Tipping, old boats & large fish

We woke up this morning with Lisa claiming to be hanging on to the bed sheets by her fingernails trying to stay on the bed. Since I am on the outside I found it a little hard to believe. Once up she let out a yelp as some bottles rolled across the floor. I reluctantly got up as Lisa told me we were at 45 degrees. I loosened the ropes and we recovered back to normal from our 5 degree tilt. We're on a river you idiot and the Soar has tendency to go down as well as up (a bit like investments). In this case it went down (a bit like investments over the last year). I keep forgetting things. Not the proper actions of Captain Canal.

Below bridge 25 this boat is slowly being overgrown, at least it looks that way. When I look at this, and the new housing development behind it, I imagine a 'Local Hero' moment. The developer wants to buy the land and wharf and the grizzly old boat/land owner doesn't want to sell. Burt Lancaster enters Fulton Mackay's cabin and they enter into negotiations. Unfortunately real life never ends up like the films and, in this case, the development went ahead anyway and a fence was built to obscure the view of the old boat from the new homeowners.

As I write this, a fisherman has just pitched up to the front of the boat, threw his line in and hauled out a thirteen pound pike. I tried to take a photo but, as expected, the battery failed on the camera and this was the only photo I got.

Lots of pirates around today. Might be the weather.

Freedom & new coal boats

Heads it was, so we've decided to turn right. The Soar is a little in flood with some locks in the red and most in orange. Someone (can't remember the name of the boat) said that they had an aggressive bollocking from a BW employee for going through on red as they didn't have the right insurance. That really is the modern 'don't do anything 'cause it's too dangerous' excuse for not doing anything. Anyway, they were reluctant to go too far with the flood situation (and the agressive BW employee situation I should imagine). I do wonder if the chap had been steering instead of his wife, would the BW geezer would have been so aggressive. Past experience with bullies suggests not. Last year I ignored all the red lights and had a whale of a time on the Soar.

Freedom for Pickles No2

We left at around midday and found our way to Mountsorrell where there is a brilliant pub called The Swan. Below the lock we met up with a new coal boat. This was Star Class Carrying run by pleasant chap called Mark and his family. Apparently he bought the boat, nbCallisto, in February and did all the work to get it ready for carrying and serving diesel and coal and is currently on the way to the Shakerstone Festival before starting in earnest the winter run. Currently diesel at 69p so I got some.

As it says on the sign

He has plans to do the coal run on the Grand Union to Wigrams Turn, Leicester Section, Soar, Trent and Mersey to Fradley and Erewash. That is a large network and I have no idea what his turnaround would be, but good luck to him. I know that nbHadar was trying to to the Soar last year before bad luck prevented it.

It's a working boat that actually works, 'init.

I think we'll stay here the night as the weir at Silby Mill is running quite fast and winding Pickles may not be such a good idea in fast flowing water as we have both forgotten how to work things on the canals. Today Lisa stood by a lock gate unable to work out what to open first and I was appalling at steering nearly hitting a boat at Barrow. It can only go downhill from here. Here's hoping.

 Bit long though.

Bonjour

Well we're back. I said, we're back. Do I hear any cheers. Of course not. Big Brother's blaring in the background and I can't hear myself think.

It's all a bit of a shock, mostly around Sainsburys where we were a bit baffled by it all and couldn't remember how to shop British style. But there are good things too. At the till, customers tend not to be surprised to find that they have to pay when their stuff has been put through the scanner, then fumble through the purse looking for their cheque book whilst having a superficial but intense conversation with the cashier. It drives me mad(er). Fortunately we came back with 70 litres of wine and that should ease us into the mould. Well, it should last until after the weekend anyway.

No idea where my camera is as we haven't unpacked yet. Lisa actually never unpacks until we are off on the next trip to wherever. So no photos yet. Lisa didn't break very much when I wasn't here so there isn't much fixing to do, well none that I've found anyway. Even the engine started first time.

We are leaving with Pickles in the morning but don't know whether to turn right or to turn left when we get out onto the canal. Towards Leicester or towards Loughborough. Who knows, who cares. I think I've got a coin somewhere. There's a beer festival hereabouts in a month and a half and we have to be around these parts so shan't be moving far. Anyway we don't have much diesel.

Pillings Lock has been good for us and, as I'm sure I mentioned before, Lisa enjoyed her time here.

Life's a little uncertain at present as I'm sure you can tell. It'll all be much clearer tomorrow, I'm sure. I think.

