A short hop.....

.....and more painting.

Because I’d wanted to moor up conveniently for my visitors the position was not what I normally would have chosen, the railway runs alongside the canal in this area and where I was moored it ran very close and very loudly! On Tuesday I did a quick shop and decided to head off to a better position, I needed a couple of bits from a chandlers so I headed for Whilton Marina, only a short distance about 3½ miles and it would set me up for the next stage of my current trip. 

Here’s a few pictures of this short trip.

This is Jules Fules other pair Southern Cross and butty,
they service the north section of the GU and the Coventry canal.

The old fella is still here, he's another much photographed 'attraction'?

I stopped some distance away from the lock and marina  rather than being too close, where there were spaces, I am now sandwiched between the railway and the M1 but it isn’t as bad as it sounds.

Current Mooring:

The marina and chandlers is just this side of the lock.

 Once settled I started on the next painting job, which is the insides of the two bow lockers, because of the lack of space I decided to do them one at a time, not efficient but  more convenient.

Having removed all the loose and flaking paint and all the loose rust I treated the area with Fertan, which is a rust convertor and another one I haven’t tried yet, time will tell!

A before picture

Yesterday was a washout so I walked up to the Chandlers and bought a couple of bits including a piling pin, also known as a nappy pin ‘cos they look a bit like one.

I attached it to some heavy nylon rope that I had found in the locker by forming and eye around the pin, I then measured the distance between the bow and the piling at 45degrees and formed another eye on the other end.

This is the result in position.

The idea is if I am mooring on pilings the rope will already be on the bow cleat and I just need to drop the pin down behind the piling (where it hooks onto it) and then pull the boat back until the boat is snug against the piling, and then chain up at the stern, it should be quicker and easier than tying up each time, and apart from that it gave me something to do for an hour or two!

This morning I washed off the residue from the Fertan treatment, as per the instructions, and primed inside the locker.

I will probably move on tomorrow.