Wednesday 31 October 2012

An offer has been made and accepted....!

Not going to give any more details....some distance to go yet but watch this space...

Tuesday 30 October 2012

Four more years

I worked (for the paying job) on the boat yesterday afternoon waiting for Jeff Greatwood the local BSC engineer to come and check Waterlily.

He was, as before, very helpful and patient with all my questions. He has some history with Fradley having run Swan line for 20 odd years. He still lives in Alrewas and gives it a good review.

Having done all the tests and calculations for the ventilation he declared there was nothing to stop him giving me another 4 years of BSC


If you want Jeff's details just click the photo to enlarge it, highly recommended. The only painful part was the loss of £150 !!

After work, well the battery died on my Macbook, the light was fading and Fradley was back to boaters only, I really like this part of the day at Fradley. I took Leia for a walk up the woods on the offside.



This hire boat was on the move in near darkness, I was a little envious. There were a few boats on the move today, scuttling through the area before the stoppages on Monday, it really will be quiet then.

Friday 26 October 2012

Gas locker and safety certificates

So I have my four year boat safety booked for Monday PM. This was my post when it was last done....wow has that 4 years passed quickly.

Anyhow the test can't be done without testing the gas systems and at the moment my boat is a gassless boat as the two cylinders are removed for the locker painting - problem. Well a bit dramatic really as over a couple of weekends I have emptied the locker and wire brushed it and then treated the bits of inevitable rust, then last weekend I primed the space. So after work today I hotfooted it, well drove over, and after learning my lesson with groin strains and bad backs I literally painted it from the inside. A slight squeeze but quite a nice place to be, especially as the wind was up and the temperature had plummeted. I painted all but where I was crouching then lifted myself out and leaned in to complete the job, very satisfying.

The test will be tomorrow afternoon when we go back to the boat and have a overnight stay, we need the gas back for cooking and for the boat safety to be completed on Monday.

In between we are going to view two more boats tomorrow. I almost felt guilty as I locked up Waterlily tonight, she is a very nice boat !!

I'll let you know what where and the thoughts after we view.......

Thursday 25 October 2012

Lock in

.... not of the beery type, not sure they happen any more with the new relaxed licensing laws?

No this refers to the stoppages. At Hunts we will be locked in literally between the Junction Lock repairs and the Alrewas lock repairs. We cannot even cruise up and down the 2 mile stretch as there is only one winding hole just below Bagnall lock.

I understand and support the works being done. However some planning would have helped keep the canal open if they had done Woodend rather than Junction at the same time as Alrewas lock.

It is a particular problem for one of our neighbours. Mandy from NB Don't Panic has had her fair share of drama recently being helicoptered off the moorings with a badly broken ankle. It means when she returns to her boat she possibly could be stuck without diesel or pump out, seems this will be resolved by the help of people on the mooring, plus hopefully some support from CaRT mooring and enforcement staff, watch this space. 

The locks at Fradley do need some attention so the repairs will be well received.






Tuesday 23 October 2012

Sick to the bottom of my stomach

Wow.. how do I write this without resorting to a major rant.....anyhow here goes, might be of interest to some.

You might remember this post.....clicky here

Well on Monday I received this.....

Dear Mr Wells

Please forgive this unsolicited email, but we thought you might wish to be informed that L'Attitude Adjustment is now available again after the agreed sale failed to complete.  If you would like an appointment to view, please let us know.

Kind Regards

ABNB Team


How delighted we were. Straight onto the email and arranged a second viewing on the Wednesday morning at 10am.

Viewed, loved the boat again and within 6 hours of viewing the boat we had made an offer quite close to the asking price and within £500 of the price the boat had been sold for previously. On the home straight now, finances secured and advised ABNB of this with an offer to buy the previuos survey to speed things up.

Then we got this......

Dear Neville & Rachel

I can confirm receipt of your email and that I will discuss with the vendors the details of your offer.  As you probably know, they are in Canada at present therefore we have to take account of the time difference for phone calls etc - I will let you know as soon as possible the outcome of the conversation.

One complication has arisen in only the last few hours - the previous interested party had been asked to contact us regarding the refund of their deposit, but have instead, today, informed us that they have reconsidered and wish to put forward a new offer.  In these circumstances (when more than one offer is received in the same working day) both offers must be put to the vendor and their decision reported back to each of the interested parties (no details of any offer can be revealed to any other party, of course, for ethical reasons).