Pillings Lock and France

I actually got round the ninety degree turn in Loughborough in one go this time. Unlike last year when I got caught out by the wind and needed to be, embarrassingly, hauled off by a passing boater. Also the Soar is a totally different beast when not in flood as it was last time.

Well we actually arrived at Pillings Lock Marina before the office closed on Tuesday so I took advantage and bought an electricity ticket and hooked up the umbilical cord. What a revelation. There is little of interest to us in marinas in general but mains electricity is brilliant. Lisa loves the marina and says that it is run very professionally.

Unfortunately the inevitable happened and I got shouted at for placing my rubbish in the wrong bin. Oh well, you live and learn. Everything is very convenient but we will hardly use any of the facilities on offer. We always feel as if we have to keep the noise down and talk in whispers. We don't like to open the hatches but on the towpath they're always open, even in the middle of winter.

We are off to France tomorrow evening and Lisa will return next week to complete the school term while I lie around in the sun (well that's what Lisa says). I haven't even thought of packing the car up. Tomorrow evening maybe.

I always say that I will attempt to keep this blog up over the summer but it rarely happens. Maybe this year. When we get back in September we are planning to spend a bit of time around the Soar and Trent and attend Nottingham Beer Festival. Well that's something to look forward to isn't it.

See ya.

Summer venture

It is about this time of year that we decide which marina we are to put ourselves into for the three months of summer when I have to go off and run our small campsite in France. Since I am away and Lisa is in charge, she has the choice as to which marina to go in to. This year it is to be Pillings Lock on the Soar. It has the right feel for Lisa and will be a complete change from Alvacote where she was last year. It was more money than Alvacote but they didn't demand the six hundred pound deposit that Hinckley Marina demanded the year before with only two hundred up front. It also has a holiday feel to it which may not be such a good thing for Lisa.

So we are on our way there starting last week where we managed to get to Hartshill with the four day view to be at either Trent Lock or Shardlow by this weekend before moving up the Soar. It leaves a little leeway for potential flooding on the rivers but at this stage that looks unlikely. I reckoned that six hour days would see us there without a problem although I was to be wrong (I have a record of vastly under-estimating time taken for trips) and they ended up being nine hour days with one eleven hour day thrown in for good measure. At Shardlow, we decided to have a Saturday night BBQ and managed to set fire to someone's hedge and they came out to the towpath to complain. Oops.

I don't see any damage

On the way a cyclist flagged me down to ask if I had a pump to fit their bike. Always the good Samaritan (not), I did and they were soon on their way again. Then, at bridge 15 on the Ashby, a hire boat decided that he would share a bridge 'ole with me. Not a bad idea as it is easily wide enough, but they started to panic as the entered the 'ole and tried to put it into reverse and we inevitably collided. Oh well, these things happen. No damage done. The rest of the journey was quite event free but it was all a tad hot at the tiller and Lisa had little sympathy with me (surprisingly).

Pickles No 2 at Shardlow

On Tuesday we are hopefully heading up the Soar to our new mooring at Pillings Lock. Quite looking forward to that as well. All in all, I'm quite looking forward to the next couple of days. It's all bound to be a huge let down.

My new netbook (note the Linux stickers)

We have exceeded our monthly allowance with T-Mobile as I have been downloading all my  and open source linux stuff to fill my new netbook with. My ten year old laptop is still going strong but has been retired for less demanding work as it was all getting a little too much for it. Bless. I may use it for experimental software on older machines, something Linux is perfect for. I still need my MS Windows partition as Lisa now wants to use it to save her bringing her work laptop home. I can hardly complain, can I?

A love of the canals

I have identified a current trend with the liveaboards on the Ashby Canal (if a sample of two can be a trend in a population of 'howmany' liveaboards). Young people seem to be buying boats and living on them in this part of the world. I've even seen them with their hoods up.

By young, I mean in their twenties (I always considered that the canals were the preserve of the over fifties (only a year to go in my case)). I'm not sure where they are getting the money from (probably theft) but it is a buyers market. A cheap form of housing or a love of the canals? Who can tell. But it is very possible for the former to become the latter, with time.

I met a guy the other day whom I first met when we first moved aboard Pickles No 2 and at that time he had just been divorced, was on his uppers and living in an old Dawncraft as he could not afford any other form of housing. But in the last two years, he has got his life together, bought a 'proper' steel narrowboat' got himself a decent job and a love of the canals (not just a cheap form of housing) along with many friends amonst the boating community and would never live in a house again. You see, it's not just the middle class marina dwellers who have a 'love of the canals' (as they spend several weekends a year on them).

