Single handing - the broken window cruise

Makes you feel a bit special .....single handing a boat IMHO.

I took Waterlily down from Fradley to Willington on Friday the 13th ! All went very well. It was not too busy so I had to do most of the 8 locks without another boat coming through.

I decided that the best way was to bow haul the boat out to the lock throat (we were descending - we was me and Leia who was in charge of the boat in the locks of course) This saved climbing ladders or dropping onto the top of the boat.

Two major rain storms presented a challenge. The first one was dispactched by just sitting in Barton lock - perfect timing as no one was coming up. The second - the pics show the storm chasing me to Branston lock - was once again in Branston lock but there was a Shakespere boat coming up so me in my great full waterproofs and the poor holiday hirer in just her jeans and a rain coat.




Anyhow we made it and were joined by Rachel after her straight 7 days of very long hours just out of Willington . We were both ready for food and a little drink or three.

Now Waterlily is back with Justin at Aqua for the window to be repaired. He is going to take the whole window out and take it to the wndow supplier who will take the broken pane out and replace it.

Nev

Posting a bit sparse....

That is because I have been out on my latest bike.

Last weekend I went to Scotland overnight. Stranraer to visit my good friends John and Carrie. It was a fantastic ride up there, one of the best times on a bike I'd say.

These two were so lovely - I almost started getting broody - just for a minute of course !!
These are the wind turbines we went up to help install late last year....very impressive.

Then on Sunday we did the complete opposite and did a Derbyshire ride with the Deauville owners club....100 miles of B roads and green lanes !!

Then this Sunday just gone on a whim I went to Bridlington for an ice cream. Once again a great ride on a great bike. You really should get one !!



Now back to canally stuff - my summer hols

Leicester ring
Macclesfield to Busgworth basin
Bancroft Basin
Caldon to the End

Any votes??

Anothe insect - but this one you could put a saddle on !!

This big bugger FLEW into our kitchen last week. We thought it was a big moth but it looks like a flying cockroach.... that is a pint glass it is sitting under !!

Even the dog was a bit wary of it.

Any ideas what it is?

BW breaks my boat window :-(

My repair to protect it from bad weather.


I got a call late last week from the BW enforcements officer... hello I thought is my canoe an eyesore on the moorings... no she was phoning to tell me Fountain their contractors had broken one of the windows on my P&J whilst strimming next to my boat.

Aaarghhh... but she was so nice and as I deal with this sort of stuff all day I had a lot of empathy for her position.

So now I will be taking it back to Mercia Marina to have the window taken out and the glass replaced at the window company who supplied the windows.

Inconvenience - you bet. Question dear reader - how would you approach any recovery of my out of pocket expenses?

The nice note from the bloke who did it - can't be too harsh can I??

Electricity - about right

I purchased a 2kw inverter last year. It was only a couple of hundred pounds (!!) nothing like some of the stuff (Sterling?) that you can spend your cash on and no doubt they are great for extended or livaboards.

We wanted to be able to watch the tv without interference, lights, pumps, plus hair dryer (not guilty) iron and maybe the little Dyson we have.

Pre new batteries we tried the Dyson that would not have it. It kept overloading the inverter. I suspected the newness of the motor was not helping adding to the start up load. On the Ashby trip I got it working by new batteries and having the engine running at over 1500 rpm - seemed to ensure the inverter did not trip out on start up. The iron and hairdryer also work ok so we now have all we need.

The Dyson was a big hit as up until now we had to get the genny out so this means we can hoover up while on the move and do not need to take the genny with us.

Nev

Proof we made it

Ok , back to full boating and our Ashby trip.

Two years ago we only made it as far as Market Bosworth winding there. This time as we passed I was hoovering... see later post... and Rachel cruised us on past to waters new. We were undecided as to go for the end but I'm glad we did.


The tunnel is one of the best - just long enough to make it exciting but short enough not to get bored (and wet). There were very few boats moving so we had no problems even so we did the cautious approach to ensure it was clear
Rachel brought me a nice brass tunnel light to compliment the new cratch board we had when Waterlily was painted (she had a horrible port hole type before) It worked very well casting a lot of light in a great arc lighting up the tunnel sides and roof very well.

