Saturday Morning

Just the water run to do today.

I let go (note the new, correct, boating terminology used since reading "The Amateur Boatwoman" which was kindly lent to me by Mortimer Bones) at 7.50am and was at the Lift Bridge at 8am. Piglet popped up to work the bridge on his way to the Station to catch his train to Oxford, where he rehearses with the Kent Youth Orchestra. I settled onto the water point.

Tigger's alarm sounds at 8am and I was happily surprised to find that he had silenced it AND got up. I shepherded him into the shower while we filled with water. He duly dressed and settled at the table for his breakfast as I worked down the lock. I tied up below the lock and let him off as it was time for him to leave for football training.

I let go again and winded at Tramway, passing nb Annie who was busy unloading a ton of kiln dried oak logs that had just been delivered to the parking layby near Samuelson (Tramway) Bridge.

Back to the lock I worked up and thence through the lift bridge

(A little close to the bridge here as the flow is toward the lock and hence the bridge!)to return to the mooring, tying up at 1050. nb Willy Nilly was also preparing for the cold, sawing logs as I passed.

Another water run completed.

The felled trees on the opposite
bank do look inviting!

Boring Routine!

With a title like that I expect most of my readers have gone to the next blog!

For those of you who read everything, we have just executed the "water run" again, exactly ten days after the last. The only difference was that it took longer this time. I departed home mooring at 0730 turned at Bankside (Tramway) winding hole to mor and take on water at 0830 but this time we could not have breakfast while filling. We had NO BACON!

With water tank replenished we moved north to Samuelson Bridge and moored so that I could get bacon at nearby Morrisons. Rindless Wiltshire Cured Smoked Back was on offer at two packets for £4 so that fitted the bill. I do miss the crispy rind having no rind does mean that the bacon stays flatter under the grill.

After the true English breakfast we went back to do battle with the rush hour in Banbury Town centre. As we approached the lock which was set in our favour the Best Mate abandoned ship to go to the gym. Through the lock and without incident to the Lift Bridge. Us going north and three boats coming south, just as Tooley's staff manoevered a boat out of their dock, made the trip through the museum bridge very interesting. NB (Napton Boat)Louise discovered that narrowboats do not steer in reverse and vered toward the boat in the dock. A crew member jumped to Castle Quay with a rope to retrain it. We waited alomgside double moored boats outside Tooleys forthem to sort themselves out. We then weaved our way through the melee. The crew of a moored boat said they enjoyed watching the fun. "No boats were harmed during the performance", I commented, "thanks to the RYA boat handling training available at Tooley's boat yard!".

Thence to Sovereign Wharf for the pump out. The management was on the phone when we arrived. The chat here today was about the monopoly position of Calor in the Boating and Leisure Gas supply business. Good for share holders but not good for us according to the oracle. Centralisation means delivery to Banbury comes from Hinkley and delivery times vary from three to five days. In order to ensure supply to the customer this means small orders frequently made and hours on the telephone. Not like the old days when the local depot was Oxford! High Prices and poor service!

Then back to home mooring: turning and mooring pointing south ready for the next boring "water run" in ten days time. We moored at 1145h. 2 miles, 2 Locks, 2 Lift Bridges in 4.1/4 hours.

Frustration

Those who read Mortimer Bones' column in Canal Boat magazine will appreciate that not all things that seem simple on a narrowboat turn out that way.

This morning I went to take the boat to the town centre, a cruise of 1/4 mile. This weekend is a boating festival: The Banbury Canal Day. The town council put a lot of effort into making the assett of the The Oxford Canal work for the town and give the loacals a grand day out into the bargain. For the last eight years we have joined in the fun come rain or shine. This year, in contrast to the last two, it looks like we are in for a shining sunny day on Sunday.

So all seemed to bode well until I appraoched the boat to find her bow higher than I can remember seeing it before. The water tank was empty. Believing the saga of the "water in the bilge" to be over, I imediately raised the over over the water pumop to see whether water was engulfing it once more. No! But the pump was running dry!

I turned it off and investigated further. The little amount of water in the bilge that had run aft was cleared quickly. The taps were all closed and tight. The shower pan was dry. Where had all the water gone and why was the pump running?

We needed water. I cast off and boated into the town. First stop the water point which means navigating the lift bridge, no mean feat single handed! Thankfully a helpful waiting pedestrian lad took the windlass and lowered the bridge as I passed through to speed his crossing and help me.

Filling our tank takes about one and a half hours! The best mate came along from her art class at The Mill. She did not expect to see the boat at the water point. I explained the lack of water and we decided that she should go and buy a sushi lunch as we had plenty of time and the resources of the town were at our feet.

Lunched and with a full tank I had time to think about our problem. Running the pump for a short while revealed that the relief valve on the calorifier was letting by and that was where the water was going. Relieved water ended up in the stern gland bilge and was pumped away by the sern bilge pump!

We continued our cruise. Through the lock, down to the turning point at the end of the Tram way Mooring site and back again, through the lock, back to home mooring, to the turning point at The Arm just north of Spice Ball Park and then back to town to moor under Tom Rolt Bridge: our weekend mooring: 2 miles, 2 locks, 2 Lift Bridges and four and a half hours to fill up with water!

But with no isolation valve on the calorifier inlet, how can I fix the relief valve without draining the tank again?

The water pump says off.

Water, water everywhere. . .

Last week we had more heavy rain and in the middle of it the Best Mate suggested that we needed to check the bilge in the boat. I went to get some stuff from it on Friday. Just stepping onto the boat felt funny. A glance at the bow revealed a lowered waterline with weed exposed to the air. Further investigation found that the shower tray was almost full of water. I pumped it out and then tried the taps to see if they were leaking. No water. A quick feel under the back steps and my fears were confirmed. The contents of the water tank, about 1,700 litres, had emptied into the bilges. The bilge pump had removed some of it but a large amount of flaky rust had blocked the pump entry and there was still several inches left.

Two hours work with a Wickes wet/dry vacuum was needed to remove the water. I then went for a two hour cruise to the water point and back to refill the tank. Crew of the nb Nightingale, from Napton, opened the lift bridge for me and the Best Mate met me at the Water Point to crew down the lock, to Tramway and back for lunch in General Foods Club on the way back to the mooring. 2miles, 2 locks and 2 lift bridges and 1,700 litres of fresh water.

I switched the water pump off before I locked up the boat.

On the move again, again

The weather is beautiful today and it was great to be back in the boat and moving. We only went to dump rubbish and get water but to be moving on a still canal on a beautiful day is a pleasure to be thankful for.

There are a lot of boats about. The shared ownership boats are frequent visitors and we have a few boats that appear to be hanging around waiting for the stoppages when they will be 'forced' to stay in town. There are a few hirers making a trip in the good autumn weather. I wonder if there is a way to determine the weather before booking or whether these hirers are just grabbing the deals at the end of a tough season for holidays in the UK.

I spoke to one hirer on a Kate boat. He was not a new hirer and had been this way before on another boat. He was really enjoying the time and loved the boat he was on. "The only thing missing is a stove! We have central heating, though". I must admit that the stove is an essential. to us however, it is also the central heating. In fact it is the only heating! I guess that the risk assessment for a stove on a hire boat would be just too much for the hire companies to contemplate. Diesel central heating is much safer, cleaner and more practical with little children around.

We also saw BW pushing a hopper back to Nell Bridge with their new workboat. It didn't appear to be named. "Little Boy Blue" would be nice or maybe "Blue Notes" or "Blue Peter". It was very smart and blue.

The "water run" took us four hours today because we had to stop for lunch at General Foods on the way.

It was good to be moving again.