Category Archives: Aire and Calder Navigation

TLC Day 7. 29th January

So much for treat pizza and that fire!

Mick is in the process of changing some medication. For a week he needs to take his blood pressure morning and evening, so on Saturday when we got home he disappeared to do this, returning a while later with a puzzled concerned look on his face. He records his results on an app, this evening his blood pressure was too high, he should seek immediate medical attention. 111 asked him to go to A&E. Should we eat first or should we try to beat the Saturday night influx, we decided on the latter, stupidly!

A&E was chocka at 7:50pm, we only just managed to find seats, we’d be a while. The while turned into 8 hours. Mick’s blood pressure was read several times, two ECGs and blood tests done. I’m sure they only did blood pressure readings to get everyone moving once in a while so they didn’t have a room full of freezing cold DVT cases. Eventually a little before 4am Sunday morning he got to see a lovely Dr Frankie. Mick was examined and told to double his dose of drugs, continue to do his blood pressure twice a day and get in touch with his GP Monday morning. We went home, cold, tired, slightly relieved and hungry!

**An empty boot apart from some black pudding**

So no visit to Oleanna on Sunday, we needed a lazy day, Geraghty zoom, breakfast and those pizzas were finally devoured.

Monday morning Mick contacted his GP. Within half an hour he had a phone call back from a doctor who upped his dose again. The hire car was extended by a couple of days and a plumber postponed his visit, at least this meant we could get to Oleanna earlier than planned. Unfortunatly we came across stand still traffic near Howden, the only cars coming the other way had turned round. I put down my knitting and went into navigator mode.

First thing was to light the stove and open windows. Stove paint once dry needs to cure and to do this it needs to be heated up for around 20 minutes, this always lets off fumes. At least we’d have some heat today.

Mick carried on with things in the engine bay whilst I started to go through cupboards. The cupboard under the sink was given a good sort, large night lights, cleaning cloths galore. I would now need to find space in there for our stove top kettle as our battery bank will be good enough to use the electric kettle routinely, but it should stay onboard ‘just in case’.

Spicey Parsnip soup before the galley bottom drawer was sorted, two first aid kits well out of date. We have a new one to bring from the house along with a life time supply for a family of ten of sterile wipes!

**Connecting the second bully boy battery**

The boat was dusted from top down ready for a good hoover when we got power again. By 3pm Mick moved indoors time to connect the second battery! Very exciting. He turned them on, looked at the computer. Oleanna had power again! The invertor hummed away happily bring electricity into the boat charging up the batteries.

Once second coats of varnish were applied to the remainder of wood it was getting late again. Mick didn’t want to leave Oleanna on her own just yet with the two new bully boy batteries in charge. There was still tidying up to do in the engine bay and The Shed cupboard needed to be put back together. Things were turned off and we headed home.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 batteries connected, 2 more soups, 2 dead first aid kits, 10mg not 2.5mg! 1 electric kettle, 2nd coats, 1 coat oil under the corner cupboard.

TLC Day 6. 27th January

Back down to Goole today. The temporary battery was disconnected after a blast of the central heating, thankfully it was a warmish day as I wasn’t going to be lighting the stove.

More cableing was going on in the engine bay. The second battery was put into the original battery tray. Blocks of wood have been added so that the battery can’t move more than 10mm in the tray. We’ll need to do something to hold the battery that is in The Shed, blocks of wood or maybe angle brackets.

Mick busied himself hoping to get the instalation complete today, tidying up would be left for tomorrow, maybe even checking things worked as they should do.

The Danish Oil on the floor was still just a touch tacky. I could see where I’d either not been able to see properly in dim light or I’d been a touch slap dash. No shoes inside today, socks only, I managed to find some heat holder socks to attempt to keep my toes from freezing.

Inside I realised that along with the porthole in the bedroom there were the bedside tables and a couple of tops that should also get a varnish to protect them from muddy paws. A space was cleared on the bed so that I could reach the porthole. Everywhere had a sand then some Bar Keepers Friend applied to where there were stains. This was left to dry whilst we had some Spicy Butternut Squash soup for lunch.

Other tops were lightly sanded and then the stove top got some attention. Water has somehow got in during the really heavy rain this winter and had left rusty patches. When lighting the stove recently I’ve made sure the nearest CO alarm has been operational incase we have a dangerous leak. The top was sanded then wiped down with white spirit. Once dry I got the stove paint out and popped my mask on, this stuff stinks! In my younger days a little bit of a whiff was put up with, but now I really hate it as it seems to linger with you for hours!

The BKF was all cleaned off, the porthole required a second coat, most probably a third should have been applied, but I was running out of patience. Everything was cleaned down, followed by a coat of varnish and a second coat elsewhere.

