Re Engined and moblile

Hello again to anyone who reads this blog. Having been towed into Shepperton Marina 7 weeks ago I am pleased to say that the broken engine has now been fully stripped, deep cleaned, rebuilt and finally installed on Friday 20 Jun.  For the technically minded the following parts were replaced:

Crankshaft and bearings, one valve, valve stem and pushrod and new piston rings.  The head was deep cleaned and the bores were polished.  

Before

After

As it was late afternoon when we completed the installation I limited my first trip to a half mile cruise out of the marina and over the river to the pub opposite to treat myself to dinner.  Quite a growth of weed had built up on the hull while I've been stationary and the local swans treat it as mobile salad bar. While I'm happy for them to remove it the constant "Tap, Tap Tap" of beaks on hull can be annoying. 

Swan Salad Bar

On saturday I headed off around 7am to miss the midday sun and cruised very gently for a couple of hours to Staines where I refilled the larder and had a long overdue haircut.  By mid afternoon I realised that the mooring was quite noisy as it was close to a busy road and pub so I decided to continue an extra couple of miles to Runnymede. I spent the afternoon there but discovered I had no mobile phone signal and so I spent the early evening having a gentle cruise up to Windsor where I arrived around 8:30pm. Although very busy I managed to find a handy mooring in a nice shady spot under the trees. 

Ironically, having spent 7 weeks stranded in the marina I am no sooner on the move than I have a few days shore leave due as my brother is taking the boat for the next few days.  However, worry not I shall spend a fees days visiting an old friend who has kindly offered me a bed and I shall be back onboard by the coming weekend.

For the next couple of months I plan to retrace my steps back down the Thames to London and then gently back up the Grand Union before heading back onto the rivers of East Anglia in September.