Friday 30 November 2012

Two boat family

We now have 110 foot of boat (s)  Only for a limited time as poor Waterlily will be up for sale soon.

We completed on Percy today. Jill and Tony Redshaw are a really genuine nice couple and it is a privilege to take their boat on for as long as we can before he is passed to someone else to live with !

For some photo's click here..... clicky me for Percy

I'll keep posting on both sites for now and will keep Waterlily blog live until she sells. ;-(

Take care

Nev

Thursday 29 November 2012

Meeting the bloggers

As tomorrow should be the hand over of Percy... See here for the details  I nipped over to Waterlily at lunchtime to collect some essentials for the cruise back from Braunston. As I approached Hunts lock I met Maffi helping Geoff  lock down to the coal boat. What a really nice pair of fella's they both were. Unfortunately I was on a tight timescale so was limited in the chat I could have.

Good to meet two entertaining and much read bloggers at last.


Maffi striking a pose...


Geoff taking Seyella out of Hunts lock

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Come visit....

As time progresses my ramblings on this blog will hopefully cease as we enjoy and develop our ownership of NB Percy.

I have a very good following - see you all over there on the right, I'd like you to come visit my other blog and keep me going with your comments and observations  as well as some useful advice.

I can't promise it will all be honey but like the best blogs it will be warts and all.

See you on the other side.

Nev

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Insurance - who do you use...?

So getting close now.. the list is done for what I need to complete before Friday....and insurance is up there.

We use craftinsure for Waterlily at the moment. Costs us about £120 per year. I have just completed the on line quotation for Percy and it is coming out at £225 with a £150 excess, down to £191 with a £300 excess.

The other company I am drawn to is Towergate..... they give options:


The Breakdown option appeals as at the moment we are paying for RCR £155 for their silver cover.

I have just printed off the towergate policy docs so some bedtime reading.

I'd be interested in who you use and why?

Thanks

Nev

Sunday 25 November 2012

At least there are no ridge tiles on a boat

Last night at the bricks and mortar address we found our roof was leaking.....not much we could do at 11pm so this morning saw me up on the roof resetting three ridge tiles. Plenty of wind to add to the risk assessments with the method of access being revised to access to the dormer roof via my next door neighbours garden.

Just another example of the ease of living aboard..... yes I know there are plenty of other day jobs to take up the time, but I need as many reasons to liveaboard as possible !

So question is will the new raft of rain wash out my hard work today? But with all the flooding about that is a really small problem.

Hopefully move Percy on Friday, Boating !!

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Meet our new boat

I did not want to temp fate. Now we have the results of the survey, no big issues we are on the home straight so I'll open up the link to my new blog all about NB Percy.....

Click me and tell me what you think.....

Nev

Sunday 18 November 2012

2 cylinder Lister in Braunston tunnel

Not really a video, more a snippet of audio as today we cruised through Braunston tunne aboard a boat powered by a 2 cylinder Lister - CS2 to be precise.

More tomorrow hopefully




Saturday 17 November 2012

House maintenance v's boat maintenance

So today has seen me sorting out the central heating at home. Yes I always wait until the cold weather starts to do this. Over two weekends I have sorted the cold radiators so the house is now very warm.

I reflected on the respective maintenance demands of house v's boat. They are very different and I think the house beats the boat hands down. There is plenty to fettle on a boat, and I suppose it depends on the install.

You don't really want to know about our Vokera boiler etc at home as this is primarily a boaty blog. So the boat....We (or I as I do the maintenance) are attracted to simple and if possible varied systems for our boating. Many will advise that a solid fuel stove and back boiler are in the main bullet proof. In fact the best advice is not to have to rely on a sole form energy for the whole boat. It is of course personal preference and also personal risk management.

Waterlily has a very effective back boiler with a pipe stat controlled pump. Hot water from the calorifier via the engine or via the back boiler... two loops in the cylinder. Battery charging via the solar panel and engine.

So here is the interesting bit... well it is for me anyhow. The boat we are having surveyed on Monday is pretty much the same with the exception of no water tank.... it has a gas water heater. Now I don't favour this as in my mind if you have to run the engine to charge the batteries you get hot water also. But if you do not have to run the engine as you have wind or solar you get no hot water. The real benefit of a gas water heater is instant always on hot water (as long as you have gas and who runs out of gas??) It has been an issue for us when overnighting on Waterlily and not being able to have a shower in the morning before work - or have a cold shower as when we arrived on the boat the batteries were fully charged from the solar.

The potential replacement boat has a bath - fantastic. My fibromyalgia sometime demands a good soak.... with the water heater there is no limit to the amount of hot baths - apart from what water you have on board.

Anyhow, it's good to have options and simplicity. Hopefully shortly I can really expand on the other boat in detail and tell you why we went for it.

Enjoy tomorrow it sounds like it is going to be a nice day !






Thursday 8 November 2012

Survey booked

Hopefully not tempting fate, the survey is booked for a week on Monday. We will be helping the current owners move the boat to the yard for the survey.

I hope he is as good under the waterline as he is above.

Trying not to get too excited but it is difficult, I really don't want to be disappointed again!!

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Margaret Wells

She died yesterday, she was my mums good friend, no relation. We grew up knowing her children and she always lived in the west end of Derby where I have lived in or close to all of my life. She was a nice person lived a good life, a traditional life, I know what that means, and now she has passed on.

This is for me to reflect on when i re read my old blog posts.

RIP Margaret, we will miss you but not as much as my mum will.

Saturday 3 November 2012

Is it just me....

There seems to be a higher number of bloggers taking winter moorings this year than in the past. I suppose it could be the bad ( read ice) winters over the last couple of years. I can understand the attraction of connected water and reliable power. Those here at Hunts who live aboard don't have too many home comforts. There is a dedicated water supply but it is over on the lock landing and does freeze up, and that is if you can get to the point if the canal is iced over.

We are aboard with the fire going and the boat nice and warm. I know that is a big step away from 4 months of natures attrition. Good luck to all who live completely off the grid and those who are in or headed towards marina security for the worst of the weather.

It's such a long way away from those heady days of summer, well we did get a few, where the boat was so difficult to cool. I think our weather and swings of light and dark make our country so interesting, I'd not want to live anywhere else.