered the same drawback. It’s a pity that acorns aren’t good in a pie, we had plenty of them.

This morning it was a fairly short trip down into Fradley Junction. Off at about 09:30, through Ravenshaw Wood and arriving at Woodend Lock soon after 10:00.

Ravenshaw Wood.

It’s above Woodend that the proposed HS2 rail link will cross the canal the first time.

Around here somewhere, out of the woods, across the field, over the canal…..

….then again, through the woods on the left and over the canal the second time as it heads for Shadehouse Lock.

I’m not going to comment on the rights and wrongs of the project. Plenty of people, with far more knowledge than I have, have already done so….. Pros..... Cons

Leaving Woodend Lock with a short queue going up.

We dropped down the locks to the junction, through Junction Lock and moored on the VM above Keepers Lock.

Mags keeping the gongoozlers entertained in Junction Lock.

On the services was NB L’Atitude Adjustment, heading back to Pilings Lock Marina after a summer down south. They are a Canadian couple who we’ve moored next to when we’ve used the marina as a base.

Just got tied up and a gentleman came along the path, saying how much he enjoyed reading the blog. Good to meet you Roger. The kettle went on and we spent an hour or so chatting about boats and things generally.

Then it was down the engine ’ole to have a look for a dodgy alternator. One of the charge warning lights was glowing this morning as we headed down. Not as much of a problem as you might think. With the Stirling AtoB battery manager one alternator will still charge both banks, it just takes longer.

We have a bad one, it’s only chucking out around 12 amps although the voltage is OK at 14.2v. On with the spare and everything is hunky-dory. We seem to have alternators fail with monotonous regularity. The charge controller makes them work harder and I reckon there’s maybe not enough airflow around them. They do get mighty hot! I’m going to look at ducting some cool air, fan driven, to them. The fan will only run when the engine is running.

Another winter project.

Locks 4, miles 3½