Retirement with No Problem

Thurs 23rd to Thurs 30th – Moored Waterbeach then on to Ely, 7 miles, 1 lock

We both decided to take a few days down south and join the family for a very long weekend.  Once again one of our typical family days last Sunday, and the weather was good enough for the BBQ to be dragged out of the garage… Here Wendie, the master BBQ chef at work..

We took Lucy with us this time, and she braved not only the trains, but also London Underground.  She was just brilliant, just as if she had been a Londoner dog.  We travelled in London during the quieter times, so there wasn’t too much overcrowding for her to cope with.

When we arrived back onboard Lucy slept for a good four hours.. dunno if she was totally exhausted or just pleased to be home

On our first evening back, I let Lucy out as usual.  Unfortunately both front flaps of the cratch cover were rolled up as it was so hot.. I asked her if she wanted to go out…she leapt out of her basket and three strides later had landed in the canal having taken an exit left from the boat instead of exit right onto the towpath!..  Still, she got a lot of TLC after that and wrapped in a blanket for the night….

We had a problem the following morning… Vic did his usual engine checks only to find the fan belt broken on that problematic alternator.  We were about 4.5 miles from Ely, but when Vic checked the water it was very low indeed… of course, the fan belt pully also ran the water pump!!

Phoning the boatyard in Ely, we were advised to just tick over back to the yard for repairs… but I wasn’t too happy, and we stopped at Popes Corner and asked him to come out and put a belt on..

By this morning we were back in Ely once again for the fitter to try and find out the reason for the misalignment of that alternator, and the reasons the belt broke.  We were both disappointed that we didn’t turn left to go on up the River towards Bedford.  Never mind, I am sure we will be on our way in a couple of days

Fishing today, I spied a family of weasels  on the far bank… 5 of them all playing.  I have only ever seen two weasels in my life before, and by the time I had told everyone walking along the waterfront path, there was quite an audience.. Too far for the pics to have come out unfortunately though