A Few Days Pass

It's been a busy few days with little time for blogging I'm afraid so I shall attempt to bring you all up to speed with all the events so far.

Did I mention the problems with John's boat? I cannot find any reference so forgive me if I am repeating myself. I think I wanted to become more acquainted with the technicalities before publishing!

John's boat does not have gas on board and therefore uses only electricity for domestic power. To accomplish this a generator is combined with the engine which loads a huge bank of batteries.

One of the bearings on the driveshaft broke with a very load bang....fortunately with John at the controls so he could switch off immediately thus preventing any further damage to the driveshaft.

So, contact with Beta Marine and Steve Lacey resulted in the part being ordered and Steve waiting to bring said parts down when they duly arrived. This would take a couple of days.

Also we heard that another lock gate was damaged and repairs could take up to 2 weeks. This was lock gate 20, part of the system at Seend which is before Devizes.

So there was no rush!!

John could still cruise but was using more electricity on board than the engine could generate. The broken generator had been disconnected.

We moored in Bradford on Avon for a couple of nights which is a lovely medieval town resembling a smaller version of Bath

The main bridge over the river is 14th century with a lock-up in the middle of it. Also referred to as a chapel so I don't know what the story is there.

Just under the bridge, by the Swan pub this delightful family

The Saxon Church in Bradford...beautifully restored

The Tithe Barn which is 14th century. It is 168 feet long with an amazing cruck roof

And some requested pictures
of Tara at a rare moment when she was standing
still!

She is a very sociable dog and makes sure
that she meets absolutely everyone!











With John struggling to get sufficient electricity and having to run the engine to generate power, we booked into Hilperton Marina with electric hookup and this would also be a suitable place for Steve to work on the boat