As the day light started to fade so did our enthusiasm. The floor not having gone off fully after two days meant that it would be a bad idea to give it a second coat today, this should be the final thing to be done once everything else was finished tomorrow. Mick was cold from sitting on the engine so we called it a day and headed back over the Wolds to warm up infront of a fire with a cat on my knee, some knitting and pizzas for tea.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 porthole, 2 bedside tables, 2 more tops, 2nd coats, 1 stove top, 1 stinky boat, 2nd battery and other things, 2 cold and dark, 0 power tonight on Oleanna.

TLC Day 4. 25th January

The tin of Danbolin had been brought inside yesterday so that it could warm up a touch before being used. The battery tray in the engine bay got a coat, this would take the rest of the day and overnight to dry.

Time to bring a battery inside. The plank was positioned to aid getting the heavy black box onboard and then it was brought down the stern steps. The steps then needed removing so that the cupboard would be more accessible. The steps will now live on the dinette table for a while and access will only be through the bow doors, the stern doors being kept lock from inside so that we don’t forget!

Everything seemed dry in the cupboard today, so in went the battery onto the floor of the cupboard. A shelf will need to be made and supported above it before items can be organised in The Shed again. The cables will come down from behind the board (at the top of the photo) which covers the hole from the engine bay, the shelf will need to accomodate the cables.

Inside I mixed some Bar Keepers Friend into a paste with a few drops of water, I applied it to the stains on the top of the drawingboard slot. Would this work? I’d see. This was left to dry whilst we had bowls of warming chicken soup for lunch. The dried paste was then scraped off, the residue rubbed away with a green pan scrubber, everywhere was then hoovered. The stains had vanished! A wipe with white spirit and it was left to dry.

I decided to do the same with marks on the window frames and along the wooden trim of the side hatch, this gets wet paws applied frequently to it and was looking quite dark. The BKF certainly bleached down the wood and brought it back to life. A coat of yacht varnish was applied to the hatch, window frames and shelves.

Possessions were moved to the front of the boat, with the old battery reconnected I could hoover through before applying oil to the floor. This should really be applied, left for ten minutes to soak into the grain, then any excess wiped off with a cloth, giving an even coverage. However, this is next to impossible on a boat. The narrow spans of floor mean you start at one end of the boat and work your way backwards. Yes I could stop every three foot and wait for ten minutes to wipe any excess away, but my knees wouldn’t have appreciated that. Hopefully after a second coat it will even things out.

**Danish oil being applied from a trusty Pip pot**

Mick sat in the car waiting, not able to do anymore in the engine bay today as the temporary battery was in the way again and it was getting dark. I was glad of being able to have light inside and managed to remember to turn them off as I worked my way to the bow.

Oleanna locked up, the fire dying down. Back across the Wolds to three parcels left with our neighbour, more wonderful yarn. My old collegue Gemma in Leamington Spa had sent me a lot of part used balls of yarn, she works for Wool Warehouse now so I imagine her stash is huge.

The other two parcels were from Vykky at West Green Loft Yarns. One parcel filled with part used balls of yarn, the other a generous handfull of mini skeins. Blimey if I get more generous donations like this we’ll be needing a butty just for the yarn! Thank you!

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 battery in the shed, 1 tray grey, 3 black spots vanished, 1st coat on windows, hatch and 2 shelves, 1 temporary battery, 1st coat oil, 2 aching knees, 1 aching head, 3 parcels of yarn joy.

PS for Tom, this is the reply to your comment a month ago about our batteries.

Tom. Back when Oleanna was being built the builder suggested lithium batteries from a company called RELiON. They seemed good at the time but you may remember we had supply problems. Last summer one of the three 50ah 24v batteries went faulty. Our builder had never used RELiON again after our supply problems so they had no relationship with them. I looked at claiming under the guarantee and it turned out in the small print that the 10 year guarantee worked like this: a failure during years one to three would result in getting a foc replacement. A failure during years four to six would get you a 20% discount off a new battery. A failure from year seven to ten would get you a 10% discount off a new one. Their new prices hadn’t fallen as much as others in the lithium market so a new battery with 10% off would be more expensive than one supplied from elsewhere.
So we decided to limp on with 100Ah for the rest of the summer and decide what to do at our leisure. There is a well renowned facebook group “12 volt boating group” which has a lot of useful info and some recommended suppliers. So I have found a 24v 230Ah battery available for about a third of the price we paid for our 3 original batteries. We could keep the two batteries that are still working and add the new one to the bank but there is no access to the Battery Managment System on the old batteries so that might be problematical. So I am going to ditch the two remaining 8 year old batteries and replace them with two of the new ones giving us redundancy if one fails (thanks Paul Balmer) and a massive increase in capacity which will be very nice. I might do a blog post about it when I come to do the fitting.

Mick

TLC Day 3. 24th January

Alarm went off. Tilly left in charge, note in the window for the Postie, today would be a warmer and dry day for doing jobs on Oleanna.

Last night we’d banked the stove up, it hadn’t lasted but the boat did still feel quite warm. Heating turned on, fire lit but not too big as I planned to create fumes today.

