All aboard!
1 week ago
About Me
- eeyore
- The name describes my demeanour and voice! I love narrowboating and that is why this blog is mainly about the boat and our interaction with it. I have been keeping a log for Sonflower ever since we bought her and moved onto her as our main residence. Some incidents in our boating life have been hilarious, some scary and some down right dangerous. I cannot tell what will come in the future but you can now share them! The crew are an 'ordinary' couple. The Best Mate and I.
Showing posts with label boatyard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boatyard. Show all posts
Monday, 29 January 2018
Wednesday, 29 March 2017
Ready and Waiting
I had a weather window this morning form 1030 to 1200. This morning's rain was on its way to Northampton and the next shower was not due to arrive form Stratford-on-Avon until afternoon.
I went and collected the SONFLOWER from her mooring near Samuelson Bridge and took her up to the Grimsbury Arm turning point and back to Tooley's boatyard. I had a great assist at lick and lift bridge form the crew of a hire boat that had gone the other way to Bankside turning point. After lunch in General Foods Club, as it is Wednesday, I met John and Matt to discuss the details and handed over the keys.
So she is in dock for survey, blacking and painting and will be there until early May. Herbie wants pictures.
I will see what I can do.
1.1/2 miles, 1 lock, 1 lift bridge, 1hr
I went and collected the SONFLOWER from her mooring near Samuelson Bridge and took her up to the Grimsbury Arm turning point and back to Tooley's boatyard. I had a great assist at lick and lift bridge form the crew of a hire boat that had gone the other way to Bankside turning point. After lunch in General Foods Club, as it is Wednesday, I met John and Matt to discuss the details and handed over the keys.
So she is in dock for survey, blacking and painting and will be there until early May. Herbie wants pictures.
I will see what I can do.
1.1/2 miles, 1 lock, 1 lift bridge, 1hr
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Oh to be back on the water. . . .
We have just spent a lovely hour or so over a pint and a glass of wine with good friends who have returned from a winter break in Malta.
What did they miss most? Not the wintery weather or the damp weather, not the credit crunch or the less imaginative food or even the beer but...they couldn't wait to get back on their boat.
It will be the same for us.
Don't get us wrong. We love the flat. The view over the canal is great: the space for the boys to stretch a bit and clutter some more is excellent but we do miss the boat and can't wait ot get back on it.
Obviously, one cannot live on a boat while the windows are out and the vents are sealed and there is dust or paint fumes everywhere.
But we do miss the boat.......
What did they miss most? Not the wintery weather or the damp weather, not the credit crunch or the less imaginative food or even the beer but...they couldn't wait to get back on their boat.
It will be the same for us.
Don't get us wrong. We love the flat. The view over the canal is great: the space for the boys to stretch a bit and clutter some more is excellent but we do miss the boat and can't wait ot get back on it.
Obviously, one cannot live on a boat while the windows are out and the vents are sealed and there is dust or paint fumes everywhere.
But we do miss the boat.......
Monday, 30 March 2009
More progress
We were just passing.
SONFLOWER is progressing well. The second green undercoat is now being applied and the grey undercoat on the roof is evident too. She really looks OK.
Of course there is nothing that can be done about the aging of the steel and the ripples in the roof sheets are more evident in grey than they were in green.
The Best Mate commented that Piglet will have the job of keeping the grey clean. He will enjoy going along the top with the mop and bucket!
Completion is ever getting nearer and I will need to think about those little jobs that need doing before we start our cruising. Like repairing the top box and clearing out the accumulated rubbish.
SONFLOWER is progressing well. The second green undercoat is now being applied and the grey undercoat on the roof is evident too. She really looks OK.
Of course there is nothing that can be done about the aging of the steel and the ripples in the roof sheets are more evident in grey than they were in green.
The Best Mate commented that Piglet will have the job of keeping the grey clean. He will enjoy going along the top with the mop and bucket!
Completion is ever getting nearer and I will need to think about those little jobs that need doing before we start our cruising. Like repairing the top box and clearing out the accumulated rubbish.
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Now the waiting.....
