Last night on the Home-Mooring...Spring Cleaning (early) and shank's pony.

It's been a pretty cruddy last week on our mooring weather wise - the occasional dry spell but not a lot of light for the solar panels, way more wind (outside) than we'd like and lots of rain too.

This has meant that a lot of the jobs we'd left until last minute are not going to get done before we chug off into the light blue yonder.  It's not the end of the world but it would have been nice to get them done - procrastination being to blame once more.

No matter - we will no doubt get some bright dry and not TOO cold days in the not too distant future - we hope.

ONE thing that I did get around to  during a brief dry spell - Not that it needed to be dry to be done , was to take the front and rear fenders off the boat, take them to a local garage jet wash and give them a good clean.

I had planned to do them when we had the boat blacked earlier in the year - alas, I never quite worked out where the power supply for their jet-washer was.  Anyway, it's done now and they're back on the boat - sans green slime... well most of it's gone compared to before.

With this being the last week in Wakey, my old banger went up for sale on Ebay - listed HONESTLY (unlike a lot of the rubbish that gets posted) with faults and all.

The chap was supposed to come and collect it yesterday but asked if he could pay the balance via paypal - and me smelling a rat, suggested he could come the today instead if that was easier... we'll see how that pans out later.  Worse case, we park it up and deal with it in the new year when we pass back through... Assuming it DOES go, it'll be shank's pony for us for the foreseeable - we're actually looking forward to having to THINK about what we buy when shopping as 9 times out of 10, we buy way more than we need.  THAT said, we HAVE stocked up on soft drinks, washing liquid and coal.

Writing of washing liquid,  we've now successfully switched the 'black water' tank from green/blue to bio-washing liquid.  It took a few empties and rinses to get rid of the traces of the blue - which presumably killed off the biological action of the laundry liquid but it has certainly reduced the pong  emanating from the exterior vent.... and (using Aldi's Alamat at  under 2 quid a litre, it's a LOT cheaper than before - not to mention better.  Add to that a spray bottle of diluted stuff in the bathroom (sorry- HEAD) to give a couple of squirts to stubborn bits, it's all good.

In preparation for our departure I'm going to do the next service and change oil/filters.  Including the pre-filter since I've got a whole load of them now.  

Let's hope it's dry today.

Until next time...

Emergency Navigation lighting, more jobs and jump starting neighbours.

Now back when we were ordering the boat, the builder pointed out that navigation lights were a waste of time in his opinion because, due to the height of the boat, there is no way of FITTING them to apply with "proper" regulations pertaining to vessels of the length of the boat.

Believe it or not, at that time, I was so stressed about the whole boat building/buying business AND work etc. that I caved in and said "ok don't bother with the wires then" - looking back, his suggestion might have been more of a result of the wiring loom having already gone in rather than the legality of said lighting.

Anyway - fast forward 2 years of NOT going out (well at least not on rivers) in the dark, the other day it dawned on me that for the sake of a bit of buggering about, some battery powered thingys would actually DO the job - in as far as having SOME form of coloured lighting on the appropriate side of the boat.... and thus make short journies at night time on the river (say from Leeds Lock down to Clarence Dock) acceptable - and more importantly a bit safer should we encounter traffic coming the other way.  It also occurred that it might make it a little safer should fog descend during a journey although given the relatively low output from the lights, that might just be wishful thinking.

Initially, I thought about getting some magnetic LEDS in the appropriate colours - on searching I found their price to be a bloody rip off prohibitive (remember we're now TIME rich and CASH POOR) - (Donations welcome)  SO  I ended up buying a "set" from a chandlers on Ebay and they cost about 16 quid inc.  delivery... well I say delivery, "click and collect" from Argos but at least it meant not bothering the tenant again.

Attaching said lighting to the side of the boat when required, meant I needed to make some little hookey on bracket thingys... and having a bit of 25mm squared wood lying around came in handy.

3 homemade brackets which I then painted to match the boat.  OK they're NOT the neatest of things, but on this occasion I've gone for 'function over form'   - and they work just fine.

The lights clip into them and will live inside the boat when not required... 

Whilst outside buggering about - AND as the sun was shining for a change of late, I decided to sand down and repair a chip in one of the dinette tables... it'd been bugging me (a little bit) for months.  

