A Log for the log

The water run is not usually very eventful.

This week we started quite early, as soon as the engine was started in fact. At about 0700 we (I) start the engine to heat water for our morning showers. I moved from our overnight mooring in town to the lift bridge with the crew asleep. The Best Mate popped up to steer SONFLOWER through just after I had raised the bridge and re-joined her so could not get back off. Still she showed willing. We then settled on the water point and started our fill.

This takes about 45 minutes so there was ample time to fill the lock. We were obviously the first craft of the day and there was a huge amount of debris above the lock gates including a four by two varnished plywood panel which would have prevented any gate opening. I cleared this and a few hook loads of reeds to make sure the gates would not be impeded.

Having finished watering, we entered the lock and emptied it. Unfortunately The Best Mate could not open the bottom gate. "Something must be behind it!", she called. I moved the boat as close to it as I could and, armed with the boat hook, went fishing. What I found was a submerged log. It was far too heavy to lift out so I manoevered it free from behind the gate and through the gate opening. But my work was not finished yet. This log would have jammed us in the lock entry if it had been allowed to get between the bow rake and the canalside.

We moved forward very slowly and I prodded it onward ahead of the boat until the canal began to widen out and we were safely away.

"Do you have to do this often? asked a gongoozler from the footbrodge overhead. "No we aren't often troubled by debris" the Best Mate replied. "No, I mean do you have to use the lock much?" he said. "Oh, yes ALL the time".

The rest of the run was uneventful. I was single handed back through the lock and lift brdge as The Best Mate was meeting a friend for coffee but I did not need to worry. By now the lock pool was full with boats coming down and I didn't need to get off to close the lock gate or raise and lower the bridge.

On then to Sovereign Wharf for the PUMP OUT and chat. Is Dusty really giving up the coal boat this month? Then back to home mooring without incident, noting that Canal and River Trust had trimmed the willows opposite our mooring. They haven't touched the dead trees though. Apparently they are not a danger to navigation.

2 locks, 2 lift bridge, 2 miles, 3.1/2 hours

Pumped up!

I thought I would get the bike out to pop into town and give myself a little nmore exercise. Unfortunately the rear tyre definitely would not support my bulk so I got out the footpump to put a bit of air into the tyre. I bought a new footpump from Aldi.

I bought it on one of our routine grocery shopping trips and it has been in its box now for about six months, unused. I attached the dual pumpo head to the shroeder valve on the tyre and trod on the footplate. A large hissing sound greeted me but the tyre, instead of inflating, went flat as a pancake! The special dual head on the pump, designed to service small "dunlop" type bike valves and larger "shroeder" car tyoe valves, was letting air out of the one not in use and not letting any air go down the one in use! Vorsprung dur technik as they say in Germany but no use to me! Of course I had no receipt. The grocery shopping receipts had long gone in the shredder.

I emailed the manufacturer in Germany. Initially I receved a kurt reply saying NO RECEIPT - NO WARRANTY! I then asked Customer Services politely whether I could purchase a new pump head. This time I got the pleasant reply that a new pumphead andphoto instructions would be sent to me. They came today. Here they are:

In German.
Thanks Google translate.
They say: STEP 1 Remove the black plastic cover at the end of the hose
STEP 2 Solve using pliers and loosen the little metal piece the pump head from the hose
STEP 3 Now set the new sheet metal piece on the end of the hose cal and the new head on it
STEP 4 Than last press the sheet metal piece with pliers together, so that the pump head is hard.
However, how one removes a pressure crimped securing ring (the "little metal piece") I do not know so at Step 2 I cut the old pump head off with a sharp kitchen knife.
The new one is fitted and works perfectly.
RESULT! The footnote says "Nun steht der Nutzung nichts mehr im Wege :)"
"Now the use of nothing more stands in the way :)"

Tree Worries

During our "water run" on Friday (See "Boring Routine" post below) we had to do a bit of manoevering around the remains of a willow bough that Canal & River Trust personnel were removing from the canal near our local turning point. The bough had dropped from a seemingly healthy willow in Spice Ball Park.

It made me think about these trees.

These are directly opposite our mooring. I spoke to the CaRT man with the chainsaw who advised me that they can do nothing about these until they fall because they are on private land. He thought the land might be owned by Hanson Trust. "Not just three men in an office somewhere", he said, "they will have agents working for agents."

Little hope of telling them my worries then!

2 locks, 2 lift bridge, 2 miles, 3.1/2 hours

Mooring stealth fee increases

We have a new moorer on our site. Temporarily their brand new craft is moored on a short term one month permit while they take part in the latest mooring berth auction. CaRT know that they need a local mooring and have all their details.

The latest Vacancy issued, Vacancy 4229, is as large as they come on the South Oxford and has a Reserve to match of £1607. This works out at £73.05 per metre. The level of this surprised me so I have done a little research.

When I bid for my mooring in August 2010 the Reserve was £59.61 per metre. Hence there has been an increase in what the site says "The Reserve Price reflects British Waterways' cost of providing the vacancy. It is the price below which it would not be economic for us to let the vacancy" of 22.5%. Inflation over the same period was 5.2% per year according to the Bank of England so the reserve has increased by double the rate of inflation.

I have written to CaRT to ask them to examine the basis of the Reserve. I think it is to maximise revenue as they know that there is a demand for the mooring at this time. Historically there hasn't been. A third of the Vacancies auctioned on this site since Jan 2010 have resulted in no-one bidding for them.

We will see how we get on.

Quick off the Mark

This is the first boat that I have noticed with the new Canal and River Trust logo painted onto the boat. Looks very smart. Interestingly it also sports a CaRT logo on its license which runs to 10/12 . Assuming the license was for the conventional year would this mean that the logo was being used prior to vesting?
POST POST NOTE: The boat is less than two weeks old, registered for BW waters and has been issued with a one month license. It will be based on the River Thames (EA controlled waters)
Opposite is a brand new boat that has no number or license, although the owner has applied for one. It is held in abeyance until a home mooring is found. (I did not think that a home mooring was a requirement for a boat registration.)

