FreeSpirit : A horrible clunking sound was heard

Tuesday, 15 August 2023

A horrible clunking sound was heard

That dog....she got us up early...5 20 am was a ridiculous time to want to go out. Our fault though because last night we gave her a pigs trotter, we should have known it would go right through her! Anyway just the security guards about at that time of the morning as well as a milk delivery to one of the offices. I had debated whether to risk just taking Toffee out wearing my pyjamas, good job I didn't!

I have to give a shout out about that breakfast this morning. What a feast, and the proprietor, Elaine Halliwell even gave Toffee two sausages free of charge! The café was called Horgans and I have to say she even put two chairs and table outside specially for our use, you can't get better service than that.

Mind you....around 6 ish last night an air compressor started up from one of the factories over the other side. My God, it was loud! TV volume increased and still it invaded our hearing. Should we move we asked ourselves, but to where. The lock was not far but we certainly didn't want to go down that night. A film was watched which finished around 11.15 pm and just before the credits came up all went silent! A good night's sleep was had after all (until that blasted dog woke me at 5.20 am that is)

We left to do the final 3 locks of the Aston flight around 10 ish and that was a story in itself! Having returned from breakfast it felt strange stepping back on board FS. I stepped down a good foot! What the????? Looking toward the lock a CRT bloke could be seen. Both top gate paddles were up and bottom gates open! Water was disappearing from this pound at an alarming rate. We got ropes off pretty quick, could feel the boat starting to tip. An almighty heave by Ian and we managed to get into deeper water.

Somehow a hand signal got through to that guy to get the lock ready. This he did but so much water had been lost that FS bounced over something big and at least half the length of the boat. Ian reversed and FS bounced off but then, for heaven’s sake, he didn't turn the tiller far enough to the left as he went forward and we bounce over that same obstruction again! Somehow we got into the lock and coasted over the cill. An explanation was forthcoming. The next pound was low and so he decided to run water down. Did he think about us moored boats? I very much doubt it! Anyway trying to get FS out of that lock was hard work, something didn't feel quite right and the tiller felt really light. A horrible clunking sound was heard which appeared worse when going slow and slow was my only option as travelling along that second pound, it was obvious why that CRT guy had run water down. Thankfully Ian had gone ahead to get it ready, I managed to coast in again and the gate was shut behind me...phew!

That noise and the fact we now have a severe tiller wobble has worried Ian. I'm wondering if we have damaged the skeg or even the rudder. We may have to find a dockyard to dry dock her, I don't even think 'my man that can' can sort this out, unless of course, amongst his many talents, he can breathe underwater!

Cuckoo Wharf used to have a facilities service point. Three boats moored there and a notice that said permit holders only.

Now called UC OO F 😉

A lovely chap came out of his boat and asked if he could help. Apparently notices are still showing boaters facilities. Only one of the three taps worked and the working one, well...the trickle that came out reminded me of certain gentleman problems! The hose went in the tank and then we waited. The gauge at the start showed 60 percent. An hour later the gauge had only risen to 70 percent! And worse of all, the contents of our cassette was emptied down the elsan but could not be flushed away or even swilled out! So the question we ask ourselves is-Are these still CRT facilities? You would have thought the guy we spoke to would know but it turned out he had seen an empty mooring spot yesterday and decided to take it!

With a boat just leaving the top lock at Minworth we assumed all the locks would be with us. Unfortunately the top lock had dropped by several feet. Leakage through the bottom gates meant Ian struggled to equalise the water and a humungous effort was required to move the gate. I also had more problems with the tiller. This time I was convinced something had been picked up around the prop. I was right! We stopped after descending the lock to the Minworth service's. It looked derelict, all locked up but the water tap could be opened and this still worked. Finally we could fill the water tank. The elsan is still usable too, the door is at the end of the building, our cassette could be flushed clean at last.

The Minworth Facilities

A very ripped jacket.

We stopped not long after descending the last lock.We were both knackered, Ian more so than me. Not sure if we will move tomorrow. We have loads of time to get to where our son will collect Toffee on Friday. Yep she will be leaving us even though we said she could stay longer. Oh well, we have her again in October, something to look forward too.