please could we have a proper rest day

The plan was to stay here for the weekend and recover from two overlong and hard days and it started well.
We were pleased to have had no disturbance during the night

Geoff had an early morning walk up to Dobcross to see what the moorings were like and said they would be fine but there was no room.....so that solved the problem of whether to do the two locks to get there.....

We also contemplated moving further along here to try and get out of the trees a little, so I went on a recce with my walking stick to check the depths...it probably would have been Ok but for the extra light we would get it didn't seem worth the hassle...so we stayed another decision taken....

Then the water pump which had been auto priming itself more and more decided to go into continuous mode....well we had the new pump ready (bought at Portland Basin a few days ago but their engineer was on holiday)  and so Geoff decided to have a go at changing it.   I was very dubious about this idea as those of you who know Geoff will recall that he is not a handyman.   To be on the safe side we decided we would locate an engineer who could come out to us if it all went wrong.....this was done with the help of River Canal Rescue.   We are not covered for water pumps (unless to do with the engine) but they were very helpful and gave me a couple of numbers and we located one who would come out if necessary.

Geoff duly set to work, albeit with great trepidation on his part and on mine.   I had wanted to go away whilst he did it but was told I might be required......in the event I was...I was sent to town to see if I could purchase two of the required connectors for the electrical wires....our luck was in and the local hardware store obliged........

Eventually I was given the nod to turn the pump back one and Eureka we had water......there was a certain amount of gurgling and spluttering but this we put down to air releasing itself from the system.

The taps worked well ....for a while......and then all came to a grinding halt.......so a phone call to Dave from Bronte Boats who said had we run out of water!!   We have never run out of water so we had not considered this possibility.    We filled up 5 days ago and have done nothing out of the ordinary.  We have a water gauge which has never worked since the boat was new.   So Geoff dipped the tank and guess what......we had run out.  

Luckily there is a water point just back a bit so my reversing skills were called into account and back we went through the bridge and filled up and hey presto the taps now produce water......

We still cannot figure out how we  managed to use so much, Geoff blames the washing machine.  We cannot find any leaks anywhere but will be keeping a close eye on things.

Later he went for a long walk with Barnaby to suss out the church and pub for tomorrow and met this gentleman..

Another long walk to church tomorrow and all uphill but the pub is close by and it will be downhill all the way back.   One must look on the bright side......