Summer Cruise#2-Day 56 The End is Nigh

 

The weather is forecast to be Scorchio today with highs of 26 degrees. We’ve been staying under the trees here in Crick and this has meant our batteries were a tad low (67%), so it was time to move on and get to a good mooring both for the sun and for the remedial painting. We left shortly after 8 – it is Bank Holiday Monday but all was quiet. We crept past Yelvertoft marina and on to bridge 27 – we were thinking of going on to Welford but the towpath is low enough here which means it’s good to get at the boat to paint.  So that’ll do.

All quiet at Yelvers, lots of boats out.

Planning to take on water at Yelvertoft wharf but a boat had moored there – Artful Dodger, private boat, should know better, tricky but we squeezed in and had to use all our hoses! Name & Shame!

Then Viv’s “Victor Meldrew” moment, why don’t CRT cut down all these overhanging trees? Good point – so much of the waterway are overgrown and it makes navigation difficult, if not dangerous.

It is a nice stretch this, with rolling hills – no cars or trains, very tranquil.

Down to the remedial painting then – here’s some “before” pictures, well this year we have down more than 500 miles and  420 locks!! So some scraping and bumping is only to be expected – that’s why the runners are called rubbing strips! The black bitumen paint is designed to rub off rather than crack, like gloss would.

Fully tied up, with springs (sideways or going-back ropes) to anchor the boat against the passing traffic, we togged up and set to . . . another of those “spot the dog” pix – poor Toby had injured two legs in jumping for the ball, just a sprain we think (and hope).

Viv too – working on the side hatch (notice how shiny the sides are still!)

It was a very hot day – time to strip off, well, a bit . . .

Viv applies Fertan – goo that converts rust to a paintable surface!

And then it did get busy – it’s not just the M25 that’s gets all the traffic! Very hard to paint a boat that keeps moving away and then back towards you!

Busy, busy – everyone heading home & back to work tomorrow! Not us! Here for a few more days! Yeah! Oops, Napton hire boat goes skew-whiff? They then decided to stay that way and have lunch!

And here’s the finished photos – well some of them – nice shiny blacking, all scratches & gouges neatly covered over!

Even found time to re-do the tunnel flash – the bit at the back – supposedly to highlight your stern in a tunnel (they don’t, even ones painted white, so I just use a flashing red bike light – not strictly kosher but following boats know where I am!)

Well, it’s 30 degrees now in t’boat and time to pack this in – not many more posts now . . . 56 days!