I can fully understand that this will be a frustration to you, taking into consideration the previous circumstances, but we have done nothing to influence the timing of these events and can only proceed in a manner designed to be as fair to all parties as possible. 

Kind Regards



Now call me cynical...... add in your own perception of what was happening here.

Just now received this......

Dear Neville & Rachel

I have now received the vendors' decision regarding the two offers put to them for L'Attitude Adjustment, one of which was the offer from yourselves.

I am afraid that I have disappointing news in that they have instructed us to accept the offer of the other party.  I am particularly sorry to disappoint you a second time regarding the same boat, and empathise with you that the timing of the receipt of the other offer was very unfortunate for you.

I can only hope that another suitable boat comes onto brokerage in the near future, and wish you well in your search.

Kindest Regards



The timing of the other offer was 'very unfortunate for you' I'd have to agree with this 110% What to make of it ....well that is down to your own interpretation.

We are so very frustrated. Its not just about all the time taken in viewings, time taken off work, financial arrangements etc, but the dreams that get shattered in an instant.

Well onwards and upwards as they say. I think I need to get out on Waterlily sometime soon!

Friday 12 October 2012

Canals in Scotland?

My beautiful wife organised a week away for us as part of my 50th birthday. So last Saturday saw the new workhorse Honda CRV loaded to the roof literally with the two of us Leia the dog, Tom and with a stop off in Leeds to collect no2 son Callum.

I had kept them all on the insurance so we could share the 10 hour drive to Whitehills on the Moray Firth . It was a good drive up the A1 then through Edinburgh, over the Forth bridge up past Perth, Dundee then via Aberdeen to our destination.


This is our cottage - Wale cottage right on the sea wall

The beaches around here are fantastic, made more so by the lack of people on them. On Sunday after a leisurely start we walked the Beach at Cullum.



Here is the family .......it was so nice having them with us

Sunday night was clear as a bell so at 11pm Callum and I drove 50 miles (!) to what is supposed to be one of the darkest places in the UK.... except the Moon was waining so it spoilt the party a little.



This is the Milky Way I am told. I took it by putting the camera on the telescope with a 60 second exposure.


We saw a few shooting stars as well. It was worth the 100 mile round trip if only for the total peace and  beauty of the location we stopped at. We also saw Deer, Badger, Owl, Rabbits and Fox. We got back 2.30am cold but well happy.

On Monday (as the lads were leaving us Tuesday) we went clay pigeon shooting, not something I or the lads had done before but very enjoyable. I was the least accurate with Callum winning the competition .... well  we are blokes after all.






This is the action shot of Tom pinging the first clay then moving onto the second....

The winner getting his "Clay" trophy from Rachel

Monday evening we got an amber alert from Aurorawatch uk, that subsequently turned into a red alert. It was the night between two clear nights our bit of coast had cloud cover. We drove till 1.30am up and down the coast to see the lights but were unlucky not to. There was a spooky green glow to the cloud and at one point a shaft of green light came through a break in the clouds but it does not constitute a viewing so we will have to come back !!!

Due to work commitments both lads had to go back home on Tuesday and both has chosen different times and modes to do so.... Tom flew back and Callum being a student got a £40 train ride home to Leeds. This gave us a day in Aberdeen, granite city I think it is called. The Esplanade is worth a visit, once again lots of empty beach.


It is the supply centre for much of the North Sea drilling operation, lots of ships coming and going.











A bit bigger close up .....














Wednesday saw us walking along the beach to Banff. Another fantastic walk along empty beaches.

Here is the canal link......

Banff was where Tim and Shane Spall overwintered in 2011 as part of their around Britain tv trip. They had Princess Matilda repainted in the ship year we visited yesterday at Buckie. Banff is a very nice place, just the right size with beaches to die for. If I had £150,000 I'd be viewing this property, right on the sea front....

It was about 7 miles round trip, the harbour at Banff is very picturesque I can see why Tim and Shane chose it.

The town is very nice to, certainly the lower part away from the main road.
We went west on Thursday, to past Buckie where we did have the whole beach to ourselves. The tide was just turning and it was revealing the beach as we walked.

Leia is in her element here......












Mind you there is always someone who wants to spoil the peace and quiet.


Today (Friday) is very stormy.....and poor Rachel is down with a chest infection, so it is a reading coffee drinking relaxing day. We may do a distillery later....or we may not. Whatever is has been a great few days break.