Another Good (Cleaning) Day

I was away from the boat yesterday visiting my sister and shopping for some bits and pieces, a nice new little stainless steel kitchen pedal bin, a small folding table/tray and some other bits, when I got back to the boat it was cold and misty but my ecofan had arrived along with the battery monitor which I now have to fit.

I also bought these....so now my feet are warm and snug whilst looking very inhuman.

As it was cold I decided to light the boiler first, this gave me my first scare when as soon as I pressed the ignition button there was a very loud bang followed by a puff of smoke, so I switched everything off, gas and power to the boiler, and lit the stove instead, I needed hot water so I ran the engine for an hour to heat enough, then settled down to dinner and the obligatory glass of red wine.

Today was a good day, I topped up the water tank, cleaned the remainder of the, postponed due to injury, roof, the bow deck, the stern deck, the engine hatch frame, the weed hatch frame and just about every other horizontal surface externally. With a call to the very obliging Arthur we together (Arthur mostly) investigated the boiler problem, we think we have solved the problem and having hoovered out some 50mm of soot dislodged by the minor explosion, I stood at one end of the boat whilst Arthur switched the system back on (in the middle of the boat), all was well and it seems to be running fine now, but I will monitor the burners and pilot light over the next few days.

My little Tv ariel arrived, so I connected that and tuned the TV, 99 channels, 25 radio channels excellent result in this location, if it continues like that when I get cruising I will be very happy although I doubt it will and to be honest I didn’t miss the TV much, but it’s nice to keep up with the news and of course Strictly Come Dancing.

Spag Bol tonight, a glass of el Vino and an early night. Tired but content.

This is my internal view, not quite organised yet, but getting there!

First Weekend On Board

Moved onto the boat Friday after a week of clearing, cleaning and sorting stuff out, there’s lots of storage but it’s not like a house, it’s all tucked away in every useable space, so being organised is a requirement and remembering where you have put things is a necessity, already discovered that when trying to find where I’d put the laptop power lead. All’s good though, Friday evening I looked out of the side hatch to see total blackness, the very faint rumble of traffic a few miles away, possibly the M3 or my tinnitus, not sure which. I would love to say I slept like a log but I did not, I slept the same as usual, waking every 2 or 3 hours, but I did sleep til just before 8am, that’s an improvement!

Saturday I decided to clean the roof and gunnels (little strip along both sides of the boat about 10cms wide where you walk), as the boat hasn’t been used for some time they are slimy with a sort of moss type covering, not too visible but very noticeably slippery when wet, so I did the starboard gunnel (impressive what, picking up the terminology already) and then started on the roof, well it’s a bit bigger than a car and having got half way along one side and running out of energy I decided to walk along the (uncleaned) gunnel between my boat and the boat moored alongside me, to finish that half, all went well, but as I was finished and walked back towards the stern (just showing off now) the inevitable happened, slipped on the uncleaned bit of gunnel which was covered in wet leaves and my right foot discovered that canal water is cold, catching myself before falling in completely, and rapidly looking around to make sure that no-one was watching, I thought I had got away with it, but by late evening my left knee was melon sized, in case you don’t know me it’s normally coconut sized, so I either banged it or twisted it while I was averting the disaster of going headfirst into the cut (more boaty vocabulary). So a big note number 1 to self, “no hurry, look, think, look again, if in doubt, don’t”

Sunday awoke at 8:30, I like this improvement, nobody around, just the odd walker on the towpath, hobbled off to empty the cassette (you don’t need to know) and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Monday morning I woke up to a chilly boat, I had deliberately allowed the stove to go out, note number 2 to self, “always check the weather forecast”, evidently it was -4 degrees here last night, ice inside the Houdini hatch made me look outside to a lovely sight of mist over the water and frost all around, (when I find my camera I will start posting some pictures, I know, get organised Alan) so boiler on, light the stove, and then all is well, I have lots to learn, but that’s all part of the fun. I just pottered around really the knee is better but not enough to work on the boat, lots to do, but no rush,(see note to self number 1)

Now where did I put that corkscrew? As if.

Deal Done

The survey was carried out and all was fine, just a few minor items which were soon sorted and after meeting the current owners today, the result is I now own these.........

There is a boat to go with them !

Phase II next which I will call familiarization (only because that's what it is) followed by moving loads  of stuff onto the boat and probably finding there's not enough room to keep everything I want to keep so then moving it to various recycling and disposal bins. I must also explore the local public house and exchange some money for the local brew, I have heard that this is a formality all boaters are required to comply with.

At the moment as the blog title suggests I have no fixed plans and with Winter rapidly approaching, various lock closures, and a few other worries I may have to stay where the boat is moored for the time being, but once I've got things sorted both practically and in my head I will attempt to draw up some loose plans to get moving, after all that is what the boat is for.