Oil Leak

Wiki: A governor, or speed limiter, is a device used to measure and regulate the speed of a machine, such as an engine.

It's a good job we've been stress testing the engine on our river trails, because we've discovered that the governor is leaking. According to Steve, there are two ways of describing what's wrong. First.. "There's lateral movement on the shaft". And secondly, "That spindle arm is waving around like a prick in a bucket".

It's nothing too major, and easy enough to fix. Just a few convex/concave washers, and a new rubber ring. But it's meant we haven't been able to 'mess about on the river' for a couple of days. Upside of the problem is, now we know what a governor does. And how to tweak it. Slowly, day by day, mysterious bits of the engine are revealing their secrets to us.

Grog!

On board the HMS Arethusa in 1805, surgeon Thomas Simpson described treating crew member John Downie, who performed animal impressions in exchange for alcohol.

Simpson recorded: "He can imitate the howling of a pack of hounds, the crowing of a cock, the bellowing of a bull, cow or calf and a number of other animals. On account of these curious qualifications, he is often solicited by his shipmates to give a specimen of his talents and a glass of grog is of course the regard."

Source: Newspaper Article

NB 'Harnser'

Hi Brian & Diana.

I saw you go gliding upstream past Bourne End this morning. Forgive me not waving, but I was still stumbling around in my underpants with my first coffee of the day.

Hope your journey is a good one.
Nice weather for it.

Narrowboat Harnser's blog


Edit: Oops, Sorry. The boat that went past this morning, doesn't appear to be your one. This one was green, and you appear to be blue? But it was definitely a 'Harnser'. Do you know them ?

Free Fruit

We walked up to Wooburn Green today, and on the way, investigated the abandoned apple orchard. The trees were still fully laden with tons of fruit. We did a quick 'taste test', and discovered that they were all crisp, sweet and delicious. There were six different varieties on offer, including a purple one, which looked like a large Plum. I've not encountered it before, but apparently (according to google) it's called the 'Bloody Ploughman'. Great Taste!


Sheena asked a local woman who was gathering crab apple branches for the Church harvest festival about the history of the place. The courts have ruled that the local council can't build flats on the land (like they'd wanted to) because local people have been walking and enjoying the undeveloped land for over 20 years. An ancient by-law has saved this beautiful spot from being bulldozered.

Sumo likes foraging, and helped himself to a nice juicy apple from a low level branch. When we got back to the boat, he also ran off with, and scoffed one of my bloody ploughmen, which had rolled out of the over stuffed fruit bowl.

Sumo likes apples.

Barge vs Narrowboat

Some people insist on calling Narrowboats.. Barges.
Maybe it's a London, or a Thames thing.


Old Chap: This barge you're on, Where can I hire myself one?
Me: Err.. You can hire them from Penton Hook Marina, I think. But, (pointing at Baglady) that's a barge. This is technically a 'narrowboat'.
Old Chap: I know what I mean. Are they difficult to drive?
Me: Err.. I think you steer them. But, No. Not really.
Old Chap: Cheers.

Narrowboat wiki entry.
Barge wiki entry.

Marlow Again

Today, we dodged the rain, and ventured up to Marlow to practice manoeuvering the tight angle required to enter into the lock. The lock keeper was friendly, helpful, and smiley. Which made the whole process relatively stressless. It's still not my favourite lock, but we were in and out of it within 10 minutes. Marlow weir was 'full on', the angriest I've seen it for a while. But it didn't tug the boat over, and we negotiated it safely.

A GRP hireboat we'd shared the lock with, whizzed off and plonked themselves right in the middle of the visitor moorings beside the park. But, with Sheena holding the bow rope tight, we were able to pull off a nice pivot into a tight space we wouldn't have attempted less than a month ago.

Enjoyed the leisurely cruise back to Bourne End. Again, with the river completely to ourselves, bar a few canoeists. Tied us up safely, without bumping into Derek & Gaye's shiny boat, just before the stormfront broke.

The weather has been kind to us this week. Not a puff of wind. Not been rained on once. And we've enjoyed some beautiful sunshine, with the river as still as a pond.

24 degrees

The weather app forecasted 24 degrees, and bright sunshine all day. So, as this might be the last day of the summer, we wanted to enjoy it. Cruised ourselves down to the Cliveden islands and had a nice walk around in the woods, which are already littered with fallen leaves. A sure sign that Autumn is not very far away.

Sheena spotted a muntjac deer on the middle island. We guess it must have swum across. It seemed happy enough, snuffling about in the undergrowth.