I don't wish to influence anyone (god forbid) in the forthcoming election, but the Torys intend to  sell the BW property portfolio, if reading between the lines of the latest Towpath Telegraph is anything to go by (which it's probably not). It obviously depends which lines you wish to read between. I don't choose my lines lightly but as a fundamentalist liberal (no, not a 'Liberal') I'm good at choosing between 'my' lines (or sitting on the fence).

Hell, vote BMP. You know it makes sense.

Coal

Pickles in the sun

There's coal on the Ashby again (not counting Gosty Hill of course), except that it's not on the boats, it's on the bank. When BW dredged the canal late last year and the first part of this, they placed the puddle clay on the towpath side between the path and the bank. The clay has now completely dried out and amongst the clay can be found black gold. But how did it get there?

 Is it a meteor?

I can only presume that, since the Ashby was used as a coal canal for a couple of centuries, that this coal had fallen off the boats traveling it's length. There are places were there is quite a lot scattered around. For example where here is modern piling there is little to be had but where there has been little modernization, there is lumps of it. But you have got to wonder how it fell off the boats. Were they not as careful as we would probably be with the same load? I have read that boatmen would be fined if found to be underweight.

 And to prove the weight

When I say there are lumps to be found lumps, I mean very large lumps. I have had reports from another boater of finds that are 20 kg in weight but I have personally found a lump that weighs 43.2kg. To any walker they resemble rocks but they break easily and each half is unmistakable for what it is.

Look at the size of that

It was another boater who put me on to this, nbPlum and Plummy, it's owner. He claims to have heated his boat through the winter on this coal and I find that quite easy to believe.

And just to prove that it's not some random rock I picked up.

Is it worth collecting? That depends on how much you appreciate a free thing and how much you value your time. I reckon I could collect a 25kg bag in an hour of the small stuff if you find a good patch. But several large lumps would easily improve that. Seven quid an hour. I admit that I cannot stand missing out on a free thing. I also like to think that I've got a sense of history, several million years in the making, several centuries at the bottom of the Ashby and two days on my boat before being burnt. And I have no pride and am quite happy scrabbling around on the towpath on my hands and knees, getting filthy much to Lisa's despair.

Just out enjoying the sun

This is my 200th post. Happy birthday.

Back again.

I've been having as bit of a blog break lately. No reason, just have.

Since we had the bottom blacked we've been off the Ashby and down at Ansty on the Oxford, then down to Hilmorton, then, during the Easter break, we decided to move to Fradley Junction for a pint at the Swan. All very pleasant and the usual mix of weathers, experiences and thoughts (well, no thoughts actually). The blacking is looking decidedly used, even the newly painted red and white bands at the back need tarting up again. The problem is that we use the damn thing.
The Ashby has had a very light hand as far as the mooring wardens are concerned this year. As a paradox, there are actually less livaboards here this year as well. I've always said that these thing sort themselves out without outside influences. We were down at Ansty a couple of weeks ago and Iain off Gosty Hill coal boat said that he had seen loads from the Ashby that trip. Strangely the next day the people doing the twice yearly boat check raced past on their bikes clutching their computers tapping furiously. The next day a stream of Ashby liveaboards sped past presumably returning to their liveaboard roots. It would appear that they had left the Ashby in order to avoid being pinged there by the check. But once they've been pinged elsewhere...

Life on the canals is a tad easier with the advent of the good weather. Not so much ice, snow and rain but the mud on the towpath. It's the one thing I really hate. Good when frozen and when dry but not in between. But we had a BBQ the other evening which is always a good sign of things to come. Lisa even got a bit of sunburn on the way up the Atherstone flight.

The one thing I can remember on the boating front was when the owner of a certain historic nb (nameless) on his way to Coventry Basin for an event, crashed into the concrete bank on the way towards the lock at Sutton Stop. He didn't seem to be steering at all and I have no idea why he drove staight into it. It's no wonder those old boats are battered if this is the level of boatmanship (boatwomanship in the case of at least one ex-working boat) of their owners.

Believe it or not, I didn't take a single photo since the last blog. More soon. I've even written the next one.

Dirty Dancing & a black bottom

We were in London at the weekend as Terri had bought us a couple of tickets to see Dirty Dancing. Personally I thought there was a tad too much dancing involved but the clue was in the title. I also missed out as I had never seen the film unlike lisa who could hardly contain herself at times but she didn't fall asleep which is a good sign unlike several other productions that she has been to. It was actually very good. Possibly not my cup of tea.