I started to sand the floor concentrating on areas badly marked. Our floor is engineered oak so I know there is plenty of wood that I can sand. Where the pullout corner cupboard is in the galley, bits of grit get under the plinth and scrape the floor, leaving lines. I’d wanted to take the cupboard out totally. I knew how to undo the drawer runner, but to get it actually out and somewhere completely different in the boat would be hard. The handle would need removing and then there might still not have been enough space to get it from under the overhanging worktop, plus it would be heavy in an awkward space. So I’ll just have to make sure there’s no grit in future instead of being able to trim the plinth down by a couple of mm.

Mick disconnected the old battery for ease of access into the engine bay, then cleaned off the Fertan on the battery tray and left it to dry. Oh hang on, I’m a day ahead of myself in the engine bay! The fertan went on today. I know he’s been busy out there in the engine bay, but all the days seem to be melding into one!

The Shed cupboard was cleared out and a damp trap was left inside and the door left open, cupboards take ages to warm up when the cold has settled in.

I carried on sanding the floor, a general sand all over in the main cabin, then just a bit at the bow steps where the leaking water pump had stained the floor slightly last year. Far worse staining had happened inside the hoover cupboard! We also seem to be getting some condensation dribbles under the gunnels from the gas pipe maybe, we might look at lagging the pipe, but you need to be able to see that it’s a continuous pipe for the Boat Safety. Hmm!

Mick had a chat with Alistair and the cables would be ready for us tomorrow, Thursday. Mick tinkered away in the engine bay, sorting cables, labelling them and getting ready.

**The Houdini Shelf sanded ready to be varnished and become a skid pan for Tilly**

Windows had a sand along with the Houdin shelf and the wooden top to the drawingboard slot, the galley side of this had a few black marks on it. These were most probably caused by drying chopping boards having been left against it and the oak oxidising. Time to try out Bar Keepers Friend, this contains an amount of Oxalic Acid which can be used to remove stains in oak, but this would wait for tomorrow.

The floor got a good sweep and then a wipe down with white spirit, mask worn to avoid the fumes.

I now had a decision, should I use Danish Oil on the window frames and shelves? Or should I use an oil based varnish, I had some yacht varnish. When it rains our windows, unless closed, let a certain amount of rain in. The wood around them having lost most of it’s protective layer of laquer or varnish a while ago. I’ve touched them up with Danish Oil, but this hasn’t fared too well. Other places where Tilly sits also have to endure being wet due to her not wiping her paws when she comes in. As I thought about this, all I could hear was Frank saying ‘Danish Oil!’, but my head was saying Yacht varnish. The satin varnish won, the oil would be used on the floor though.

By now the day light was fading, I could do varnishing and oil, but it would be quite late by the time I’d finished and Mick would be trying to work in the dark, so we decided to call it a day and head home.

Today there was one parcel with our neighbour, a wonderful jiffy bag full of part used colourful yarn from my friend Bubbles. Her mum used to knit socks all the time, but dementia has taken that skill amongst other things away from her. I’ll make good use of the yarn in my socks. Thank you Bubbles!

0 locks, 0 miles, 5 windows, 2 shelves, 1 hatch surround, 2 glazed doors sanded and cleaned, 1 floor sanded and cleaned, 1 mask face, 2 soups, 1 parcel, 1 happy cat, about bloomin time you spent some time with me!

TLC Day 2. 23rd January

The alarm was set, a note popped in the window for the Postman, the car was loaded with tools and then those two big cardboard boxes that have been sat in the hallway over the weekend. Blimey they were heavy! Between the two of us we managed to get them out of the house and part way to the steps where it was decided that Mick would take them from there into the boot.

First stop Woods Carpets in town. Woods have provided me with carpets for the house and theatre sets for years. It’s nice to go somewhere where you are known, say what you are wanting, be shown samples, told prices straight off, can we do a join there and there and walk out of the shop with a sample book knowing that the flooring can be fitted on the day I’d like, everything at half the price of the place in York and all in ten minutes!

Next B&Q for some cheap brushes and roller heads, glue and some lint free cloths. Gosh the prices have gone up in there! Then it was across the Wolds, wind and rain keeping us company all the way. My knitting needles clicked away, I just have to arrange my knitting so that I’m not turning a heel whilst travelling in the car!

There she was, time to give her some TLC and start work on the battery upgrade.

First things get her warm. Mick turned the heating up whilst I lit the stove. We needed Oleanna to at least feel dry inside before I started to apply oil and varnish, thankfully we’ve chosen a week when the temperatures would be reaching into double figures.

Mick walked over to see if Alastair (the marina engineer) was around to alter the cables we’d bought with the batteries. These arrived as two 6m cables one positive one negative, but we’d ordered 2 3m cables of each. The cables needed chopping in half and connectors crimping on the ends, not worth sending them back. Alastair wasn’t around, but the cables were left in the office for him. Mick also gave notice on our mooring to Laird. Our exact leaving date will depend on Goole caisson opening and changes to some medication Mick is on.

