Insurance Renewal

It’s once again time to renew Waiouru’s insurance.  This is the third time we’ve had to do the annual renewal but Waiouru has been in the water less than a week!   Work that out?????

We are again renewing with Towergate Mardon and remain very satisfied with their level of service.  The payment can be made by phone and we will also change the method of contact from post to email as we will shortly (optimism mode on) be continuously cruising and not have a postal address.

Being Sunday the morning started with a telephone call back to Perth, WA for my weekly chat with my mother.  Then it was time for breakfast (healthy porridge) before donning the walking kit and heading off on a 21km circuit to the North of Aldermaston Wharf.  A grey day and very damp underfoot.  It’s now apparent that avoiding Bridal Paths in spring and autumn is a good strategy as they tend to be very cut up and muddy after all the equine traffic.  Pheasants must be out of season because they are both numerous and very cheeky.  Much of the walk was over old ground but at one stage I exited from a footpath to discover a quaint roadside property and one of those quintessential rural English churches that seem to be very prolific around the area.

The home is hard against the road with very little room on the opposite side.  One assumes it dates back to a time when the traffic consisted of horse and dray.  This plaque was mounted on the wall.

More than 100 years prior to England annexing New Zealand.  Behind it was the local church.

A service was underway and I counted about a dozen cars parked outside.  It must be hard to keep the church operating with such a small congregation?

Back at the boat it was time for a necessary shower to warm up followed by a late lunch.  Then it was off to the workshop to give all the cratch timber components a second coat of ‘Impreg’ so Richard can continue tomorrow. 

I’ve been wanting to cover the bow and stern fender chains to protect the paintwork and had purchased some foam insulation tubing at B&Q.  Paul (local boater) informed me the foam will probably fall to pieces and he is likely to be right.  However in the absence of being able to find anything better I fitted it to the stern fender this afternoon and secured it with cable ties.

We will just have to keep our eyes open for something more suitable.  Last task for the day was to fill the water tank.  Tonight I must find time to read the instructions for calibrating the fuel gauges.  The process requires a bicycle pump which we purchased from Halfords yesterday.  Jan has a chicken in the slow cooker which has been going all day and filling Waiouru with delicious smells.  No prize for guessing what’s for dinner!