Times flying by

Isn’t the time going quickly ?...A month has gone past since I put finger to key pad..I believe we had just entered the final stage of our London adventure at the end of the last blog.

At the end of the Regents canal we passed though the Regents Zoo. Through the aviary and passed walk ways. All the way down the canal, it’s no mooring and a lovely cruise.

After the zoo area we turned left into the final stretch towards our goal . . . limehouse basin.

The water in the canal here is very clear and you can see the bottom and sides quite clearly but, it is filthy. with litter, the main pollutant is plastic bags and other rubbish. We had to stop every so often, remove the weed hatch and take off rubbish wrapped around the propeller, a pair of tights, a coal bag, lots of shopping bags to name but a few. Assorted crap doesn’t 'arf slow you down... 

We have, for some unknown reason, been having trouble keeping the 12v batteries topped up, not sure why, as we have had a new set of 4x110 amp hr fitted before we left Yelvertoft also had a new alternator fitted as well. So in theory they should be OK ..

We decided to book into the Limehouse basin marina for one night and get an electrical link so we could give the battery bank a good blast with the on board charger to top them up.

We checked on their web site to get a price...For one night the cost was ...£36.00...What !!…...Ok..Expensive but we really needed a top up so rang to book a berth...they weren’t sure if they had one ..What ??? ‘Ring back when Barry was in’ …

When we did a bit later they had one berth...but ….the price had shot up to £80.00 for one night with hook up !!!

When Jenny brought it to his attention that the web site price was a lot cheaper he dropped it to £74.00 ..Yep ….We told him what to do with it..!! Politely ..Honest !!

We linked up with another boat crewed by a couple who moored at Foxton locks which is just up the canal from us. ..Danny and Sandie and a couple of friends ...

The flight into Lime house was a bit hairy...there was a very high wind blowing ..At one stage we were nearly wedged across the canal both of us !!

Once a high wind catches a 62 ft long narrow boat...you have to go... if its sideways !! Getting the bow into the wind is quite difficult.

We finally regained control and sailed into the basin...We had reached our goal !!! On looking about the basin, there didn’t appear to be anywhere to moor, the wind was still being a pain and I was worried about being blown on too any of the moored boats ...so .. we turn around and sailed straight back up the locks and started our return journey home.

The basin looks like a rich man’s play ground, Yachts.. Dutch barges, and other high end vessels.

Some lovely properties over looking the marina. Beautiful apartments with verandas, which would give wonderful views of the Thames.

Definitely out of our price range.

Limehouse Basin

Entrance to Limehouse Basin

Having had a rough day we decided to moor up early. There is a distinct lack of moorings in that area so we had a word with a passing CRT man (Canal and River Trust) asked were we could get a place in the area…

Just there’ he said, pointing..’by the jetty’ ...’It has rings’..It also had a sign …..NO MOORING !!! What the hell ..We had permission …Evening pint time came early that day …With a walk to a typical east end pub ..

It was a beautiful clear night and as I sat on the cruiser stern and watched the sky, quite a few stars were on view despite the light pollution. Other lights were there as well, lots of them..Aeroplanes.

I never realised how many planes there were in and out of Heathrow..Also of course the City airport. They are at different altitudes but, wow, they looked very close to me..Too close..Fascinating to watch, I wouldn’t want to be an air traffic controller, they earn their salaries. 

We felt quite safe in the London area, lots of security and CCTV cameras. The only place we had reservations about was Camden locks. We had seen on Tim and Pru’s programme a sleazy and not good side of it. However going through, (going down,) we had a guy jump aboard (after getting permission) to get a photo on a boat. They were doing a team building exercise for his works and had tasks to complete..one of which was get a photo on a boat..

On the way back up, as we approached the bottom lock there was a group of black youngsters at the bottom lock. One was playing a guitar and one had a ?? looked bit like a didgeridoo..??