No pictures...the camera gave a message 'that operation cannot be completed' and gave up.
The surveyor did a thorough job. SONFLOWER was duly hit with a chipping hammer outside and inside and declared sound enough to be insurable.
There are some advisory points like rust treatment, four additional anodes to be fitted, engine maintenance, bilge pump reinstatement.
However....the ballast in the boat is aparently unecessary and the counter is about four inches lower in the water than it really should be. This means that the weed hatch standpipe was designed to give four inches more freeboard than it has. This means that there is a potential risk of sinking if the back end of the boat gets full of water and the weed hatch joint seal leaks. The surveyor recommends that an extra four inches are put on the weed hatch or ballast is removed. The latter would mean taking up a lot of the floor as the 'ballast' in her is made up of great big precast concrete kerb stones. These have also kept bilge water back and made the bilge damp. A recipe for corrosion. And there has been some.
The good news is that the surveyor was confident that the boat will last my lifetime.
The painting isn't a waste of money then!
The waiting is for the report.
The surveyor did a thorough job. SONFLOWER was duly hit with a chipping hammer outside and inside and declared sound enough to be insurable.
There are some advisory points like rust treatment, four additional anodes to be fitted, engine maintenance, bilge pump reinstatement.
However....the ballast in the boat is aparently unecessary and the counter is about four inches lower in the water than it really should be. This means that the weed hatch standpipe was designed to give four inches more freeboard than it has. This means that there is a potential risk of sinking if the back end of the boat gets full of water and the weed hatch joint seal leaks. The surveyor recommends that an extra four inches are put on the weed hatch or ballast is removed. The latter would mean taking up a lot of the floor as the 'ballast' in her is made up of great big precast concrete kerb stones. These have also kept bilge water back and made the bilge damp. A recipe for corrosion. And there has been some.
The good news is that the surveyor was confident that the boat will last my lifetime.
The painting isn't a waste of money then!
The waiting is for the report.
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
All in good time
It was April 13th when we left SONFLOWER in the boatyard for "10 days work". Obviously, that was a canal 10 days.
We are NOT complaining. We want the work to be done well and as we want it. That takes time. We don't expect to be charged while the varnish is drying or the doors are cramped and the glue is setting. So we expect the work to take considerably longer than "10 days".
It all got me to thinking, however, about our modern lifestyle off the canals. We get upset when our telephone calls are not answered immediately; we expect the Tesco checkout girls to be faster than the ones in Aldi; we expect what we ordered on the internet today to be delivered tomorrow. But life shouldn't really be like that.
"What is this life if full of care, we don't have time to stand and stare?" W H Davies wrote. It's not wasting time; we must make waiting time.
What life on the canals does is slow all of life down to an acceptable pace. Having to walk to the shops gives one a chance to appreciate the place we walk through. Stopping at locks gives a chance to pass the time of day with like minded strangers going the other way. Walking a towpath and listening to the birds or watching a carp laze under a bank or a vole scurry up it all bring an excitement that is missed by the rush of the other world away from it.
I do wish the work were finished. But we can wait........all in good time.
We are NOT complaining. We want the work to be done well and as we want it. That takes time. We don't expect to be charged while the varnish is drying or the doors are cramped and the glue is setting. So we expect the work to take considerably longer than "10 days".
It all got me to thinking, however, about our modern lifestyle off the canals. We get upset when our telephone calls are not answered immediately; we expect the Tesco checkout girls to be faster than the ones in Aldi; we expect what we ordered on the internet today to be delivered tomorrow. But life shouldn't really be like that.
"What is this life if full of care, we don't have time to stand and stare?" W H Davies wrote. It's not wasting time; we must make waiting time.
What life on the canals does is slow all of life down to an acceptable pace. Having to walk to the shops gives one a chance to appreciate the place we walk through. Stopping at locks gives a chance to pass the time of day with like minded strangers going the other way. Walking a towpath and listening to the birds or watching a carp laze under a bank or a vole scurry up it all bring an excitement that is missed by the rush of the other world away from it.
I do wish the work were finished. But we can wait........all in good time.
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