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In 1977 we hired our first narrowboat from Anglo Welsh at Market Harborough.From that moment our destiny was set. In 2006 we finally purchased our own brand new 57' narrowboat which we named 'Free Spirit'. Our aim is to travel the length and breadth of all the navigable rivers and canals of the UK. This will be our story as it unfolds.

Sunday 29 January 2012

We possibly have had a narrow escape.

We very nearly had another setback today.  Ian decided that. as the engine hadn't been started for over 2 months, he would give it a go.  Its a bl....dy good job he did.!! He turned the key half way to heat the coil, So far so good but as soon as he turned the key to start the engine nothing happened!! Ian  naturally  assumed  the starter battery must be dead. After all, we have never changed it since we bought the boat back in 2006. He then decided to investigate further and found a fault that could have caused us a real problem later on. It wasn't the battery as first suspected but the engine electrical harness connecting plug. (that's quite a mouthful! ) Anyway, one of the connections had burnt out completely.  Apparently this could have caused a fire at any time so I'm very glad he found out about it now. He deduced it must have been like this for a while because we've had a problem with trying to turn the engine off. Every time we pressed the off button it took ages for the engine to stop. So... To fix it he removed the cables and connected them outside the block. Not ideal but it will have to do until he can purchase another plug at a later date.
 We had another visit, today, from Christine, Kev and Josh. They brought along Jades sister, Echo, and so we decided to take a walk along the river. Both dogs went swimming which they thoroughly enjoyed. Then suddenly out of the blue came this sporty looking cruiser going at such a rate that the wave it created very nearly swamped  Echo. She only just made it out in time. I'm sure he was going faster then the allowed 6 mph.
Going much to fast!!



Just got out in time.
 Josh had his grumpy face on as we walked home. He'd enjoyed seeing the swans and the boats on the river but then it all got a bit too much and he decided he wanted his mummy to carry him. When Christine said no he then kept asking where Nanny's boat was and when would we get there. We'd only walked about 1/4 mile so he really shouldn't have been too tired. I suppose as a two year old every thing was just too much of an effort.


Once back at the boat the first thing to do was dry the dogs. Both dogs were soaked from their swim so they both had a good towelling and then as Echo had no basket, they both curled up together in Jades bed.


Jade is on the left.
We are off to Christine's early tomorrow in the hope that the water heater arrives in the morning. If it does then Ian might still be able to fit it before he has to go to Nottingham City hospital at 2pm. Here's keeping all our fingers crossed.

2 comments:

Sue said...

Gosh, you were lucky Irene. It just goes to show that even a small problem like the boat not turning off properly needs investigating.

I will remember this!

Aww when the littlen's get cold 100 yards is too far! Anyway, Grandma's play on the boat!

Jo Lodge said...

Flippin heck it never rains unless it pours for you and Ian, but on this occasion you are both very lucky indeed. Lets hope your luck changes for the better from now on. Hugsssssss xxx

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