Hard workers...

Look away those of you who are now happily retired. Not that you do not deserve your easier life after decades of hard work.

No the title refers to those who are getting up at the silly hour I am today......my reasons are health related but talking to a fellow boater yesterday he will be up now getting ready for his long day doing more than one job. As was yesterday a full 12 hours. Plus another boater on our mooring who does long shifts in the NHS.

Nothing new for those hardy boaters who used the canal for work purposes when a moving boat was money. It is in the main an idilic lifestyle of pastime we hold so dear now but there is no doubt is was a real test especially during the long cold dark winters. It must have been a test of resolve to be trudging along in the wet and dark on some remote canal tow path  - very different to how they are used today.

So as I type this with my cup of tea my thoughts are with all those quietly going on their way to earn a living.

So painful

I have just paid for my 2012/13 boat license. With prompt payment rate this is a cost of £710.24  Add that to the recent mooring payment of just over £1200 means it is costing us just short of £2,000 to float my boat in a muddy  (our moorings are very muddy) ditch..... and I mow my own grass and maintain my own mooring.

Of course my wife working in the NHS has had a 0% pay rise for the last two years and I have had 1%  CaRT tell me they have increased my license fee by 6.4% and will increase it by 2% more than inflation for the next three years. That is no small increase. If I were a saver or retired my savings would be attracting diddly squat.

It makes me wonder how folks maintain their boats on the cut all in. It really is a dedication to the waterways. I'm sure there are some big sacrifices folk make to keep on enjoying the canals and rivers so CaRT better prioritise the infrastructure in their spending plans as I feel I am doing more than my bit and am a super contributor as well as a friend.

A new blog is a blogging treat - Shell Bell

Ok, I read canal blogs, there is a big list of them over there on the right.....

It is for sure vicarious cruising for me as I don't have the courage to give up the day job just yet.

So when I discover a new one its like buying a new book without the buying bit. A regular reader of my rambling is Norwyn on Shell Bell. I have found he has a blog here... Click Me

So over the next few days I'll catch up on all that is Shell Bell, thanks Norwyn

Apple to be recommended

My youngest has recently purchased a nice new Macbook pro laptop for University. I got his old one .. which was generous as they still command a good price even second hand. 

The battery and dvd drive were both FUBARR'd. On checking for latest software updates after installing Mountain Lion, then checking to see what it would cost for a new battery and drive Apple advised it was still within its 3 .. yes 3 year warranty. You get these extended warranties when buying from the Apple education store. 

So booked in for a Genius appointment at Apple store Meadowhall advised a couple of days and within 48 hours had it back with just under £200 of parts and labour and a nice newish Macbook pro 15 inch.

The Apple store is worth a visit, done the London and New York ones but this was the busiest by far.... even on a Friday evening and Sunday evening.

As an aside they did get some money from me for ...... a sleep monitor. 

I suffer from Fibromyalgia and poor sleep is part of the condition. I am my own worst enemy and I know regular bed time and regular length, are critical to aiding good sleep. This device records the type and length of the different sleep patterns over a night and gives a score. I will continue and observe impacts such as work, amount, time to bed, time to awake, location to see if I can improve my pattern.

Anyhow.... as I say Mac to be recommended

Nev

Captain chairs or bed settee

I got a recliner last birthday which I'm afraid I don't find too comfortable. There is a pad at the top that pushes my head forward giving me an aching back/neck.

At the Mercia marina show I tried out a Wilsons chairs which was much more comfortable  ( I think my chair was from a department store)  I am sure I will replace my chair but we are dithering as to whether to replace the little settee we have with another recliner or a bed settee. I don't think the boat is big enough for more than two so my choice is the selfish one.... two captain chairs, however Rachel is erring on the side of sociable caution and thinking of a Wilsons bed settee.

What do you have and why..... it might help me make up my (our) mind?

Nev

Did I mention my event.....

Spot the event from this picture....

What a great cake made by the mum of my sister in laws bloke. It taste great and the cabin is in the process of being demolished .

There is even a little Leia on the front !

