Summer Autumn Cruise 2011 (7-6)

Saturday October 8th

Sprotborough Moorings

Day 48

The day started at 6:15am as the Humber Princess passed through Sprotborough in the dark on her way to Rotherham to off load her cargo of oil. I am always amazed at the speed and frequency of the turnaround for the trip from Goole to Rotherham and back.

The morning sky was overcast with little if any wind. From about 5am we had been joined by a Tawny Owl that spent the majority of the time until dawn, calling from the tow path trees. What would have been a common sound of the woodlands years ago is now one to be savoured. However, I have stayed at Salford in Manchester and been entertained by a suburban Tawny Owl sitting on a street light near a small park. Like the Fox it seems the Tawny Owl is beginning to adapt to the suburban life.

The boat batteries are needing more of a regular charge now as their capacity to hold any charge is quite reduced as they reach the end of their working life. So as we were on our own on the mooring I had the engine running to from 7:30 to warm water for the shower and to top up the batteries.

Rosie has a Victron 501 battery monitor fitted and after some “suck it and see adjustments” to the settings, it would seem that the capacity of the remaining two “walking wounded” batteries is about 70 Ampere hours rather than the 220 Ah when at their best. There is just enough capacity for an evenings TV viewing before the voltage drops to the point where the TV shuts down. If anyone flushes the toilet, that's the end of viewing until we have a short recharge from the engine.

John and Tracy came to visit with a small package containing some LED lighting parts. By comparing the current flowing on the Victron ammeter I could see that the power usage was about a tenth of the power for the original lights. The light is very bright and white in colour. So we are going to look for a more softer version of the same type that we can mix in to temper the colour range.

Nb Kelly Louise arrived on the moorings in the late afternoon. This was shortly after we had rescued the old dog “Abbey” from a short trip over the side into the cut. One warm bath and a blow dry later, she had a chocolate biscuit to comfort her shocked nerves. By the second biscuit she was back to her old self. I am always amazed at the therapeutic properties of chocolate digestives.

The evenings entertainment was topped off with another evening trip by the Wyre Lady this time with revellers who were closer to octogenarians than their long gone teen years. I can report that these support stocking sobriety failures made as much noise if not more than yesterdays testosterone and Vodka fuelled revellers.

The Memsahib watched with much mirth Strictly Come Dancing. Every time compare BF (Bloody Fool) opens his mouth he gives a ratings boost for those who support a policy of compulsory euthanasia. We were soon able to pick out the three finalists from the Z List of contenders. Russell Grant the body double for The Michelin Man. Edwina Curry who could have been a body double for the artist Grayson Perry. Anita Dobson, she of the Watermelon slice smile. Dressed up as if she was going to be doing a Bette Davis look-a-like appearance in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane”

This was followed by the second episode of the new Merlin series. Being a fan of such genre the Memsahib was totally immersed in an instant. Every time the screaming wraith heads appeared I thought it was a reprise of the audience reaction on “Strictly” to Edwina and Russell’s performance.

It was not a good night for bats with the continuous downpour of rain. Another day for keeping the stove alight!

Daily Total

Distance: 0 Miles.

Locks: 0

Swing / Lift Bridges: 0

Tunnels: 0

Pump Outs: 0

Engine Hours: 1981.0