Boats, Beers and Boozers, 2.

I wrote a blog for yesterday, but now I can't see it. It has disappeared. More likely to be me pressing the wrong button though. Still here is is again

We are heading over the Ribble Link later in the week, and as Helen is away I thought I would check the fuel filters. They always seems to recommend doing this before going on choppy waters, as they worry that the motion of the boat will disturb sediments and choke the filters and eventually stop the engine. I don't really see this as it may be clean when you check but as soon as the tank is shaken it could become clogged. I suppose it means it happens a little later though.

When we started the season I checked the tank with my secret equipment, a bamboo cane! I prod about the bottom of the tank to feel for any sediment. The noise of the cane striking the bottom is different, as is the 'feel', if there is sludge present. I also coat the end of the cane with a water finding paste. If water is present the paste changes colour. My test was all clear.

But I still decided to check the WASP 30 fuel filter/separator. The shape and swirl of the flow through the unit, and the passage of the fuel through a permanent stainless steel filter, remove sediment and water from the fuel before passing into the main fuel filter on the engine.

This is similar to mine. The thumb screw at the base means that you can check/drain any water from the unit without taking it to bits. I wanted to check the filter too.

As predicted it was as clean as a whistle. There was slight damage to the 'O' ring' that seals the body to the fixed head of the unit., but I thought it would be fine. It wasn't! Fuel passed out in liberal quantities. Damn. I now had to chase around trying to find a replacement. I first went to Burscough Boat Services and they were closed. I then went to the local well stocked ironmongers, more in the hope that they would be able to tell me where to go, rather than that they would have one in stock. A customer gave me directions to an Auto repair place on a small industrial estate. It wasn't there, but a brake repair shop was. I went in and asked them where should I go next? They told me of a hydraulic place that was miles away they said. However they did drive me there. How nice was that of them. I asked the young bloke and he thought I wanted a new complete unit. I put him straight about that so he started rifling through a drawer that all the odds and sods were in. He came up with one that was about right and also gave me a couple of giant ones of the right dia. neoprene. He told me how to cut them to size and stick them together if the other one didn't fit. Luckily the walk back to the boat was only a little over half an hour. Luckily the 'O' ring sits in a groove in the cap. The new one was a bit too big but I was able to fit it in the groove and it stayed there. It was quickly fitted and everything tightened up and tested and .... it worked. Hurray, worries over. The moral of this story is that I should make sure I have a replacement ready for a perishable or breakable item before I take things to pieces.

When we were in Wigan we walked up the road to have our tea and a pint. The Local Weatherspoon's is the 'Moon under Water' 5/7A Market Place, about 15 min walk from our mooring. The name has been given to several of Tim Martin's pub and the story is that when he was just starting with a few pubs in London a journalist told him he loved the pub, it reminded him of a pub that George Orwell had described in one of his pieces, and that was called the 'Moon Under Water'. The name stuck.

A good location at the top of the hill with the stations on it. Just down into the market place and the old and new shopping centres are there.

It was 'Fish Friday' so we had the fish and chips. The food is consistent and a very reasonable price. There were about six hand pull beers on tap, plus their usual ones. As we were having fish I decided to have a dark beer and therefore a pint of Stog stood out.

As you can see that it is 4.1% and was at the reasonable price of £2-29. It was a lovely 'thick' taste in the mouth under a beautiful creamy head. The first taste was a lovely chocolaty taste followed by a rich malty taste. The head crept down the glass with every sup. Milk sugars are added to the brew to really give that rich creamy taste. It was so good I had another one, rather than try one of the others on offer.

The Big Bog Brewing Company started out in Caernarfon, Wales, in 2011. A couple of years ago they needed bigger premises and decided on a move to Speke! Near Liverpool Airport. They then had a ten barrel plant, and a much bigger market to hand. They make a good range of different beers, and if any of them taste as great as the 'Stog' I will look out for them from now one.

At Weatherspoon's you know what you get. There is a good range of beers. I think they have reduced the range as they had too many previously and they were often not in the best condition. The food is good value and quantity is just right. The staff are usually friendly. I wish they would clean the tables and floor a little more often and my largest bug bear is the sticky menus! However I would recommend a call for a decent pint.