Nev

Thieves strike on my mooring - Hunts lock mooring up for auction

Just really annoying that I now cannot trust our moorings. I kept two jerry cans at the back of my wooden locker, they were empty but I use them over winter to keep the tank topped up. Last time I mowed the grass they were there today gone. It really makes me sad that even in the community boaters and more frustratingly those who moor with me at Hunts someone thinks it is ok steal someone else's stuff.

I will give stuff away, I have done and I'd go out of my way to help someone if they needed it. I hope whoever took them gets benefit from their dishonesty and in those quiet period of reflection feels a little remorseful.

That and the constant mowing of grass is making me think of marina moorings. For security and also the lack of maintainence. I cannot trust BW now CaRT not to damage my boat with their so called maintainence not even rings at Hunts and they are asking for £1700 for a auctioned mooring at the moment.  If you are bidding think again, no maintainence and the risk to your property does not make it a good offer.

Down in the dumps today on boating for sure.......

Laura's Wedding

As I am in the process of having these musings printed by year as a record of what I did for my offspring and their offspring if they have them I wanted to record my neice's wedding.

Hardwick Hall was the setting and it was even from a blokes point of view beautiful. So tasteful so gentle so much Laura and my sister Pam.

More pictures than words....

Heartbeat and support stockings

....two very entertaining British tv shows I'm afraid.  We were away again on the bike last weekend meeting up with friends from Ireland and other from across the country for a couple of days biking in and around North Yorkshire.

Saturday saw us ride over to Whitby, compulsory fish and chips then on to Goathland for more compulsiry ice cream and visits to Scrips garage and the Adensfield pub, great.

Sunday saw us off again through some fabulous scenery a=s we headed to Holmfirth for a drink of tea in Sid's cafe and a quick nip up Nora Battie's steps.

We rode back through some of Derbyshire's finest roads to CMC in Chesterfield for tea and cake before heading home with other going in all directions after a great weekend. Problem with this bike is its too tempting to ride and poor Waterlily is getting neglected.

It really would be rude not to.

Ok the canal link......while up in the hills we did pass over a few canals or more likely rivers that were navigable, I really must do some research on the Leeds Liverpool and Huddersfield narrow canals as if the give this scenery pay back they have to be worth the effort?

Rest and be thankful

Yep.... it is a place in Scotland I have have been to it along with many other excellent roads on the west coast. I have therefore decided that if I ever get a new boat or rename a boat it will be called

The rest and be thankful.....

We have been on the boat honest....

After the trip back from Kinver I had a few more days that I spent on the boat sorting out the water gauge. It is a Midland Chandlers one and I had installed it incorrectly so the gauge was too high compared to the tank. I dropped it onto a leg that is equal to the bottom of the tank. It should now be a lot more accurate. I also put in a 360 onmimax aerial. It comes with a booster so no more messing around when we moor up, we either get a signal or not. Last Saturday night we were back on board after Rachel's 25 years in the NHS awards. While I filled the water tank Rachel vacced the boat using the Dyson and the inverter, drains the batteries but better than getting the genny out. Then a lovely meal and a walk into the twilight finished the day. Sunday was mowing the grass and a general tidy up outside. Sticks in my throat a bit having to pay BW or CArT over £1200 then having to tend their bank! One for the blog record really, Scotland on the bike next weekend.

Every little job

Another couple of jobs done on Waterlily today. I fitted a water gauge some while back and it has not proven to be very useful, mainly due to the fact I had not fitted the sensor low enough to record an empty tank. So I stripped it all out and relocated it so it is next to the bottom of the tank, when there is no pressure of water it will show empty.... I also fitted a 360 ariel. I was fed up with twiddling about with the old ariel trying to get a signal, and we had to put it pmand take it down whenever we moored up. Tis one comes with a booster so hopefully no more messing when we moor up or set off, plus it looks tidier. I also spent some considerable time strimming the jungle that is up mooring. I opted out of BW doing after the broke two windows. Bloody frustrating to have just paid over £1200 fore mooring then have to mow it myself ! Every time I do another little job/improvement it makes me less likely to part with e boat.

