Cruising in the sun

At last we are on the move again, nearly two weeks since our last move, at this rate we will have to head straight for Leeds in order to get there by Christmas!

Our engine repairs took a little longer than planned,when everything was back together we had two problems, one was air getting into the fuel system which meant every time you increased the revs ,the engine stalled, the other was that the alternator was running red hot and not charging the batteries. Ray found that one of our batteries had died and when he took that out of the circuit the alternator problem seemed to cure itself,so that was good. He checked everything on the fuel system and we are now running but it still isn't quite right.The engine is still smoking more than Ray does but that is probably the piston rings and that isn't a DIY job. So we now have the expense of fridge repairs, new battery and piston ring replacement to look forward to. Beans on toast for the next few weeks then!

We headed off this morning to dump our rubbish, empty the loo and top up the water tank, with a couple of additional bags of rubbish from the volunteers who were litter picking, well it saved them carrying them to the rubbish point. I headed to Tesco for a few bits of shopping and then we were on our way to Fenny Stratford.

Today was cruising as it should be, sunshine, birdsong and flowers in bloom.Not many flowers yet,today's theme was yellow,daffodils, coltsfoot and butterburr. Our journey was made easier because there were volunteer lock keepers at Soulbury Three Locks which made for a quick passage.Then we shared Stoke Hammond Lock  with NB Somerset Joy, another easy time with more people to do the work.

Tomorrow we plan to visit the garden centre, even though we are a bit skint I need some herbs and possibly some flowers to brighten the boat up now that the risk of frost has passed.

Today's journey 7.4 miles and 5 locks

This year we have travelled 99.2 miles, 132 locks and 4 swing bridges

In 2012 we travelled 876.9 miles, 675 locks,  55 swing bridges, 23 lift bridges and 31 tunnels

In 2011 we travelled 461.4 miles, 444 locks, 3 swing bridges, 34 lift bridges and 15 tunnels

During 2010 we travelled 740.3 miles, 642 locks, 53 swing bridges, 4 lift bridges and 25 tunnels

Since Ray retired we have travelled 2177.8 miles, 1893 locks, 115 swing bridges, 61 lift bridges and 71 tunnels