Coal: Come rain or shine!

On Monday I headed for the boat  and met Dusty, the coal boat, at Samuelson Bridge 168 where they were loading coal and gas. Or should I say they were drinking tea during a break in loading coal and gas. Dusty is trapped on the north section of his patch at the moment by re-building of a lift bridge between Aynho and Somerton Deep Lock. The fact that his boat was pointing south, but he usually comes from the south threw us. His timing is all wrong too. He shouldn't be here again til after Christmas.  I was told that as soon as he was loaded he would be along to my boat in five minutes.

I waited and checked out a little sealing job I need to do. But the drizzle started and silicon sealant will not stick properly in the wet. So I cut up some old slats for kindling and stacked them neatly in the wood box.

Then I played the harmonica for a bit.  I looked out if the cratch back down the canal. Trade was brisk. Dusty had been hailed by King of Clubs who wanted four bags of coal to supplement the whole willow tree that is stacked on his roof in one foot lengths. Then another boat crew returned from shopping and quickly hailed him to top up their diesel tank. It took more like 45 minutes to get to me, 200 yards down the cut!

"Nice to be serenaded" I heard Kati say as they arrived. Dusty always engages in cheery conversation and it was great to catch up. We have been away so long and the last fill we had from them was before we left our mooring on March 3rd. With no mooring to stack coal beside we can only accommodate 4 bags of coal at a time now and topping up the tanks took 153 litres.

That should keep us warm through rain or shine. Dusty comes rain shine or snow too! Here is some historical footage of the effort that these coal boats put in to getting the warmth to us.

In Dock

Yes, it is that time again.

SONFLOWER entered Tooley's dock on Saturday for biennial hull blacking and a roof repaint.

BUT: Tooley's have a "ten point inspection" plan. It ensures that a boat does not leave the dock with a potential reason for iminent return! This plan has brought up three things:

1. The propeller is flapping about as though it is in the wind. The stern gear bearing is worn (and probably the shaft) to the extent that there is about ten times as much clearance as there should be.

2. The rudder shaft is banging around like a loose spoon in a jamjar. The tiller bearing is knackered.

3. Two anodes on the swim have done their job (good news) but need relacing (additional work)

Basically, it is another proof of the acronym BOAT : Bung Over Another Thousand

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.

The heart of the country

We had to stop at the Wedge's Bakery shop close to Bridge 20. It just drew us toward it for the elements of a delicious lunch. A cottage loaf, a pork pie and some cakes that didn't last until lunchtime.

After that a disappointment that Simon Goldsborough was not open for business at Warings Green Wharf it was great to Lyons Boatyard at Bridge 3, just before the Brand wood Tunnel. They had everything we needed, Diesel, Gas and a pump out. All efficiently served with a smile and a bit of banter. They gave the impression that they were boating people who really wanted to give a service to boaters. Freat customer service two days running!

We have arrived in the great city of Birmingham. One thing about having an ASD son is that you get to do a lot of the same things. Today we went to Pizza express. Each time we come we go there to watch the man make the pizza bases. I have no idea how he does it. A bit if swish swashing between his hands followed by some knuckle fisting and turning and then a bit of pressing into the edges of the plate and voila! a perfect pizza base that comes out of the oven as cripy on the edges and as soft as you like it in the middle. And not only that. He does it time and time again exactly the same way and with exactly the same result.

We love this excursion to Pizza Express. Two hours of entertainment and good food finished off with Italian Ice Cream or Tiramasu.

We had a wonderful evening and, no doubt, we will do it again next time we come to Brum.

While keeping warm

While they are in South Africa escaping the frost, here is Auriga in the draining dock before it gets the blacking treatment. We will be folowing her in on Thursday.

First Stage Completion

Having been disturbed at Woodford lock by a narrowboat entering the lock we stirred ourselves to make the most of a sunny interval and set off once more. I had almost finished a sketch of the view under the railway bridge from the lock mooring so packed away and set off. We arrived at Thrapston Bridge at 6.30pm in pouring rain. We went through the arch of the bridge to note that there are no moorings downstream and therefore we backed through the arch, noting the sign on the downstream face informing us that the visitor moorings were tucked in behind the bridge. We backed in and just fitted in front of a smaller narrowboat. We sat out the main force of the rainy period and them I went to Ben's Chippy (recommended by the friendly EA man) for our dinner.

Fish and Chips is one of the best comfort foods on a wet summer evening.

8 miles and 5 locks

Cropredy and Back

It may seem strange to some people but our little cruise to Cropredy and the return this morning was one of the most relaxing outings I have had this year.

It isn't distance that makes boating enjoyable: Cropredy is only 4 (and a bit) miles by canal.

It isn't the weather: We had heavy showers yesterday and light drizzle this morning.

BUt it is the wonder of being on water, with family and friends. We had a very enjoyable evening with Aurega's crew on their mooring. We moored very close to them and our original intention was to return late yesterday evening. But with heavy thundery showers persisting an early start this morning was by far prefereable.

The return to home mooring was without incident in peaceful solitude: not a moving boat on the way and a sleeping crew!