Bodymoor Heath to Fazeley

A boaters nightmare, we were greeted with heavy rain and winds this morning. The forecast says it will brighten-up later this morning so we will need to be patient. Has my early night replenished my batteries? It is too soon to say. Mentally I am tickety- boo, it was my physical condition needing replenishment, but I have had little opportunity to test it yet.

By mid-afternoon there was little improvement so we have opted to stay put. I returned to bed after breakfast and got up for lunch, it's a tough life this retirement. Those Tardebigge locks and subsequent Birmingham locks obviously took their toll. Yesterday we cleared another 8 locks and have another 3 to get through before a long cruising section, maybe tomorrow? The Birmingham & Fazeley appears to be entering a pleasant countryside location from here on, which will make a pleasant change from suburbia and industrial units over recent days.

Our old electrical problems have mysteriously returned, with insufficient power left in the batteries to trigger the central heating boiler into life in the mornings, however long we have cruised for during the day. Where possible we try to run the engine for half an hour before retiring to bed at night, which seems to overcome the problem but this is not always convenient if moored close to another boat. Hence our preference to moor alone in the middle of nowhere ( very anti-social but at least we wake with warm extremities ) The logical conclusion is to let MCC investigate under warranty, but as their electrical knowledge you could fit on a post-it note we have little confidence in their conclusion, if any.  Frustrating and annoying are under- statements.