Unfortunately, the only birch veneer I had left was the edging strip for the doors and although it is a little bit thing, it's tidied it up OK.  

I've given it 4 coats of varnish and now need another dry day to do the other side before we leave  - hopefully.

WHILST out and about, a neighboring boater came asking for help in the form of a jump start for an old car that'd not ran for a while...a car that wasn't actually needed at the time we were doing jobs but later in the week.

  As such, I  was a bit short with her and initially left Andy to it - it turned out that both my sets of jump leads, were not up to the job.  SO that only left one thing... and that was to "try out" my emergency planning jump starting thing I bought a while back - it' purports to be able to jump start a 6.5 litre petrol or 3.0 litre diesel engine.  The CCA are rated at 800 which for a thing of it's size seemed unlikely... it also has a built in torch (with disco modes???) AND a couple of USB charging points AND a laptop output.

This is the thing - from ebay -  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/800AMP-Heavy-Duty-Jump-Starter-Car-Emergency-Power-Bank-Charger-Booster-ZIPOM/253587396617?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Amazingly, it actually worked perfectly... and on the screen still showed 98% state of charge.  

I know most folk keep a pair of jump leads on their boats in case they need to jump start themselves off their leisure batteries (truth be known I've ANOTHER decent set "somewhere" on the boat) but this really is handy to have and HAD I had it when we came across a flat (batteried) hire boat the other month in Saltaire, we could have helped them along on their holiday... looking back now, I'd obviously picked up one of the NAFF sets of jump leads when I tried to help them.  

For a change, my ocd plan for the worst approach foresight has paid off.

Jump leads are now in the bin... I WANTED to keep the wire for emergency use but Andy put his foot down with a firm hand and insisted they were disposed of...  so I put them in my secret store of things that might come in useful  the bin as instructed.

Until next time...

An Update on 'My Dad', MORE chores and a day off dieting.

IGNORING our current sulk Re. the L&L being closed above Gargrave again, I thought I'd stop a while and give you an update on my dad.

As one of you may recall (I forget what I write half the time too), just at the start of our first "season" my father became gravely ill - suffering a perforated bowel and resultant emergency colectomy surgery.  This of course happened when we had guests on board and were a long way from any way of me going home.  There was nothing I could have done even if I'd been able to go home but that didn't stop the feelings of guilt.  Luckily, my brother (and grown up children) live locally to the oldies AND they've a good network of friends/other siblings - ALL of whom took care of mother .

Dad had been struggling for many years with bowel related problems.  There must be some kind of genetic defect occurring as 4 of his siblings (no longer with us) all experienced similar - sometimes cancer related problems in that area and the remaining ones have various lower digestive problems...

He'd been struggling for as long as I can remember but if you've met my dad, you'll also know he's a right stubborn bugger.   headstrong/single-minded and refused to succumb to surgery.  None of us could understand why he'd not let the docs do what was needed a long time ago.  All this became apartment when dad was whisked into hospital and the choice was 23% live or do nothing and die.

THAT stark choice and the agony he was in, for the first time I've ever known, CHANGED his mind.

Of course you could argue that HAD he listened earlier, it could have been done under easier circumstances - with less complications etc. etc.  Hindsight is a pain in the arse wonderful thing.

The thing that DID become apparent to me, just on the other end of a phone, was the reason WHY my dad had been trying NOT to succumb for so long.  It turns out that he'd become the full-time carer for our mother... and obviously, he knew (even if he'd not been prepared to admit it publicly) that she needs constant care due to the combination of various conditions which have lead to mobility and memory issues. 

Being 100 miles away on a boat - often in the middle of nowhere was not the most useful places to be but being mindful of the daily falls and inability for her to get back up again (both knee replacements being useless) I arranged for the "Red button" to be installed so at least when she DID fall, help could be summoned.

Fast forward a few weeks after the operation, his stoma had began working, he was beginning to walk around the hospital and in HIS head, he was going to be back to normal in no time - acutely aware that he NEEDED to be back at home to take care of mum.

NONE of this he actually said of course - stoicism being part of his make up.

ANYWAY - after 6 weeks (I think) recovery, he talked the hospital into letting him home.

We had a break in guests, so the day after he got home, sorted out trains and cars and went to see him.  Talk about the walking dead- he looked totally defeated... knowing he'd come home too early but unable to admit it he did what he always does and that was to "get on with it"...