The pull out galley cupboard was emptied. Crockery and glasses were boxed up to return to the house, then the two screws which hold the pan drawer in place were unscrewed. Well I say unscrewed, but it turned out that only one of them was actually only just clinging onto the drawer. When it all gets reattached I’ll be adding more screws, it’s felt a touch wobbly for a while, now I know why. Now I got to see a part of the boat only Tilly normally gets to see, she’d stashed one of her toys there!

I emptied a big drawer under the bed, this will be where I store donated yarn for my Sockathon. I then went through the books on shelves, removing guides we’ve picked up through the years and recipes from magazines I’ve kept. Guides to various waterways were noted, some we’ve been given may well be handy for our planned cruise this year.

Mick headed into the engine bay, with the power turned off on the boat he removed the old batteries and inspected the battery tray. A touch rusty, time to give it a clean and apply some fertan which could work overnight. Mick then set about working out where the new busbar could go, cables from here and there all needed to reach it with ease.

After lunch, inside Oleanna the wheels on the pullout cupboard got a good clean, the floor was hoovered and washed very well.

Outside the wind and rain were not that conducive to much more work in the engine bay. We’d managed quite a bit of prep work so soon called it a day. One of the old batteries was wired back in and sat on top of the engine so that the fridge would work and things could be charged ready for tomorrow.

Back across the Wolds, time to pick up a couple of parcels that had been left with our neighbour. 3 skeins of yarn from a lady I’ve never met, her yarn stash had been delved into and a donation sent, she’s also sponsored a pair of socks.

Then there was a big box. Blimey! How much yarn was inside!?! I couldn’t believe my eyes. Such a generous donation from The Knitting Shed. 31 mini skeins, quite a few part used cakes and several full skeins of yarn. I had to keep peeking inside the box to check I wasn’t seeing things!

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 batteries disconnected, 1 tray fertanned, 2 batteries taken for a drive, 1 floor washed, 2 screws removed, 3 shelves rationalised, 2 soups, 1 fire, 2kg of yarn, 1 lovely evening in Filey.

3.75 pairs knitted

23 pairs spoken for

48.25 to go

£585 raised

Three Months. 10th January

Viking Marina, Goole

They don’t normally get up in the dark! What’s going on?!

It’s been just over three months since we moved off Oleanna back to the house. Mick has had several visits to check on her, turn the engine over etc, but I’ve not stepped onboard in three months. Northern Railways had a flash sale of train tickets for three days a week ago, some single fares down to £1. So we booked ourselves a trip to Goole, slightly slower than normal, a half hour wait in Hull for a slower train to Goole, but not bad for £12 for the two of us, I think it’s normally around £17 for Mick with his Old Git’s Card.

The 9:01am train took us to Hull stopping at all the familiar towns, but they always seem to be in the wrong order to me, surely Driffield is nearer to Scarborough than Brid! We had a chilly half hour wait for the slow train to arrive and take us to Goole. We’d brought a Brompton with us incase the puddle of doom near the marina entrance was still there, Mick could ride through get a pair of wellies and return for me. Thankfully the road was just about dry, no puddle of any concern. Apparently a ditch behind the road has been cleared, the puddle had become so deep that even 4 x 4’s were nervous about going through it, far deeper than any wellies would allow!

There she was behind the mesh fence of the marina. More splashes up the cabin side from the nearest puddle in the parking area. Would it be worth washing her down? It’ll only happen again and anyway we’d more important things that needed doing today and a limited time before our train back.

Three months with minimum heating means things tend to stick a little. The front door being the first thing that needed some brute force. The side hatch was the next thing, the swivels that hold the glazed doors closed were very stiff, we may need to add a washer to them until she’s dried out.

I was pleased to see no sign of water coming in through the bathroom mushroom vent, there’s still a coat of paint to go on the outside when the temperature improves. However, somehow water has got in through our double skinned flue! Tracing the faint water marks up the flue brought me to the elbow joint, there were no marks above it and it looks like the joint has moved by maybe a couple of millimeters! Hmm. Mick likes to leave the chimney on for extra ventilation whilst we’re not on board, has this been the cause with all the heavy rain that’s happened in the last month? One thing it does mean is that the top of the stove will want cleaning and a coat of stove paint applying, an extra job before we’re back on board.

Mick lifted the engine boards. I stuck my head in ‘The Shed’ cupboard. This is on the port side, the same side as where the leisure batteries are in the engine bay. Our new batteries will have a bigger footprint than the existing ones, the battery tray was made to fit these and won’t be big enough for the two new ones.

I got the tape measure out to see how much room we had in the bottom of ‘The Shed’. The swim of Oleanna comes round in this cupboard so the bottom is narrower. Only one battery would fit. Above the swim there would be enough space for two side by side. But this would leave us with a funny gap below, only accessible when you take the stern steps out and would eat into the useful space above for life jackets, hats scarves, tool kit and hanging rail that is only actually used to store coat hangers!

