Wonders Of The Weed Hatch

Ali is in shock, ...  after waving to a couple on their boat as they passed us, ( we had met  and shared a few locks with them further back down the G U, )  later we walked past their now moored boat at the lock in front of us, with it was an ambulance, .... the lady lockmaster had fallen in the lock after her windlass had slipped, she's ok thankfully, shock and wet clothes plus a few bumps, .....  me thinks Ali will be being very careful when she works the lock tomorrow !

We have decided to stay here in Cosgrove a day, it's a nice spot, we  had a wander around a large waterside mobile home park, and had a look at some of the units they have for sale, very posh, but not for us.
It is a busy place, the dogs are getting some freedom and good walks. We have been doing some small jobs aboard the boat, things we tend to forget when on the move a lot, such as ordering filters for the vac and putting up some wall plaques recently acquired on our travels,   all exiting stuff !

BOAT SPOT       The Weed Hatch

We have covered most of the boat over the months, we missed the weed hatch mainly because we only deal with it when there is a problem with something stuck round the propeller, and taking photos is low on the list of priority's while trying to get the boat moving again. The weed hatch is situated in the engine 'ole at the stern above the prop, it should be known as the plastic sack 'ole  really, for that's what is normally tightly wrapped around the prop, so lets see what we have got today.

This is what it looks like normally, unscrew the T bolt on top to open

Like so

We now have a hole in the bottom of the boat to allow some lucky person access to the prop

The bit that we must remember to replace, and replace properly, if we wish to continue floating, for this reason boat hires do not normally inform you of it's existence.... so we did't tell you, OK ! 

Baz has a good old root around, no bag this time but plenty of wire!

Today's haul, wish people would not use the cut as a builder's skip !!

Cosgrove

As we said we had a walk around the village

Saw these lovely examples of hanging baskets, went in to complement them on the display. And guess what? It was a pub ! well it would be rude to walk straight out.......wouldn't it ?

The old horse tunnel under the canal

We had trouble getting the dogs through .......a horse must have been fun !

A view from our side hatch, of what could be a lovely boat 

A post script to 'the lost doormat' tale from the other day - Baz being the frugal type was not happy that our £3 mat lay at the bottom of the marina mooring so went fishing in the murky depths and - you guessed it! - was successful in retrieving it from it's watery grave. Hurrah, perhaps the money saved will buy a pint at the very pleasant 'Barley Mow' hostelry later today.......

Bye for now,

Baz and Ali.