So as promised last week, we’ll give a tour of the outside of “Life in Slow Motion”, starting with the front ….. pointy end ….. bow.
The headlight and gas locker are right at the front.
Then a cratch cover, inside is a couple of lockers, a good place to keep beer cold, oh and fruit & veg.
Above the lounge is the chimney, the smokeless fuel store for the burner and a roof box
Followed by the solar panel
The bikes, after taking off a pedal and the front wheel.
The rear, stern, with a couple of stools, just at the wrong height for Nic, the rudder and access to the inside.
The view from the stern
The Saga of the van continues…..
We booked it in to Allen Ford in Coventry on Thursday 1 April, after it developed a similar fault to the one we had before we left the island, so we moved the boat to Coventry Basin, so Rog could get the train back to Rugby, where the van has been stored, and bring it back to the garage. Mission accomplished on Wednesday, dropped the van off.
So Thursday got the call from the garage, they couldn’t find anything wrong but reconfigured the software and all should be good. So return journey, drive the van back to Rugby… etc. However, about 8 miles from the garage, same problem if not a worse loss of power, so ring the garage … ended up with the AA, who reset the fuel injector twice on the drive back to the garage whilst following me to make sure it got there. Final reset failed and he decided to tow me the last three miles. Bear in mind our van is a long wheel base, high top ford transit and the AA van was a short wheeled based, standard top, VW transported, so we looked a little strange J. But we got there! (April fool anyone!)
The garage can’t do anything for at least three weeks, so have agreed with them that we are not in a rush for the van and they have agreed to keep it until they can do the work. Result – free parking for the Van J
Actual Canal update
We moved for water and sanitation to Hawksbury Junction (aka Sutton Stop), where the Oxford Canal meets the Coventry Canal, and no surprises (see van saga!) that we then went in to Coventry, moored for 3 nights and returned back up the Coventry Canal to just north of Sutton Stop.
Enjoyed a couple of good walks around the city of Coventry, including the cathedral and the medieval buildings of Spon street. Found a couple of great food shops right next to our mooring, one Portuguese and one Baltic. Excellent Chorizo sandwiches with Portuguese Beers went down well after the van delivery.
In Coventry, we also had the adventure of going to a launderette for the first time in about 30 years (Nic) first time ever (Rog)! Lovely chat with the owner who says his business is 2/3 down post Covid…..where are the people of Coventry getting their clothes cleaned ?!
Stopping at Sutton stop for lunch /sanitation we witnessed the unfolding drama of a police chase with helicopter of a couple of scooters, including one down the canal towpath, narrowly avoiding walkers. What happened to life in slow motion !
If you would like to see our daily photos check out Instagram/travurple.
Happy Easter 🐣
| This Week | Total | |
| Locks | 1 – hardly worth it, it drops about 6 inchs | 4 |
| Miles Cruised (approx.) | 17 | 26 |
Travurple 