Brrr and leak or no leak

I am sorry that I haven't blogged for so long. The fact is that there has been little to blog about. All I have done on the boat since the last post is 'winterise' SONFLOWER.

And that is not a lot! I have topped up the engine coolant with antifreeze and drained the gas water heater. Apart from that my winter preperations are on a hope for the best basis. I did take the pressure off the water system and open a couple of taps and switched the water pump off in a hope of keeping frost damage on the water system to a minimum.

One other little bit of news is non news. I investigated a reported leak on the loo flushing valve. Copius amounts of kitchen towel roll had been used to keep the flow of water at bay. However, I couldn't find one! After an hour of lying on the bathroom floor and waggling the valve and checking the connectiona and gland for leaks I gave up. I cannot repair a leak that isn't there! I also cannot decide whether to buy a new valve as a strategic spare and keep it just in case the leak re-appears.

The canal is frozen over and snow lies on the ground while frost hangs pendulously from the branches of the trees above. A few last autumnal leaves flutter down and all glistens brightly in the sunlight. Winter has arrived.

Done and Dusted

I had a phone call from Tooley's today. Matt rang to tell me that the boat work is now complete and that they are ready to start the 50hour proving run!

The boat has a heater aboard to keep it from freezing in the current cold snap and the engine will now start its re-commissioning trial. Because of the icy static conditions of the canal, the prop will need to be engaged to give the engine a good work out against a mooring rope. We hope to give her a good trial shake down!

I hope that I can get down to the yard to see it tomorrow.

"Another small problem. . . " Matt said down the 'phone. "The money hasn't reached our bank account yet." On checking the internet banking site I found that the money left our account on 31 December 2009 destined for 'Tooleys' but then returned to our account on 7th January 2010 from 'Tooleys' with no record of a payment being made in the "Transfers and Payments" list. Curiouser and Curiouser, me thinks. I added "Tooleys" to the list of recipients again and made another payment. This time ASAP. I do hope that they get their money. Tooley's bank with a nationalised high street bank and so do I. The money has been in the either for a week. I haven't been getting interest. Tooley's haven't been getting interest. Who gets the money when this sort of thing happens? The government must have wondered where its extra cash came from over last weekend! I hope I haven't upset their year end figures!

No Harm Done

I visited the boat this afternoon to check her out after the cold period. Those kind people at Tooley's have put an electric heater on board to keep her above freezing while the fire is in pieces.

No visible damage. It was thawing nicely this afternoon so any leaks should have been evident.

Another cold snap is just around the corner.

I spotted fieldfares and redwings this morning. They come from Scandinavia to escape the cold weather. I bet they don't think it was worth the journey this year!