Welford – North Kilworth - Crick

There was Cleddau, comfortably tied up at Welford on a 2 day mooring, comfortably that is until things went wrong…  

What had happened? Mid-afternoon the Captain ran the engine for a short while just to boost the amount of hot water. (Sometimes a hot shower is nice before a promised meal at a canal-side pub...) After about thirty minutes there was a great shaking and vibrating inside the boat.“Leave it,” said the Captain, “it’s probably a speck of dirty fuel in the pipes. It’ll pass.”  And it did – until ten minutes later the rough running and vibration started again, before the engine cut out completely.The engine had been serviced recently and had behaved perfectly on the outbound journey (11¾ miles, 1 lock) from Crick to Welford. A call was made to RCR (River and Canal Rescue). There was much to-ing and fro-ing to establish Cleddau’s exact location, but thankfully within an hour a marine engineer was on site to offer his opinion and - hopefully a solution.Engine boards up, investigation made. “It’s contaminated fuel,” the RCR engineer said, “your diesel’s dirty.”So what was the solution? “Got to get rid of all your fuel.”…all the fuel, all 180 litres of it?More phone calls, more reassurances that yes, the boat could indeed be reached from a road and in due course there was a “Be within you in an hour” message - and the Fuel Doctor arrived.He was Gary, or ‘Gary from Nuneaton’ as he wanted to be known. Most days he turned out to five or six car callouts to pump diesel out of petrol cars or petrol out of diesel cars. He was used to boats too and soon all that expensive (brown and sludgy) fuel was being sucked into the tanks inside the back of his vehicle. The van’s presence so close to the pub’s customer car park drew the attention of a beer-holding chap. “I’m an engineer," he said. “How do you know that’s the problem? And where’s all your fuel going to end up? I’ve had that diesel bug thing in my digger, a black gel it is…” He managed to make the situation feel both bleak and expensive before drifting off back to the pub.It was Gary (‘Gary from Nuneaton’) who became the star performer. “I’ll clean your fuel lines and filters out,” he offered, “and drive you to the village garage to get some diesel to get you going.”Soon the pipes and filters were sucked through, a trip to the garage was accomplished and the fuel tank  replenished with 35 litres of white diesel.Sometimes afternoons take an unexpected turn: the hot shower got cancelled, the planned meal at The Wharf Inn was cancelled and the crew had to establish their next moves. Neither of the Welford marinas sells diesel. Would 35 litres of fuel get Cleddau back to Crick without further breakdown? Yelvertoft Marina, though nearer, has short hours and might be closed…Play safe, play safe.Beyond Welford Junction in the Leicester direction is North Kilworth, a large new marina, with fuel supplies according to its website.Phone calls on Saturday morning to North Kilworth to check opening hours and fuel availability went unanswered. A decision was made: cruise to North Kilworth Marina and sit it out there until the tank could be refilled.There was dampness in the air on leaving Welford Wharf, steady rain by the time Welford Lock was descended. On along the Welford Arm, the juvenile River Avon to the left, coursing towards a channel below the embanked aqueduct. Cleddau cruised straight across at the Junction, then onwards a couple of miles, to identify a left entrance after the second canal bridge.  There were no signposts in the marina; guesswork and a recall from the website that the servicing dock was under cover were relied upon… Look for buildings! Slowly Cleddau crept forward, was this waterway a route or just a meander past islands and lakes…? Then there it was, a modern structure, a boat being manoeuvred away from it. Wet and cold the Captain pulled up in front of the building. A staff member was found. “I’ve got two boats booked in,” she explained, apologetically, “so if you can wait I’ll deal with you after them. It’ll be about an hour.”Wait? Thirsty Cleddau was definitely prepared to wait until her tank was filled and she could get back home without further ado… It was a fiddle to pull forward, find rings and tie up while first one, then the second booked-in boat turned up to be serviced. It did however provide some crew thawing out time…Cleddau’s turn came; the Captain executed a fine turn around, re-tied the boat against the service dock and the tank was filled with clean red diesel. Back then across these unfamiliar waters, under the bridge  and a turn back to Welford Junction and a right turn south along the Leicester Line. How long had this sign been on the Avon Aqueduct offside? The air was cold, the surroundings green and murky. Not far after Bridge 36 Cleddau pulled in for the night. It was a remote spot; there was no foot traffic and no road noise.Destination Crick Marina on Sunday morning. Preparations were made to withstand the cold and wet. (18 individual items of clothing for the Captain, snap for Boatwif…) The wind was less sharp but the air was cold. Overflow water from the banks into the canal after the torrential overnight rain was providing a two-tone water colour. Hedges and trees are lush now. A ring-necked pheasant (feel free to confirm or correct) was taking a pootle along the towpath. Onward, further away from Leicester, closer to Crick – and at about 2pm Cleddau quietly drew back onto her mooring, her first 2024 adventure trip completed.After a quick lunch the car was collected from the car park, loaded up and the boat was secured.  Why then was there another need for help…?CLICK. CLICK. The car battery was flat, the car that an hour previously had started up with ease and run the 300 metres from car park to boat.With no jump leads in the car Boatwif set off to beg a favour. A boater about a dozen metres away had a car parked beside his boat. He had no jump leads but he came to help. He listened intently to the dull CLICK. The car was rocked to dislodge the starter motor, with no success. With a muttering about collecting his laundry the boater neighbour set off in his black car, returning about fifteen minutes later in a great silver coloured Chelsea Tractor type car. with a lady driver behind the wheel.  Out got the boater, a huge pair of jump leads in his hands.  (Were they used on real tractors?!) The deed was swiftly done – two car bonnets up, jump leads attached to batteries and Boatwif’s car sparked into life.Many, many thanks to the Crick boaters (sorry, names not known) who got four car wheels moving and many thanks too to ‘Gary from Nuneaton’ who got a boat engine fuelled and moving…

Welford - North Kilworth – Crick: 13¼ miles, 1 lock

 (Q. How did the fuel in the tank become contaminated?A: Possibly due to the very high winds in the winter storms . All the back deck matting was blown off the stern. Did strong winds drive rain into the tank…??)