Home at last

Stuart the engineer came to the marina (Jacksons in Stanground) on Monday and throughout the week; thought we had fixed it a couple of times but still overheating so after a week he changed the head gasket which appeared to have been blowing in two places! Tuesday filled up with gas and provisions and set off through Stanground praying that it did not overheat – very stressful, but it worked and 6 hours later I was in March!

Stuart, Maurace and Stan at Jacksons - international rescue!

Spent a day in March and then on Thursday set off for Salters Lode (6 hours cruising) where the Middle Level terminates and you have to go though the lock and about half a mile on the tidal Ouse and back into the Ouse system though Denver Sluice.

In the morning there was a strong wind blowing down the tidal stretch towards the sea so I had to pull out into this and make a right turn against the wind and outgoing tide. I was a bit concerned but the lock keeper assured me that if I gave it full power there would be no problem. When he raised the lock I pulled out and gave it full power but all that happened was black smoke billowed out of the exhaust, by the time I cleared the weed clogging the propeller the tide/wind had caught me and the boat was moving the fastest it has ever done – unfortunately it was going sideways and heading out to sea! After about 220yds I managed to get the bow into the side and turn the boat so that it was at least facing upstream in the direction I needed to go but the tide was pinning me into the side. There were only another two boats using the locks on that day, the first went past with a wave, thankfully the second came to my rescue and towed me off. The lock keeper informed me that had he not done so I would have been stuck there all night through another high tide which would have been interesting! The rest of the trip home was uneventful with good weather.

I have now been back at my mooring for a week and am thoroughly enjoying meeting up with old friends and unlimited electricity/TV. The fact the bloody car won’t start (fuel pump), my fire grate is broken and a leak through one of the roof ventilators has developed all help ensure that I will not get bored!

Overall I was away exactly 4 months and covered over 500 miles and 250 plus locks and around 100 pubs! I thoroughly enjoyed the experience apart from the engine problems in the last 6 weeks. Even this experience had a silver lining in that I met some excellent engineers and learnt a huge amount about the engine. It also meant that I had to spend longer periods of time in one location and got to know some of the local characters which I really enjoyed. In short I am hooked on long trips but next time there will be no deadlines and hopefully less breakdowns – but we will see :)