Monday 20 June 2011

Whoever said that boating was glamorous

Whoever said boating was glamorous is a liar. Take it from me.On a wet and windy Saturday for no reason other than we could and we wanted to we set off from the marina on what would be our last outing before we go away in a couple of weeks.

The run upto Lincoln doesnt go bad and the weather looks like it might brighten up so we head off to Fiskerton. Once we have decended Stamp End Lock however things start to go downhill from there.The River Witham is currently very weed infested and even 170hp isnt enough to keep you ploughing through. So every kilometer or so we needed to stop and deweed the props. No problem we will make it eventually there is no rush. Until clunk. We pick up a piece of wood between the props and smash the props in good and proper. We hadnt even seen the wood for the weed.We eventually moor up at Fiskerton to survey the damage and it isnt good. They will need sending away for refurbing and quickly.

No worries these things happen. So we moor up and settle in for the night only to now find that the bathroom light has packed up as well. This trip really aint going well but it is set to get even worse. We had emptied the holding tank prior to setting off and flushed it through with fresh water. We now needed to get rid of the fresh water. So we press the macerator button to find to our horro it aint working, just creating a dead short.

So on a miserable, wet sunday morning, in the middle of a nature reserve we set about dismantling the midships cabin to find the pump and the cause of the problem. Armed with bucket loads of disinfectant and warm water Liam, the brave soul, delves into the unknown and resurfaces with the offending item. He is quickly ejected onto the wet pontoon where he sets about dismantling the disgusting pump. It is soon apparent that the thing is clogged up with hair and the remains of a wet wipe. Moral of the story if you have guests aboard or anyone uses your loo make sure they know what can and can not go down it. The pump is eventually reassembled but not before we have to track down a new impellor for it.

It is all now working again but it is safe to say this weekend has not gone according to plan.

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