A spare cable was passed through from the engine bay into the cupboard, there’s an inch gap behind a panel of wood where I could just feel cables wiggling around. This will be the route in from the engine bay. 3m cables will be required to connect the new batteries.

Decision is to have one battery in the engine bay, the other in the bottom of ‘The Shed’. These would both need battens adding around them so they can’t move more than 10mm to meet BSS requirements. We also need to add a shelf above the one in ‘The Shed’. There will be a gap above the battery so we can fix battens to the sides of the cupboard to rest the shelf on. Then the rest of the cupboard can be used as storage again. We may swap out the full width hanging rail for two hanging rods, meaning we’d be able to hang our life jackets up and have somewhere to store hangers (these only get used to hang washing in the pram cover). We will also need to find means of hanging the handheld and window vacuums, then the tool kit and other bits can sit on the shelf.

I got busy removing all the curtains, so that they could be washed. It’s been a few years now since they last came down, having a rod at both top and bottom of them makes them a slightly time consuming job. Last time they were down I relined them. I know the curtain fabric is okay to wash, but was the thermal lining? The place I got it from recommends dry cleaning, but we’re going to risk a hand wash and then rehang them whilst they are wet. Back at the house they have been de spider pooed, de Tilly furred with a lint roller. They’ll head back to the boat for a wash and rehanging.

Time for a bowl of Heinz Tomato and a cuppa. Not in front of the hatch today as the dinette is currently without cushions, so we didn’t have such a good view from the sofa. With the heating on Oleanna, had warmed up quite well. We’d aimed to fill the water tank just enough to do some washing up, but forgot the hose was connected and ended up with a three quarter full tank. I suspect we’ll be able to use much of this for cleaning, so that we can disinfect the water tank before moving back on board.

We plan on a week of visits once we have the batteries. Hopefully with the heating on each day, possibly the stove lit we can get Oleanna warm and dry enough for me to re-oil the floor and window surrounds. This job needs to be done when Tilly isn’t in residence. It’s also quite smelly, so we’d rather not be around either.

I checked to see how the corner galley cupboard had been put together, a couple of screws hold the pull out pan drawer in position and then I believe the cupboard is mounted on a couple of rails which will just need removing from the back of the dinette. I’m wanting to give the wheels of the cupboard a good clean and oil the floor beneath it.

Quite a few jobs to be done on board. Then there’s the dinette cushions to recover too along with a bit of painting in the house before lodgers arrive again!

With our train due to leave at 15:31, I needed a while to get to the station, I have a hobbly leg at the moment. Thankfully the chap from NB Bruce was just leaving in his car and he offered me a lift into town, Mick would close up Oleanna and cycle to meet me. Mr NB Bruce plans on heading off on his travels soon, he’d checked for stoppages over the Pennines, I mentioned about Goole Caison being closed for works for a few weeks. In my head they’d already started the work, but it doesn’t start until Monday, so I hope his planned departure was going to be this weekend.

**Yummy donated yarn arrived in the post, thank you Naomi!**

The journey back was uneventful, one ship heading upstream on the Humber to Goole in the fading light. Another change of train in Hull but thankfully not a long wait as it was chilly. The knitting needles came out and I managed to get up to a heel of a sock before we arrived back in Scarborough.

About time too! I’ve been shouting at nobody since I woke up at 3, it’s way past my DingDing!

Hang on, She smells of BOAT!!!

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 trains, 1 bike, 1 hobbly leg, 4m cables, 9 curtains, 2 blinds, 1 shelf measured, 2 bowls Heinz finest, 2 cuppas, 3.5 hours on board.

1.25 Pairs knitted

18 Pairs spoken for

50.75 Pairs to go

£455 raised

2023 A Sociable Year

A long post, it’s the annual round up.

January, we sat waiting. Waiting for a new alternator to arrive, for the River Trent to come out of flood and then for the canal to defrost sufficiently for us move. This meant Pip doing work on the boat instead of in the house, this made for smelly days and a very cold workshop under the pram cover.

After almost three weeks we were on the move again having to navigate through thick fog, navigational aids helping us not to bump into the banks! Ahead of us in Yorkshire was a troublesome swing bridge, closed to boat traffic. Our plans had to change, we arranged to moor up in Newark and head back to Scarborough by van. Chin rubs nearly made the longer journey better, but I really don’t like the outside moving SO fast!

Four days later we were back on board, the bridge ahead was now open. Tides were checked, locks booked, cupboards stocked for a few days cruising. Winter cruising can be so so pretty, yet so so chilly. A display by the Red Arrows as we left Torksey kept us amused and a defrost was very welcome when we arrived at Keadby. After four days cruising we were moored up in Goole and walking to catch the train back to Scarborough.

