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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.

Thursday 1 March 2018

Toilet talk

So, this 'Beast from the East' well until last night here at Langley Mill the lying snow had been almost non-existent. A slight covering only but we did have considerable low temperatures dropping at 18.49 to -7.



Earlier in the afternoon, Ian walked over to empty the loo. Not 10 minutes earlier a visiting boater had also emptied his cassette. On Ian's return, I was told the facilities were officially out of action! Having gone to the elsan and noticed the contents of the visiting boaters loo still in the waste basin, instead of flushing he poured our loo contents in as well and then went to flush. Oh dear, no water! In fact, the cistern was frozen solid, the reason dawned why that boater hadn't flushed. Ian should really have checked before he emptied our loo but hey ho, what was done was done. Now in the toilet side was a small heater but this obviously wasn't man enough for the job. All was not lost though as Ian walking to the ECP&DA cottage, took possession of a large electric heater and installed it in the toilet block instead.

So this morning Ian went back to see if the heater had done its job. It had to a degree. The loo side had running water but still nothing on the elsan side. You may think this would be the case as no form of heating was in that side but between the two blocks, the wall doesn't reach the ceiling leaving a space of about a foot. Hoping the rising heat would also find its way into the elsan side, he was dismayed to find it hadn't. So a few trips between blocks with numerous buckets of water managed to swill the contents away and down the waste pipe.

This morning.

Ian doing his bit.

I expect many of the facility blocks up and down the system will suffer the same fate. It's only because we belong to the canal society and have access to the cottage that Ian was able to rectify the problem. I hope all of you on the canals have full water tanks and a large shovel for emergency use. No, not to dig yourselves out of the snow but (if needs must) to dig a hole in the hedge bottom so you can empty your loo!

On the feeder







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