Drama on the River Seven

After cruising the River Trent earlier this year, the River Severn seems more like a canal than a river.  The upper part of the navigation from Stourport to Tewksbury is non-tidal and even when full with all the rain we've had, the flow is comparatively gentle.  The locks are operated by BW (or I should saw by CART - Canal & Rivers Trust, as they've now become).

Along the banks of the river, are many fields, but there are also some signs of civilisation,

Many of the properties are raised up as a precaution against flooding.

From Stourport to Worcester is approximately eleven miles, with three locks done by BW, and is normally a peaceful easy cruise.  And most of this trip was easy, until we reached the outskirts of Worcester and noticed steam coming from inside the engine room.  We didn't think this was a good sign.  By pure luck we were passing the moorings near the rowing club and for once there was a space big enough to take us.

Once tied up and the engine turned off, we investigated the damage.  Our engine has 2 fan belts (one had gone only 3 weeks earlier), and now the other one had gone.  This second belt was the one that drives the water pump (to cool the engine).  When it had gone, the engine had overheated and blown a hose off the oil cooler, thereby spraying the engine room with hot water.  Thankfully it was a simple thing to put right (or so we thought).  The hose went back on with no problem, and G started to put the spare fan belt on.  That was when the trouble started.  In the seven years of having Domino we had never realised that the 2 fan belts were different sizes.  Naturally the spare we had was the wrong one.  Finding someone who could either get the right belt or had one in stock proved to be a bit problematical.  The first 2 companies we tried couldn't get one, so eventually we decided to contact Beta Marine (the engine manufacturers) direct.  As luck would have it they had one in stock, the bad news is they were in Gloucester.  A train ride and taxi journey later, we had a new fan belt.  And yes it did fit.

Once fitted we came off the River and into Diglis Basin.