Unusual

The sweetshop is not unusual. Traders of this commodity often stop in Banbury to sell their wares. This one though is interesting. The zebra acetate graphics add an interesting touch but the most unusual thing is the roof.

It is covered with 'turf'. Why turf? To feed the zebra!

Of course it is not real turf. But it is, in itself, a bit special because it is genuinely part of the Olympic Hill from the opening ceremony of London 2012! One of the perks of being there and helping out as a volunteer, I understand.

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.

New Refrigerator

Here it is. After a considerable wait we have installed a new refigerator. I know the web site said this was not suitable for narrowboats but it looks ok to me and fits exactly where the old one stood. Dimensions are identical but this one has 10 litres more capacity because it isn't designed to fit over a wheel arch!

It makes ice too!

Oxford Canal Beauty

,,,

We found this beautiful large moth in our bedroom this morning.

It is about two inches wingspan and the red underwing, which gives it its name, is only visible when it flies.

According to the ukmoths website that I consulted to identify it, it is very common in southern England and its caterpillars feed on alder and willow. It makes me wonder why this was a first for me!

We moor under willows and alders in southern England.

Signage Found

This sign was found floating past our home mooring.

It is now propped up against the "Please slow down" sign just north of Marsh Foot Bridge 163 on the South Oxford Canal if the owner wants to retrieve it.

"The Pratty Flower"

That is the name of a boat! A white rose adorns it's side so I assume that the crew are from Yorkshire.

We left the mooring this morning at 0700h for the first time in twelve days. We needed to do what boaters do again! Off to the turning point at Tramway and mooring on the mooring of nb Prancing Pony (who is away in Lower Heyford) we filled with water, had a shower and then breakfast. Replenishing our fresh water tank after twelve days takes quite a time! Then back to town and on to Sovereign Narrowboats for Pumpout, blue, and diesel before returning to the mooring.                            2 Locks, 2 LB, 2 Miles 3.5 hours

I had to return on foot to drop something off at a friend's place near the station and passed the lock/services on the way back. Here was nb It's Enough taking on water and waiting for the lock. I commented to a boater washing his boat that there seemed more boats here today than there were at Little Venice and the queue built up.  The skipper of nb It's Enough cruises alone. The boat name is his philosophy.He has lost his voice box to cancer. He talks through a mike held to his throat but is unable to make himself heard across the canal. I went over to speak to the skipper of the first boat in the queue, a very nice shiny boat, to establish nb It's Enough's place in the queue explaining his predicament with his voice and that he had finished watering up and was waiting for the lock. The skipper was ok about this but not his crew when I told her I was helping him up! "We will be here all day!" was her response and she went back to confer with her skipper.

The next boat to come down the lock came almost up to the gate on the wrong side of the canal. I pointed out that the boat in the lock would not be able to get out with the boat in the way and they backed up, putting their paintwork in jeopardy on the high conrete banking above the lock. How unobservant some can be! I worked the lift bridge and handed back the windlass receiving profuse thanks for my help.

NB It's Enough minding his own business

I then walked over the footbridge and along beside the car park toward Tom Rolt Bridge. Here I could not believe my eyes. Here came nb The Pratty Flower with its crew remonstrating from the front well deck that there was a boat ahead, maintaining centre channel directly at nb It's Enough! No quarter was given. I imagine that the helmsman had detected that the unfortunate skipper of nb It's Enough was from Liverpool,  Lancashire and the war of the roses was still running.  It struck on the port bow and ricocheted into a moored boat. No attempt to slow down or avoid collision was made!  I wished that I had failed in my negotiations at the lock. The very posh boat behind would have been the target!

NB Pratty Flower heading away after impact

You had better watch out for NB The Pratty Flower!

A day out in the country

Yesterday we took German Friends on a little boat trip. A photo album they posted on Facebook recorded a visit to Stratford-on-Avon with references to their liking for narrowboats so we offered them a ride.

The showery weather curtailed our fun a little but we managed to get to the new winding hole at Twyford Mill. They say that boats of up to  60ft only can turn here. They mean it. Our 57ft turning was tighter than I like. I don't like hitting the bank at both ends!

Our freinds enjoyed the day, They were taking a lot of photos on an iphone so I expect to have a couple to post in good time. None ready now though.

By the way, the fridge is NOT working. We freeze 2 pints of milk and then let it defrost to keep the rest of the produce cool in what has now become a large cool box!

Claggy Milk

Yes, claggy milk and luke warm orange juice this morning so I opted for toast and marmalade and set about turning the fridge upside down!

A lot of gurgling and tummy rumbling noises came from the machine and we turned it back on. Now the proving time. Cleaned out, fired up and closed we await to see whether the recovery that was partial from our shake around a week ago can become a more permanent solution.

We really do not want to go down the electric fridge route. It would probably mean solar panels or a wind turbine to keep the batteries topped up. I do not fancy running the engine while moored for more than the half hour a day we do at present.

More to come. . . .

Back in Routine

Late rising today but it matters little. We had the routine "water run" to complete. The gas bottle ran out on Sunday and we need to get another spare, the level is creeping up in the toilet tank and we are depleting the water tank. So we have to do what boaters do!

That means taking the boat into town, throuh the loft bridge to the water point. We then stop to fill with water before working down the lock. Today we stopped below the lock for breakfast. Then we proceded another 3/4 mile to turn at Bankside winding hole. Here the rain started so we stopped for a few minutes to get the waterproofs on.

Then back to the lock, pausing as a crew member bumped their head on the hatch which had been closed for the rain, then through thte lift bridge to Sovereign Wharf. We had to wait a few minutes for a boat that had lost a crew member in the town shopping to move off the wharf. Gas bottle exchange, pump out and chat completed we returned to home mooring.    2lock, 2 Lift Bridges, 2 miles, 2 Hours cruising.

Nice to be back in the old routine.

Canalside Songs of Praise

Thank you to Holy Cross Church Shipton-on-Cherwell, Thrupp Canal Cruising Club, local BCF members and the Oxford Christian Music Choir for putting on the Canalside Songs of Praise event at Thrupp Wide yesterday. We had a lovely time. We do not get a lot of invitations to sing and speak and it was a privilege to be part of this event.