#unit21 in Huddersfield kept Pip occupied for much of February. Then it was time to give the house some TLC in between lodgers. A back bedroom got a makeover just in time. Mick had trips to see Oleanna, a jobs list left with Alastair and the covers headed off for some much needed mending. Tilly was kept busy checking out the neighbours, they stay inside so I get free reign of their outside!

April arrived along with two lodgers, it was not possible to do more work on the house, Pip chose to knit socks instead. Dementia UK her chosen charity this year. Donations of yarn came from dyers and Pip’s needles started to click away, keeping up with requests. 15 pairs knitted and her target met.

May, visits were made to Oleanna preparing her for cruising, these were interspersed with visits from family, delivering socks, getting the house ready and starting work on the design for panto. On the 9th of May we loaded a van and returned to life afloat. Tilly the happiest cat once she was back onboard! A day later we set off heading west. Leeds for a few days for Pip to head to Matlock for work and then a wonderful visit to see 93 year old Betty in Harrogate.

Working our way up the Leeds Liverpool Canal, locks and the new stupid swing bridge much lighter work with two boats. Our favourite canal with wonders of the waterways, friends on route, Mick’s birthday and a trip to Bowness to see the latest Ayckbourn play. We managed a night on our favourite mooring on the network sadly it was too windy to enjoy the view with a barbecue.

Up over the top, we teamed up with NB That’s It, thankfully descending the Wigan flight in a window between vandalism and blown cills that have hampered the flight this year. Then along the Bridgewater Canal, panto designing whilst on the flat. Through Preston Brook Tunnel and onto the Trent and Mersey turning right onto the Middlewich Branch.

Back on lockdown ‘Home’ waters we cruised the Nantwich pound, 5 hours 13 minutes including a lunch and shopping stop, back in 2020 we’d spent 80 days here. We cruised southwards on the Shropie joined for a day by Carol and George from WB Still Rockin’. Laura and Alison from NB Large Marge joined us for the ascent up the Wolverhampton 21.

Through Bumingham and on to Lapworth and then Hatton where we had an extra pair of hands from Jane, who hopefully now has her own narrowboat. A well deserved burger at the Cape of Good Hope with Emma and David, then a lovely evening with Lizzie (NB Panda) at The Folly, it was turning out to be quite a sociable June.

Oleanna wiggled her way across the summit of the South Oxford, very familiar water to us. Despite the sunny weather and us cruising most days our batteries were not happy, turning themselves off overnight! Diagnosis was required, we pulled into Cropredy Marina to plug in and run tests. One of our three batteries was dead, bad enough but thankfully nothing more. Once a panto meeting had been attended we could move on, except there was an emergency closure at Banbury Lock. C&RT worked hard to get the canal open as quickly as they could, thankfully our hold up wasn’t too long.

We met up with the crews of NB Azzura (Liz and Mark) and NB Perseus (Julie and Simon) both Finesse boats, had a visit to London for Andrew’s birthday. Then had a rendez vous with Paul and Christine and enjoyed a good catch up onboard NB Waterway Routes.

Down to the River Thames where we turned upstream onto waters we’ve only cruised once before. Such a lovely stretch of river, sadly with fewer moorings now. We sped up to Lechlade where we took up residence for a week so that we could attend a get together at Pip’s cousins which coincided with the Royal International Air Tatoo in Fairford. It was great to be with family on a jolly occasion.

Work took over for Pip as we made our way back down stream to Oxford, Cinderella had to go to the ball and the model needed to be finished. Then we sauntered our way back northwards. One day had us meet up with Frankie NB Discovery, NB Dusty the local coal boat and Graeme on NB Misty Blue, it was good to catch up with Graeme and hear of his adventures since we’d seen him last year.

A trip for us both back to Scarborough to do a turn around of lodgers, see a show and pick up post. Mick would have to return the following weekend to swap bedlinen over again, this time by train from Rugby. Stand still budgets and inflation required Pip to do more work on panto so her days were kept busy reducing Cinderella’s carriage from £2000 to £400.

Stoppages around the network meant we had only one real route we could take to head back north. We winded and climbed our way up to the Leicester Section. Here we met up with Ken and Sue NB Cleddau at Houdini’s Field sitting out till way after dark. Then a small detour to Welford to meet up with NB Panda and Lizzie for an evening before we continued our way north.

Another detour to Market Harborough before Leicester where North Lock had a badly leaking cill which required a crew of C&RT chaps to force the bottom gates open, booked passage was required, this meant we got a few days to enjoy the city whilst we awaited our turn.

Sadly by now the lack of water on the Chesterfield Canal meant the top end of the canal was closed, no point in rushing up the River Trent for a return visit. In Nottingham Pip’s little toe had a kerfuffle with a cupboard necessitating a visit to the drop in centre for her little pinkie to be realigned. This meant Pip had to hand the windlass and key of power over to Mick for the last locks of the year.

Downstream on the River Trent, stopping at all our favourite moorings. Pip’s knitting needles came out again to knit more socks for Dementia UK. We had a trip into Lincoln along the Fossdyke Canal, we actually managed to finally visit the Cathedral this time!