Trouble we thought. As we approached the lock, the young girl (who was dancing to the music) turned to me, and pointed then shouted ...Hey baby... ...When you come back this way..pick me up and we will runaway together !!..She was an absolute beauty ..Stunning !!…

She made an ‘old man’ very happy !!

However I joined in (yes ...somewhat flattered) A bit of banter went backwards and forwards ending in me saying...I’ll have to get permission from the wife first...Jenny was by this time empting the lock for us to enter.

She stood there looking at the girl ..well, not looking ….Glaring !! Swinging the windlass in a very threatening manner but just in fun.. It was so funny and a lovely atmosphere. We all had a laugh and continued on our way.

Camden Locks.

It was a fairly eventless run back, we had a stop over in Uxbridge again. In the morning Jenny heard a dripping sound from under the sink...Yep, we had sprung a leak, the sink waste pipe was dripping water into the bilge... Not a problem, (I thought) just take it off and clean it up, seal it, and replace..Jobs a good un !!!

Wrong...I took the pipe off and cleaned it,…. so far so good,

However, when it came to refit it...It wouldn’t go back..the pipe it went over was too small ?? and it flopped about….What the !!??

For some reason the pipe didn’t go back. A quick phone call to a local narrow boat plumber, he was there within 1 hr. quick check and he sussed out the problem. The whole job was a bodge up by the previous owners (no change there then !!) ..

Half an hour later he was back with the correct coupling, (¾ inch plastic pipe, two jubilee clips, new sludge trap) the job was a good un, a very reasonable price as well.

Next morning as we set off again, the fan belt started slipping, a horrible howling sound.

Its a problem we have had before ..so I had too get my spanners out and tightened it...All Ok ..No slipping ..until .. the next day a dull thud..and the Ignition light came on. . The fan belt had broken. DOH !!!

Not to worry, we have a spare..But..turns out the ‘well known’ BMC marina had supplied us with the wrong one...DOH !! (again). Phone call to RCR (river and canal rescue) to be told..’Mechanic is out on a job but he will be with you next’,

Ok thats lovely, but ...Can you tell him to bring a couple of spare fan belts…

When John the mechanic turned up ...(some 4 hours later) guess what?? ..He didn’t have a belt...He wasn’t told !!!…..Grrr…

Its 5.30 pm now. Not to worry, I’ll get one and will be back by 11 o’clock tomorrow morning, we were told. Glass of wine and an early night, ready to be up early, to for the mechanics arrival.

At 1pm we phoned up to check where he was, to be told...he was on another job..re-floating a sunken boat..He finally turned up at 8.30pm, fitted the belt and we were able to get some power again . Not impressed with the RCR service considering we are gold members and lodged a complaint. 

Over 36 hours later we were able to get going again. I believe they get paid for raising a boat by the insurance companies (?) Customers coming second to making money ?

Lord David Trimble and his wife Daphne caught us up again and we played leap frog again for a few days .Us passing them when moored up and vice versa also sharing locks.

We plodded onward towards home and a planned two day stop over at Stoke Bruerne, as it one of our favourite villages (which turned into 4 days).  Piggy Pete and Sue had fancied a weekend away in the their American 5^th wheel caravan so they booked into the camp-site by the canal. People who don’t know Piggy Pete and Sue are pig farmers (retired now.. allegedly... from Wisbech) ....Friends now for 21 years plus...

 

An evening meal in The Navigation Inn..and a catch up for the last 3 months ...It was brilliant for the money. So good we ate there the next night as well.

After Pete and Sue left, we met up with the other Infinity and crew. A pint in ‘The Boat Inn’ with Marin and Sue and also met up with Gill Mehmet. They were passing though on their cabin cruiser Yoghurt..aptly called ...hee hee..

(Narrow boaters call the GRP boats Yoghurt pots..)

Gill and Carl her partner called in for coffee and a chat in the morning befor leaving their boat to return home by car.

The week end was finally wound up with a surprise visit of our granddaughter, Becky and Karen, her mum. It was truly wonderful long weekend.