...and the dog rescue cruise

It was nothing if not eventful our cruise to Stourport. Apart from the breakdown we rescued two dogs.

You may recall we rescued and rehomed in a couple of days this little chap last year on our Ashby cruise.

He is now called Bosun and lives on Ghosty Hill.

Dog one....

We were prepping Compton lock when a fella with a largish long haired Alsatian walked past. As we were rising in the lock he came running back shouting his dogs name and asked if it had run past. It has not so he went off back up the canal. As Waterlily was coming out of the lock said dog appears running back to me with his owner in chase but well behind. A fella moored up tried to stop the dog which ran past him and despite my common sense alerts sounding (I was badly bitten by an Alsatian when I was a kid, so have a fear of large dogs) I grabbed hold as she came by, she was exhausted so gave in easily. As the bloke approached she decided the canal was a good option and despite me trying to hang on went in. The boat behind us had now thankfully opened the top paddles. By now the owner arrived and was trying to persuade the dog to swim to him, whch it would not do. Eventually I think it decided it was going to go under so it swam to the side. The owner got hold of its front legs and I got it around its middle and hauled her up on to the lock side. She was utterly exhausted. She just lay there and could not get up. Very sad. Waterlily was well down the cut by this time so I left him to it. As we went out of site I saw the dog up on all fours thankfully. However I feared for why she was so reluctant to come to her owner....

Dog two...

As it the case no boats were moving on Friday morning as we moored about half a mile from Deptmore lock. As we go ready to go three boats appeared.... I try not to 'nip out' so we waited and when we got to the lock we were four boats down the queue. As we got to two boats in front of us I went forward to help at the lock. The boat going down said they thought the do sitting patiently by the lock had been left behind by the boat in front on them. They had all been working the lock (six people on the boat) when it was down on the lock landing they had all boarded and cruised on.... I got involved (yep I seem to do that a lot, if there ever was a big disaster I'd be the one walking towards it !) The lovely dog was sitting so patiently... it was quite sad, he was obviously well cared for and luckily had a collar and tag  - with a mobile number on it. I said it they had not returned for him before we went into the lock I'd call... they did not so I did.

...."Hello, do you happen to own a black Labrador and are on a canal boat near Deptmore lock?"

"Why yes we do and yes we are....?"

"Well I think you have left him benind at the lock.."

"O my goodness, SUSAN....click...." the phone went dead.

We locked down and no sign of the returning crew so I rang back and offered to take him aboard and cruise down to the returning party.

They gratefully received him and his tail started to wag. They had a fair walk back and as I passed boat  the owner very kindly popped a bottle of wine on the boat for us and we shook hands.

It is not only David Cameron who looses something special to him.

So we are up to a three dog total for rescued dogs whilst out cruising.

The breakdown cruise...

It has been a double breakdown cruise that turned out to be a bit more involved. We were waiting an RCR engineer at Dimmingsdale lock, I chased on Wednesday morning and was told the engineer was just finishing a job and would be with me within the hour. Whilst waiting Graham and Jill came by on Armadillo




Shortly after Phil the engineer from Oxley marine arrived saying he had just received the job from RCR.... So the engineer just finishing was a little fib maybe....anyhow he had about thirty belts with him and after a little trial and error he found and fitted a nice new fan belt. £10 yep was charged, The belt from Halfords was just over £3.
We ran the engine for a couple of minutes an all was well so Phil set off, just as he was walking out of sight the charging alarm went off again. I gave him a blast on the air horn and he returned. Another cup of tea and a good fettle around the alternator Phil found a broken earth wire. I broke out my crimping set and he set to.... Sorted, charging then he left, when he was jut out of sight the alarm went off again so he was recalled with the air horn. He diagnosed a faulty rectifier and we agreed we would cruise on to Oxley marine near Autherly junction for him to remove the alternator and take it to be tested. He disconnected the alarm and off he went and we followed.
A dog rescue at Compton lock.... followed, that is a story, and we arrived at Oxley about 3pm. Phil set to and removed the alternator and set off to Wolverhampton to get it checked.



