We was getting nowhere...

... and so we had a cuppa tea and right said Freda (alias The Mother), whatever will we do now?

9.00am: Tough situation! Chippy had lost steerage. The Mother shrieked as the borrowed camera and tripod on the foredeck got grabbed by brambles. I dashed out. Ouch! I got grabbed by the brambles! We managed to get over to moor at the towpath. The fellas spent time with their arms in near freezing water trying to release a big piece of industrial grade plastic from the propeller.

9.35am: The prop shaft still wasn't turning. Time to call the rescue service! An engineer could come at 1.30pm! The trouble was, as bad luck would have it, our second gas bottle had run out before breakfast this morning. We were heading towards a Calor supplier but, with a breakdown, we might not get there at 4mph before they closed. With an invalid on board, with no way of heating the boat or making a hot meal, I phoned Stone Boatbuilders. It was my lucky day! They offered to drive to our nearest bridge with 2 replacement cylinders. Great!

1.15pm: The engineered arrived at the same time and knew what our problem was. Great! He had the spare part to fix and got on well with the job/

3pm: We were on our way again!