Since we arrived at King’s Marina on 31st October last year we’ve been moored bow (pointy end) inwards to the pontoon. Lillian is about 15 feet longer than the pontoon so we can only get of or off at one end. As our main living area is towards the stern this means that with the stern out towards the marina we get a better view rather than neighboring boats either side. However today we were expecting River and Canal Rescue (the waterways equivalent of the AA or RAC) to come and give the engine a yearly inspection. This would be much easier if the stern was moored inwards onto the pontoon. So this morning, before breakfast whilst the wind was in a calmish state we reversed out, turned around and reversed back in again.
So now the view out of our hatch is not as good as it was.
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Pip got busy continuing to make a model of NB Oleanna and I set to to have a bit of a tidy up of the engine bay. The wet and dry vacuum was put to use and cleaned out the residue of oil and water. This was disposed of in the marina’s waste oil tank.
The very helpful RCR chap (called Kerry) turned up at about 12:15 and efficiently worked through his checklist explaining everything to me as he went. He found and fixed a very slight diesel leak that I’d been trying to fix for months and advised us that we needed some spray grease for the main prop shaft bearing. But nothing to worry about particularly. The thing I most wanted checking were the engine mounts and and alignment and these were deemed to be fine. He also told me to check the acid levels in the starter battery.
All in all he was with us for about an hour and it was well worth the £70 cost.
After lunch Pip went off food shopping and I checked the battery levels. This is not easy as the batteries are tucked away in a very inaccessable space above the swim and below a locker. But it gave me a chance to use a little inspection mirror that father christmas had brought me. The levels were good and didn’t need topping up.
0.001miles, 0 locks. 1 engine check passed, 1 shopping trip, another few hours model making.
NB Lillyanne 