Fast forward another couple of months and he's just about back to normal - well, better than the normal he'd had for a long time.  He's got colour in his cheeks, can eat and drink anything he wants and - gaping hole where his stomach muscles used to be a side, is building up his strength like the super hero he is.   He's back to doing everything at home to look after mother and all with a kind heart - it's not everyone who'd be able to do that.

Super heros come in all shapes and sizes... even in Ginger and I have to say I'm really proud of my dad - of course I'd never tell him that... well you don't do you? 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Boaty wise, (and STILL ignoring the closure further up the L & L) I've been tinkering here and there.

I attached the chain to the chimney thingy so as NOT to end up trying to fish it out of cut if the wind takes it off.

Putting the chain on, SHOULD of course, mean it'll never blow over - fair enough... I'll take that.

ANOTHER chore that present itself (and which WASN'T on the list) was the toilet solenoid again... it looks like it's going to become a twice a year job this "cleaning" the valve.  Luckily, it's not an unpleasant task, just a pain in the arse as I can't (without my glasses)  - (which are never find-able) see the screws that hold it together.

It's just a matter of wiping around the rubber with a cotton bud and it's NOT even very dirty when you get it apart... it is dirty enough though for it to stick and leak water into the bowl however...

When that was done, I set to and began fitting the little recessed door handles (they've been in a cupboard for months) to the kitchen cupboard doors to replace the temporary ones I fitted AGES ago.

The temporary ones were OK but when you "squeezed" past someone in the galley, you would catch your clothes on them - ripping my favourite shorts on many occasions.

I'll fess up here - I measured the handles using a manual micrometer to ensure I bought the correct sized flat drill bit - ahem, I measured wrong so ended up cutting a 32 mm hole where I SHOULD have cut a 35 mm hole... and it's quite hard to then enlarge.  HENCE the gluing and clamping that went on to remedy the mistake.

It's done now so the days of snagging your clothes are no longer.

Today, (15th) is my mum's and brother birthday - as such, we've had a run up to see mother and take a selection of birthday buns... Sampling 3 of them before we arrived lol ... AND we're not going to the gym either so ner ner!

Until next time...

You've got to be joking???

Notice Alert

Leeds & Liverpool Canal
Starts At: Lock 30, Holme Bridge Lock
Ends At: Lock 85, Lock 21

Monday 26 November 2018 08:00 until further notice

Type: Navigation Closure 
Reason: Water resources

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Original message:

Following a further period of below average rainfall, the water resource situation on the Leeds Liverpool Canal is such that we will need to close the canal from Holme Bridge lock, Gargrave (Lock 30) through to Wigan (Lock 85) on the 26th November until the New Year. This action is necessary because of the limited water resources currently available but more importantly to reduce the risk of the reservoirs not refilling in time for the start of the main boating season next year. During this closure we intend to offer windows of opportunity for boats to move and so the navigation will be reopened each Saturday and if the demand exists additional days can be considered.

This notice will be updated in the next few days with details of the openings.

You can view this notice and its map online here:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/14234/from-holme-bridge-lock-gargrave-lock-30-through-to-wigan-lock-85

You can find all notices at the url below:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices

---

Please do not reply to the email. It has been automatically generated.

To unsubscribe from this service please go to: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/my-trust/notices and uncheck the relevant box.

Looks like we're NOT gonna get as far as Foulridge before we return to Skipton...  ergo, Skipton is the end of the line (AGAIN) for this year... hmmf!

*goes off for a sulk*

Chores, Chores and more Chores...

The thing about boating is, that whilst lots of little things 'need' doing... when you're boating you tend to put them off  - especially if it's a nice day with the lure of a chug.

Alas, as we're tied to base until the mooring (paid up) expires at the end of the month, we've had to fight the urge to 'play' and instead, knuckle down to some of the things we've been avoiding.

Nothing TOO onerous I'll grant you and half the time ONCE you've started to do them, you find yourself asking WHY you put off doing them so long.  NO MATTER.... First on my list was to get the chimney swept again - it'd been a fair few months since I last did it but I began to notice when topping the fire up, the resultant smoke - rather than be sucked  up the flue, would billow out of the opened door.