We are finally out of the water and having our bottom blacked (oh, arr missus), at least I am doing it myself. I got it spray washed, wire brushed and the first coat on on the first day and it was quite hard work. I also had to tighten several bolts on the rudder as all of them were loose. The tiller has not been connected to the rudder properly from day one and there has always been a lot of play in it. I just thought it was normal (idiot). Well it's sorted now and hopefully we can now go in straight lines (maybe).

Look at the lines on this stern gear and compare it to that of nbChertsey. Which one was but as a utilitarian working boat and which a leisure boat. nbChertsey's is almost art deco in appearance and very elegant compared to Pickles no 2. And it looks a lot less worn. They don't built them like they used to.

The pressure was off after I got the first coat on and it didn't really matter that there was a couple of days of rain. There was very little (nothing actually) of the original blacking remaining and I fear that if I had of left it for another year it would have really suffered. I think that Pickles was just shown the initial blacking before leaving the factory. Last years moving through ice probably didn't help either. There were a couple of pits in the hull but nothing to be worried about.

I have been trying my hand at roses and castles (well roses actually). A more dismal attempt at the art would be hard to find I'm sure you'll agree. Nevertheless, since I insist on low standards in just about everything I do and usually fai to achieve them, this is more than adequate. Lisa bought me a DVD for Christmas and this is the first time I've tried it out. Well with some sample pots from B&Q and old model paintbrushes that I found in my workshop, what did I expect. Still things can only get better, can't they. Watch out Phil Speight, I'm a'comin'.

Chain saws and travellers

I've bought myself a new toy for £89.99. A chainsaw no less. It is essential livaboard equipment that we have done without for the last two years but I have no idea how. Yesterday I was cutting my first logs with a chainsaw for twenty years of to feed our perpetually hungry Rayburn. It's not very big but is a little scary as any wrong move and I'll have my leg off. Only then would I buy some protective clothing. It'll be a little cheaper if I only have one leg.

Every time I put my hand in my pocket (and that's not very often), I end up pulling out a small clear plastic bag. Unfortunately, only dog owners will understand the significance of this.

We were down in London (why are we always 'down' in London) on Saturday evening to watch a play that Terri was in as part of the second year of her degree. She was obviously the star but we may be a little unobjective as far as that is concerned. It was very good though. Nothing like a bit of Saturday night socialism with Brecht.  Chekov next apparently. That'll be a hoot a minute. Think I'll make my excuses for that one.

I gather that we are now classified as travellers as far as local authorities are concerned. This is all wonderfull stuff (although I imagine that some liveaboards may have different views on this) but some boaters have expressed a wish for new 14 day moorings and other privilages and this I see as problematic. The whole system is one big 14 day mooring as far as I'm concerned with some 7day, 48, and 24 hour exceptions, so personally I don't want more moorings, especially ones specifically for me and my ilk.

The whole thing could backfire on continuious cruisers as BW may well come up with the notion that we are more trouble than we're worth and push to have all boaters to have moorings with no such thing as constant cruisers. I don't need any special priviliages and am very happy to continue CCing and mooring in out of the way places not bothering anyone, neither the local authorities not BW. It seems that this has all stemmed from some CCers at the western end of the Kennet and Avon who seem to want to stay put and not fulfll their obligations. If only I fulfulled mine as well. Kettle, black?

Chimbleys, the RN and electrickery

I mentioned in the last blog that the person that owned the boat behined me at the time also owned one of the four RN narrowboats from the seventies. Thanks to Bill Rogers and Geoff and Mags from nbSeyella for supplying the link to the photo that I couldn't find. The owner also told me that there was a lot of ironwork when he lifted the floorboards and on looking at the photos, if the superstructure of the boats were steel, the extra metal could have been for ballast as well. Although I somehow doubt it was metal and it would have more likely been ply. Possibly a tad top heavy otherwise.

I know absolutely nothing about Royal Navy ships or boats (yes I know that ships sail on the surface and boats go below it, as in Das Boot) so I have no idea which one is the frigate although I'm fairly certain that it's probably not the black one. Maybe they are not copies of actual ships but only a representation. Any ideas? Where are the retired RN contingent when you need them, nbArmadillo?

We have moved to Shakerstone for a while but I have suddenly realised that we cannot make it through the Snarestone tunnel as, when I installed the Rayburn, I left the flue at full length and didn't cut it down for an exterior chimney (or chimbley as blooger nbMinnow calls it. Traditional I believe). So I will have to buy one and fit it before we go any further. I lost a chimney in the tunnel last year so I could just trawl for the old one. But we are now looking forward to getting off the Ashby and are planning our easter cruise.

