Cruising Log 2012
January 1st 2012
We woke late - after 8 - and a leisurely start to the day; tea, breakfast, dog-walk, clean-up of last night's debris and so on. Read the papers and magazines, listened to 'The Archers' on the hi-fi and at 1pm Meg served up a giant Cottage Pie with vegetables and gravy. After lunch, Andy and Ali set off for home, having some hospital visits to make. We tidied and cleared up, took Tasha round the 3 bridges and dropped a huge bag of empty egg boxes off at Arm Farm. We finally left for home at 3.30pm. A great weekend.
January 20th 2012
Called in on my way back from Worcester. Arrived at 10.15 on a drizzly cold day. Emptied, cleaned and re-filled the dehumidifiers, cleaned out the stove and dumped the spent ashes. Topped up the coal scuttle and checked the firebox for supplies. Plenty of kindling wood and firelighters available. I couldn't re-fill the diesel tank because it was raining too hard by then so I will ask Steve to do it for me. There was a small amount of storm water in the bilges which I mopped out. There was also quite a lot of water in the bowl underneath the Paloma drain valve. This has happened before and I'm not too sure where the water is coming from. I think in the spring I will replace the Paloma chimney in case it's leaking round the roof seal.
Then drove to Blisworth Tunnel Boats to book the good ship in to be blacked. This will be done on or around April 27th subject to confirmation nearer the time. Cost is a bit less than Gayton Marina was 2 years ago so mustn't grumble!
March 16th 2012
Called in at around 3pm. A nice warm afternoon but quickly deteriorated to freezing fog so I aborted my plan to stay overnight. Settled up with the marina for the diesel, checked the boat over, re-filled all the dehumidifiers and left around 4.30pm for home.
120 litres diesel, fuel additive, service charges: £170.00
March 26th 2012
A beautiful day and an unseasonable 20°C! Arrived at 2.15pm. After the initial set-up routine, put all the portable bits of gear onto re-charge and made a (very long) list of things that have to be done. Walked Tasha along the towpath to Blisworth and back, then made a few telephone calls. Supper was a Shepherd's Pie that Meg had made for me. After supper I tried to connect the computer to Blisworth Marina's wi-fi but it didn't want to play - like last time - so in the end I gave up and switched everything off. Walked the pooch around the marina and settled down to read and listen to music at 9.15pm. After one false start the central heating now seems to be working fine so fingers crossed!
March 27th 2012
When I woke at 6.45am it was very cold indeed. Outside, all the boats and the grass were covered with white frost! I fired up the central heating and retired back to bed until the boat was warmed through. Breakfast was followed by a walk round the 3 bridges, after which I got on with the job of cleaning and polishing the hull. The wi-fi works this morning so I was able to see the news and get a weather forecast. I managed gto finish a clean and polish of one side (the side away from the sun) by 2.15pm - with a short break for a ham salad lunch. The other side by then was too hot to polish so I must turn it around tomorrow to do it. Then took Tasha along the towpath to Blisworth. We called in at the village shop for a few necessities, also to the Royal Oak pub where I discovered that they will not be doing food now until the summer. I assume that they are quite reliant on the boat trade. Spent the rest of the afternoon doing odd jobs here and there; went round all the window-frame screws to check that they were tight, tested boat lights, horn, bow-thruster and so on. Gary arrived at 6.15pm and we went to Gayton for a pleasant supper at the Queen Victoria pub.
March 28th 2012
Woken at 5am when the central heating fired up! Switched it off and went back to sleep.....surfaced at 0745. First job was to walk Tasha, then breakfast, washing-up, bed-making, shower in the marina shower block. By the time all this was done it was 10.30am!
A beautiful, sunny morning and the marina surface was absolutely still - no wind whatever. Very rare to see it like that. I turned the boat round in the marina and reversed it back in. Didn't hit anything at all; mind you, conditions were perfect! As Steve Williams wryly observed, if I couldn't do it in perfect flat calm, it was time to give up boating and find something else to do!
Carried on with the polishing and cleaning, had a salad lunch and walked Tasha to Blisworth again. Back at the boat, continued the polishing and cleaning until the job was finished. Then some domestic chores; empty the loo, feed dog, clean some inside surfaces that have got grotty over winter and such-like. Tasha is a bit disoriented with the boat round the other way; she will get used to it but in any case on my next visit I will turn it round again.
Gleaming NB Tambourine!
March 29th 2012
It took from getting up at 7 until half-past-ten to get everything done and ready to go home! Nothing special to report. Home in time for lunch.
May 3rd 2012
One or two visits 'passing by' but nothing to report. Main job was to change the winter curtains for the summer cruising ones. But today arrived with Ian at 9am to take the good ship to Blisworth Tunnel boats who are going to re-black her and fit the new Paloma chimney. Had a bit of a struggle mooring up at the yard but some very kindly folks living on their boat came out and gave us a hand. The boat is now in Michael Clarke's tender care and he has been warned not to lose the keys again! Malcolm from Lucy Charlotte kindly picked us up from the village. When we got back to the marina, we spent some time seeing if we could find out why Lucy Charlotte's nav-lights don't work any more. We failed to achieve this after about an hour so it was agreed to have a word with Steve Williams to see if he can find the fault. Left the marina around 12 and stopped for an excellent bar-snack at the Racehorse pub in Catworth on the way home. Blacking and repairs are scheduled to be finished next Thursday.
1 hour; Paloma chimney £41