Bartimaeus

We had arranged to meet Nick from Hydrogen Afloat in Penkridge so that he could install an upgrade to the Kensa heat pump.  The communication with the boat's electronics was meant to use Modbus - a standard communication system - but the module supplied by Kensa did not work properly.  After input from Rob at Ortomarine, Kensa had supplied an updated module.  The easiest way to update the module turned out to be replacing it, so Nick had brought a new one.

It didn't take very long to extract the original and plug in the replacement.  I had hoped that we would immediately be able to read some of the internal temperatures inside the heat pump from the control panel, but that didn't seem to be so.  Nick phoned Rob who pointed us to a light deep inside the electrics cupboard.  The frequent green flashes indicated that messages were getting through, so Nick concluded he had done his bit.

Much later I discovered another way to test the communication.  The remnants of a previous test allowed me to request (and cancel) hot water via Modbus.  This worked as intended, so we probably do have communication working, but something else needs to be resolved.

The following day we had a short explore in Penkridge before moving on in the sunshine.  As we left the town, the canal runs close to the M6.  The noise of the traffic ruled out some otherwise attractive moorings.  After a few miles, we were far enough from the noise for me to consider stopping.  A family of swans caught us up and Clare found some kitchen scraps to offer them.

We were still talking to the swans as we came past a moored boat.  The occupant put his head out of the side hatch and asked if we were OK.  We explained that we were going slowly anyway, but were enjoying the swans.  He told us that earlier the cygnets had been trying to fly, charging along this section of water.  We decided that was a good enough reason to moor up a few boat lengths further on.

The mooring had an open view over the field opposite.  A tractor appeared and began some dusty rolling operations, but luckily the wind took the dust away from us.  There were house files in the cabin too, but I got reasonably good at evicting them. The later part of the day was punctuated with bright sun and short showers, a recipe for rainbows.

We didn't see any sign of the swans until after we had cast off the next day.  Just as we'd started moving I saw the four cygnets swimming up behind us. There was no sign of the parents though.  The four youngsters followed behind us for half a mile or so before getting fed up with our pace and overtaking us. They eventually walked off in to a field - we didn't follow.

I jumped off to work the lock as we approached.  The lock was set against us and  I arrived to see a boat coming the other way.  I signalled to Clare and then opened the gates for them and waved them in.  Two women from the other boat came up to help operate the lock.  None of us were able to decipher the full details of the warning sign on the lock arm, but it looked quite rickety.

I think the important thing was to open the other paddle first to reduce the strain on this one, but the gates also had to be jiggled a little to close properly.  We got away with it anyway.  We were wondering about stopping on the next section of canal when Clare spotted a kingfisher.  It landed in a bare tree on the offside allowing us both a good view as we drifted towards it.  Decision made - we moored up directly opposite the bare tree.

From our mooring spot we saw large numbers of cows, huge numbers of geese, some long-tailed tits and a heron, but no kingfisher.  The flies also seemed to be back in the cabin - I caught dozens with the glass and card.

We moved on again this morning in sunshine, stopping for lunch at some rings we'd spotted a mile or so along the canal and then moving on again.  There were a few showers in the forecast which I'd hoped to avoid, but when it started to get quite wet we moored up to let it pass.  We moored up for the day as another threatening cloud approached.  We can't hear the road tonight, but we can see and hear the West Coast Mainline.  I'm not bothered by an occasional train passing.

We went for a short walk to the nearby village of Walton on the Hill.  Various plaques described it as a village to be proud of.  There were also plaques describing the local sights of minor interest.  We enjoyed our walk but I can't recommend any significant diversion for a visit.

We got back to the boat before the next shower.  I've evicted some more flies. I think there is only one left - I'm sure I'll get it soon.