Time off for boat maintenance then on to Aston

Yesterday evening we enjoyed  a visit to the nearby Dragon pub on the village green overlooking the canal. The small brewery beer was very enjoyable as was the food and the service was fast and efficient although the Dragon was very busy - we can recommend the place to anyone in the area.

Another cool and cloudy start to Tuesday.  As Willington provides the final chance to shop before we go into Nottingham in 2 days time Denise went to the local small Coop to stock up on basics.  We  left our mooring at 9:15 and travelled the short distance to Mercia Marina to buy a new set of batteries for the boat.

Densie has 4 large (heavier than normal car batteries) batteries with sufficient capacity to supply all the electricity needed for the fridge, lights, water pump etc for a day or two.   They are recharged each day by the engine in 2-3 hours.  This type of use can put significant strain on lead acid batteries which may only last perhaps 3 years if care isnt taken to limit the amount of current drawn before recharging.  Our current set are 4 years old and so we thought it prudent to change them.

The new batteries took us about an hour and a half to install.  This was very hard work as each battery is about as heavy as one would want to lift without straining ones back and their position on the boat does not allow easy access.  Anyway the job was done without damage to the batteries, the boat or us.  Then we moved over to the pumpout to empty our waste tank.

So 2 hours after entering the marina we were on our way again, now in warm sunny weather.  In this final section of the Trent & Mersey there are a series of deep locks of sufficient width to take two narrowboats side by side.  At the other end of the canal there are also some double width locks.  I have read that when theT&M was proposed in the 1760's it was intended that the whole canal should be double width, but shortly after starting construction at both ends the finance was found to be inadequate.

Entering Swarkestone Lock

In Swarkestone Lock waiting for the gates to be opened

After descending 3 locks we have moored for the night out in the coutryside just above Aston Lock.

Today: 9.2 miles, 3 locks,4.5 hours cruising time