As we needed some diesel we reversed back around the corner and down through the lock to moor opposite the cafe to be near the road. I baked a couple of boat cakes while we were there and we rang Graham on 07970 893245 as he delivers ‘Diesel-in-a-Can’ direct to your boat in his van. He turned up and emptied the 20 litre cans into our tank, how convenient is that at 85p per litre? Bill the elderly chap in the boat moored in front of us said that Graham had had been a life line for him over the winter months when his boat was iced in. We learned that he had lived on his boat for twenty four years and has now reached the ripe old age of 84! Bill was such an optimistic boater and had made many improvisations on his boat over the years which worked well. Before he left I gave him some boat cake and he was overjoyed and gave us a few useful tips on boating that he had picked up as a longstanding continuous cruiser. Jan came up for afternoon tea and we said our goodbyes to her and Graham and gave them a boat cake, we had such a fabulous time with them and look forward to meeting up with them next time.
We left quite early next morning as we had to reverse back through the lock. Things were going well, but we didn’t reach the lock as the engine suddenly cut out. Bottle threw the centre rope and i pulled the boat into the side. he donned the ‘pond gloves’ and grovelled about down the weed hatch to find a tyre on one of the propeller blades. With a bit of prodding and manoeuvring with the boat hook luckily it came off. Back we went, turned onto the Coventry canal, filled with water. Hot drinks were needed as we cruised along towards Streethay Wharf and Boatyard.
They seemed to have quite a bit of work on the go and four workers waved while sitting outside on their coffee break as we cruised by in the sunshine.
We moored up at Hopwas and went for a walk up the hill to St Chads Church which had a beautiful stained glass window.
Moored next to us is ‘The Chimney Man’ and this is Molly his lively three year old spaniel who wanted us to throw her stick nonstop. We got chatting to Kym who set up his Little Chimney workshop after being made redundant as a fabricator. He made one for himself, then a friend wanted one and it took off from there. What an entrepreneur, who has found his very own niche in the market and may it continue to grow. He lives aboard with his family and they tow the little butty workshop called, ‘Molly’, wherever they go. So if you are in need a well designed stainless steel chimney that will last for years as we did, call him on, 07876654120 and he will make one for you. They are made from a heavier gauge stainless steel than those we have seen in chandlers. You can see two examples on the butty.
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