July 31

Our Flight Arrives in Phoenix

We arrived in the UK on July 11th. The 10 hour overnight flight from Phoenix to Heathrow was uneventful. There are now 3 daily direct flights to Europe, two to Heathrow and one to Frankfurt. The other PHX-LHR route is run by American and has an enviable on-time record, the BA flight not so much. Why two airlines, both flying vintage Boeing 777s on the exact same route, should have such a variation in reliability is a mystery. At the end of June, BA canceled 11 flights in a row ostensibly for lack of 'ground engineers' according to a flight attendant I quizzed. Last year they flew brand new A350s on the route, so a 20 year-old 777 is a bit of a comedown. However, these old stalwarts of the industry have been completely refurbished inside. Club (business) class is equipped with their new 'suites' which are a huge advance over the old. Suite is a grandiose title for a cubicle but they do have a door, an HD TV and a bed actually long enough for my 6' 5" frame.

Initial Descent into Heathrow

Upon arrival at Heathrow T5 we were greeted by the usual chaos. After waiting on an apron for 20 minutes it became clear there was no slot for us so we stumbled down a rickety set of stairs to the tarmac. A very nice young man took the old lady's case for her, no such luck for me. Then we were bussed across the airport, zigzagging between lines of towering aircraft before arriving at the terminal. By contrast, immigration and baggage retrieval was fast and we staggered blearily out of the airport to the Europcar shuttle. There I was harassed as usual by the desk clerks offering expensive upgrades and increased insurance. I lost my bottle. "No, I do NOT want an automatic or I would have ordered one! No, we do not want a bigger car in case we have lots of luggage, NO the standard coverage is fine!"
"I have rented cars in Burton, Derby and Venice and this is the ONLY branch of Europcar that engages in this kind of upselling!"
"I am a Privilege Elite member, so if you want to offer me some free upgrades I will gladly accept them."
Of course, none were available. We drove off in a brand new Kia Xceed, which is a very nice car except for a very sloppy gearbox and a weird push-button parking brake with an "auto hold" feature that doesn't. Some of this griping may well be due to my rusty manual driving skills.

We drove a couple of miles to our usual overnight stay, the Premier Inn on the Bath Road. It is beginning to look its age; seedy and run down, but it is as pleasant and comfy as ever and the food is good.

Mercia Marina, Green and Lush

Next day we drove up to Mercia Marina via the M25, M1 and A50. These roads are usually packed and riddled with construction hold-ups but we lucked out this time and drove up in one shot of about 2 1/4 hours. Entering the green security gates of Mercia had the usual calming effect on me. The boats, the water, the wildfowl and, above all, the lush greenery together are worth several meditation sessions. The greenery comes at the price of gray clouds and large amounts of water cascading from the sky but I'll take it over Phoenix which was 47C (116 F) when we left and continues to be an oven set to 115 since. Our friend Robert sent us an article about the new category of tourists in Britain, "Drizzle Tourists", people flocking from Southern Europe, the Gulf states  and the USA to escape the searing heat. "Oh great," I said "now we are Snowbirds in winter and Drizzle Tourists in the summer."

We met up with Old Friends CLICK on any IMAGE to ENLARGE

New Sculpture in the Marina

Basil boat is due for his safety certificate inspection so I hired a surveyor we have used before, Iain Jones, to do it. Basil passed with flying colours, I just had to do a minor adjustment to a chafing cable. I also installed a gas bubble detector which is a cute way of checking for leaks. Pressing a red button routes the gas supply through a liquid filled sight glass. If bubbles appear, there is a leak somewhere downstream. Prepping the boat for cruising was made much easier than usual because Robert had already used it this year, so he did most of the dewinterization. The engine bilge had a mixture of coolant and fresh engine oil in it which is a worry, but I cleaned it up and nothing has appeared since. Fluid levels are normal. We are hoping to start cruising tomorrow, weather permitting.
Last week we took a trip by car to Anglesey, an island off the Welsh coast connected by bridges to the mainland. On the way we visited the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port. We stayed in a guest house in Beaumaris, Ty Anne (pronounced 'tee ann'), run by a mother and daughter comedy act. They accosted us at every entry and exit with family stories, places for us to visit, cakes and sticky buns. Our suite consisted of an opulent bedroom done up as a French boudoir with a huge bed covered in dozens of ornamental pillows, a bathroom with bath and shower cubicle and a 'sitting room' with chairs, a cooler, dishes, glasses and cutlery. No cooking equipment, so if we wanted anything beyond tea or coffee and cake we had to go out, which was fine. Big windows overlooked the Menai Strait (above), with the majestic mountains of Snowdonia on the other side. Majestic by British standards, that is. The tallest is only 3,750 feet but nonetheless gorgeous. The only downsides were tepid 'hot' water and no heating. After Barb was asked if we were warm enough and she replied "..er, well, it could be a bit warmer", they did put heating on for awhile in the mornings.

Tapas in Esquina. Click here for Menu.

Ken & Barb in Esquina CLICK on any IMAGE to ENLARGE

Rog & Robert

Robert & Barb

5th August
The bad weather continues so we did not leave until Tuesday (Aug 1st). We were immediately beset by domestic alternator problems. The alternator, which was working in the marina, had stopped charging 1/2 an hour later when I first checked it. We had two choices - turn around at the first winding hole at Horninglow (four hours round trip) or go a little further to Shobnall Marina, which has a good repair shop. I called Shobnall and they did have a berth available with electricity for 17 GBP a day. So we took that option. We dined in the Albion, Marston's signature pub next to their brewery. The food was good. Barb had a salad topped with roasted cauliflower and I had cheese and potato pie.

Sardines In Shobnall Marina CLICK on any IMAGE to ENLARGE

Barb in the Albion

Her Roasted Cauliflower Salad

Grafitti in the Albion Gents

Next day I went to the workshop with an older alternator and a brand new one that I bought last year in hopes they could come up with a solution. They took them both to a 'alternator and starter' expert in Burton who found that the new alternator was incompatible with the old, even though the part number was identical, so he fixed the old. The clutch in the pulley had failed, so it was freewheeling instead of driving the shaft.

I backed Basil back half a mile to Shobnall Fields and we enjoyed a pleasant afternoon in fine weather on one of our favourite moorings, marred only by gobs of goose shit everywhere. Next day we pootled up to Branston Water Park (one lock and a couple of miles) where we moored right next to the park. Barb walked around the lake several times. There were fewer birds than usual. Barb made a brilliant stir fry in the evening, one of the best she has ever cooked on land or water.

Branston Water Park

Dusk at the Bridge Inn and Canal at Branston

Finally, we cruised the 5 miles and 4 locks to our current mooring in Alrewas. Here we scored pole position above the lock - just before the water point with close access to the bridge into the village, no trees to inhibit the solar and a grassy bank instead of the local white gravel which treads onto the deck every time you board. We ate in the William IV, one of three pubs in Alrewas. Barb had fish pie which was OK, I had cheese and potato 'pie', which was just an indigestible mound of cheesy mashed potato on a dish. We shared apple crumble and cream which was the best dish of the evening. Memo to self: Stop ordering cheese and potato pies.

Now today, Saturday, the weather is truly abysmal. Driving rain driven by a north wind batters Basil but we are warm and cosy on a great mooring, so who cares. Barb does. Grey skies and rain make her very depressed.

Mooring Above the Lock at Alrewas CLICK on any IMAGE to ENLARGE

Alrewas Lock. River Trent Below, Canal Above

Bywash Weir at Alrewas Lock

Our Next Door Neighbor at Alrewas

August 22


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