We have been iced in for the second time this year but it has all but thawed since. We don't really want to be iced in due to the blacking later in the month. The downside of the lack of ice is the mud. Something has also happened to the electricity as it hardly lasts an hour or so from fully charged batteries. Something is eating the power but I don't seem to be able to track where the problem is. Hope it's not the inverter.

On the move again

The first boat to pass us passed several days ago. The ice has completely gone now. We are now going to move down to the end of the canal for the next month until we are due at Ashby Canal Centre for the bottom to be blacked. Then out into the main line. It's good to compare the disco boat passing at half past seven in the evening when everyone is eating and chatting with the return journey when everyone is drunk and shouting. We have also been down to the water point to fill and empty the relevant containers.

The boat behind me is one of those boats so hated by many as he is a continuous moorer. He is also the owner of another narrowboat that is currently being fitted out. I've seen photos of his other boat over the years but it's not in it's original state hence the fact that he is refitting it.

I first saw a picture of it on reading one of the canal magazines. It was one of four that was owned by the Royal Navy as recruiting props in the mid seventies. All four boats were made to look like Royal Naval ships or submarines. His was the one that was the frigate. I always wondered what happened to them as did others judging by the letters in the magazines. I've tried to find a photo of the boats in their original state but have been unable to.

We will be putting the flooring down next month as it should be easier to keep clean than the ply that is already there. I'll also put the holes in the hull for the washing machine and kitchen sink drains (no, we don't even have a kitchen sink yet) when we are out of the water at the end of next month. Lisa also wants t&g in the bedroom. Back to the seventies methinks. And I'm having t&g in the back cabin. Copycat.

Smug git. That's me.

The ice around the boat used to crack and  groan when we moved about the boat but hasn't done so now for about a week. We are well and truly fastened to the frozen canal. There used to be a unfrozen gap around the hull and the width of the gap depended on the air/water temperature. There hasn't been a gap for several days. We will be here for the foreseeable future like everybody else. At least a week. We have access to our car so water, Elsan, fuel, groceries and going to the pub are not a problem.

Very pleasant

I do a water run every day and the tank is just under full all the time. We have a months fuel and coal and the boat is perpetually warm, hot even. It's tee shirts inside at all times and the temperature would have to sink to minus thirty before we may have to think about jumpers. We don't want to sound smug but that's how we feel. Hell, it's only the coldest winter since 1963. It'll have to do a lot better than that if it wants to catch us out. By the way, 1963 was the death knell of the last of the working boats as they were frozen in for three months and the goods normally carried by them were transferred to the roads and never came back.

Note the water containers up front

We have all become constant moorers whether we wish to obay the rules or not. Not even bridge hoppers any more but fully fledged scum. This should sort the men from the boys, sheep from the goats and the wheat from the chafe. All those with the high tech facilities on-board had better hope that they keep working. Low tech will always work, high tech may not. Good luck.

We are so pleased not to be tied to the electricity grid, gas pipeline and water mains. Generating our own, or at least, responsible for emptieng and collecting our basic services. This is most certainly the life for us.

Iced in again (just like everybody else)

It's got beyond a joke now. This is the third week we have been iced in here with a short break of four days when we could move (so it's not really three weeks at all). Many of the liveaboards have migrated to the few water points in the area after the last freeze. We were not so bright. I go and get two containers of water every day and this keeps the water tank more or less filled.  nbAtlas came through the day before yesterday but I wasn't around to see it. It's a deep draughted boat but I'm not sure what difference that makes, whether it's easier to punch through or not. It's now stopped at the Sutton Cheney water point. Possibly desperate not to get caught out.

I'm busy trying to empty all out stuff from my workshop/back cabin as this was where it was all placed for the holidays and for the benefit of our visitors. I need to start generating income again. Tomorrow I have to disassemble and rebuild our double bed several inches less wide and several inches higher to allow our storage boxes to fit underneath and to allow a better clearway down the side. All my spare timber has been cut up for fuel for our stoves. This wasn't really my choice as I like to keep spare timber around for odd jobs but I will just have to buy it as I need it as I don't have the space for spare.

It was quite cold last night. Indeed, so cold we had to turn the Rayburn up a quarter of a turn. I don't hear anyone saying the Rayburn is too warm for a boat at the minute. I'm sure there are some who are really quite envious although, I'm also sure that they won't be admitting it. Open that hatch, it's far too hot in here.

Lisa is now back to work but Terri is now here for a couple of days enjoying the benefit of her own room. She has been on the same materess since she was born and it is very comfortable. The bed itself started as a bunk bed but was cut down to a single and finally cut down again to fit in the boat.