A special 'thankyou' to Rev Brian who courageously read the clouds and took advantage of a blue sky opportunity that was just long enough to complete the whole planned programme before we took shelter from a heavy downpour under the canvas provided by Annie's Tea rooms.

Thank you also to Ken of NB Carpe Deum which provided the stage from its tug deck.

Coupling Day

This year has obviously been a crazy one for damsel flies. Getting together is nigh in impossible in the rain so it apears that two months of the mating season has been lost to the weather. But today was very obviously perfect weather. Coupled damsel flies were everywhere.

I asked the Best Mate which damsel fly has to fly backwards when they mate on the wing. Right on cue a mating couple flew past us and settled on the boat. They both fly forwards. The male (the pretty iridescent blue one) is definitely on top and the female (the drab plain brown coloured one) is underneath.

I have heard that bees have swarmimg days when the queen selects the fittest drone, ants have flying days when the males leave the nest but I did not know that damsel flies have coupling days. By todays viewing apparently they do. And today was it!

Summer has started!

Wow it's hot! And yesterday and today we have been boating. On familiar waters maybe but very pleasurable.

Having Piglet away this week on a Citizenship Bonding Week at an outward bound type adventure centre we just leisurely meandered up to Cropredy. We had a wonderful evening in the evening warmth with our friends on the Cropredy Old Coal Wharf. A bottle of red wine and some John Smith's bitter and a fantastic home made (by our friends) rhubarb fool were consumed to wonderful conversation to the sound of church bells.

This morning we woke to bedlam. The water point at Cropredy becomes a honeypot at 9.00am and boats were queueing, jumping the queue and generally getting in each other's way as canoeists jostled to get out of their club compound and away from the converging steel. We abandoned the plan to moor on the water point and wash the boat and pulled away to breakfast outside of the village. Breakfast was over by noon and, seeking shade, we then dawdled back to our mooring.

As we approached I noticed a boat pulled over into our mooring space.  I assumed it was to let us by. Another boat was just entering the narrows of the Marsh Foot bridge. There is plenty of water here for three abreast and so I hollered "That's my mooring!" to let the boater know that we were not going to be able to moor with his boat on the mooring. It would soon get very congested! Both crew members got off the boat so hollered again "That's where we moor!" and waved him on.  I think that I may have upset them because they were not too pleased that I mentioned that they should have known our boat as they have been around quite a bit!  I didn't mean to be rude or anything but I really thought that they had just given way without any real need to. Why they got off the boat was a mystery. The boat was Wren's Nest! Nice to meet you Chris. Next time we might just moor alongside and open a bottle!

We spent the rest of the day in the shade of the trees by the mooring as the temperature soared toward 30 degrees!

Cranky Old Fridge

We have a Dometic Electrolux RM4270 Gas/12v/240v fridge. We run it on gas and only use the 12v to light it.

It did not get cold. Our milk went off, our apple juice went off, our orange juice went fizzy and our bitter went rancid. We used freezer packs and kept it as a cool box for a week but this was a pain and the milk went off etc.

I enquired at a local domestic appliance repair specialist (in Bridge Street, Banbury) about repair or servicing. They supplied us the fridge in 2004 but now they do not touch them. They said I would have to get a "gas safe" man to look at it.

I popped into Tooleys' Boatyard and asked their man whether they would repair a fridge. The helpful advice I received was to clean out all the cobwebs and grot from around the flame and see if that helped. I got the fridge out of its housing cleaned out the flame chamber but found the exhaust chimney flexible connection had perished/disintegrated. Tooleys did not stock them, the repair man in Bridge street did not stock them, Sovereign Narrowboats this time came up with the helpful advice to go to a motor factor for flexible exhaust hose (available in two metre lengths). I needed eight inches at the outside. In the end I settled for corrugated aluminium tubing as used for air inlets. At only £2.99 for a metre this was a snip and I have enough to do the job another three or four times.

The fridge still didn't work. So I rang Tooley's again and talked to Matt. He told me that a gas man was coming to the yard today to do a boiler service and he would speak to him. I brought the boat down to town and waited for the gas man to arrive. When he did come (in due canal time) he asked whether the flame was alight. On received a positive reply he then said that in that case he could not help. I needed a refrigeration gas man. It had to be something to do with the fridge gas circuit. However he did say that giving the fridge a good shake or turning it upside down might do the trick!

So we tilted it all the way over one way and shook it about. Then we tilted it the other way and shook it about again. Then I put it back in its housing.

We took the boat through the lift bridge and  lock, turned at Tramway, filled up with water and returned the boat to the home mooring. As I shut up the boat I felt into the fridge. It was cold! Thank you to the gas man for his advice. A good shaking may have done the trick.

Wet locking

Last Thursday I had a phone call from a single handing friend who was in Braunston. I had offered to help him through a flight. He was calling in my offer. But this week I was not available Sunday, Monday or Tuesday until a rearrangement enabled me to offer him today. I had not looked at the weather forcast. On rising this morning to a skyful of rain I called him expecting him to call it off. I hadn't reckoned on the fact that his boat is fitted with a canopy and he could stay dry all along the top level from Marston Doles to Claydon Top Lock.

I met him there in teeming rain. He took a little longer to get from Fenny Compton marina than I expected and I had the pleasure of helping  nb Sarah Louise down. These were first time boaters, on a borrowed boat and this was the first lock they had gone down. They had got themselves stuck, with fenders down, in the second Napton Lock (No 9) known to be the narrowest lock on the system. Their boat's owners had told them to use the fenders in the locks! Oops. They had to be washed out shortly after being stuck half in! After they left I helped nb Pepper up the top lock and waited with the gate was open and lock full.