So here we are Watering up on what must be the highest pressures water point on the cut. It sounded like a jet engine whilst filling the tank.

So a complete canal done.

Not sure on the next destination. I'd like to do the Macclesfield canal to the end - but then I still have a hankering to cycle sea 2 sea??

Nev

The Ponty the quick way

For those of you who own or have owned motorbikes - this may be of interest...?

I recently traded my Honda Deauville in for a minter of a Honda Pan European. This really is the pinnacle of my bike riding/owning to date.
Its a 1300 V4 and is soooo comfortable and very quick. On Tuesday I had the day off to myself so set off on a pre planned route to Barmouth via the 'aqueduct'


It was as you might imagine quite busy but all seem to be in good spirits. It really is a marvel and I resisted the temptation to cross on the trip boat - waiting to take Waterlily there and do it on my own boat.

After a coffee the roads just got better and better. From Bala to Barmouth the road was just perfect and so few cars to overtake. I was getting drunk on the bends. Motorcycling heaven it was. On the full trip I lost how many canal towns I passed and how many times I crossed different canals.

Last pic of the new bike by Bala lake...


Now do I do Scotland at the weekend or relax on the boat ?

Insect identification?

We had a great walk to Alrewas to the Coop yesterday. Rachel was a little concerned about these buggers.....

They hover around in gangs and have what looks like a stinger hanging off them but I'm sure it is not. It would be interesting to know what they are?

Nev

Busy early morning at Fradley

Must have had well over a dozen boats pass us already this morning. Seems many coming up from Alrewas so I expect Mercia is emptying for Easter. Good job we are staying put this visit.

Nev



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The Ashby cruise fire and a Streethay freebie !

Ok, so now I am relaxed and able to attend to my blog a few posts about our recent Ashby cruise.

We set off on the Sunday just after lunch and had a reasonably easy passage away from the hectic Fradley spring sunny Sunday. We had a easy and surprisingly boat free trot to Streethay for supplies.

Having not received my nipple from Stuart - black mark there, I asked Ray if he had one. He got his nipple box out and offered me to select but nothing seemed to fit. He was noticeably frustrated and did comment 'we normally can supply anything.. ! ' He took me into the back where all the bearing cases were but it seemed they were sold nippleless. I set about paying for my gas, loo blue and a decent second hand double skinned chimney he had whilst he went downstairs in search of the right sized nipple. Just before we left he came out of the workshop with the right sized threaded nipple but it was an angled type.... I took it, screwed it in and it nipped up perfectly pointing upwards as you would expect...;-) ready to take the grease into the new bearing. I asked the cost and he shook his head so that is my clain to fame with some thanks to Ray for a free supply from Streethay (he has had enough of my folding before s I don't feel bad)

Once serviced we cruised to our first nights mooring just past Hopwas - that was until one of the two boats offside (there are two cruisers who moor, no doubt quite legitimately, off side just after Hopwas in a little copse) started a very noisy clack clack type generator until about 9.30 pm !

Next day saw us past the two Glascote locks and up the Atherstone flight without passing a boat - lovely.

Our second night mooring was in a small cutting just a few bridges away from Valley cruises. Perfect mooring apart from about 10pm I heard cracking and looked out to see a massive and I mean massive fire raging above us and blowing directly over Waterlily dropping all sorts of sh!t sorry soot onto us. So at 10 pm we were bow hauling her away from the fire to safety about half a mile away.

Look at the roof !!

Take care

Nev

KISS

That did not take long did it...? We we back from our Ashby odyssey last Saturday at about 6pm and now we are back aboard for a general laze about over the bank holiday weekend.

If you are thinking of owning your own boat this is what is is all about !!

We will not move the boat just relax and watch the world go by, there may be alcohol involved certainly food and other enjoyments.

One thing to comment on is how we are now sorted electricity wise. Since installing the 3 new batteries and using my cheap (200 quid) 2kw inverter we can use the iron, hairdryer (not for me of course) and finally and perhaphs most importantly the little Dyson we recently brought. Previously we have had to use the generator which means effort in getting it out and started etc. I have found by running the engine at 2000 rpm the Dyson does not trip the inverter and stays running and the batteries just about keep up.

