The Waterways Wanderings of Narrowboat “Just Heaven”
Fame at last, Granny Buttons just mentioned this blog.
(http://www.grannybuttons.com/granny_buttons/2008/09/just-heaven.html)
Thanks Andrew!
John Slee (NB Epiphany) added a comment saying I don’t have an RSS feed. Oh yes I do! Its here
Got up, had showers, went to make a cup of tea, no water!
The pump wasnt running so it seemed like an electrical fault. I checked things over, there was power to the pump, so it looked like a pump problem. After removing the pump it became clear that the presure switch had gone open circuit. It was a sealed unit so not repairable. Off in the car to Limekiln Chandlers in Stourport. They didnt have a ‘Flojet’, but a ‘Jabsco’ looked to be almost a drop in replacement. So after about half an hour with my head stuck up under the fore deck we had water again.
Spent the rest of the day going for walks in the park and a bit more shopping, including two thermal vests from Netto!
Awoke to a gloriously sunny day, so we had a lazy breakfast then set about various jobs onboard.
I cut the perspex for the hatch cover. Then drilled and fitted it with the four bolts to keep it in place. meanwhile Heddi did the brasses.
We had lunch sat out on the pontoon in the sun then went for a wander round the shops. The early evening was spent chilling out sat in the sun, lovely………
Arrived at about 6:30, unpacked, cooked and ate a meal, finished a bottle of wine and went to bed !
Another bright sunny morning. We left just before 9:00 and cruised up to the visitor mooring at Stewponey.
After a good healthy fried breakfast we went for a walk up from Stourton junction onto the Stourbridge canal. It looked really odd with no water in it. We were hoping to view the breach, but when we got to within a few hundred yards some BW workmen told us that the towpath was closed.
I was surprised by how many old bricks there were in the bottom of the cut. There seemed to be hundreds, how did they get there?
Back down to the Kinver visitor moorings, and then lunch in the garden of “The Vine“. It took us some while to order our food as they have three menus- restaurant menu, bar menu and garden menu. Also you cant sit in any part of the garden, some parts are reserved for those ordering from the restaurant menu. The service was very slow, but the food was OK, and the weather was fantastic for the time of year.
We awoke to clear, bright skies so we got away earlyish just after 8:00. We hadn’t planned to go far, but thought we’d get going while the weather was good.
As we were going through Wolverly it became clear that the loo was blocked/jammed ! We have a Techma ‘vacu-flush’ which was niether vacuuming nor flushing. The red light came on to indicate that the tank was nearly full, so I hoped that a pumpout at Kinver would cure the problem. Though I didnt really think that it would, since we had previously used it after the red light had come on with no problem. We stopped for breakfast at Cookley. Mike and I visited a field, but the girls werent happy with the privacy that afforded. Jan went up into the village to see what conveniences were on offer, but came back empty handed, or rather cross-legged. Eventually the girls settled on a solution that involved a bucket!
The weather by now was really warm and sunny, and after breakfast we carried on to Kinver.
We used the BW self pumpout machine, but the loo was still blocked. After a closer investigation I decided the only course of action was to take it out and have a look. So while the girls went into the town to check out the eating places, Mike and I removed the toilet and dismantled it on a bench by the BW sani-station. We eventually found a piece of tissue jamming the impellor. We put it back together and it all worked perfectly.
We set off to go up to Stourton Jcn, turn round and come back to Kinver vistor moorings for the evening. We hadn’t gone 200 yds when the thottle cable snapped !
We were alongside the permanent moorings so couldnt get to the towpath. With the help of a boater on NB “Helen” we pulled JH back into an empty mooring belonging to NB “Jessie May”. Luckily the owners were friends of the guy from “Helen” and he knew they wouldnt need the mooring until the next day.
We rang Limekiln Chandlers in Stourport and they agreed to bring a replacement cable out to us at 4:30. So while we were waiting we sat in the garden of “The Vine” in the glorious sunshine with a beer.
Dave from Limekiln duly arrived and by 6 o’clock the new cable was fitted. We sat on the towpath and enjoyed a glass of bubbly in the sunshine.
Just a weekend criuse with friends Jan & Mike.
After an awful drive up the M5 with slow moving queues in very heavy rain we arrived just before seven o’clock.
If the weather had been better, and we had been on time, we would have cruised to just outside the town for the night. But under the circumstances we decided to stay on the mooring overnight.
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