I'm back!

Drove back to the marina on Saturday.  Arrived later than I intended despite leaving on schedule. Mainly caused by James' insistence on clambering over the back seat despite belongings being piled high.  After his third effort I stopped at a bus stop and proceeded to repack the car - no doubt much to the amusement of the people waiting at the stop across the road.  I also probably spent a bit too long visiting my friends Michele and Andrew from NB Ashdown who have had to take some time off from continuously cruising to earn some money to refill the coffers.  It was lovely to see them and as they are based in Andover I will be able to see them regularly.  Thanks for the 'bits' and coffee.

When leaving the boat for the winter it is necessary to "winterise" it, the main job being to drain down the water system and leave all the taps open while away.  I started filling the tank leaving the taps open to flush out the tank. After a little while I turned off the taps but the water pump did not stop running - bugger, that probably meant the diaphragm in the pump had frozen and was kaput, even although the lowest outside temperature had been a balmy minus 3.3.  So, I had to turn the ppump on and off at the fusebox - inconvenient but not a disaster.  However the flooded bathroom I discovered a little later was - I had forgotten to turn off the shower taps and it had overflowed.  Fortunately the water did not get further than the bathroom.  Oh. and the engine overheated after a short time running to charge the batteries.  Too late to investigate it was a first priority the next morning.

Sunday morning I discovered that the engine coolant level was very low although I hardly topped it up all last year.  Another boater (it is a very friendly and helpful community) said it was not unknownon for the coolant to leak when left cold for an extended period - time will tell. I spent the rest of the morning checking batteries, engine etc were OK then thought I would take the short drive to Rugby and a cooked breakfast (lunch).  I must have driven round the middle of Rugby half a dozen times not helped by temporary traffic lights completely out of synch. Ended up at the ever reliable McDonalds  and then on to supermarkets and pet shop to stock up on supplies. Not much unpacking done.

Monday was a beautiful day and the forecast for Tuesday was poor so I took the car back this morning and left the marina in blue skies at 1pm. Farewell to Barby - it will be a nice marina if it ever gets all the facilities installed.

I am heading back up the North Oxford canal to again get to the banter at Gnosall for Easter and one advantage of travelling on a canal I have already been on is that I have noted good mooring spots so moor up just past Rugby at Newbold on Avon.

 7 miles; 3 locks