Bartimaeus

Paul from Ortomarine came to do a minor job on the boat this morning as arranged.  On the original list for improvements was replacing the "grease gland" which stops water coming past the propeller with a different mechanism which uses canal water as a lubricant - and doesn't drip!  What I didn't know when I asked for this was that it was a huge job requiring a major rebuild of that part of the boat.

Once that was explained, I switched to a more manageable request.  Could we have the greaser moved from the starboard locker to the port side.  Previously, at the end of cruising we would put various items in to the port locker, and then have to (remember to) open the other one to grease the propeller.  The job got left off the list before launch, but now that Paul has visited, the end of each day's cruising will be a lot simpler.

The day had started cool and cloudy, but started to heat up as Paul was finishing.  For lunch we decided to make another attempt at "The Windlass" cafe.  We were recognised on arrival and this time we would get some lunch!  We both enjoyed our meal, but were taken by a mural on the wall inside the building.

The scene depicts the building we were sitting in it and the one opposite.  Between them is a canal with a narrowboat moored under a bridge leading on to the river.  Looking out of the window it is quite clear that there is a road outside. and that to reach the river requires descending through four locks.  I liked the painting, but the more I looked at it the more questions it raised.

After lunch Clare went on a short shopping trip while I returned to the boat.  I have been grappling with a minor problem with the on-board networking.  I upgraded the firmware on the fancy new router/modem two days ago.  All seemed to go well until I noticed that the internet radio in the bedroom had stopped being able to connect.  While Clare was out I wanted to spend a little time investigating.  I was delighted to discover that upgrading to the advance version of the next release made everything work again.

In the late afternoon I remembered that having sat still for a week, the control panel had alerted us that we were running low on water.  One option was to turn at a nearby winding hole and return through the lock to the water point.  We'd then have to come back through the lock, and probably back to the same mooring.

We settled on a shocking alternative - moving on!  There are only two locks before the water point in Kidderminster, so we headed that way.  This is a peaceful section of canal, in some places cut through the rock.

Our mooring tonight is close to the middle of town, but it is fairly quiet and almost out of earshot of the pub where people are watching sport-ball.