Tides were not helpful for the rest of our trip north so a couple of days at West Stockwith was needed, but that did mean we’d be sharing the tidal waters back to Yorkshire with NB That’s It whom we’d met earlier in the year.

There was time for a catch up with David as we passed through Bramwith, a jaunt up to Doncaster and then finally along the New Junction and onto Goole where a space had been found for us in the marina. A train ride to Scarborough to pick up a van and see the latest show before packing up the boat again for the second time this year.

Planned works at the house then went very smoothly. Scaffolding arriving the day after we arrived, new windows later in the day with four carpenters and two days later the decorator who was to give the house a much needed new coat of paint outside.

Mid October Pip moved to Chipping Norton for a month to work on panto, Mick and Tilly left to welcome a new lodger for the Christmas show in Scarborough. Panto was as much work as normal with the addition of Pip getting covid after the first week of rehearsals. The show opened to toe tapping audiences and many many bananas, getting great reviews. Mick had a days trip to London to support boaters who had gathered outside the Houses of Parliament for a Fund Britain’s Waterways rally.

Back in Scarborough Christmas came early with a visit from the London Leckenbys at the beginning of December, they hadn’t been to Scarborough for ten years. A few more house jobs have been done but a list has been compiled for the new year along with those on Oleanna. We’ve had a lovely Christmas, catching up with Scarborough friends, Tilly has slept lots, we’re lucky to see her before 2pm most days! I’m just resting for when the outsides start changing again.

Don’t worry Tilly the count down has started.

This year our plans changed all because of an invite from Pip’s cousins. We travelled our favourite canal, cruised many familiar waters , visited ‘Home’, climbed trees and pounced, caught up with many boating friends and made many new ones along the way. One very sociable year.

So our vital statistics for 2023 according to Canalplan are

Total distance of 805miles, 2.25furlongs and 436 locks.

There were 121 moveable bridges, of which 33 are usually left open; 151 small aqueducts or underbridges and 16 tunnels – a total of 6 miles, 5 furlongs under ground and 7 major aqueducts.

This is made up of 244 miles, 1.25 furlongs of narrow canals; 251 miles, 5.5 furlongs of broad canals; 69 miles, 1.5 furlongs of commercial waterways; 95 miles, 4.75 furlongs of small rivers; 57 miles, 3.75 furlongs of large rivers; 87 miles, 1.5 furlongs of tidal rivers; 185 narrow locks; 223 broad locks; 28 large locks.

Although according to Nebo we did

815.09 miles and 431 locks! Hmm maybe my maths isn’t so good. But then we only started using Nebolink in August, tracking our every move rather than just on our phones.

470 engine hours, 789.8 litres diesel! Ouch, having to run the engine to top the batteries up on an evening didn’t help with this, 150amp hours down to 100, 3 gas bottles, 120kg coal, 19.5 litres oil, 2 oil filters, 2 fuel filters, 1 shower mixer, 1 domestic alternator, 1 set new engine mounts, 1 overnight guest, 3 packs Dreamies, 1.5 packs Bonkers, 39 friends, 6 brought in, 34 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval, 34 pairs of socks, £1132 for Dementia UK, 2 shows, 9 lodgers, 10 supermarket deliveries, 33 boxes wine, 1 toe, 6 months cruising, 3 boat mover sightings, 209 posts, 184 likes, 9,503 visitors, 31,309 views!

Thank you for following our journey during 2023. We have a plan for 2024, but there are several invites and a rendez vous with some New Zealanders. Will we stick to our plan? Have to alter course to fit everything in? Wait and see, we’re already counting down the weeks to being afloat again.

Christmas Eve 2023

Well it’s taken it’s time in arriving, this years Christmas. I think we did peek too early! But since the beginning of December when the London Leckenby’s were with us, we’ve gradually been getting ourselves ready for tomorrow. Several storms have passed over, the webcam on Oleanna was kept VERY busy with the last storm as the windows in the pram cover hardly had a still moment.

Presents bought and wrapped, food ordered. We’ve both had a hair cut. Christmas biscuits baked and delivered. One batch of mince pies baked and consumed. Tilly has slept most of the time. The windows in my work rooms have been touched up since having the new windows installed and my work table moved back into position, I’ve tentatively started work on a painting for our downstairs toilet. I suspect more will get done during Betwixtmass.

We’ve seen Animated Objects production of A Christmas Carol, won second prize in the raffle. Enjoyed the most festive Christmas show at the SJT, Beauty and the Beast, we were very unsuitably dressed as we’d not put on our Christmas jumpers and stuck out from the crowd!

A touch more knitting has happened. Sausage rolls have been baked and eaten. Tomorrow we’ll be joined by Frank, his normal invite for Christmas dinner has had to be cancelled due to Covid rearing it’s head again. Just as well I ordered an extra large veg box, plus Frank has provided us with plenty more sprouts.

