We limp into Stone

Monday: 0 miles, 1 tank clean
Tuesday: 9 miles, 4 locks and 4 breakdowns
Wednesday: half mile, 1 breakdown

Bank holiday Monday was carnage and mayhem at the mooring in Great Haywood. At one point 14 boats were waiting in the queue to go up the lock! We visited Shugborough Hall, seat of the Earls of Litchfield, which has been a bit neglected but is being brought back to scratch by the National Trust.

Shugborough from the back

The garden was lovely and full of people! 

We also got our fuel cleaned, as per the recommendation after our breakdown in Braunston. Tankbusters came with a machine which sucked fuel out, round its filters and back in again. We knew there would be a lot of stuff in there and indeed there was. The guy who had the boat before us hadn't kept much fuel in the tank and therefore lots of condensation built up and it got diesel bug (a sort of fungus that lives in the water that sits on the bottom under the diesel). Although we put stuff in that killed it and keep the tank filled now, there was lots of the dead bug still in the tank.

Dead diesel bug collected on one of the filters.

However, after 4 hours they seemed happy that the job was done and off they went. We enjoyed the rest of the day and set off in the morning in good spirits, heading for Stone and dinner in the Star Inn (local of Terry Darlington, author of the Narrow Dog books which we both like).

The day, however, did not go as planned. The engine cut out 4 times and each time we had to moor and blow debris out of the pipe from the tank to the filter. Filters were changed and everything done we could think of, but it would go for a while and then stop again.

We got very used to seeing Robin like this. 

Then, to add insult to injury, nb Champagne Charlie was across the canal and we had to pull up next to a boat moored behind it and get it back in again. Fortunately, our engine didn't cut out while we were undertaking this manoeuvre but it was a faff and took yet more time.

Champagne Charlie back in place

Our engine cut out for the 4th time as we entered the lock on the approach to Stone. We roped it through the lock and managed to get it going again long enough to get to near the moorings. There were no spaces for us so we just pulled up and put pins in. It was almost 8pm and we were tired and fed up. After walking Scooby, Robin cycled into town and bought fish and chips back to the boat.

In the morning we motored half a mile to the, now vacant, 48 hour moorings beneath the lock and Star Inn. We nipped into town to Morrisons and topped up the booze cupboard. That done we decided to have a go and see whether the last bit of work Robin had done to clear the pipes and filters had worked and set off hopefully again. However, the engine cut out before we managed to actually get into the lock and we retreated back to the moorings. Calls to the Canal and River Rescue and Tankbusters were made and eventually Tankbusters agreed to come back and sort it out on Friday. It appears that the fuel hasn't been thoroughly cleaned but has been stirred up and the debris that has been left keeps blocking up the fuel inlet pipes and filters. So without much faith we wait to see if it can be sorted on Friday and in the meantime our dinner in the Star Inn is booked for tonight instead.