We went down without problem and then found the second lock with bottom gates open and paddles up! Maybe my tuition was not good enough! At lock three (Middle Lock) we encountered a Viking invasion. Coming toward us. Heading for the gates was the first of six Willow Wren hire craft with Danish crews. The boat went across the canal as they reversed thrust realising there was a boat in the lock after they had passed the lock landing!  (I had met them in Banbury this morning when I was turning Sonflower to return her to the mooring.The Danish crew had to wait!) They had to wait longer here as the canopy would not fit under the bridge at teh foot of teh lock and had to be furled back.  It didn't seem that they were used to this.  I spoke to a couple of the adults as I did not know the Danish for 'dangerous' 'stop running' and 'keep off the gunwhale in the rain while throwing the centre rope".

Many of the crew were quite young, slight and inexperienced.They emptied the bottom lock as we approached in spite of my hollaring and waving. No harm done and in this torrential downpour no-one would be thinking of saving water!  I waved my friend goodbye at the Bottom Lock and went back to the middle lock where two little Danish lasses were trying their hardest to open the gate paddles to drain the lock. (They were just too small and slight to make any impact.) They made up for this in enthusiasm and the teeming rain did not stop them or dampen their joy at being able to open the gates by themselves. They ran off to try the same with the top gate! I returned to my car: very wet and tired.

The joys of boating.

Jubilee Washout

You all know it's been raining.

We have the boat close to where some friends are camping for the Jubilee weekend. We went to a BBQ yesterday and then decided to go and watch England play football against the Belgians.

Last night was so wet that they have decamped to a large country house on the other side of town. The boat is no longer near our friends!

We had lunch with My Mother today. And we watched the pageant of 1000 boats on the tele this afternoon.  The narrowboats didn't really centre on the proceedings. The BBC seemed surprised that 'people even live on them'! We spotted a couple of narrrowboats we know. Steaming "President" was always going to be a camera magnet and we noticed Quercus and Fulborne (I think) but I didn't recognise any others. I did think that I saw a friend at the tiller but if it was him he was not on a boat I recognised!

All in all it was good to see Her Majesty enjoying herself with the boating fraternity.

A great pity the British Weather didn't match the occasion.

Boating today

But first stop the water point. The tank is full but we haven't been off the home mooring since 7 April. The boat is filthy and needed a good wash. Whatever the news on the "wettest drought in history", water shortages and hose pipe nabs, I have it on good authority, i.e I heard it on the towpath, that boat cleaning by hose pipe is exempt from any hose pipe ban because of the danger of spreading invasive species if boats are not washed regularly!

By lunchtime SONFLOWER was presentable and the crew set off down Banbury lock and on to Nell Bridge where they winded and moored four hours later.

An enjoyable afternoon. We are moored behind Moor2life and I met Ann and her rescue Parson Jack Russel (original long legged variety).

So once again we are boaters and not just boat owners!

Little Venice 2012

This shouldn't really be in the blog. But they are my rules so I can break them.

We did not take SONFLOWER to the IWA Canalway Cavacade at Little Venice this year. But we did go for the weekend and were given great hospitality on freinds' narrowboat in the 'pool'.

Coming back home has made me think what are festivals about.

This one makes bit if money for the Inland Waterways Association which is not a bad thing in itself and it provides a platform for showcasing all the good things about boating. I provides a place for canal groups, museums, businesses and societies to tell the public what they are about. For us too it allows us to show case our Cruising Club, The Boaters Christian Fellowship and tell people about its aims and objectives.

Many boaters give festivals a wide berth. They object to the extra traffic and perhaps queues at locks formed by boats trying to get there. This is understandable but from a participant's point of view festivals are more than a commercial or charity event. I thoroughly enjoyed the banter, good natured competition, chatter and friendship of the boaters who came together with one real aim: to have fun.

We all have fun on the waterways in different ways. For some there is also the serious business of making a living and of living aboard come rain or shine. But whatever the slant on boating a festival has something for you. The winner of the best boat in the pageant was a 15 foot dinghy with an outboard, the best boat in show was a traditional style narrowboat, the working boats showed off their boat handling skills and did what they do (served boats with coal, gas and pump outs). All in a charming way that represented 200years of history.

I enjoy the festivity of the festival!

Dragon Slayers Food

The grandchildren returned from their visit to Warwick Castle having made the 596 steps up to the ramparts and the Princess Tower and faced the fires of the Dragons and the Spells of the Witches of Warwick.

All in all they, and their parents, were tired out.

What better food than Granddad's "What's in the fridge Paella"

OK! I cheated by getting the mussels pre-cooked from Morrissons this morning.

I had thought that I had blogged about this in the past. However, I cannot find any record of it. If you want the recipe get in touch.

STOP!

We went for a very short cruise yesterday just to give two of our grandchildren a ride.

On entering to work up the lock my five year old grandson shouted from the bow of the boat "Stop the boat Grandad, there is a big wall in the way".

It was not a wall but the lock gate!

Today they are visiting Warwick Castle.

The boat will remain on home mooring as it is grey and rainy. Not exactly great boating weather for the Bank Holiday weekend. I have sympathy with boaters like our neighbours on the mooring who only have weekends like this. He told me this morning that his next oportunity will be May holiday weekend. Work makes ordinary weekends impossible. What a pity.

Shake Down completed

We have been to Nell Bridge winding Hole and back through Banbury to Cropredy Winding Hole and back to Tooley's Boatyard to complete the "shake down cruise".

The boat behaved beautifully as did the crew. A full crew for a change! For the cruise to Nell Bridge we were joined by a friend. At Nell Bridge is "The Pig Place". Here we purchased half a dozen huge free range eggs and a piece of their Gloster Old Spot pork. The last piece we had was excellent ao we look forward to a great dinner in the near future. Back to overnight in Banbury and thence northward.

The weather changed dramatically. As the sky darkened the rain started and it poured. We stopped for a time just above Slat Mill Lock. We had heard from the occupants of nb Pondlife that Bones was in Cropredy so I texted her to ask about moorings. We were pleased to meet up and fill a gap behind her on the moorings below the lock that was just a bit too small for a 57 foot boat. We moored there anyway with the aft a little too far away from the mooring ring so we had to improvise a little with the centre rope. Rather snug nestled up against nb Bones!

