Friday 17 June 2016

The grave matter of Springwood Haven; bilge pump replaced

As we were coming along the Coventry Canal a week ago I was surprised to see a gravestone by the water's edge.

Only it wasn't a gravestone. It was a sign advertising Sringwood Haven, the boatyard a little further on.

I suppose it worked in that it got my attention, but it does seem rather morbid.

In other news, our postal votes still have not turned up in Rugeley. We're getting concerned that we'll miss out on having our say about Europe. We couldn't even go home to vote if we wanted to, as once a postal vote has been issued you cannot vote in person.

And I have succeeded in replacing the bilge pump. I took the opportunity to clean the dusty, rusty dirty bottom of the sump and give it a dose of Fertan. The new pump has a different method of detecting water than the old one. The original pump has an integral mechanical float switch. The replacement, a Rule-Mate RM750A, has "state-of-the-art water sensing technology". This probably means an electronic switch - hall effect? - and a relay. I expect it draws a small amount of current all the time now, which the old one didn't. And that's from the engine battery. Oh well. No photo as I didn't think of it until after I'd replaced the deck boards.

And finally ... it didn't rain today! It tried, at about 1700, but it came to nothing. It got a bit chilly this evening, so much so that a neighbouring boat has lit its stove! Too warm on Jubilee for that.

I really hope our votes appear tomorrow. We've "done" Rugeley now and want to move on.

2 comments:

nb Bonjour said...

Our postal votes arrived in good time and after we'd posted them back we got another card saying if they hadn't arrived by this Monday's post to call 'this number'. Can't remember what though as they have gone out with the recycling. But I suspect it would be the local council who we sent our applications to.
It seems rather late to be sending out a replacement though!

Good luck
Debby

Halfie said...

Debby, because we didn't know where we were going to be, we had the votes sent to my parents for them to forward to a post office of our choice. It is the second leg of the journey through the postal system that seems to have gone wrong.