Saturday 5 May 2018

Shackerstone

Knowing fine weather was forecast for the next week or so, and it being a Bank Holiday Weekend, we expected it to get busy on the canal. With this in mind, we decided we wanted to be settled in our chosen spot well before the chaos ensued. We were also approaching the end of our 48 hour limit at Snarestone, although, we could have taken a mooring just beyond the small footbridge for a further seven days, being members of the Ashby Canal Association. So, on Thursday 3/5. we slipped our lines at about 9 am, and moved up to the water point. We had a nearly empty tank, so even with a fast filling tap, it would still take forty minutes or so to fill up. We said our goodbyes to the staff at the Wharf and winded, just as the first of two boats arrived. Back through the crooked tunnel, and then on towards Shackerstone, about three miles away. The sun was up and there was a gentle breeze so it felt warm even by mid morning. Not wanting to end our cruise too soon, we chugged along just above tickover, taking nearly two hours to cover the three miles. We passed beyond our usual spot, this time opting to moor opposite the festival field. This side of Shackerstone is much quieter with foot traffic on the towpath, it seems. On Friday 4/5. we walked four legs to Congerstone, to visit the Horse and Jockey PH for lunch. Today, Saturday 5/5. the glorious weather arrived. On waking there was not a cloud in the sky, and it has remained that way virtually all day. After our morning walk, we wandered up to the railway station to see the steam train which is running this weekend, and also to take lunch in the station tearoom.
  
Mooring at Shackerstone
This afternoon it was time to tackle some of the more onerous tasks, polishing the mushroom vents. The portholes have already been done, but the mushrooms hadn't been touched since last summer, and to say they were heavily tarnished would be an understatement. In circumstances like this, Google is your friend. I googled tarnished brass and got a multitude of results. One however caught my eye, as it had pictures to support its descriptions. To cut along story short, the web page had conducted many tests on tarnished brass, with various substances. The overall winner for ease of application, and the lack of elbow grease required, was tomato ketchup. I half imagined an individual somewhere in the world, laughing his head off, at the prospect of dozens of people smearing their brass with ketchup. Anyway, hating the task enough to try anything, here is the result of a small test area.
Patch test
I was amazed, a small dollop, left for ten minutes then wiped off. It really was that easy. Next was to tackle a whole mushroom.
Before tomato ketchup
After ketchup applied
  As can be seen above, a mere ten minutes of ketchup with no rubbing required, most of the tarnish has been removed and it is now ready for finishing with Brasso. Credit to https://www.littlehouseonthecorner.com/ultimate-guide-how-to-clean-brass/
The finished result
It was in fact so easy, that the whole process from the initial application of the ketchup, to the final buffing of the last of five vents, took no more than half an hour, including the ten minutes of doing nothing, with very little exertion. What is even better is, it does not have to be premium Heinz tomato ketchup either, this was done with Tesco own brand. One member of the crew thought even this amount of work unnecessary, and found himself a nice shady spot in the grass to watch the proceedings.
Oscar being lazy
Now all that is left to polish is the Houdini hatch and the fairleads. Just one final benefit of this glorious weather is the amount of power we now generate from our solar panel. Today we achieved 100 amp hours for the first time this year, which is approximately two thirds of our daily consumption, and its free.
  • Totals Thursday 3/5. 3 Miles 1 Tunnel 
  • Running total 82 Miles 19 Locks 5 Tunnels 

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