Getting to the mooring was eventfull. The winding hole/services at Cropredy was full with a moored hire boat. It was raining so the crew had taken shelter on the water point! Opposite them was nb Emma of Nelson Portsmouth who were proving that the navy can moor a boat anywhere. After the hire boat crew woke up and moved away we shunted fore and aft a few times and then winded, squeezing past Emma to get onto the water point. The skipper from the navy lark crew then popped up and said he would water after us. He hadn't noticed it was a water point and his canal guide had not marked it! I did not suggest that he opened his eyes and threw away the guide.

I ignored Bones' jibes that narrowboats are not supposed to go backwards and reversed through the bridge, past her boat to moor behind.

This morning we set off at 8am. We left Bones behind waiting for her crew and headed to Banbury. On the way we remoored nb Ragtime whose bow had come adrift allowing her to swing across the canal. No-one was home at the cottage.

Then to TOOLEY'S to have the sterngear checked. Matt found that the new bearing to stern gear joint was leaking so called John to tighten it up. It meant just another quarter turn for the gland assembly. Out came the 24 inch stilsons and a scaffold pole. "Are you squeemish?" John asked. We had also shaken the swan neck bearing securing crews loose and the air filter off the engine.

The boat trim was noticably better than it has been for two years.

Shake down cruise completed.

Where shall we go next? Maybe our home mooring!

And out again

SONFLOWER was reversed out of the dock this morning.

While floating we took the opportuntity of reclaiming some ballast that was removed a couple of years ago to correct the list to port that is evident at the moment.

I stowed some steel plate below the kitchen store cupboard floor, and railway rail sections behind the fridge and in one of the lockers to see whether this will do the job.

The lemonade bottle on the table seems to have a level surface now and bottles have stopped rolling down the table.

All on an even keel again.

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

What a waste!

We have a 70mm diameter waste in the sink. It has an integral overflow. The plastic screw that holds it all together was suffering from terminal fatigue and failed. This made the stuff in the undersink cupboard wet.

In order to replace the broken component viz a plastic screw which is no longer available (hopefuly because the designers of the things found that they degrade and embrittle in the arduous conditions of a sink waste) I had to buy two waste kits. One was a 70 mm waste and the other one an 80mm waste with overflow entry.

So does anybody want an 80mm waste kit without an overflow?

Watch out there's a Thief about!

Yes, another theft from SONFLOWER while on her mooring!

This time four 25kg bags of Purheat coal. Value to me: heat while cruising.

Value to anyone else: £40.00. It seems hardly worth the trouble of taking them off the roof, putting them on a barrow and transporting them away, unseen, to a place unknown. Perhaps they need to warm themselves up after a cold night's thieving.

I wouldn't deny anybody the warmth if they really needed it. But it is hardly ever the destitute who would take without asking. The poor usually have higher standards and wouldn't stoop so low.

Lock wheeling

This weekend nb VERITY visited Banbury with our friends aboard. Unfortunately, the skipper was suffering from a twisted back. These things slow one down at best but can make some things almost impossible. Pushing lock gates and winding paddle gear while controlling a very energetic young labrador are some of them. So I volunteered for a bit of lock wheeling.

I bussed to Cropredy on Saturday afternoon and accompanied them through the four locks to the town centre. Then, this morning I helped with working the lift bridge and lock combo up and down (Verity winded in between at Tramway) and then met them this afternoon to lockwheel the Claydon Flight. What a beautiful day for boating. Crisp and cool but sunny and almost windless.

Here they are on their way on the top level toward Napton and the North Oxford under perfect blue sky.

Oooh Expecting Company

The ice has gone. For how long we have no real idea but it means that boats are on the move again. (Not that it stopped a solo boater in a tiny fibre glass cruiser from nipping up and down without a care for his gel coat. He seemed to like to be boating at midnight as well! Or a local moorer crashing his way through the ice making a tremendous noise and crashing ice into all the moored boats as he passed them. For third of a mile they had to travel I dont think it was worth the effort and diesel.)

And we have just heard that friends will be making their way down from the Rugby to Banbury soon.

How exciting. We don't get too many visitors in the winter.

Cropredy Marinas Approved

Cherwell District Council has approved two marina schemes for the little picturesque village of Cropredy. This has been reported as having no harmful impact on the village. With no shops on site getting the supplies to the boats for their cruises could bring in 300 visiting Ocado refridgerated vans!

And what about the impact on the canal!

The marinas, one with 49 berths and one with 249 berths, bring 300 additional boats to the South Oxford Canal. Last summer saw water restrictions on the top level with locks at Claydon Flight and Marston Doles only open for 4 hours per day. Just filling these marinas will take the usable reserve of Clattercote reservoir! That's about 75 million litres which will drop the level in the reservoir by approximatey a metre. Surely CaRT will not want to allow too much water out at once to preserve the specimen fish in the prime angling water. Clattercote reservoir contains approximately 175 million litres at an average depth off 2.5m.

300 boats, each out once a month on a little cruise there and back, would deplete the canal by approximately 57,000,000 litres of water per month. Just do the maths. 1 lock full is 19000 litres at 2metre drop. There and back would take 2 lock fulls per boat (600).

Marina folk are not known for waiting for another boat to come the other way so as to share the water at a lock. Once out of the marina they are going somewhere and back again, usually on a schedule. From Cropredy, my guess would be Oxford and back in a week. (3 days there, a day in Oxford, 3 days back) And they won't want to be held up by slowing down for the poor folk who have linear towpath moorings. The pressure will be on for CaRT to remove these obstructions and force the likes of me into the marinas for twice the cost to pay for facilities we do not want to use.

Impact on the village may not be a consideration. Has anybody thought about the impact on the canal?

Where are the Craftsmen now?

Piglet's violin case needed sewing so I got out the sailmaker's needle and some fishing nylon and set about it. What I didn't have was a sailmaker's 'palmy'. This is a leather pad that sits in the palm to stop the needle pricking the palm when pushed through the canvas cloth. I improvised one with gaffer tape and a two pence piece. Unfortunately this was not quite good enough and after stabbing myself for the second time the 2p was replaced by a jam pot lid. It got the job done!