UNLIKE on previous occasions when I remembered to cover the roof with some sheeting, this time I figured it might not be too bad so risked it and made a little bit of a mess instead.  It wasn't too bad and looking out this morning, the rain last night should have washed it away.  

Once that was done, I made a note to get some chain to fasten around the witches hat and solar panel bracket - THIS being a result of noticing a fellow boaters chimney blowing off in the wind and into the cut the other week in Windy Granary Wharf... he spent ages fishing around with a magnet trying to get it back - I decided a bit of chain to STOP it blowing into the canal, might be a better method... of course I'm YET to do it but it's in the back of my brain now so hopefully next time I wander in to a hardware store it'll trigger a reminder I'll forget all about it ;-)

Another job I kept meaning to do was replace the little foam rubber things (again) that the porthole glasses sit on - they seem to wear out quite quickly for some reason.  I have to admit to being appauled at how grubby the inside of the frames were so a job for another day is to run a cotton bud around them to clean them properly... none of the drain holes had anything in them so at least there is no danger of water building up and flooding in.

Writing of water flooding in - you may remember a few weeks ago (eek it's probably months now) I fastened a couple of bits of beading to the outside of the glazed side shutters, in a bid to reduce the amount of water that leakes through the bottom if it's raining outside... the idea being to be able to leave the external shutters open on miserable days for a bit more light.

It worked to a point but not when the wind was blowing lots of rain directly at them.  An extra modification was required...

This modification came in the form of bead of clear silicone (only because I already had a tube open from doing the side of the worktop near the sink) and  once it'd had dried, it allowed for a tight seal against the wooden beading when the shutters were closed on to it - the theory (and it's still a theory because it's not rained properly since I did it) being that it will deflect the water to run off into the canal.  I'm considering this a prototype as because I did this from inside the boat (rather than outside), the line is a bit wobbly.  IF it work,s  I'll carefully remove the silicone and repeat it from outside using Sikaflex instead - Sikaflex being FAR better for just about any boating application than silicone is.

I''ll report back in due course.

My next job was outside - Having replaced the centre lines the other week (courtesy of Peninne Cruisers in Skipton) I HAD planned to use the old ones to make side fenders... it occured to me that apart from the bits frayed by the fair-leads, they were in better condition than the current mooring lines.  SO, plan b was to cut off the duff bits, splice a new eye on them and turn them into mooring lines - mooring lines that would be a) longer (the centre lines were 15ms to start with) and b) better condition.

Once I'd run them through the washing machine I set to and (armed with yet another you-tube video) began to make the eyes.

Rather than just 3-4 tucks, I went the whole hog and did 6 "just to make sure" - and, I have to admit to being rather pleased with the result.  I cheated I suppose by using self amalgamating rubber tape to tidy the ends up, rather than melting the ends to stop them fraying.

Once I'd done both ropes, I then bunged the old mooring lines through the washer and set to to attempt to make side fenders from them.

I was defeated!

I was following one of the VERY few tutorials available on you-tube - this one in fact.

OBVIOUSLY I chose to ignore the fancy bits where he stitched around the eye... LIFE IS TOO SHORT! - anyway, what seemed like 100's of attempts  I had to give in.  You see, it all goes wrong 7 mins and 6 seconds into the video where he begins the "wall knot" thingy for the bottom...  it appears you need 5 hand to do this... 4 to form the knot and 1 to keep pausing the video... trust me. 

Thinking outside the box for a moment, I figured that if I could get beyond the "wall knot" stumbling block, I might be able to make the rest of it up...  with that in mind, I searched for "wall knots" on google and found a 3 and 4 strand knot...  but NO 6 strand one.  Once again, thinking laterally, I decided to turn my 6 strands into 3 by doubling them up and to be fair WAS able to replicated the aforementioned, Tortuous knot, quite well.

That's where I gave up... I can not for the life of me (certainly from watching the video) work out how to get any further ... it's just too fast.  So - a first for me... a you tube defeat :-(

Hopefully at some point in the future, we'll come across a chap (or chappess) somewhere MAKING them and I'll ask for a lesson.

Until next time...

Final Guests of our first season & boat's 2nd birthday...

If you've looked at our original 2018 cruise schedule on the website, you MIGHT have spotted we're NOT where we had intended to be right now - ergo, instead of the trip to Wolverhampton, we did an 8 night Leeds/Skipton/Leeds jaunt followed by a 2 night Leeds to Wakefield.

