Aargh! This is why the stove kept going out

We filled up with diesel at Fazeley Mill Marina this morning: 70 litres after 69.6 engine hours. The one litre per hour rate of consumption is much less than our overall average last year of 1.24 l/h. I put this down to a lot of stationary engine running to charge batteries.

Just outside the marina we saw a pair of swans with a young family. I counted four cygnets on one parent's back (only two are visible here).

Just east of Fazeley Junction on the Coventry Canal is a lovely pile of old paddle gear. It's on the offside by a work boat and has been there for at least five weeks.

And now to address the title of this post. For a few days the Morso Squirrel stove has been very difficult to light. The newspaper would burn, and sometimes the kindling too, but logs just wouldn't catch. Opening the door would release a great cloud of smoke into the cabin.

Today the same thing happened. Scrunched up newspaper burnt, but the kindling was barely even charred when I looked at it after a few minutes. On feeling around the baffle plate I immediately discovered the cause of the problem. Great rusty flakes from the inside of either the flue or the chimney were on top of the baffle plate blocking the flue. I cleared all the rubbish by hand and relit the fire. Success! It's drawing fine now and the fire lit easily.

If it hadn't been raining I would have swept the flue. I'll do it tomorrow (if the rain holds off long enough).

We do have a carbon monoxide detector, but this could have been dangerous. Memo to self - and you - check the flue is clear if the stove doesn't seem to work as it should.

We stopped for today after the first two locks of the Atherstone flight.