That is Phil's little 100 year old boat


The water here is very clear, due to being fed lots of nitrates from the two water works and there are lads of large carp..




An hour later he brought back a new alternator as he advised the old one was not charging properly. He kindly replaced all the connectors with new crimped ones and refitted it. We started up and all was well. We left it for a while and just as Phil came to collect his tools the charging alarm went of again! He was very resolute and declared he liked a challenge. He pulled wiring loomed and the alarm silenced.....a broken wire maybe? After about another hour he found a wire that had worn through the insulation and was shorting on the engine block. It must has been heating up just enough to expand and touch the block. A excellent find ..

He made good and ran the engine again and all was well. We exchanged thanks and set off for a late evening cruise to Coven for food and beer. An interesting day. The upside is RCR now have a parts included policy, they charge accordingly of course, but we got a new alternator and a good check on the wiring.


All in all an interesting but frustrating day. Just goes to show you can just assume you will make progress. Top marks to Phil from Oxley marine, I can't recommend him highly enough, he stuck at it where others would have given up.

Today beer had to be taken

I'll post more later.... maybe, but now after 4 months i need / deserve a beer.

Nev


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Breakdown number 2...RCR not at their best

Jumping around a bit day wise. We moored overnight just below the Bratch locks. I had a red letter evening fishing, must have caught over 25- 2lb plus chub on shrimp. Never fished the canal like it before, it was excellent.

We set ff just after 8 to go up the Bratch locks with the help of the lockie. He was a chatty fellow been working for BW since 1976, retired now doing summer lock work. The other fellow was also nice and chatty but well fed up with BW/CART as they had just changed his contract to annualised hours meaning about £700 a year pay cut and more weekend working. You have got to feel sorry for those still with BW.

As I got back on the boat I immediately smelt steamy antifreeze, I lifted the board and there was steam from the engine. We moored up just off the Top of the Bratch lock landings and called RCR......I think it went to a call centre as the fella seemed to be reading from a script. We put the call in at 9.35.....and engineer turned up at 1.20. He topped up the water undid a bolt on the thermostat housing and bled some air, advised me the alternator belt needed changing and left. A nice fella , but........

......we cruised on thru a couple more locks then at Dimmingsdale locks the voltage alarm and battery light came on, so we moored up and phoned RCR again, about 3.25pm, she said he computer had just crashed (!) so she would call me back.....4pm I phoned again and it was obvious

A. The first girl had forgot or just disregarded my call
B. They were seriously short of engineers

She said an engineer would be with me at 10am...

I got the Brompton ready.....checked my ipad for the nearest Halfords and cycled the 5 miles to the centre of Wolverhampton to see if they had a like for like alternator belt....yep I should have a spare, but I'd used it last service and i think it was a little big (I think the reason for the two failures is my belt is not fully tight as it is at the end of the adjustment and is slipping) they did not - arse. So I got some supplies and we will wait for RCR at 10am... they had better not be late.

No hardship really as we are in no rush to get back, but we will need to charge the batteries in the morning and get some hot water. At least we have an excuse for a lazy start.

To Stourport ...

,... by bike. We looked at the weather forecast and it was for 20mm of rain in Wales overnight on Saturday. We guessed much would find its way to the Severn but decided to have a recce so we got the Bromptons out for the last ten miles from Kinver to Stourport.

These bike are really useful for such ad hoc visits. The river looked not too bad it was moving quite swiftly and was high....

It looks like it was dropping but there was Saturday nights extra to top it up as well as what landed earlier in the week in Wales and the North West. so we took the easy decision to stop where we were and reverse our route... no hardship especially as Stourport was a real disappointment. It is very car focused and the fun fair whilst great for 12-15 year olds held little attraction. 

 The only nice are was the basin, and much development had taken place since we were last here. The large hotel was now 8 separate homes.

 This shows the river, not sure if it looks full to you... it did to us?

Maybe this is the sort of boat that is more able to deal with the river in amber, there were some very nice examples in the basin.

