Thursday 3rd January 2008
Location: Cropredy, Oxfordshire, Oxford Canal
Today: 4 miles, 4 locks. Total distance: 990 miles. Total locks: 646
Cold day. Very poor t-mobile gprs reception here.
After a fairly poor night sleep (not complaining as we expected this when we moored there) we were up early and off to Tesco and B&Q to do some shopping.
I wanted some silicone sealant from B&Q to re-seal around the base of the shower tray. The last time I sealed it a few months back I used an own brand make and it hasn’t stuck very well. It looked very thin and runny when I was applying it. There is a very slight leak and water from the shower is causing the wood on the floor of the airing cupboard to become a little bit damp.
Talking of damp, we had the bed to bits last weekend as we store the spare bedding under it. When we opened it up to get the bedding out for Lindsay’s visit, we found everything to be quite damp. The bedding has stopped any flow of air under the bed which is probably the cause of the dampness. Also, the base of the bed is in effect a totally sealed box so even without all of the bedding under there, there would still be no flow of air. When I get 5 minutes I will drill some air holes in the base. Two of the duvet covers had to go in the bin as they were so damp. There is now nothing under the bed so that when I drill the holes, air will have a chance to circulate.
Got back to the boat at around 10:00, pulled the pins straight away and headed for a quieter spot.
Moored up at Cropredy at around 14:00 just as the sleet was beginning to fall – it didn’t come to anything and the cold snap that had been forecast didn’t happen.
We picked up quite a bit of windfall on the way up from Banbury so it was out with the chainsaw in the afternoon. We are now well stocked up with logs with little room left on the roof for any more.
Friday 4th
Had a great night sleep in this lovely quiet mooring spot.
Got the hole saw out today and drilled a number of two inch holes in the base of the bed. I will cover the holes with some brass ventilation grills when I find some. Hopefully the added ventilation will help cure the dampness under the bed??
The weather has been damp and miserable all day today and the poor weather has reduced the t-mobile reception to almost nill. Have had to go outside to get any sort signal at all.
Saturday 5th
Walked back to the village to pick up the papers etc.
Bought some bread from the shop. It is freshly baked on the premises and is lovely. We always buy their bread when we are in the area.
Removed all of the old silicone sealant from around the shower tray. Dried it all out with a heat gun then re-sealed. Fingers crossed that there will be no more leaks.
Better mobile reception today due to the much better weather.
Current mooring - nice big pile of logs on the roof again
Saturday 5th - blue skies!! What a lovely location this is.
Shower after re-sealing
Vent holes in base of bed, a few more at the other side - need grills to cover over
Bed. The board in the doorway is to keep the dogs out of the bedroom.
Material Copyright © 2007 Ernie Williams
This page last modified on:
24 January, 2008 3:47 PM