The latter began on Saturday morning when we were joined by a lovely couple (from Wakefield as it happens) who are in discussions about buying a boat in a couple of years when they can retire.

I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't think to take any photos really - we just got along nattering so well, I didn't pick up my phone for the duration of their stay.    We left Leeds about half 10/11 o'clock on a bright but bitterly freezing day.  The first day this year I've actually worn long trousers - that's how cold it was.   The canal below knostrop lock was quite busy with rowers so we had a slightly slower than usual cruise but thoroughly enjoyed both that and the company.

We overnight-ed in Castleford on the visitor moorings and on another bright but even colder Sunday morning, began the final leg to Wakefield.   The plan was to go past Stanley Ferry, into town and then turn on the river after Thornes Cut before heading back to our mooring for the night - we HAD however, forgotten about the clocks going back, so rather than end up on the river in the dark, we turned a bit earlier at the bottom of Thornes Lock (near the gym) and shortened the day by about an hour.

After breakfast on Monday morning, Andy gave our guests a lift home and I began to work through a list of jobs - ranging from laundry to applying silicone to the recent attempts at deflecting the rain from the bottom of the side hatch windows.

We've discovered CRT have already let our mooring from 2nd December when we officially leave so we've been sorting out the storage boxes etc.  We've also filled the roof up with coal from the local chap, topped up diesel tanks and generally prepared for NOT having a car - the plan being to flog it in a couple of  weeks - once we've made a birthday visit to my folks for my mums birthday... from then on it will boat yards for diesel and coal as we chug around and the occasional hire car when needed.

The plan is to make a slow journey towards Skipton where we'll spend Christmas and maybe new year - probably going as far as  Foulridge before we turn and then try to get on to the Huddersfield Narrow in January to "try" Standedge Tunnel.  After that, we WERE going to head to Sheffield but looking at the CONSIDERABLE winter stoppage lists, that might not be possible until late February ...we'll have to see how that all pans out.

2019 is already looking good bookings wise though - we've got 7 new ones (one of which is a repeat guest from this year) PLUS 3 bookings we had to carry forward due to the problems with Marple locks and Water shortages... luckily, every one affected was really good about it and we really appreciate that.

I've called in at the paint suppliers this morning to get 2.5 litres each of both greys - mainly for touch up purposes next year ... it seemed prudent to get it now rather than wait until the current tins run out.   When the temperature warms up (at the weekend  like it's supposed to)  I'm need to touch up a few more battle scars before winter gets here properly.    My phone reminded me on the 27th, that it was the 2nd anniversary of getting the boat - we'd forgotten all about it...  it feels like forever ago and I cant imagine not living on it now.

Happy "launchday birthday" Ellis.

Until next time...

Mooring Rage, Good deeds and luxurious free power.

Have you ever had one of those days when, rather than responding to a situation, you react?

On Tuesday, I did!

We left bright and early on another beautiful day and gently chugged our way towards our planned days destination.  As we traveled the wind did increase considerably but I suppose it being a gradual increase, I hadn't particularly noticed the severity of it.

Having filled the water tank (and emptied the bins) at Dobsons locks again, we went straight though Apperley (btw the travelers HAVE actually traveled and gone) and carried on towards Calverley... just as the crew jumped off to open Calverley swing bridge, a Hire boat appeared in the distance so to make life easier for them (in the now much stronger wind) Tony (the guest) was sent on ahead to open Rodley swing bridge on our approach.

WHEN it came into sight I noticed a Bear Boating hire boat (they are quite easy to spot around here) that appeared to be sideways across the cut - I assumed the skipper was trying to hold water (if that's the correct term) whilst my crew opened the bridge, to save them having to do it...  as I went through the now opened bridge, (still with the other hire boat behind me) the Bear boat was now properly sideways blocking the canal - making the associated splashing sounds when you get into a bit of a panic...  Seeing a tiny gap between 2 already (wisely) moored up boats, I didn't really have much choice other than to put my nose in and loop a line through a ring in a hurry - WHICH I did,  ONLY to have the couple at the back of the Bear boat, STILL sideways, begin shouting and screaming at me - Apparently I'd just stolen the mooring space they were trying to get into....

