Sunrise on a great week's cruise

I had fully intended to write about our recent cruise at the end of each day, but even with the dongle on a tripod on the cabin top we found hardly any signal wherever we tied up. So here's the first episode, written back at home, on my usual computer with a good, stable broadband connection.

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago I took some photos of Tattenhall Marina the night we arrived.




They don't do justice to the scene: there are lights on jetties all over the place, mostly only just above the water. The emptiness of the marina - it opened only six months ago - means that there are few boats to obscure the lights. The effect is of a vast sea of pinpricks of light, as if the sky, with ultra-bright stars, has fallen in the water. A night-time aerial photo is what's needed, but I couldn't get high enough. Perhaps I could get a shot from the canal bridge next time.

We were up the next morning early enough to witness the sunrise.


Just before we left our mooring the engineer came up and told us that he was reasonably confident that the overheating problem had been fixed (Good!). Apparently the head gasket had been incorrectly installed - upside down or back-to-front or something - and it had now been put in properly. As a test the engine had been run on load at 2000 rpm for two hours without overheating. We were to "keep an eye on it" during our cruise. No need to worry: I would be checking the temperature gauge constantly!

We got under way at 0910, heading east on the Shropshire Union Canal.