Big Day

I could not post yesterday as things do not always go to plan!

On Tuesday we did go and do the PUMP OUT. Quite excited by the prospect we slipped away from our mooring before 8am and settled on the water point above the lock. Filling did not take as long as usual but the crew managed breakfast while we were there. Thence to the winding hole to turn and return to the mooring opposite the facilities below the lock at 9.20am. From here The Best Mate accompanied our son to the Spice Ball Leisure Centre to take part in "Mixed leisure" - badminton.

It was now 10.30 so I texted Nene Pilot to tell him where I was. I got a call in return informing me that our moorings had been enclosed in blue and white tape and had become a crime scene. A person had been found floating in the canal!

I went up to the moorings and spoke to the CPO who was taking names and information. She let me go on board Nene Pilot and they allowed us to move toward town which was away from the place of discovery. As we went along two CID officers passed us on the tow path. They did not give anything away as to the circumstances. The CPOs stopped Grey Hare and pulled them over onto my mooring to prevent their progress toward the turning point. "£25 a night" I quipped. "Put it on the police bill", they replied.

We turned Nene Pilot and then returned to the facilities to get on with the business of the day. The pump that they use is a petrol powered 2" water pump that was brought from ALDI. The hoses have seen some service and there were some leaks on the suction side that needed taping up to enable the pump to be effective and lift the waste water out if the tank.

However we did Nene Pilot first and I am glad we did. We sorted a lot of teething problems out on her and I got a good idea of what was needed when it came to our turn. Once it was pumping, the pump did its job. Getting it going was a little bit of a problem and priming was essential. One lesson that needed to be learned was not to remove the priming plug when the discharge pipe is full!

We completed our task and we worked up the lock to moor outside General Foods where we managed to beat last orders on the food at 2pm! The whole process had taken 4.1/2 hours. Lunch was welcome.

Nene Pilot called with the good news that the person found in the canal was alive and in hospital.