A mucky day

Tuesday 9 August. 7 miles, 6 locks.

No rush to move. I spent some time on the phone trying to locate an oil filter as the next oil change is not far away. After talking to abou 5 boat yards the best I can do is hope someone will ring me in the morning to have the filter ordered and delivered to a boatyard 2-3 days away. Next thing is a pump out. I ring the yard across the canal  and he tells me to come on over. Well before we leave I ring him to check where to go but he can't see me. Not surprising really as he is in their other yard about 5 miles away. We set off late morning and are assisted through the first lock by volunteers. Next we pass the boat yard that is sorting out the oil filter so I call in as I have now found some alternative brands and they may have them. No they don't but fortunately the person who was going to ring me tomorrow had turned up and I was able to sort it all out. With luck the filters will be waiting for me on Friday. We carry on to the next boatyard for a pump out. Takes some time to manoeuvre into the entrance of the marina, turn around and moor up. "Sorry we can't do a pump out, our tank is full", to which I reply, "that makes two of us". Did another lock and stopped for lunch. I give the next marina a call to confirm they can do a pump out and what time they close. This is the next objective for the day. Another tricky entrance, not helped by someone tied up to the pontoon giving little room to manoeuvre. At least now we have an empty tank. Moved on a bit further and passed through a lock beside Cooper Mill. This place had a nice feel about it with modern houses and the old mill was now flats. Decide enough for the day and moored up just out of town. After a while it seemed like something was wrong with the pump out as we were getting an unpleasant odour. Guess what, behind the trees is the sewerage plant. Can't be botherd moving so shut the windows.