Fazeley to Alvecote

Whilst moored at Fazeley we had a couple of visitors, first on 27th August Les and Mea made their way by car from Hinckley to see us. It has been a while since we last saw them when they were over from Thailand last year. It was lovely to see them both again and wish them luck and happiness whatever they decide to do in future.

The next day James was setting up his lathe on the back deck when I noticed a boat approaching the services opposite, nothing unusual there, but this time it looked vaguely familiar it wasn't until it got closer and I could read the name on the side I realised it was Ian and Irene on Free Spirit, I shouted across if they had time to stop for coffee, I knew they were on a bit of a mission to get to Milton Keynes (Irene keeps her blog updated). As there wasn't space nearby they moored alongside us and hopped in. Irene had said they weren't expecting to see us there - that will teach me to keep the blog updated!!  Really nice to catch up again and its amazing how quickly time goes.

Friday 29th saw us at yet another Enterprise branch office to hire a car to visit Mum near Reading. We arrived with her just after 6:30pm after a journey of various hold ups and accidents, you certainly forget the real world when you live afloat. On Saturday we headed into Reading where after a walk around the Oracle shopping centre we enjoyed a drink and lunch sat watching the the boats through the narrow section on the Kennet and Avon. On Sunday Lyn visited and we all went to the Cunning Man at Burghfield, the next village along from Mum, where again we got our canal fix and had a wander along the Kennet and Avon, stopped for a drink in the Cunning Man and then onto the Hatch Gate Inn for a lunchtime all you can eat Indian Buffet. Monday saw us whizzing back up various motorways to drop the car back at Tamworth and back to LJ at Fazeley.

Tuesday we wandered into Tamworth, I still think it's a great town, it was market day and the place was buzzing, the castle grounds and park right by the town centre are still really well looked after.

Wednesday it was time to move on our seven days at Fazeley were over and we had a call that the inverter and charger were ready to pick up, so we moved back to the aqueduct which is the closest access to the road to collect it. Sellweb is the company that did the repairs and they were brilliant. I thought our inverter would be beyond repair and a new one needed, but they managed to save it for a cost of £170 plus VAT instead of at least £1200 for a new one and they give a 12 month warranty. They explained to us that we were indeed very lucky not only to have the inverter mended but also to still have a boat! The inverter had suffered a serious melt down caused by the supply cable inside the unit becoming loose and causing excessive heat. The guy at Sellweb explained that he hadn't seen one that had survived this kind of melt down and they normally result in a fire, so maybe someone is looking out for us!

Once back at LJ we continued on through the two Glascote locks - again, and moored up opposite a much quieter Alvecote Marina, where the following day James re-fitted the charger and inverter, so all is good again on the 240 electrical front.

Unfortunately I haven't been very organised with taking photos, so this blog is seriously lacking them!!

The new housing at Fazeley Junction is coming on at last

Moored at Alvecote

3.75 miles and 2 locks

Total 422 miles and 350 locks