Now - normally under such circumstances, I'd have shouted back that once they were back under control AND the hire boat up my arse had managed to pass by without crashing into either of us, I'd happily move along and HELP them to get into the space (which btw was truly 57foot & 1 inch) ...

HOWEVER - as their screams and shouts became more aggressive, my dander got up (not a euphemism) and I couldn't help but suggest (rather loudly shouting back) they'd rather missed the "relaxed point" of boating... and perhaps it wasn't a suitable pastime for them.

This angered them further...

A load more abuse followed, along with some reference to 'bloody boat owners all think you're much better than hirers' - chip on their shoulder type stuff... along with "where are we supposed to moor up now" type of pleas...  I directed them to the 7 day moorings a few hundred yards (in the direction they were heading) and suggested they RELAX.

In hindsight - I could ... perhaps OUGHT to have responded differently but I'm only human too.

HAVING been on guard duty all night  - (worrying about our tyres being let down lol) we departed about 8.30 the following morning for the chug into Leeds.

On arrival at the 1st manned lock flight, whilst waiting for the locks to fill, I noticed another boat appeaer behind us slowly and then stop - some way from the top of the flight...  The lock-keeper was keen to know if they planned on coming down that day and if so, he'd prefer to work them through with us .

After a few mins or discussion, they pulled forward and entered the lock with us.  Chatting as you do, it transpired they had major engine problem that meant they could only run it for a few mins at a time before oil pressure was lost and it also over heated... they've been trying to get some sense out of Barrus Shanks but to cut a long story short, they were heading to Castleford boat yard - where they've arranged to have a brand new Beta fitted.

The journey to Cas. taking them a long, long time.

Given we were now entering (anecdotal Bandit Country) I suggested if they would like, we could tie them on and take them with us all the way to Granary Wharf in Leeds.

So that's what we did - the wind was rather strong and  I won't lie, we did have a few interesting moments waiting for the crew to ready locks etc... it being difficult to leap off with a centre line as due to the way they entered the first lock, Ellis was on the right.

At one point we did have to untie and exit separately as a couple of gates wouldn't open fully enough to allow us to leave ... at that point perhaps we ought to have switched sides but we didn't think about it until later.

Anyway - by early afternoon we'd made it safely (if with perhaps a couple of tree scratches here and there) into Granary Wharf,  where we untied them, had a spot of (late) lunch and then continued down the river to do a pump out/dispose of rubbish.

The plan HAD been, to head back up to Granary and spend our last night (with our guest) there so he could easily catch whatever train I needed the following morning.  Upon discussion, that changed when we spotted space in Clarence Dock (Leeds Dock) -  a first for us as despite it being 48 visitor moorings, folk have been known to over stay quite spectacularly.  

Given the impending laundry day and boat cleaning (final guests of this season due to arrive on Saturday morning), having a tap AND hook up has made things SO much easier than the usual 9 hours engine running whilst the washing machine and tumble drier eat up power.

Having never plugged in (other than during dry dock) to shoreline, I didn't know HOW to get the power on - chatting with the boat behind, he explained we'd need to buy a dedicated card from the CRT office over the river.  So off I set- hoping to catch them before they closed.  They sell cards for £1.00 (big spender eh) but the lady on the desk couldn't tell me mow many kwhs that was for.

No matter - I bought 3 "just in case" and set off back.  On closer inspection of the bollards, the one nearest us had 10p credit on 1 and 40p on the other... THAT gave us 1 load of washing and drying AND an over night with the batteries on charge.  

Yesterday morning, our guest departed to begin the first leg of his journey back to Oz. - here's a photo I took of HIM taking a photo of US as he took the water taxi back to Granary Wharf.

It's been an enjoyable 8 days with him - he's taught us a new (to us) card game called "up and down the river" - or sometimes known as "hell". ... AND slightly more annoyingly, also introduced Andy to Pokemon hunting - which will mean us hanging around random places for no particular reason whilst he catches aforementioned invisible things!

Once he'd left, we began cleaning the boat - how sad  am I   sensible of me to check the other meters as I took some rubbish down yesterday as another bollard had 10p on another and  50p on the final one.  OK - to anyone watching us move the boat up and down the pontoon we must look like idiots but it was nice to utilise  it.