By the time we got to Crick we bumped into Danny and Sandie again. They had been braver than us and had gone along the Thames and up the Oxford canal in a circular cruise. It turns out there were moorings available in Limehouse basin, we hadn’t gone far enough in to see them. It was not user friendly for me.

No signage for visitors.

Sailed into Yelvertoft 5 days later than we had planned but ….. We had done it !! ….We had done the London trip.

Would we do it again ?…..Errr NO !! but it was our first boating adventure, as old age travellers..

Roll on next years cruising season.

The wind was blowing a hooley when we arrived back at Yelvertoft ..Jenny suggested we moor outside until it dropped but I like a challenge !! ...

I took it straight in through the entrance (mind you it was at full power) and pulled up at the diesel pump. (hand brake turn) Chuffed to bits.

We have a new mooring but sadly it took me 4 or 5 attempts to get into it with the help of our neighbour Jim, nearly pulling him in to the marina when he was holding our bow rope .....Damn the wind!!

Over the winter we plan some other work on the boat, to make her usable in the winter and a bit more ‘cosy’.

We need to sort out the central heating and re-do some of the wood work which was damaged during the hull restoration.

Also replace the flooring in the saloon and galley then re-carpet...so….

There will be no rest for the wicked as they say.

See you all soon.

Canal green 'lawn'...

Watford Locks

London canal and train

Living rough under canal bridge in London

Continuous cruisers living in London

Blog 3

Blog Three.

Well .. When we were cruising on the main grand Union it was hard to think we were virtually in the centre of London. The area was still quite rural.

At Bulls bridge, we turned left on to the Paddington arm, a few boats moored here, obviously live-aboard. The trip in was quite interesting.

All narrow boats are different. All have different designs, as they are custom made by different steel fabricators. The sterns are different, some boats are cruiser stern, like ours. Plenty of room for a few people to stand on the deck.

Some are traditional ..Very small rear decking with nowhere to stand, just room for the skipper.

Or the third style .. semi trad...which is a bit of both. Small standing area for the driver / skipper .. but a seating area, usually enough for 4 people.

But …..the different styles of boat we saw was mind boggling.

Cruisers (or yoghurt pots, as we affectionately call them) can range from small 16ft Microplus cruisers to quite large Normans with double cabins.

But some we saw on the run into London was incredible, floating garden sheds….Some people have built on the base of a cabin cruiser in wood and are living on board.

Some people have converted the old dredger barges used by the old British waterways to collect mud and rubbish into homes. Literally welding shipping containers on to them and building inside.

Traditional house boats...floating, but not able to move under power, basically big wooden sheds, which look lovely. Some have gardens and big decking areas, complete with BBQ etc..Little communities most will wave or say hello or good morning as we pass (slowly) so as not too rock the boat as they say.

Dutch barges are very popular to live on .. compared to ours they are very big. .Wide beams are also popular for residential purposes.

But … There are some vessels that are ….well …...ships !!

They could quite frankly cross the channel never mind conquer the river Thames...

Sadly, it not all as idyllic as I might make it sound here. Some of the boats are, well, beyond repair and so run down they really should be scrapped

however people are still living on them, In what looks like absolute poverty. The difference in canal people is quite big between the wealthy and the poor. However, they all are friendly (so far) the dread locked and tattooed peeps, when you chat with them are all OK (again ..so far) the smell of marijuana can often be detected in the air on passing or mooring near. Who are we to judge..

We wanted to moor in Little Venice but on the day we sailed in, it was

quite busy, and the mooring area is quite small.

The ‘visitor moorings’ are sadly (or appear) to be taken by people who are living a board and working in the area. NOT what the visitor moorings are for. Turning it into a residential mooring. The CRT ( Canal and River Trust) seem to be reducing areas where you can moor. Also they (CRT) are in the process of evicting the boat people. I understand that there are 800 cases being looked into at the present time. Not good for tourism in the London, when you try to have a few days in the capitol.

