A week without boating

We’ve been back at our mooring for ten days now and been fairly busy with various things.

One of our neighbours has had a replacement engine fitted which has been giving a few problems which I have been trying to help him overcome. The first was a leak from the injector pump, which we traced to the stop shaft, so we set about tracking down some replacement seals and found a helpful company in Leamington Spa, Bob Beck Fuel Injection Ltd so we took a drive down and came away with a complete seal kit for £8.00 (they also have an eBay Shop – No connection except as a satisfied customer!) They are near the canal too.

After fitting the seals we found that the leak had stopped but so had the starter motor, so I removed that and discovered that the bottom brush was stuck and the brush-spring rusted away. This was not a great problem as I was in the auto-electrical trade for over 25 years and still have contacts to obtain parts, so by the next morning the starter was back on and working. I also tidied up the wiring and made sure that the charging system worked properly.

I left him with the engine running nicely but within an hour he was in trouble again with clouds of smoke from the exhaust as oil was being blown out of the engine breather into the air intake, a sign of excess crankcase pressure, possibly worn piston rings. Sad to say, I’m afraid he has been ‘sold a pup’.

On Wednesday evening we drove the car down to Worcester to pick up our grandchildren for a couple of days. on Thursday we did some geocaching with them and had some success, them having sharper eyes than us.

On Friday we drove to Leamington Spa again where we wandered around the town and had a meal before going to a performance by the Alarum Theatre Company of
Idle Women of the Wartime Waterways with Kate Saffin & Heather Wastie.

 

To quote their Facebook Page “Heavy rain meant that the second half of last night’s show was rather more intimate than the first! Our lovely sporting audience crammed into the covered area of the magical Foundry Wood.”

Despite the car’s windscreen wiper linkage falling apart as we arrived at the car park I popped it back together and made it back up the motorway on a wing-and-a-prayer.

Jeremy, our son, came to collect the children on Saturday afternoon and we had a meal with them at The Lime Kilns before waving them off.

I think we saw the best of the weather for this week on Sunday morning when we went to Measham Car Boot and since then have been hunkered down on board away from the wind and rain. We’ve even lit the fire… In June!!!