...And home

We packed half our gear into the car last night so there wasn't too much to do today. It was all in the cars by 08:00 this morning and we made our way toward the M5. Surprisingly there wasn't much traffic about and even Cribs Causeway was quiet.
Home by 10:15 and Lucy was first to find herself somewhere to shoot the zeds...

Nice and warmy by the fire.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all you blog readers.

It's Christmas Day aboard the good ship Tranquility and all is well.
We've sampled the sloe gin made from September's crop picked locally, and very nice it is too. To water things down a bit we're now on the elderflower presse.
The turkey is in, as are the vegetables, the table is laid and Pink Floyd is playing in the background.
Outside it's trying to rain, but the strong winds haven't arrived yet, but I'm sure it'll get windy soon. (And nothing to do with Brussels Sprouts).

After a belly full of Turkey, some zeds are required!

Rain wind, wind rain sort of a day.

It hammered down in the early hours of the morning and we waited for it to abate before making our move. Although it was still windy the sunshine was pleasant as we wended a our way back to the marina.
I noticed, today, that the cow parsley has its first new leaves poking through the ground. Spring has sprung?
I realise I've been a bit short on pix in recent blogs, so here's some more:-

Last nights mooring.

Oddingley...

We spent Christmas here a few years ago.

Shernal Green.

More of Shernal Green.

And more...

I remember when this was being built.

Hanbury Locks are deep!

Lucy?

Just settling down for some Zeds.

Best day of the week weather wise and au revoir to Worcester.

The forecast was for wall to wall sunshine but there were clouds, a lot of clouds, in fact there was a very light shower at one point.
I had to reverse TQ out of the basin as it was chock-a-block with boats and the space I intended to reverse into to turn around in had filled with another boat.
The trip back to Tibberton was in pleasant sunshine and light winds and we moored outside The Boat with the intention of going in for a meal. It was not to be as the chef was ill and there wasn't a temp so no food was being served. We had a nice drink near the coal fire in the bar and decided we'd eat on TQ instead.
Lucy?

Still in Zeds.

A stroll around Worcester.

Worcester is a lovely city, there are many small independent shops with a balanced measure of the larger chains, a 'High Street' precinct where traffic is severely restricted and a Cathedral of significant structure. It also boasts a canal, (Worcester and Birmingham) a river (The Severn) and a racecourse.
After some shopping we planned to go in the Pig and Drum for lunch but found it was closed! Shock Horror! So we went in the Horn and Trumpet instead. Oh! Dear, we sat right at the back and just through some nearby doors were the smokers. And every time someone opened the door the smoke blew in so we moved to the far end near the entrance.
I had a pint of Hob Goblin and Lin had a Bacardi and Coke. Oh! Dear, the ale was too cold and tasted brackish and I didn't drink it all, and the menu didn't look inspiring either so we left and bought fish and chips on the way back to the boat.

A shallow journey to Worcester

We slipped our moorings at around 08:30 this morning and wended our way toward Worcester. After negotiating the six Offerton Locks there was a small pound before Tolladine Lock and again to Black Pole Lock. We had a message from a passer by telling us that there was no water in the canal further ahead.
Sure enough it go very shallow after Bilford Locks and at Gregory's Mill Lock there were workmen clearing up having been repairing a culvert. We managed to get through the first lock but soon became grounded before the next. I had to let some extra water through the lock to get TQ floating again.
Through the lower lock and the water level was normal and we made it all the way to Lowesmoor Basin.

TQ in a packed Lowesmoor Basin.

We had a late lunch in O'Neils, mine was a Steak and Guinness pie with chips and peas, Lin had a burger with bacon and cheese. Both were very nice and for once the pie was a proper pie, not some minced beef in a bowl with a flakey pastry topping. I hate that, it's cheap and cheating.

Back aboard TQ, now and I watched a Fast and Furious movie while Lin fell asleep.

Lucy?

zzzZZZ! 

We'll stay here for a couple of nights and explore the City.

And then there were three.

Lin arrived this morning after a good journey up the M5, and after unpacking more supplies we went into Droitwich to fill the car with petrol because we'll be going home on Boxing day and there won't be many garages open.
We've moved out of the marina and headed South toward Worcester and stopped in a nice little spot near Tibberton.

Lucy?...

Zedsville!

Last job completed. Now I'm on holiday.

Yeah, the new bathroom extractor fan is fitted. No problem with this one, twist the bezel to remove it and unscrew the four (three in this case) retaining screws. Disconnect the wires and connect the new fan. Refit the screws and bezel and swap the halogen capsule for the LED. Job done.

The Kenwood mini mixer we use for Lucy's food developed a bare wire where it enters the cable strain. The conductor wasn't exposed, but the inner insulation was.
It's held together with two normal screws and one security screw which meant a modification to a cheap (Christmas cracker) screwdriver. The cable is soldered into a circuit board so it was out with the soldering iron to remove the old wires and re-terminate after cutting off the damaged cable. Another one done, almost as good as new.

Lucy's mini mixer.

This is where the damage was.

Busy with this and that.

Had a fix it day today, out with the old and in with the new. First up, which I thought was going to be an easy job was to change the carbon filter element on the black water tank breather. Reach in and unscrew the cap, pull out the old filter and replace with new, screw the cap back on. Nah! I had a job getting the new filter in, it seemed slightly bigger in diameter than the old one and it was definately longer by about 6mm. The cap would not go back on, every time it would end up cross threaded. I tried taking the filter out and screwing the cap back on without, but no, still no joy.
Ended up taking out the 'O' ring seal from the cap, putting the filter in and hey presto, it fits. It'll still seal, as there's a ridge inside the cap to retain the 'O' ring and this sits down onto the foam end of the filter.

