Nether Heyford, 0 miles, 0 locks
I don't know whether it was because I left the inverter not in power-saving mode or whether it's because the water pump has been ticking away all night, but either way all of Oothoon's batteries were flat this morning, including the engine starter battery, which was correctly isolated (which finally proves that there is a problem there).
I decided that enough was enough and that I'd buy myself a generator, something which seems to be a common sight on the canals. The really sexy ones are from Honda--the EU10i and the EU20i--giving one and two kilowatts of power respectively. Like you'd expect from a Honda, they're small, reliable, simple to use, sip petrol and expensive. For example, the EU10i is over £500! No matter how inconvenienced I am, that seems like a lot of money. Looking around, ScrewFix Direct do a little 650w generator for £79, the disadvantage being that it's a 2-stroke engine and (unlike my last experience of 2-stroke--on a Honda) it doesn't do the mixing for you. Gotta love the price though.
In practice the solution was already in my hands, if not over my head. All I really needed to do was re-commission Oothoon's solar panel, which has been sitting decoratively on the roof since Sterling swapped my inverter. I had the necessary power regulator, I had the various bits of cable, why didn't I just get on with it? Of course the answer is that, by rights, it should be connected to the starter battery, since that's the important one, with any excess going to the leisure batteries, and to do that would require taking all the batteries out again. I'd intended to do it while I had the batteries out in Aylesbury, but Chris' arrival--and the prospect of lunch--had made me forget. I really couldn't face taking all the batteries out again, but after lots of indecision, I decided that I should at least connect up the leisure batteries. It might not get the engine started, but at least I'd have light and running water. So with that in mind, I made up the correct cables for the solar panel, mounted the regulator in the engine bay and wired the correct connectors onto one end of the battery cables (I figured that if I was going to rearrange them later than I might as well not commit myself too much). With all this done and the charging cables connected to the easy-to-get-at leisure batteries, I connected the last cable and plugged in the solar panel. At first I thought nothing was happening because I couldn't see any lights on the regulator, but when I got my meter out the solar panel was giving over 8v (it had been nearer 19v with no load) and the batteries were 6v! It was then I noticed that the little green 'charge' light was actually on--proving that it was working. I resolved to have a cup of tea and check later to see whether there was any change.
One cuppa and a bit of internetting later, the battery voltage was up to 8v, which was very encouraging. Throwing caution to the wind, I de-isolated (pah!) the engine starter battery and enabled the 'use while mains charging only' switch, which added the starter battery into the circuit, then went for a look around the village.
There's not all that much to Nether Heyford to be honest. It's all nice little cottages, a few of which are thatched. There's the pub. There's the other pub. There's the late-opening convenience store cum post office. There's the butcher. There's the hairdresser. All of these are in a smallish cluster at one end of the huge village green (a local man later told me that, until they'd started to build on it, it had been the largest village green in Europe!) Around the corner, down Church Lane, there's the church. Leading away from it, on Church Road, there's more housing, and then you're pretty much done. At the far end of the village there's the Heyford Fisheries, which does a very nice cuppa for 50p and seems to have lovely golden carp in it's 'juniors' fishing lake. And then there's the footpath over the field that leads you back to the canal towpath. It's very quiet and unspoilt, and largely what you'd expect an English country village to be. Doubt if it's worth a detour (although it is only 1.5 miles from the M1, so I'm guessing that property prices are outrageous) but I've certainly enjoyed being here.
I'm supposed to be in Hull tomorrow, at the opening of Paul's exhibition. Trying to find somewhere nearby that does car hire has been taxing, but Enterprise Rent-a-car in Daventry look to be the hot favourite, and they seem to be right next to the bus station as well, which is even better.
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