Industrious Day

Not my usual, early morning serene blip. Occasionally our route takes us past factories which is, after all, what the canal system was built for!

What a day! Before we had cast off the menfolk realized the bilge pump wasn't working.What does the bilge pump do? It pumps water out from the hull of the boat. It does this automatically if water reaches a certain height, and there is a manual switch, too, just to make sure. 

Now a narrowboat hull can soon fill up with water, especially as our stern gland had a bit of a leak. We had to do something or eventually the boat would have sunk. The rescue organisation which we have called on numerous occasions couldn't help as we were able to move so there was nothing for it but to find a boatyard and buy and fit one ourselves. 

Thankfully, on a weekend day, we found a chandler open, with a pump in stock. What a filthy, mucky, oily place to have to work down in the engine room cavity, and The Mate in his new joggers! I did suggest he took them off! Both men got oil all over themselves. I kept being asked to push their sleeves up for them, so, in all it took three of us to do the job!

So, all is well as we settle down to a nice meal, a few well earned whiskies and a DVD.