On to the terminus of the trip

Those that will read the blog will know we had two options for this trip.... out and back or a ring via the Severn  (I think I have been spelling it Seven).

We got to Kinver on Friday afternoon and found a lovely mooring advised to us by one of the permit moorers above the lock. They are nice moorings above the lock, water and power, one even has a estate agent board next to his boat, pity the poor individual who buys it and then is told the mooring cannot be transferred !

This is our mooring.. the last one before the winding hole out of Kinver and is as good as it gets I think. Made even more so by the reliable fishing  !

 

 We decided to take a rain check on the trip to Stourport literally ....but we would still get there.

What I should say for the record is what a fine village Kinver is. Perfect size, very nice canal setting and lots of lovely walks.

Advice on staircases

I'm a little behind so this is Thursdays post

It was raining hard first thing so we delayed our start, porridge helped stoke the fire in the belly and we departed at 9.45am. Then it stopped raining and we only really got wet cycling to Morrisons at the end of the day.

Rachel did the Bratch locks with the help of the lockie.... he was covering 8 months but said he expected hos job to be doe by CART volunteers next year. 

 This is technically the pound between locks as these locks are not a staircase. They really are a marvel in construction, shame I was on the boat.

The next set of locks is Botterham Staircase locks, just two in this staircase. We has a little wait as there was a boat coming up. We went in but then were advised by the boat that has just come up behind us that we needed to empty the bottom lock before discharging the top lock. I can understand this but why not just let it empty into the bottom lock and run off via the bywash.... this would save time and having to work the bottom gate paddles?

 I would have let the water go via the bywash.... would you?

 We cruised on to Hinksford where the internet had told us there was a Morrisons 2 miles away, which we got the bikes out for and got a little wet in the rush hour to collect provisions. Finished the night catching lots of fish just by the caravan park after bridge 38.

Boat handling challenge part 1

Despite best efforts the new 5 foot bed kept us holed up till gone 8 this morning so we had an almost identical 8.40am start on what was always going to be a long day.

It was a long day as I did not really know where to moor up on new territory for us.

We did the five locks from Penkridge in lovely sunshine again and soon were watering up at Gailey. Interesting our Nicolsons does not show a water point at Gailey. I have had a couple of sixth sense moments today. Passing near the large chemical factory I was musing to myself about all the blogs I read whereby they record tales of a coming together at bridge holes and I have only ever had this once..... Until about 5 minutes later lucky no damage done and as I was marginally in the hole I was waved through a bit of a chat then onwards...

Then we met lots of boats, I presume they must have all left the Shroppie moorings at the same time. This was my second sixth sense moment, the first boater advised there was a large fishing match just after the next bridge, here's me thinking how difficult it would be passing boats during a fishing match, so four boats appear from nowhere !



" just right mate thanks" I got from one angler and thanks from another, there not all bad. However I think with it being a mid week match they were all retired so less ' wound up'

Next it was the narrows...... Yep three boats, the first pulled over for us, then we dropped into the passing place for the next two.





This was a large trip boat just having passed us


Another comes into view.


My assistant.....



Then it was on past the junction and how I was surprised. I was expecting immediate urban sprawl, but a beautiful corridor of green, crystal clear water, loads of fish and lots of smiling faces. We passed the bottom of the Wolverhampton flight, slightly temped but that will be for another day.









We dropped through the last three locks of the day and as we were passing Wightwick we watched a 4x4 drive up a very steep drive passing two children and a lady. I remarked to Rachel, I hope her handbrake holds, she opened the door and stepped out and greeted the family then the car started rolling back......horrible.....luckily for her she must have left it in gear and put the steering lock on and forgot the hand brake, the car careered back down the drive with the lady desperately and dangerously opening the door to try and get back in, as the wheels were on lock it did a fast sharpe left turn and hit the fence rather than rolling into the road. Ten seconds earlier it would have run over the children !

We moored up just on the outskirts of Wightwick and will see what the weather has for us tomorrow. We need a food top up and if the weather is really bad we will visit the local manor.


We finished the evening with a nice meal in the mermaid, expensive slightly slow but excellent food.


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