DAFT thing is - my built in karma police forced me to then put in one of our £1.00 cards to top a meter up for the NEXT person to come along... who might MISS the crt opening times so they can at least plug in and give their batteries a break.

Until next time...

FINALLY a Kingfisher photo and beautiful Autumn cruising...

We left Leeds on Thursday morning and headed off  towards Skipton - the weather is being SO kind to us given the time of year... a little bracing at times but generally bright sunshine without TOO much wind.

This time, we've got an Australian traveler with us Andy took no time in putting him to work on the locks.  We're still taking alternate days on the tiller although I'm told when it's wet and windy, I'll be called back to full time duty!

The plan HAD been on leaving Leeds, to go as far as Apperley Bridge and stop outside the marina for our first night.  Alas, when we got there, we noticed "travelers" had encamped on the playing fields and decided we'd go on a bit further instead.  This resulted in a full water tank (thanks to the tap at Dobsons Locks) and a night on Shipley Visitor moorings.

Next morning we stopped in Saltaire to nip up to the Coop only to come across a boat whose starter battery was goosed. I tried to jump start them from our spare battery AND from their leisure ones but either both were too low OR my little jump leads weren't up to the job (it's a good excuse to get a new MANLY set now) - in the end, we abandoned our efforts and left them to wait for their hire company to come rescue them.

Bingley 3 and 5 came and went without incident - well I say without...  they had a "new volunteer" helping out and lets just say we got a few more scratches than we've come to expect on the flight... no major harm done and I got the touch up paint out when we arrived in Skipton.

Writing of Skipton,  I'd tweeted Ian (the boss man of Peninne Cruisers) a few days prior and asked if he could make us up a new pair of 14 meter centre lines with eyes on. On arrival , I nipped over to collect them... daftly I'd not asked what the cost would be but there was no real fear as true to form, he charged a reasonable  - if not bargain 28 quid for the pair.    The old ones are now destined to be made in to rope side fenders when I get around to watching you-tube videos 100 times.

We left Skipton this morning for our return trip to Leeds - a beautiful if a little cold day... (frosty morning) and we were lucky enough to encounter a Kingfisher who seemed to be playing tig with us for miles.  MANY, MANY photos were taken and THIS is closest we've gotten to a "proper photo".

Tonight we've come BACK down Bingley and have moored just near the Greyhound pub (edit - It's ACUTALLY called the Fishermans)  - all a bit tired after a treck into town to get some eggs so we've resisted the pub and no doubt will be in bed doors.  Tomorrow, the plan is to get to Rodley and perhaps introduce our guest to "guest ales" in the canal side pub there.

Until next time...

Tlc and one hell of a storm

It turns out our coming up to Leeds early was a good idea - That blooming storm "Callum"  would have played havoc with our journey... AND as expected, the river went into flood - albeit briefly.

BEFORE the wind and rain arrived, I decided to try and remove some black marks that had appeared from rubbing on the lock landing stage at Broad Cut bottom lock (on the river)...

I think they attached some truck rubber to the stage and whilst it DOES a good job of cushioning the boat when tied up, it ALSO leaves nasty rubber stains all down the side

Initial results were laborious - I tried to use a wet one (as in baby wipe) and whilst it DID come off, it took WAY too long and involved too much elbow grease for my liking.

Plan b consisted of the dregs of petrol from the generator and a rag.  In no time it was off  and with minimal damage to the paint.  You can see little scratches but they will sand out next time I do a bit of touching up above the rubbing strakes.

btw - note the prototype anti drip strips I've attached to the side windows - in theory (assuming I can get a strip of silicone in just the right place for them to but up against), they will mean we can have more light when it's raining - currently we have to close the side hatches and it can lead to cabin fever if it's raining for days on end

NOT long after this did the storm hit - talk about a rough few days ... Granary Wharf is a windy place at the best of times but we actually felt sick on occasions ... we couldn't tie up tightly against the side because the water levels kept altering due to the amount of excess flooding over the top of the gates at Office lock.  

The waves don't look so bad in the photo but trust me, the wind was hitting us side on and we rolled like a stuck pig.

It's dropped finally now and we've moved around the corner outside the Candle House so  as to be able to fill up with water - the water point above Office lock being cordoned off by fencing by the developers working on the bit of land behind it.

