Scooby Dooby Do & Gone Fishing

I must thank blog reader Peter Lee for leaving a comment on our post titled “To Droitwich”.  He included a link <here> which provided more detail on the history of that low culvert we passed through on our way into Droitwich.  I won’t replicate the information.  If you are interested then please click on the link.

Today we needed to make a decision on where to have lunch.  Droitwich has plenty of pubs to choose from but the two nearest were the Railway Inn

and The Gardeners Arms.

We chose the latter which may not have been the best decision we’ve made.  The staff were friendly but we were slightly put off when told on arrival at 12.30 that they may have finished serving food.  They did manage to produce a roast beef for Jan whilst I had the pork.  Neither of us were very impressed with the food.  More annoying was the live music. It was the same type of music that we heard in the Malt House at Birmingham. We call it scooby dooby do music because every tune seems to be the same.  But then neither of us particularly like jazz or country and western music.

Our route back to Waiouru took us through Vines Park and we were amused to observe two hire boats had chosen excellent moorings in the park.

Yes, they both chose to moor for the day on the bridge landings!

Our 48 hours in Netherwich Basin had almost expired so we filled the water tank and headed toward Hawford Junction.  There was a rather attractive scene at Salwarpe Bridge with the sunlight streaming through the trees.

What didn’t go so well was the passage through the bridge hole. Something serious decided to attack the propeller and stall the engine.  With no ability to reverse the bow went into the trees on the bend.

I like the design of the Wilson-Tyler weed hatch.  It’s a separate compartment from the engine bay which eliminates the risk of a loose weed hatch cover flooding the engine bay and potentially sinking the boat.  However it does mean I have to get my head and shoulders down the hatch to reach the propeller.  Groping around in the murky water I could feel a hard ball of entwined plastic, nylon and rubber tread.  A combination of brute force and the use of the breadknife enabled me to removed a portion of the objects fouling the propeller.  The portion I removed included a waterproof jacket, nylon tracksuit trousers and part of a bike tyre.

I was in the process of attempting to pull the greater portion of the unwanted bundle through the weed hatch when I discovered it was too big to fit through the hatch.  Eventually my cold hands lost their grip and the bulk of the bundle slipped back into the murky depths where it may well attack another boater.

The canal banks are mostly reed beds lined along the length of the Droitwich and we couldn’t see anywhere to moor.  Eventually we reached Ladywood Top Lock, the first of six in the flight.  As we were leaving the lock a passing boater informed Jan there was a boat behind.  This seemed like a good opportunity to share the locks and we waited at the second lock for the ABC hire boat to catch up and share locking duties.  They were an experienced crew having hired on six previous occasions.

The day ended above Hawford Top Lock.  Jan is happy, we have a DTV signal.  I have applied 2 coats of primer, two undercoats and one top coat to the satellite dome mounts on the cabin roof. Another two top coats and I’ll be able to refit the dome.