We sailed on into the start of the Paddington Basin...Right out side of the railway station was a mooring free...65ft long !!! Providence or what !!

We moored up and have a 7 day allowance without having to move.

We had a walk into Paddington Basin on Sunday morning and had a good look around,

Its lovely..All new buildings and little café areas with a water feature with little fountains.. We were watching a young toddler and his dad running in and out of the ‘dancing waters’…after that we walked into Little Venice...again a lovely area mainly residential boats double moored, There was a café / Restaurant over the other side, so we crossed the bridge and was going to have a coffee. After smelling the cooking Jenny fancied a bit of food checked on Menu..Beef burger..£12.99 ??...I don’t think so !! Sat waiting for someone to serve us for about 10 minutes..No one came to take our order..we left.

The only problem we have had being moored here is…

Noise ..We are outside of a building site of a new £100 million office block and they are pile driving...You won’t believe this but...the boat is vibrating with the thumping of the jack hammer. Poor old Jake is terrified .. He is off and hiding in the toilet area.

Mind you he is not happy with city life..He’s a country dog.

Carly takes all in her stride, We are waiting to meet up with my son Clive later this afternoon. He’s at a meeting in London and will drop in on the way home.

We had a walk in to the area and a pint outside of a local pub. 2 drinks. Pints of bitter and larger £8.88 (for both).. can’t get over how expensive it to live here.

Fancied a bit of supper on the way home. There is a Cornish pasty stand in Paddington station so we thought we would have one each as a treat...£7.99 !!! each !!! The vendor looked embarrassed and apologised for the price !! I only have to try to sell them he said sheepishly ..

We returned to boat and had a lump of baguette, pate and a lump of cheese. Plus a red wine ..Saved over a tenner..

The locals are quite friendly .. We have been speaking to a lady who is exercising her dog out side our boat each evening, a little puppy called ‘Elvis’ 9 months old Maltese, he’s a character. She and her husband live in a flat over looking the area.

Checked out the prices on ‘Zoopla’..starting at … £1.100.000… a bit out of our price range.

Had a bit of a panic last night .. The lady on the boat behind started screaming .. ‘get some cold water’ ‘GET SOME COLD WATER !!!’

She’d taken the rad cap of her engine…. when it was hot.. The steam blew out ..and scalded her. .. Face and her right arm and hand...Jenny phoned for advise, while I supplied cold water to cool the area down.

We are just at the back of St Mary’s hospital so she and another narrow boat dweller walked round the corner to the professional people for them to sort.

Right over to Jenny to add some photos...A joint effort.

Enough for now...let us know if your reading …???

also…..If you enjoying ??

If no one is reading…. I won’t bother with me ramblings.

Paddington arm, We moored in the gap for a few days.

Little Venice

Restaurant over the canal on way out of Little Venice

Leaving Little Venice

Bit out of our price range, also to many rooms to clean!!

Cows are kept in  London

On the way to Limehouse Basin

At Kentish Locks, commonly known as Camden Locks

London Canal Museum Basin

Blog part two….

Well time has gone past so fast, after a days cruising its sometimes a bit much to sit down and write what we have been up too. Jenny is keeping a log as we call it the ‘The Skippers Twig’...(not the captains log !!)..so I’ll have to refer back to that for the main points.

We left the marina and headed south on our way to London, 15 months after we tried last time, as we were still working, we had to turn around at Kings Langley. The book reckoned we could do London and back in 3 weeks...Wrong !! Ok, we had a few problems the first time, breakdowns caused by shoddy workmanship by Calcutt Marina. But more time was needed. Not a problem now...we’re retired.

Filled up with diesel at Lime Farm Marina, waved bye bye, let the adventure begin. Cruising through Rugby...when... oh no !! The engine started to ‘surge’ and then...cut out. Doh !! I managed to get her to the bank and rang John.