Domestic water pump next and this had been leaking internally for quite some while. Every minute or so the pump would pulse to regenerate the pressure, a nuisance at night when you're trying to sleep.

This was a straight forward swap as there was a repaired one standing by next to the one in use. Firstly isolate the pump electrically and turn off the water valve from the tank. Disconnect the old and reconnect the new - simples! All went well this time and water now pumps merrily on demand without repeat pulsing.
Then there was the gas regulator, this was relatively easy to sort, turn off at the cylinder and remove the regulator and hose. Replace with new using new Jubilee clips on the hose. Tested for leaks using the approved gas detection fluid, all OK.

Note the new regulator is a hand tighten type, no need for spanners.

Oh! Hello. T time? Thought so.

Bathroom extractor fan tomorrow - stay tuned for another exciting adventure.

Christmas will soon be here.

I went to work this morning and using up the last of my holiday entitlement before the end of the year meant I could leave at 09:15 hours. Hardly worth going in for but they insist right down to the last minute.
Got home and after a few chores began packing the car. Had an awful journey, busy traffic and heavy rain most of the way, but made it safely.
There are a few little jobs I need to do first while I'm on my own, Lin has to work on Saturday so will be joining me on Sunday. Gives me a chance to get things done, you know how it is.
Had a lovely tea, cottage pie and mushy peas, a ready meal from Chez Moi, it was delicious.

Oh! Hello, it must be tea time for you too.

More tomorrow.

And back to base...

...our last full day today, we go home tomorrow morning.

Here's some pictures of our journey back to Wigrams.

A similar picture is in the Pearsons guide. 

Br. 107.

Busy here at Br, 108.

300 yards to the junction.

And it's TQ,s last day at Wigrams. Tomorrow (Sunday) TQ is being taken to Droitwich Spa Marina.
It's been really good here at Wigrams, everyone has been very friendly and helpful, and it's right in the hub of the canal system which creates a multitude of routes available to explore. Also, especially from my point of view, the availability of different skills being not too far away to help us in our time of need.

The port side has now been polished and looks great, and more brass has been polished too.

You don't see that very often.

I made this, somewhere to tie up the dogs.

A terriffic shine.

Well that's it for now, our next adventure is at Christmas, unless there is a development in the allocations schedule where we might just be able to squeeze a few days.

See you next time.

We've stayed put.

Loads of work done today, polishing mainly. The paintwork hasn't been polished for some considerable time and it showed. It needs doing again very soon to build up a more permanant shine. I have to confess though, I've done the port side and a few bits and pieces here and there where it was particularly bad, but i've not done the starboard side yet. All the outer doors have been off and the hinge pins cleaned and lubricated and most of the brass polished too, including the bits often missed...

The fuel boat Southern Cross (Jules Fuels) came by this morning and I flagged him down. We filled with diesel at a very reasonable price and another moorer nearby bought a couple of bags of coal.

Breasted up alongside TQ.

Sorting the paperwork.

...And on to the next customer.
Many thanks, see you again.

It came over all dark at tea time and we had a few spots of rain. Actually it looked like there was going to be a massive flash and a bang, but it didn't happen.

That's gone over.

...And now I'm having tea listening to Pink Floyd's The Division Bell and my glass is...

...half full.

Lucy?..

Doing what she does best. x

Busy day.

This morning woke bright and sunny and there were a lot of boats on the move. Some came flying past us and one in particular pulled the hooks through the armco on the pilings and jammed them in solid. I had to beat them with the club hammer and a mooring pin to free them. Some people have no respect.

I always set up a spring line wherever possible.
It helps prevent boat movement when the idiots go flying by.

We arrived in Braunston and we moored on Midland Chandlers wharf and purchased a new bow thruster battery. I fitted it straight away and sent the old one back, now we have some power at the front end.

We moved TQ away from the wharf and moored up on the opposite side where there was just enough space to get in.

Then we took a stroll down to The Admiral Nelson for lunch which was very nice. We had a hot dog each with a side dish of chips - delicious and we sat outside in the warm sunshine to demolish it.

We did a bit of shopping in the village and when we arrived back to TQ we reversed back beyond the junction then turned right toward Napton Junction. 

Along the way we were hoping there were going to be some vacant pilings to moor against but two of our favourite spots had been taken, so we found a nice little spot further up and we moored in there near Flecknoe.

Near Flecknoe.

There's been a lot of traffic on the canal today, It took about fifteen minutes to get away from last nights mooring, just as I was almost ready to leave, another boat would come round the corner and I'd have to tie up again and let it pass.

This evenings sunset.

And Lucy?...

More Zedsville!

Hawksbury Junction to near Br. 80.

Hawksbury Junction was cold and windy this morning.

TQ taking on water.

We stopped at Sutton Stop to enquire about a new bow thruster battery,  but they were a bit on the expensive side so I didn't buy one, but they did have an offcut of 40mm2 black cable which turned out to be long enough to fit where I needed it to go. It was terminated at both ends and heat shrink wrapped for good measure.
We also had a pump-out and that was enough for one day, as it was all a little expensive.

At least by now it had stopped raining and stayed stopped for the rest of the day.

We were hoping to moor close to Br. 79 but when we got there someone had only just beaten us to it, so we had to press on and near Br. 80 there were some suitable pilings vacant so we occupied them.

Lucy? Blotto as usual.