Roger had me up at 5am. I don't do early mornings so that was a bit of a shock to the system. We went through Teddington at 6.30 and off to Brentford. We met our friends on the Hanwell flight and then had a good run to Limehouse where we went off for a meal. It was a long day, far more than our usual 4hrs. 13hrs & 59 lock miles. The next morning the friends turned up to help us back through to Brentford. We picked up the boat to be towed, a 40ft cruiser. We were then stopped at the lock by BW. 'Where do you think you are taking that boat?' Friends showed the bill of sale and off we went. Towing at 2mph we revised plans. We wouldn't make Brentford by nightfall. Ok so Bulls Bridge will do. Later that day we stopped at Greenford as time had run out & our 'friends' had to get back to Trowbridge. We moved on to Bulls Bridge the next morning and had a well earned rest. Monday we tackled Hanwell. A couple of boats, from the Wey, were coming up and they left all the gates open, which helped us muchly. Tuesday the owner drove up to Brentford with various engine bits as we realised the engine had to be running to give us chance of gaining on the Thames flow. Of course the starter motor had to be the wrong one. It turned the wrong way. The new alternator had the wrong pulley but the ignition switch & new battery were fine. Wednesday saw the arrival of the friends we had been with since Saul and then Spencer turned up with a turning the other way starter motor & a different pulley. The engine fired; the engine started. We were back to plan b) and could tackle the Thames. Thursday morning both engines started and off we went, out of Brentford towards Teddington. One thing the contributors to this list didn't say about breasting up, make sure the exhaust is away from you! I wore a life jacket for the second time in my life. This is a thin one and I had to pass the intelligence test to find out how to put the thing on! All went well but the tide turned half an hour early. I say all was well but there was a smell of burning oil; we were travelling with a cloud of smoke and my feet were as warm as toast. A mile from Teddington there was a shout, 'get a fire extinguisher'. Roger had disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Roger stopped the engine and the fire went out. We were traveling on Nackered Navvy's engine only. We limped into Teddington and had a discussion with the staff about Listers and licences. Spencer is now coming to sort the engine out for the third time. I think I am feeding him too well. We now hope engine is sorted & head off up the Thames tomorrow. Sue nb Nackered Navvy
