by Eve Fausset

It was dark by the time we reached the Marina but there was Rodbaston shining in the glow of the light from the lamp on the pub side mooring so we took our car round to the pub car park for ease of unloading. The boat was looking lovely and we were thrilled to find that the stove was laid all ready to go - thank you Kelvin and Aly for that kind thought. Alan (not Matthews, but the one who looks after the marina) insisted on helping Martin with the unloading and showed us the controls etc. It was just as well as we could not get the central heating to work. The fault was the header tank which is in the boiler cupboard above the boiler. The water level was too low so Alan had to put in a good jugful before the heating would circulate. However the tap water would not get hot so Alan went away to do some research and came back with the answer which was to alter the position of the lever under the sink. Unfortunately this did not work either, no matter where we put the lever. The only hot water we could get was after cruising for a while. Just running the engine while moored did not heat the water. We put all this in the end of trip report and also sent Allen Matthews an e-mail when we got home so we hope that the problem has now been solved.

We set off on Saturday morning and headed for Calcutt. It was nice to be back on the Grand Union as we had not been there for 4 years but not much had changed including many old wrecks still moored but with current licences so someone must love them. The new marina at Ventnor Farm has grown since we last saw it. Calcutt was looking very smart as usual although very quiet. I took the boat through my first lock with ease, thank goodness, although I find the steering stiff, my view over the bow is considerably better than with a cruiser end.

We moored just before Folly Bridge as we were meeting our daughter Jane, son-in-law Ron and grandson Jamie on Sunday. They arrived and we all had lunch at the Folly Pie Pub which we know of old and can thoroughly recommend. We met a chap in the pub who worked at Calcutt and he gave us a booklet, 'The Remorseful Day', written by Tim Coghlan who owns Braunston Marina, about Anthony Ernest Finch who is a serial narrowboat burglar. We decided to go up the Napton Flight and that appeared to be a signal for the heavens to open and the three 'boys' got soaked. Jane and I wisely attended to hot tea making inside. The rain stopped and Martin and Ron spent ages with Ron's GPS gadget working out the speed of the boat (very complicated maths!) when the whine from the prop shaft was at its worst. We returned to Folly Bridge as they had to get home again that night so we moored back at the same mooring.

Monday was a gorgeous day so Martin cleaned the brasses and cleaned the windows while I took some photographs. We cruised gently back through Calcutt and when I went into the shop there was a police 'Wanted' poster about Anthony Ernest Finch as he is on the run again so beware everyone. We left that booklet on the boat for all to read.

We got back to our marina just as it was getting dark and we were very pleased to see the main mooring empty so we tied up there. We really enjoyed our short trip and look forward to our next one. As we have already sent you all a long e-mail about the various points that we noted I won't repeat them here. Happy cruising to everyone in 2004.