But it set me thinking. While sewing one has to do some thinking and my thoughts went back to Battersea Power Station in the sixties. I trained there. There was very little that we could not make on site. And the men were craftsmen of every different type. We even had a sail maker among the workforce. He was also a rigger and most of the time he would be re-roping cranes or lifting heavy weights with slings and shackles, pulleys and hoists. But when we needed a new canvas chute on the ash plant or a new flexible connection on a fan, Harry the Claw could be called on to do the business. Out would come his needles and palmy and he would sit on a stool in the corner of the workshop and sew as happy as the proverbial piggy wigggy. In this modern throw away society I wonder where men like Harry are today. DO we have anyone who can turn their hand to just about everything. He has been born into boats on the Thames barges and grew into the trade of his family. He was a waterman who had reluctantly come ashore as the barge trade declined. He brought the skills and the attitude of the water with him. If it could be done on a boat it could be done in the workshop of a power station. In fact there was very little that could not be done. Our welders were also blacksmiths and platers, Our fitters were turners and millers. Our machinist could help out with the carpentry and the carpenter would plaster and paint as well. Battersea was often criticised for 'restrictive' practices but when I was there, if the need was there and the plant demanded it a reasonable request was always met with enthusiasm. Men like Harry were proud of the skills they possessed and were pleased to show them off.

Can we make anything here nowadays?

Who left it up?

I went for a walk to Cropredy this afternoon. It was such a beautiful afternoon. The towpath on the S Oxford is not in very good condition with quite muddy bits and walking boots would appear essential as there are numerous holes and depressions to turn one's ankle.

At Slat Mill Lock I found a top paddle open. The bottom gate leaks and the Cropredy pound was already 6 ins lower than the spillway cill.
I closed it.
I met two pairs of walkers who were coming the other way from Cropredy toward Banbury. They had been on the good bit but the first couple asked of there were a better way back. I directed them over Bridge 156 to Slatt Mill Farm and told them to follow the farm lane to the road. The second couple asked about the time it would take to Banbury. About 1.5 hrs was what it had taken me to get there so I conveyed this information to them. I forgot to tell them there are no buses back again.

Here is a picture of Bridge 156 in glorious sunlight. Not bad for January.

I had also forgotten that there are no buses from Cropredy after 2pm. Fortunately I have friends there who gave me a cuppa and a lift back. Thank you, you know who you are.

New Year Cruising

What a winter. it may be too early to say so but the weather has been perfect for short cruises this year and we have managed to fit one in! Many people wonder what the attraction of going somewhere and back again is. To get out in the fresh air and sunshine is allways good. With a breeze in the air to stir the birds into flight and keep the clouds moving to ensure ever hanging skies is a delight. Water bubbling and gurgling around the rudder and prop to the steady throb of the deisel engine is music to my ears.
To make it very special is the first glass of beer of the New Year. Yes, honestly!

Here the crew are dutifully walking toward Grant's lock while SONFLOWER waits. In fact some nice boaters had left the lock to fill after their exit, which made things easier. Aren't boaters nice? We only went as far as the new winding hole near Twyford Mill where we turned. This is marked as only for 60ft boats only. Our 57ft is well within the limit but the proximity of a moored boat made the turn very tight.

The smell of potatoes baking in the oven wafting up from the cabin made the return very pleasant but we did need the fire alight to warm the crew after working the locks. Here we are returning to Grants lock.alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697044247719542050" />


The lock had been filled while we turned by the crew of an inflatable dinghy out for an afternoon jolly who had worked up the lock. We never caught them up!

Here we leave Grant's lock behind.


The smell of pork roasting joined in with the potatoes as we went under the M40 motorway making my tummy rumble as juggernauts rumbled overhead.

We headed back toward town under blue skies. The familiar lift bridges are always welcome and comforting on the familiar approach to Banbury.

Just there and back again: 6 miles, 4 locks and 2 Lift Bridges in 4 hours.

The pork, potatoes and gravy did taste good!

Happy New Year

Ok, so it's late! I am sorry for that but it is sincere.

I haven't posted for a long while. The boat has not moved and nothing much has been happening. But we have been boating. Well two of SONFLOWER's crew have. We finished off the last year with a little exercise on the wide locks from Bascote Staircase to Fosse Locks. With the walk there and the walk back about a 5.5mile walk to move some of the blubber that one of the crew has built up over the Christmas period and to blow away the cobwebs and stiffness from sitting at a computer for the other. It all helped friends who need to move on. Sadly we are not available for Hatton http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifFlight on Bank Holiday Monday. Here they are cruising into the distance away from Fosse Bottom Lock.
More of our "lockwheeling" exploits here.

We set ourselves a challenge to count how many different species of bird we could see during the day without really trying.

Here they are: dunnock, robin, blue tit, coal tit, great tit, blackbird, mistle thrush, house sparrow, mallard, coot, moorhen, kestrel, buzzard, common gull, black headed gull, lesser black backed gull, fieldfare, redwing, wren, rook, crow, jay. We live in the midst of the wonderful diversity of a wonderful creation.

Even more frustration: The conclusion

We have a new water pump that seems to be working correctly now. It is a ShurFlo Junior with a shut off setting of 2bar. Hopefully all will be well for the full three years of the warranty.

We have received refunds for the mis-sold pressure switch assembly and the malfunctioning ShurFlo 3.0 pump.

Even better!

Glenmorangie Single Malt

A Winner

I had a terribly difficult hour on the phone to Lloyds TSB. All I wanted to do was report a lost chequebook. By the end of it I was frazzled and unrecognised by the automatic voice recognition system and the operator who asked for details of a payment into my account that morning and then could not understand that Electricité de France was EdF. Failing to provide an accurate amount of the cost of four theatre tickets purchased by debit card five days previously froze up the system for security reasons. Representation to a supervisor bore no fruit and they had the cheek to send me a request to appear before a bank employee in person with my passport in hand to prove who I was. After being a customer for 27 years!

