Thursday, May 15, 2014

A day at Dunham

Tescoman (although it turned out to be Tescowoman) duly arrived yesterday morning, so, with larder replenished we pulled back and did the same for the water tank before heading off. Not so far, we intended to moor near Dunham Massey.

Pulling off the water point.SAM_9583

The local coot will have to find someone else to bum bread off…SAM_9584

Moored up again, less than a mile further on.SAM_9588

I had a few minor jobs to get on with, annoyingly mostly inside on such a beautiful afternoon.
One of these tasks was to remove the two small brass cleats I’d fitted on the gunwale either side of the well deck just behind the cratch board. These were intended for Mags to use when we in locks with lock-keepers, requiring ropes at both ends. They gave her something to take the rope around, reducing the strain on her arms.
But more and more I found them useful for mooring, a lot easier and safer than climbing out onto the fore-end. And more sympathetic to the paint, as well.
They were never intended for this and have distorted with the strain of keeping the boat secure. So I bought a couple of substantial steel ones in Midland Chandlers the other day as replacements.

New cleats fitted today
SAM_9606
They may look a bit numb, but they’ll do the job splendidly.

Apart from finishing that job today I’ve dropped the secondary glazing panels from the windows, and got them cleaned and stashed ready for next year. Then I set to to give the frames and inside of the windows a good cleaning.

Mags has giving me a good trim, “down to the wood”, and I attacked my beard, so I now look presentable again. 

With me done it was Meg’s turn, we had a good hour alternately playing ball and grooming. Of course, she had to have a good rolling session when I took her out this evening…

I had my last training run this morning, all set for the Manchester 10k on Sunday. So it’s into Castlefield Basin in Manchester for us tomorrow. All being well we’ll be having visitors as well on Sunday.

We had a pretty spectacular sunset and moonrise last night, I tried to get some pictures, trying various camera settings, but didn’t do too well..

Sunset sky
SAM_9601















Moonrise
SAM_9600


Locks 0, miles 1

1 comment:

Carol said...

We love that mooring at Dunham Massey. Good luck on Sunday and give Margaret a big hug from us. We miss you both.