No Joy

It has been a nice day today so I thought I would get stuck in to the jobs down the engine hole. The oil in the engine and gear box should be changed after 25 to 50 hours. This happened when the weather was still cold and wet. so I missed that. We have now done about 150 hours and thought it should be done. I have the oil ready and I have some empty containers to put the old oil in. How ever I don't have the right size sockets for the gearbox dip stick and drain plug and there is no room to get any of the spanners I have in! I could have changed the engine oil but will leave it until I can do them together. There is little room under the gear box to be able to drain the old into a container. I will cut down a 2.5ltr plastic bottle so I should be able to get that out without spilling too much. The engine is a Beta 43 and has a sump drain pump to empty the old oil so is no problem. It is so frustrating when you haven't go the right equipment!

I thought I had to clean the Hurricane heater unit every 100 hours but when I read the manual again it is 1000 hours so that is very good news as it is also not easy to get to. I then turned my attention to the batteries. I was dreading this. I can get the tops off the first one but not any of the other four. There is room to move them about 12" further aft and into space but the cables are restrictive. I bought a extendable mirror with LED lights but if I can't get the caps off I can't see anything! I am definitely going to have have the set up altered changed so I can access them and maintain them. Again it is very frustrating. There is equipment that you can purchase to top them up automatically but they still need testing etc so that is not the answer. You do need to get at them. I cleaned up around and then but the boards back on with nothing accomplished.

I then turned my hand to getting a picture on the TV. To be honest I haven't really missed it but as it is here it should be working. No signal coming in from the aerial to the TV. Missed out the system that runs through the boat to isolate that, and still nothing. I then decided to check the co-axial connections and found a seized one. I then decided to take the rubbish to the disposal and purchase some paint from Stone Chandlers. I would then circle back via the town and pick up another connection and get some cat biscuits. I know how to live. I came back via the church yard for a look around.

Blossom in the churchyard of St Michael the Archangel and St Wulfad.

It seems that there was a church built here in 670. This is also tied up with the name of the town. Stone was the early capital of Mercia and when the King discovered that his sons Ruffin and Wulfrad had converted to Christianity in 655 he killed them and they were buried on the knoll over looking the Trent. The local placed stones from the river over the graves and hence the name of the town. This church was sacked by Danes. in the 9th Century. It was replaced by a Priory Church in 1135 which lasted until the dissolution of the Monastrys by Henry VIII. The buildings collapsed in 1749 and the present church was completed in 1758. All that is left of the Priory is the vaulted undercroft that is in the basement of a nearby house. There is also a tomb in the ground that was in the old Priory but is now in the open air. At the back of the church is a mausoleum for Admiral Jervis.

Mausoleum for Admiral John Jarvis, Earl St Vincent, 1735 - 1823.

It was Admiral Anson at Shugborough and now Jervis here. It seems strange that two great Admirals are from the centre of the country as far from the sea as possible. Mind you I think nowhere in England is further than about 70' from the sea! John Jervis went to see in 1749 as an able seaman. He rose to the top rank of Admiral of the Fleet. He was in charge of a schooner during the Battle of Quebec and his vessel was one that ran past the city to drop the troops. It is very likely that General Wolfe and Captain James Cook where aboard at the time. In 1797 he was appointed as Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. The next year his fleet of 15 ships came across 24 Spanish ships and managed to best them. A certain Captain Nelson  on HMS Captain, defied the plan by falling out of line and managed to capture two Spanish ships by boarding one, capturing it, crossing the deck and taking another that had collided with her. A total of four Spanish ships were taken that day. Admiral Jervis later became Earl St Vincent. He had no children so the title died with him. I suppose I lived near Birmingham when I decided to go to sea so shouldn't be too surprised that they went to sea.

When I got back and replaced the damaged co-axial connector there was still no joy with the Television. I then did circuit testing on the cables and found that the moulded cable seemed to be wrong. Of course the shops were shut then so I will go back and get another couple of connectors and see if that will do the trick. I must admit I am not holding my breath as nothing seems to be working for me at the moment.