Luckily enough he was out on another breakdown nearby and was with us within a few minutes, quick check and he ascertained it was a lack of diesel.

System bled, engine started, off we go again. Brilliant..until 10 min’s later..it stopped again. Right out side Clifton Cruisers...another phone call waited a bit longer this time. Again it was fuel starvation, John changed the diesel filter and off she went again. The filter was blocked. When we refuelled on leaving, the engine was running, we believe it stirred up the sludge at the bottom of the tank and the filter did its job..From then till now it has been perfect.

I hate the Braunston tunnel !!, why you ask ?...simples...its not straight!!.

Built by two Irish brothers, one started at one side of the hill and the other started at the opposite end. Things weren’t as technical in those days and guess what happened, yep they missed each other ...Leaving a big kink or rather a few kinks in the finished link.

Travelling through the tunnel, straining my eyes to see the way, I see two head lights coming towards us. What !! On both sides of the tunnel ??. I panicked.

Was it a wide beam boat coming through with out permission ?.

Emergency stop...after a few min’s, (it seemed like hours) the lights blended back into one. It turned out it was an idiot trying to overtake the boat in front !!!

It bad enough to go through the tunnel with out stupid idiots like that.

We need to cruise at least four hours a day to top up our batteries, surprising how much power you use on the 12v system. Fridge freezer..TV..radio...and lights in the evening. Running the engines for this time means we kept on the move.

We stayed over at our favourite stops, Stoke Bruerne for a couple of days. Mainly though, we are plodding on.

The TV signal in the Hertfordshire area is very poor, so we are getting used to listening to the radio or the I-Pod.

Met up with Jenny’s brother and sister in law, George and Pat, at a pub in Milton Keynes, The food was bad, the beer expensive, but we had a lovely afternoon, chatting and catching up.

Stayed in the centre of the city the next night, right outside of a flat where a lad was murdered last year. But it was an uneventful night.

The next stop was Leighton Buzzard. Pension day..also time to do the major shop. Food from the canal side Aldi and Tesco. Major stock up of wine and beer. The local ales here are £4.15 a pint but Hobgoblin is £1.25 from Aldi..quite a saving.

Next few days are uneventful, just making the miles to London, Cowroast, Berkhampstead .. Hemel Hampstead .. nearer each day to our goal..Little venice..Paddington Basin and the Regents Canal.

While staying over night at ‘The Port of Berkhamstead’ there was lovely boat moored in front of us..obviously a new one called ‘Sine Nomine’ an unusual name but there are lots of strange boat names.

We had a lie in the next day and left a bit later than usual, we aren’t in a rush these days so, why rush? A gentle 2000 rpm cuts Infinity through the water at about 3 mph according to our sat nav.

On turning a bend in the canal, we see a narrow boat in front .. obviously in trouble. The engine was running quite fast, boat not moving, although the propeller was spinning very fast !!

They were firmly aground and were going nowhere. Drawing along side, we shouted too them to throw us their bow line, tied it on to our stern, and pulled them free.

Our ‘good deed for the day’ !!..until we tried to move off.. DOH !!!...we were stuck on the bank as well...they were free. !! However if you reverse off the bank you normally pull free, as it was in our case. We both were able to continue our journey. The name of the boat...Sine Nomine..the boat that was moored in front of us the night before.

At the next set of locks we slipped in beside them trying not to scrape down their lovely shiny boat !!. We shared the water and the work, going into locks in twos makes life so much easier.

While chatting to the driver, (his wife was helping Jenny on the paddles)I had a memory of the boat being featured in a Canal mag a few months ago..He confirmed it was..

I then remembered who owned it..I couldn’t remember the name but remembered he was a politician.. I asked him if he was an MP?

...’Was’ he replied..retired I asked?..Yes...by the voter...he lost his seat..but now is in the house of Lords !!

Damn my memory !! I still couldn’t remember who he was..