This means we can KISS - which is the principal of our boat ownership !

Nev

The little doggie that found Waterlily

Like Halfie we are back from our Ashby adventure. There will be a few stories and pics to come but for tonight I have to tell you about a little chap who came into our lives briefly.

Meet 'little dog'

You can see Leia is doing the pack hierarchy bit of not being interested!

We were by bridge 33 on the Coventry (between Nuneaton and Atherstone) on Thursday night. Friday just as we were getting set to depart a boater came along and asked if we had lost a Jack Russell, when we got to their boat they said they had two Wippets so could not keep him aboard. He had been outside their boat since the early hours looking very lost/abandoned. We agreed to take him aboard as we could not cruise on by. We had plans to ask passing boaters and generally see if we could find his owners.

Bottom line was no one had any ideas so he overnighted with us as we got to Hopwas. He is a lovely little dog very friendly very funny. Rachel had spoken to the local pubs and they spoke by phone to Ian on Ghosty Hill to see if he knew of anyone missing a dog. He had a few suggestions but no leads to the owner.

Saturday morning saw us act on the plan drawn up the night before in the Tame Otter (Callum our son had joined us at Hopwas) He and Rachel drove to a vets in Atherstone to see if he was chipped - no, so it was a agreed walk back to bridge 33 from Vally cruisers talking to boaters.

As it happens they met Ian off Ghosty Hill who agreed to take him in case he met with the owners.... bit he did also say he was aware of dogs being drowned in the cut locally !!

So the little dog is with Ian helping him deliver his coal and diesel at the moment. He seems to be well looked after and we were/are tempted to keep him ourselves. So if you know of anyone in that area who may have lost him. Please get in touch, he is worth the effort.

Nev

Temptation....

I am not good at refusing - just ask Rachel. Another post will follow with other transport related news.....watch this space??

Anyhow whilst at Mercia Marina getting my batteries yesterday I was having a sandwich and cup of tea whilst overlooking the brokerage boats. Ian came over from the brokerage and said he had a nice boat for me !!

Never refusing the option to get aboard I went for a look at this Clicky....




A really excellent boat. A little too much wood and the dinette was the wrong side of the kitchen and no bath otherwise I'd have been extracting one of my kidneys as a deposit.

Now where is that Apollo Duck advert for Warrior !!

Trees....

I love them, but they can be dangerous. I recall last year a poor lady was killed when she was taken off the back of her boat by a falling tree.

We have quite a few trees on the Hunts lock moorings. Since we were moved up (by BW) we were under a Silver Birch. This allowed the local wildlife including what must have been a large Ostrich who routinely unloaded onto our boat roof.

A few weeks ago I took a photo and sent it to the moorings officer as I was concerned over the lean the silver Birch had towards my boat.

She was very proactive and said she would get the vegetation contractor to have a look. When I arrived at my boat on Friday after a little trip out on the bike I found this.....


I also found an email on my phone from the Mooring officer saying they were going to look at it today (Friday) They actually took it down with my boat in situ... I'm glad by all accounts I was not there to see it. What was not there when I got there was most of the tree. My neighbour said there was a steady flow of wheelbarrows removing the sections!!

The boat did have a good covering of sawdust even after the workers has cleaned the roof using the chainsaw exhausts! I prefer this to bird poo as it came off with a soft brush.

The base of the tree did have some rot in it so it was on its way. I'm pleased its gone. I intend planting an apple tree on the mooring for those boaters that follow me in the years to come.

I did manage a few of the larger rolls so I might have to being my electric chainsaw to the boat later in the year to get me some winter fuel.

I'll think of the Ostrich whilst burning the logs !

Nev

Batteries part II

Rachel was over in North Wales last weekend so I was home alone !!

I did an emergency dash to Leeds to return number 2 sons Xbox that has been repaired and we had a lovely walk around Roundhay park on the outskirts of Leeds. This was a really nice wooded walk. I then topped his larder up before heading direct to the boat from Leeds.

