Finally underway.

On Saturday we returned to Farncombe Boats to meet up with Ted the engineer to fit the last few remaining parts to complete the electrical up grade. As it was too late in the day to start traveling we opted to stay over another night at Farncombe and make a move Sunday morning.

Sunday dawned a beautiful morning as we set off to our first port of call at Dapdune wharf where we planned to moor up overnight while we did a quick train trip into Wimbledon to meet up with daughter Tracey to collect the mail.

On our return to Guildford we hailed a taxi to Shalford railway station where we met up with Tony and Barbara again for dinner at their flat. While there we messed around on the computer trying to get Skype to work. After several attempts we got through to Keith and Margaret (Barbara’s Mum and Dad) in Tauranga NZ. It was good talking to them both and seeing them on screen via the video camera.

Monday morning found us experimenting with our 240v appliances to see what would or wouldn’t work and coming to grips with what was happening at the inverter end of things. Eventually we realized that there was a delay when something was switched on unlike on mains power where it is instantaneous. The only problem was Dot’s heated hair brush/roller. It only has a 10w rating but it kept tripping the overload so I think it may be faulty. The microwave gave us cause for concern but as soon as I started the main engine it sprang into life. Phew!

With all this sorted we pulled the pins and headed for Pyrford marina where we bought a few bits and pieces and stayed overnight.

Our next problem is the Mikuni central heating unit. This probably hasn’t been used for a long while and although it is working well and keeping us warm it has developed an exhaust leak around the combustion chamber and the fumes are polluting the cabin at times. So we have obtained the phone number of a Mikuni agent who we will be ringing in the morning to try and get the unit serviced. In the meantime we are leaving the weed hatch lid open to allow the fumes to escape from the engine bay that way.

We are now only 4 locks and 5 miles from the river Thames with the Basingstoke canal somewhere in between which at this point of time we would still like to experience but are unsure if it is open.