So if in doubt..ask !!………...Lord Trimble…

David Trimble…. First minister of Northern Ireland. (was, now in house of lords)

For the next few lock we had lots of chats about politics and the state of the world etc. a great gentleman. They stopped for lunch at one of the canalside hostelries we continued on having a wrap ‘on the move’.

When we moored for the night a couple of hours later. They moored up behind us. Gave me time to Google the history of his career, also see a speech he made a few weeks before in Europe..Interesting hearing his views first hand regarding Brexit...Northern Ireland..etc.

By coincidence we both pulled stakes and set off at the same time next morning. He was on the ‘windlass’ opening locks..his wife was driver.

I quipped too her..Now I know who you are , do I have to say ‘My ladyship’ or is it Daphne..Big smile back No !! ...it’s Daphne...so it was David and Daphne from then on. What a lovely couple. No airs or graces. A pleasure meeting them both.

When we turned up the Paddinton arm of the Grand Union well that is another story..Enough for now...will hand over to Jenny to add a few photos and edit as needed …

TTFN

Bob

Its raining...

Heron searching for his dinner

Our lock partners Lord and Lady Trimble

To early for a pint

Milton Keynes

Just coming into built up area of London

And another London shot.....

August 2016

Episode 2 1st August 2016

Well, episode two. Sadly the wonderful narrow boat Infinity is still in hospital, she is off life support and making slow, but good progress.

The lads have done a brilliant job of her restoration, bringing her back to life. Hopefully she will have having her bottom blacked as I write. John was fitting the new stainless steel water tank yesterday as we were there, then the new gas lockers and floor for the cratch will be welded in.

We could be looking at re-floating some time next week. Re ballasting and balancing THEN…..the mad rush will start.....getting the caravan back to Wisbech...getting all the stuff back on to boat. We need to do a short 'maiden voyage' so they can check for any leaks as new cooling system has been fitted etc. So after the re-launch it looks as if we will be heading north for a few days before turning to head to London as planned.

We are hoping to reload the boat at The Barley Mow at Newbold on Avon. We can leave the car there while we finish off the moving. I believe we have 14 days mooring while we do. Then take car back to Yelvertoft and we are finished. FREE….to start our adventure in earnest. A few months later than planned.

Its been good so far we are meeting new people each day, both real people and as Jenny calls them 'cyber friends'. We are on the Facebook Narrowboat users group. Have linked up with a few other boaters on there, some on purpose, some by accident. Its good on the facebook as long as your not taking it to seriously or rather you need to be aware that there are some comedians answering. When we have been in trouble (being new to this way of life) we will ask a question on FB.. 80 % will help you and 20% will make laugh (with silly, but funny answers)

All good fun. When moored at Braunston we had a knock on the roof and a fella stood there and introduced himself as Martin ..his narrowboat was moored behind us.

Its name..INFINITY the only difference theirs was new. Only 4 months old. Lovely couple Sue and Martin.

Anyway, the boat is back in for final checks tomorrow and repair a gear box oil leak....then we should be off towards London.....

April to May 2016

OK.....this is or first attempt at a blog, we (hopefully) intend to do a short update on a weekly/monthly basis with piccies so you can see where we are on our travels.

To bring you all up to date we bought Infinity, a 62' narrow boat in 2014, we both loved her.  The toilet area was a walk through which neither of us liked, Bob changed that so we now we can walk up a hallway with door into toilet.  The work took longer than anticipated but now completed.

Unfortunately the head gasket went on the BMC engine so the engine was re-conditioned and new stern gear installed.

We both retired at the end of 2015, staying in the marina over winter.

In March 2016 we decided to have Infinity out of the water for hull blacking and as she is nearly 30 years old we arranged for a hull survey....it failed miserably.

Infinity was booked into a marina for major welding.....6 weeks later we are still living in our little caravan whilst work is being completed..so that is where we are as of today...hopefully we will be back aboard in about 2 weeks then start our adventure....