More repairs...

...and a trip to Norton Junction and back.

Stratford, Birmingham and breakdowns

With uncertainty over work, we had deferred a planned June holiday into August, so were more than ready for a break.  It was a pleasant journey that we've done before, although this time punctuated by a series of breakdowns and other issues. The first was a broken throttle cable that had us limping along to the next decent road access at Preston Bagot to get RCR to come with a replacement.

After some time in Stratford we decided to head into Birmingham, noticing along the way that one of the alternators wasn't producing the voltage it should, and the domestic battery bank was suffering as a result. So we spent a day in Birmingham trying to get help to fix it, and eventually taking it off and getting it fixed in a place in Smethwick.

Our next misadventure was going firmly aground at Kings Norton junction, taking the joint efforts of two passing boats to pull us clear again.  It was beginning to feel as though it was merely a question of what would break next, but we had a trouble free day to reach the top of Lapworth locks.  Next morning though, the engine died just after setting off, so another call to RCR.  By the time they arrived I had found the problem, a broken wire to the fuel pump.  Of course these pumps are no longer made, so several hours were consumed locating a substitute.

 It was still a very enjoyable holiday, despite the setbacks.