After spending another lovely weekend in Braunston Marina we moved the boat up to the bottom lock on the afternoon of Sunday 7th August. By Saturday 13th Justin (JG Marine) had removed the engine and welded in a pair of new engine rails. The new engine was delivered on Tuesday of the following week and by Thursday afternoon it was installed and ready to go. Later that evening we moved our boat the short distance back into the marina. The new beta38 engine seemed so much quieter than the old CMA and once again we were happy.

Friday afternoon saw us back in Braunston ready for yet another maiden voyage, this time with a new engine. After transferring our stuff from the car we were ready to set off at half past two. A long slow crawl past the many moored boats around Braunston meant that it took us more than half an hour to get under the A45 road bridge. Seven red spires were adorning the off side of the canal, some artists work no doubt. We ploughed on through the afternoon sunshine grinning and laughing as we went along, appreciative of the fact that our mechanical troubles were well and truly behind us.

There was a decent amount of traffic around as we made our way along the north oxford canal. We saw that the new marina at Barby was open although it needs a lot of work still before it becomes fully established.

After passing through the locks at Hillmorton, now singles rather than pairs, we trundled on to Rugby where we moored for the night near bridge 58. We took a walk down to the nearby Tesco before returning to the boat for our evening meal.

Later, as we sat and enjoyed some music we found ourselves under attack from some local youths who had decided to throw missiles at our boat. Armed with a halogen torch, Sue gave chase to those brave souls who could have been no more than eleven or twelve years old. They ran off into the night and that was the last we saw of them.