Pigs & blue lights

The pig place turned-out to be an excellent stop-off point. In beautiful scenery with a decent pontoon and electric plug-ins, plus a general supply shop, the owners ,Sara and Dean were very helpful and friendly. Dean knows a thing or two about boats, having lived on one for several years, and offered some possible solutions to our electric problems, the most basic being an interior fitters screw fouling a cable somewhere. Around 10.00 pm all hell broke loose with the blue-lighted arrival of an ambulance and two paramedics. Having joked about needing an A&E  yesterday, fiction became fact as I suffered a huge hypo which, unusually, Lynne was unable to control, hence the 999 call and proof GPS actually works. Dean and Sara were brilliantly helpful, as were the two paramedics who dealt with me and the endless paperwork with great efficiency and humour. It was well past midnight before they departed and we went to bed, having eaten toast with marmalade and tea/coffee.

Yesterday Lynne contacted the canal and river rescue people (a sort of AA for boats) regarding advice on our electrics problem. During the phone call Lynne mentioned buying Tardis Two from MCC at Stensen. The engineer confirmed the "obnoxious woman" has banned them from the marina or immediate vicinity and so any vessel suffering breakdown requiring attention would first have to be moved to a safe haven. How famous can a pit bull get? Eat your heart out, Lassie.

Yesterday we ascertained the following battery inventory: 

Boat specification......  4 domestic.    1 starter.   1 bow thruster

MCC (Eddie)............... 6 domestic.     1 starter.   1 bow thruster

Actual..........................5 domestic.     1 starter.   1 bow thruster

We also ascertained Matt obtained an archaeological degree at Oxford university but lived on a narrowboat with a friend. Both needed a mooring site and the historic Tooleys boat yard became available for lease from Banbury museum, which Matt arranged, having produced an archaeological report on the site for the museum and the developers. It appears he is making a reasonable stab at running it successfully and knows his boat stuff. An educational success story.

We said our goodbyes and thanks to Sara and Dean for their hospitality and help during last night's blue light episode. They gave us details of overwinter mooring which we will seriously consider, providing it is within reasonable reach of Anstey. Lynne is cooking sausages from the pig place for tea.

We just came through Britain's deepest single lock at 12 feet. It looked scary from on top so I thought Lynne was brave in it. Summer rain has returned so we have moored early in the middle of nowhere and very scenic it is too. A Basil Fawlty guy with a Thai bride has moored in front of us and is currently cooking tea on a BBQ in very heavy rain. We're waiting for Manwell to serve food and drinks to them.