The letter I sent them resulted in the bottle of whisky that arrived this morning. The card says "We want to say sorry".

Well, that's all right then.

Wintery Thoughts

I sent a day on the boat this week. I sat in front of a warming stove and read some of The Famished Road, Booker Prize winning fiction, (but found it hard going) as I waited for 'Dusty' our trusty coal diesel and gas boatman to arive. Having been just south of Banbury the evening before it didn't take him too long to work his way up to the moorings on the north side of town to fill my empty tank with diesel and put some coal aboard. I paid cash. 'Dusty' likes cash. (He says he takes cash or cheques and if either fail he introduces 'PayPal", a pick axe handle with the words 'Pay Pall!' inscribed on the blunt end.)

By lunch time all our business was complete and we had 'put the world to rights'. It was time for me to check the boat over and shut it up. The gas water heater is drained, the new water pump switched off and the the taps left open to reduce damage if the temperature gets to low this winter. Then empty the veg bin and the fridge and leave SONFLOWER on her own.

I left the novel on the boat.

The frost on the ground reminded me that it is indeed December and wintery now after the second warmest November in the last 100 years.

Just the winter engine service to complete and we are ready to roll for the New Year.

Even more frustration part 2

I tried to fit the new pressure switch. I carefuly followed the instructions which said "do not remove the presure switch screws" but found that the pressure switch housing on the pump masked one of the screws that I had to remove so I had to remove the pressure switch screws to remove the switch to remove the body screws. Are you following me?

The instructions also said that if I was careful I wouldn't need to disturb the internals. I was very careful and removed the top body. Then came the surprise!


The internal sealing housing containing a rubber seal was sort of triangular in the new pump and circular in the old design (seen on the right). Those crafty Mexicans had made it so that you couldn't fit a yank pressure switch to a Mexican pump!

I now have issues with two supliers. One on winter holiday who supplied the pump that doesn't work and one a 40 minute drive away who supplied the part that doesn't fit.

I have put it all back together as it was except that I had cut the power cable from the switch to the motor!

Now I am seriously considering Tony's remote pressure switch idea.

Even more frustration

The water pump saga is not over!

The pump is not shutting off again and I am losing water through the relief valve at 3 bar pressure. To make sure that I had adjusted the pressure switch to minimum I removed the adjusting screw! Two turns back should have done the trick but not in this case.

The supplier of the pump is now on a winter break until March. So I rang up Tony, the fount of all knowledge on all things technical in a narrowboat. He loves to talk about these little problems and had a solution: ditch the pump pressure switch and get an independant switch from a reputable chandler. It should cost about £20. He recommended a Square D switch.

So I went to Midland Chandlers at Braunston. It is about a 40 minute drive from home mooring. I told the man what I wanted and he said that they had these switches for about £50 and I would need a fitting kit and tee piece in addition. He could not locate one on the shelves, however, (they are enlarging and re-arranging their store) but he did have what he felt was the real solution to my problem.

He told me that Midland Chandlers have about 150 Shurflo pumps ready to be returned to the manufacturer because of defective pressure switches! Since switching manufacture to Mexico the quality of the pumps has dropped remarkably and there is a whole batch of pressure switches that just do not work. My pump supplier had said that his wholesaler was Midland Chandlers! Could it be that he had part of this batch? I was told that they could not help me with my pump and were sympathetic but legally I had to go through my supplier. On the shelf were genuine Shurflo pressure switches from the previous incarnation of pumps, made in USA, and fully compatible with the pump I had installed. Cost £28.


This seemed the logical solution to get me through the winter. I can return the pump to my supplier, still under warranty, in the Spring.

Watch out for further instalments.

Up we go!

Here is a view out of Tooley's dock as it is filling to let SONFLOWER out.

The repairs to the rear rail and gates are complete and the gates shut more easily than they have ever done before.

I backed her up to Sovereign Wharf and turned her to return to home mooring.

Now all I have to do is pay the bill.

Unusual

This is a beautifully blacked and quite well preserved Springer from the early eighties judging by its registration number.

Nothing unusual about that then! Except that I am reliably informed it has been refitted with a state of the art Vetus power set up including a BOW THRUSTER!

Knowing how lightly Springers behave and how responsive they generally are to the tiller, I can only imagine that this one is going to be used in some sort of formation dance performance or something very aquabatic.

more Frustration

The pump saga is not over!

After an apparent success in re-fitting the Shurflo 3.0 water pump and returning a defective one (that would not work at all) to the supplier, the pump has now started to behave in the same way as ot doi when ot emptied my water tank into the canal. To remind you: it will not turn off because the 3 bar relief valve on the calorifier is lifting. I have tried re-setting the adjustable pressure switch. I am now assuming that the re-set pressure of the relief valve may be considerable less than 3 bar!

One reason why this is particularly frustrating is because getting to the pump is not exactly simple.

First one opens the under sink cupboard door fully and removes the vegetable rack:



Then move the storage box in the other cupboard to the left


Swivel it and take that out

revealing the trap door floor hatch

Which is removed to reveal the pump

and Finally

Sonflower is back in Tooley's dock.

She has been hydraulicaly straightened, ground apart and re-welded to re-align the starboard gate.
BEFORE AFTER



While out of the water she is having her stern gland re-packed. It has been doing more leaking than it should and taking more grease than it should this summer so it is getting a ten year service!


Hopefully she will re-float on Monday.

In the CaRT

So that is what all the signs and paperwork will look like from next April.

Not a bad effort for a logo. Will the acronym be CaRT, CART, or C&RT?

In and out

Many of you will have noticed SONFLOWER in the centre of Banbury. Maybe you saw her being pulled into the Tooley's dock last Wednesday. Maybe you saw her being pulled out on Monday. You would not have noticed any difference.

I am sorry to report that the welding work to straighten slight imperfections in the alignment of the rear taff rail that prevent the rear gates closing was delayed because of the sickness of the welder. (Get well soon). She will be docked again some time in the future.