Another good thing about moving away from "Fazenda" is we no longer have to sit and smell the glorious meats being served there - it was making us constantly hungry.

Until next time...

Middle-Age sucks, 80's flashbacks and an oil leak...

AS you know, we've been TRYING to shift the summer blubber at the gym of late... It's not going well!

Despite my best efforts to do what I did LAST time I was fat (circa 15 years ago) it's not working anywhere near as well.  WHY? you might ask... well obviously at THAT time I was working 10-12 hour  days, dieting AND putting in what little other time I was awake, at the gym.

It's clear from the current results (or lack thereof) that poddling around a 57 ft narrowboat, chatting to dog walkers and other boaters DOESN'T burn off the same number of calories.  Hmmf.

To make matters worse,  last week  at the Gym, the cardio suite was upgraded with "London cast offs" and on the new machines, I keep being drawn in to "80s" tv - in particular, the music channel of my youth (eek).

There I am, pedaling,cross training or wobbling away and being forced to watch young, slim people dancing around and singing - MORE annoyingly from the bad outfits is the reminder that (like them now I suppose) I am no longer young and gorgeous - it's not a nice realisation.  For now, I'm going to continue  down my (some would say delusional) route of claiming to be Ginger and fabulous.  HOW much longer I can maintain this front is yet to be seen.

Another thing that struck me about "the 80s" - 1984 in particular is how gay everyone looked and behaved.  It's no wonder we ended up dancing backwards ourselves.  I mean Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Owen Paul, Nik Kershaw, Frankie goes to Hollywood - I could go on forever.  WHAT where they all thinking?

Still, they were young .  Hmmmf.

Oddly enough, in spite of my wailing above, In all seriousness, I DO feel like we've settled into middle-age quite well .... we've learned to listen to people in stead of talk at them.... we've learned to stop and THINK before making snap judgments.  We've also learned to give people the time of day-trying to walk a mile in their shoes before forming an opinion.

If only  I'd not eaten so many pies this last 12 months!

                                                                   . . . . . . . . 

In boaty news, having done the 1700 hour service the other day (and therefore ordered  the next 2 sets of fuel,oil and air filters) On going down the engine hole to store them, I was horrified to be greeted with this:

Now it may not look a lot but there really shouldn't be ANY!.  So, before we set off to Leeds Yesterday, Investigations began.

That's when things went down hill - having climbed into the hole, I looked up and saw I'd left the deck board leaning above and decided that rather than wait for the boat to rock and it to smack me on the head, I'd put it ashore. UNFORTUNATELY a certain ginger idiot wearing crocs I'd already stepped in some oil and my right foot was slippy - this had the effect of me (and I don't really know how) ending up falling back down into the engine hole (again ffs) and wedging the deck board under my right armpit  AND clonking my already bad right knee rather hard on the engine block.  The engine remained undamaged but I actually DID cry it hurt so much.  

The 2nd officer came to my aid with some pain killers and reminded me to get on with what I was doing!

So, where had the oil come from?  My first thought was I'd not tightened the oil filter hard enough so I gave that a bit more of a twist...  then I double checked the dipstick was in properly... then the filler cap - no... All good.  The gear box was the next suspect.  reaching down with some kitchen roll, I detected a bit of oil on the sump plug bit it DID appear to be fully home - however, on draining it and measuring the volume I discovered only 1.3 litres came out.. and I'd put 1.4 litres in - ergo 100ml of the stuff has leaked out. 

Before I refilled (with new oil again) I borrowed a longer handled spanner of Mick (I've got one somewhere but couldn't find it) and ensured the sump plug was as tight as I dare do it.

Having mopped up the spill (with nappies) I then laid a clean white rag under the sump plug and after our chug on the river yesterday, was VERY pleased to find it still while!

We're back in Leeds again now in preparation for our penultimate guest cruise of our first season next week - we've come early as the forecast isn't looking brilliant so rather than get stuck in Wakefield if the rivers are in flood, we'd be better off here and ready to head to Skipton - whatever the weather.

We're trying a different mooring this time - far enough away from the Hotel's outside speakers but  still close enough to be able to hook on to their wifi.

At some point during our stay, we're going to see if our "Nuffield Gym Membership" does actually allow us access to the Leeds one as we were told on sign up.... I bet it doesn't.

Still, the walk there and back will do us good I  suppose.

Until next time...