Moored in Moore

A short walk after dinner last night enabled me to get a few photos of two of the three tunnels we cruised through today.

I was able to look into the entrance of Barnton Tunnel (523m) and could immediately see it wasn’t straight.  My assumption is these were some of the first canal tunnels to be constructed and it was a steep learning curve.

I walked the towpath over the top to the other end and couldn’t help notice that the alignment of the tunnel seemed to be down in a wide ditch.  I wonder of the canal builders first tried to excavate a cutting and perhaps hit a layer of hard rock resulting in the need for the tunnel?

There’s only a short distance between Barnton and Saltersford Tunnels (388m).  However the area is rather picturesque.  It would have made a nice mooring for Waiouru except they were all occupied.

I could hear the sound of a boat engine in Saltersford Tunnel so I waited to get a photo of it exiting.

The I followed it back to Barnton Tunnel catching it entering the tunnel.

Their passage must have been slow because I was able to take a final photo of the boat exiting the tunnel.

No, these are not fortifications   They are two of the tunnel air vents.

It was rather warm today, however the interior of Waiouru was so cool (that damned insulation) that Jan’s bread dough wouldn’t rise.  Eventually she bought it out and placed it on the rear sliding hatch. <Yummmm  Hot fresh bread for lunch>

The Trent and Mersey Canal proved to be very shallow in a couple of places.  On one occasion Waiouru developed a serious list and were weren’t even near the bank.

There was a quick stop at Midland Chandlers, Preston Brook for me to pop inside to see if I could find a solution for the rear cockpit doors.  They have been a problem ever since I oiled the hinges.  The doors now swing freely and bash me on the bum rear when steering.  Even worse; on a couple of occasions my modesty has been more than outraged when a cheek has been seriously pinched!  I don’t want to fit cup hooks because they swing and scratch the paintwork.  It looks like I might have found a solution in the Swindlers.

Spring loaded chrome clips.  I had to purchase some short stainless steel machine screws to fix them to the steel.  Another job!

We stopped for the day around 1.00pm mooring on the northern edge of Moore.  The batteries were showing 100% and Jan’s bread smelt too good to continue.

In the afternoon I started on the repairs to the bow camera wiring by replacing both defective cables.  The problem was it only resolved the problem with the fault on one of the cameras.  The rest of the afternoon was spent pulling the wiring apart tracing the break.  I should have used my head and given more thought to the problem before ripping everything apart.  The problem is the Empirbus system has made me lazy.  It’s so easy to fault find with the canbus system.  Just plug in the laptop.  But the cameras are hard wired!

In the end I found the break in the wire for the second camera right back at the monitor plug.

I’m not making excuses but I didn’t wire the monitor plug.  I probably should have and the fault might not have occurred.  The fine video wire for the second camera had come apart from the pin.

I need to somehow extract the very small brass pin from inside the plastic plug.  Using one of Jan’s sewing needles hasn’t worked.  In the end I went to Plan B….. Have a beer!  If that doesn’t work….. Have a second beer! After beer three I won’t care whether the cameras work!