Meanwhile, following on from my last post "Frustration" about a fault on the domestic water system. The calorifier relief valve was lifting discharging water into the canal, emptying the water tank and causing the water pump to run continuously. Talking about subjects like this with other boaters always seems to reveal that everyone else has had this fault and has a special way of curing the problem. Banbury Canal Day provided such a forum. Among other suggestions, a good friend, who is renowned for her DIY activity, emailed me with the details of a pressure reducing valve that was installed between pump and cauliflour to keep the pressure at the relief valve low. Looking at the specifications on the web I discovered that these valves are designed to operate at 16 bar (200psi) inlet pressure and the discharge from my pump is only supposed to be 2bar (30psi)!

A lot of dreamless nocturnal thought gave me the solution. Change the calorifier relief valve for one that works. I did it today: like for like. The pump shut off and the relief valve did not lift.

Untested by the rigours of boat life, however. For how long?

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.

There and Back again

I had to meet the welder at the boat so boating was in my mind. I had arranged to spend the day with a friend who had 'nothing' to do with his day off. We decided to go boating. There was little sign of any rain and the breeze blew fair as we went north. We met nb Petroc in town as we walked to the boat and discussed the possibilities of water shortages that could affect boating in a northerly direction. However, a report from the boat coming down Hardwick lock as we left was that there was no sign of low levels in the Cropredy pound. All looked good.

(The Banbury town pound, Harwick Lock to Banbury Lock, was the lowest we found with no flow coming in from the Hanwell Brook.)

As we passed (Little) Bourton Lock we noted the extent of the flood protection scheme that is being built (M40 Bridge to Little Bourton Lock). Whether it will ever be needed depends much on your view of climate change. Many feel we have had our '100 year event' flooding for this century! Approaching Cropredy the report proved true as the boats on the farm moorings were floating. They weren't the last time we passed!

With no food on the boat and both of us on a weight reducing diet we determined to buy some lunch at the Cropredy Bridge Store. We found that their only ready made sandwich was "All Day Breakfast". We looked at each other and agreed to go to the pub! At the Brazenose the local sausages with olive oil and mustard mash were too good to resist and we had a lovely lunch. I made the relapse complete with a pint of Hookey Bitter Ale!

The return cruise was eventful only for the fantastic view of a kingfisher flying low over the water for a hundred yards away from us and then turning to fly back toward us and wheel overhead: a truly blue streak.

Not a drop of rain, blue sky for long periods, good company and water underneath us make for a good day out.

Nothing to do with Boating

View Larger Map

We went for a drive. The sun shone and we had a wonderful day in the Cotswolds or the hinterland thereof. After coffee and a loo stop in Chipping Norton we ventured into unknown territory and discovered a land of lost inns and pubs. One was our target, The Swan Inn at Ascott-under-Wychwood. We passed many other closed and for sale or to let. It appears that the village local has died. May I say, possibly the heart of the village has died too with the advent of Hoseasons and the web booked holiday cottage. We couldn't get a pint of local beer in The Lamb Inn, Shipton-under-Wychwood: not even a pint of ale from the brewery that bears its name! The beer came from Greene King, Old Speckled Hen et al with a guest ale from East Anglia! All is lost Camra!

There is still a lot of countyside out there. But when I stopped to take a stroll in the fields I met with a sign saying "Please do not walk in our grass strips or conservation areas and woodland as it disturbs the game birds". Not half as much as a team of beaters, dogs and two dozen guns! 57.4 miles, 0 locks, 5hrs

Maybe and end to the WATER IN THE BILGE

The boat lists to port. I have been below the floorboards under the sink again today. Having taken the water pump out and taken it completely to pieces and put it back together again I found that it is still leaking into the boat bilge every time it runs.

So I went to SOVEREIGN WHARF today and bought a new SHURflo drinking water pump. It is rated at 3 gpm, an improvement on my last one of 0.6gpm. It is guaranteed for three years but Ray said that that means it will fall on its back after 3 1/2. At £85.00 that is less than £30 per year.

I also filled with diesel. This is now £0.85p per litre. A 10p rise on last year. I only filled one tank because I may need welding on the other side and the deck is the top of the tank! This accentuates the list to port but should be compensated by the empty loo tank!

We backed the boat up to Tooley's from Sovereign Wharf,(We had turned to have a pump out). We moored opposite Orion who had the most beautiful sounding original 1934 Gardner Engine. While waiting I fitted the water pump. I then found Matt needed a second opinion on my welding work. I need to talk to the welder on Friday. More on that later. We took the opportunity to talk about paintwork though. SONFLOWER is due for the dreaded blacking next April. Matt says he would like to get her in in March to repaint the roof at the same time.

Then I went forwards back to Sovereign Wharf and tried to moor on one of their finger moorings to use the electric hook up (by arrangement). The wind was wrong for making the tight turn. I had to go in bow first in order to be able to come out and face the right way to return to home mooring. I struggled. I am quite pleased with my boat handling usually but today it just didn't seem to be working. With a boat moored on the next pontoon with the owners aboard, I didn't want to touch their boat. It is about 60ft from the end of the pontoon to the opposite bank (SONFLOWER is 57 ft)but try as I may the boat did not want to get into the 8ft gap available! The occupants of the adjacent boat came out to help but I couldn't get in because of lack of water. The level in this pound is about five inches below normal and the mooring appeared to have silted up! The proprietors kindly allowed me to moor on the wharf while they were shut for lunch and I used the aquavac to suck out the remaining water in the bilge.

As lunchtime finished and no customers arrived I took the opportunity to re-fill the water tank. Thence to home mooring and some lunch at 3.00pm!

That's a day's boating!

Wonderful Idea!

I have just seen an advert in Canal Boat for BWML Marinas. They tell us that having a mooring in one of their marinas entitles the boater to visit any of their other marinas free of charge, subject to space being available and pre-booking.

Now here's the idea: how about BW giving any holder of a long term mooring license the facility to use any other long term mooring site for overnight mooring while out cruising? Subject, of course, to availability and the requirement to move on should the usual incumbent appear.

This could save a lot of congestion at those 'honey pot' sites we so often hear about as long term morings are often only just outside the visitor mooring zones.