I was a nice afternoon and I pottered. I had to run the engine to get some hot water and put some charge in the batteries as they were at 40% on the SmartGauge. I got them to 60 % and shut off and lit the fire lit the oil lamp drank some whiskey and some beer ate then fell asleep. That relaxed easy sleep, helped by the alcohol!

In the morning with the central heating pump running intermittently overnight (it is on a pipe stat) and a couple of hours watching the tv (sorry Maffi) the batteries were at 9% !! I gave up on them and by the time I left the boat they were Fubarr'd

Yesterday after doing a bit of research, thanks to those who left comments on Batteries part I I nipped over to Midland chandlers and brought 3 x 11oah sealed Lucas batteries for , hold on let me sit down, £270. Good deed of the day was done after the assistant rang up the wrong total (£40 less) and I corrected him (is that a good bad or sad thing to do?)

So I have a job to do this weekend before we head off to the Ashby.

I fully expect the alternator to die next.

Nev

Supermoon - doing a Denny

Did a Denny last night. It was supermoon time click here for more info

This is the best I could do - mainly as I left it too late and watched a film and only went out at about 11.30 to let Leia have a wee.

It was not without incident either.

I decided I wanted a portrait shot and whilst adjusting the tripod the fixing snapped !!

So this pic was taken with my camera on the bottom lock gate beam.

Then as I was walking over the bottom lock gates to go back to the boat..... plop in went the broken tripod ! It went in at a location that makes it impossible to get out. A few boats have come by already and non in the weedhatch removing a mangled tripod - it was a fold up type and cheap so I recon it will settle in the mud and not be seen for a few more years.

Amateur or what !

More money into the boat

... over the winter I have had to top up the central heating header tank. I was naively hoping this was because of evaporation, daft really as it has held well over the last winter.

I have been topping up with a strong mix (pink) of antifreeze. Within the bilge I have a bucket that collects the water that drips from the pressure valve and last time I checked it had a pink tinge. I therefore deduced that there must be a leak on the heater coil from the back boiler. I will isolate the coil vial the two valves to stop us having to shower and wash the pots in a weak mixture of antifreeze but it does mean more expense to replace the hot water tank - can spell califorier !!

Seems eBay gives the best new options but I need to get the right size and volume. One thing I hope to get an improvement on how long the water stays hot for as at the moment it is only warm in the mornings. In the blurb on the new cylinders they say 24 hours. Plus if it fits I might go for a larger volume so we can at some stage fit a bath .

Nev

It'll be the Ashby

We have agreed we need a nice leisurely introduction to our 2011 cruising. We did part of the Ashby in May 2009 and as we never quite made it to the end we want to do the complete canal this time.

It will be in a few weeks to allow the weather to improve a little more plus the clocks need to spring forward to give us (me) some end of day cruising fishing time.

The Ashby for us is a great week out and back cruise - about 5 hours cruising a day and not too many locks. The locks we do hit will be in reasonable groups to enable some very sociable cruising.

Can't wait !!

Nev

Nipple check

......sorry couldn't resist that one. You may recall I had the rudder bearing and casing replaced on Waterlily but Stuart the engineer who did it could not replace the grease nipple back into the bearing as the threads were different.

We agreed he would send it on to me for me to fit. A reminder went out and he apologised as it was still in his van and he said he would drop by and fit it.

We are hoping to be aboard this weekend so I will be able to do my nipple check and get some grease in to the new bearing casing.

For sure this warm sunshine is a real pressure to get aboard.

Nev

Spare a few bob .....

You may be aware of one of my other passions - motorcycling. I was out on the bike yesterday scrubbing in a pair of new tyres (£275 !) So why am I telling you this.

I have just read Maffies latest blog and I echo the comments about our service men and women. The are real heroes. I hate it when sportsmen and women are given this title.

A friend of mine is doing the Lands End to John O'Grotes run on his motorbike in support of the Afgan Heroes. Its a good cause and one I have supported. If you have a few spare pounds please follow the link below and give Les your support. He is an ex serviceman doing his bit for some real heroes.

http://www.bmycharity.com/LesBishopEnd2End

Many thanks

Nev