The pre cooking has happened, stuffing, red cabbage, bread sauce, gravy and birthday cake. The cake is a new recipe, chocolate and hazelnut cake, it smelt wonderful as I mixed it up with all 6 eggs it required! Ganache still to be added once it’s cooled down.

So just the gammon joint and dauphinoise potatoes to consume this evening, along with a glass or two of wine.

Stockings laid out in front of the fire. Sadly Mick has deemed it too windy to light the fire this evening! I so hope the big man in red remembers we’re in the house this year!

Pies, Socks and Itsy Bitsy

I’ve found time between baking my mince pies and Christmas biscuits to add recipes to the pages section of the blog. Squash and Mushroom Lasagne, Squash,winter herb and butter bean pie. I’ve added them so I can find them again in the future and share them with you.

There is also now an up to date page about my Sockathon 2023 if you are interested. Lots of socks!

Next year I’m thinking of doing something similar to raise funds for Dementia Uk, it’s a charity that can help so many people and I wish I’d known about them twenty plus years ago to help my family with my mum. Whilst knitting this year I’ve been struck by how many people’s lives are affected by dementia.

The webcam is working fine under the pram cover on Oleanna. We had a busy visitor the other night!

Right biscuits need rolling out and baking!

Turning Her Over. 11th December

Oleanna is never far from our thoughts, she’s always on mine!

I think Mick last visited Goole on his way to pick me up from Chippy so it was time to say hello and give her engine a run. He headed off on the train on a bright sunny day, these are few and far between at the moment, we seem to live with lights on in the house from when we get up to when we go to bed at the moment.

One of the webcam’s Mick has set up onboard had a faulty SD card, so the SD cards were swapped between cameras enabling us to see when cars come and go, or people open up the gate and walk past in the middle of the night. The cameras would be very obvious should you want to steal Oleanna, they are more for our interest especially when it snows and to check she’s okay. Shame the camera wasn’t running to be able to see how the scratch happened on the cabin side.

Mick ran the engine, had his lunch courtesy of Greggs, checked the kettle worked and had a coffee. The router sim card was swapped over. In the past we have swapped it for the one at the house when we’ve moved ashore, taking the better one with us. But about two weeks ago we finally got fibre broadband installed at the house, so the better sim card can now stay on Oleanna, the contract for the poorer one runs out soon.

The other job to do whilst there, was to measure the bottom section of a cupboard. This is a cupboard partly known as The Shed as it’s where tools etc are kept, but it was designed to hold a second Brompton bike and has a hanging rail for coats etc. The bike is no longer onboard as one bike is enough for our needs. The hanging rail doesn’t really get used as life jackets hats and scarfs fill up the bottom of the cupboard.

**At least the lake on the entrance road to the marina has shrunk a touch**

The plan when we upgrade our batteries is that we’ll hopefully move them inside into this cupboard. As they will be lithium this should be fine for the Boat Safety as they don’t gas, it will also mean they are less likely to get cold (Lithium doesn’t like charging when it gets cold). Mick took measurements of the lowest part of the cupboard which is affected by the swim. Unfortunately he didn’t measure how high the swim comes and how much more depth there is above it. The current batteries he is planning won’t both fit in the lower part of The Shed, who knows they might fit above. More measurements are required or a serious dig through boat information from when Oleanna was built. Work in progress.

I mentioned Chippy earlier on in this post. The company have just performed their 38th show out of 99(?). In the audience were the crew from NB Cleddau and NB Tentatrice. I hear the little chap at the back didn’t have an illuminated ball for the Carnival and that a few things got knocked over by the actors! Thank goodness though that the clock struck midnight!

Here are links to a few reviews if you are interested.

Muddy Stilettoes , Red Kite Days , Ox in a Box , Theatre Weekly ,

Daily Info , Banbury Guardian , The Stage which I think is behind a paywall, here is a quote incase you can’t get to see it all

‘The production has a bold look, courtesy of designers Pip Leckenby and Sophie Molyneux; the former’s set places the action behind a proscenium of painted jungle foliage, with a curtain of leaves pulled aside to reveal a quaint pueblo of coral-pink and dusty-yellow buildings. Molyneux’s costumes mash-up influences from flamenco and carnival, all ruffled sleeves and fringed mantles decorated with tropical fruit motifs.’

I had to put that one in as Designers don’t often get a mention!

I have donned my dungerees again and have started to repaint some window frames in my work room so that I can put everything back where it should be, then I’ll be able to do some painting of a different sort and draw up a new lean-to to get quotes.

The first batch of pastry for Mince Pies is resting in the fridge ready for rolling out in a couple of days. Last year I made frangipane topped pies with Adam’s added ingredient, I felt the topping required a bit of tweaking as it seemed to melt rather than rise. So we’ll see how this lot turn out. *Just realised I’ve omitted to add an egg to the pastry, no wonder it took a LOT of liquid to bring it together! I’ll have to double up the amount of everything, what a shame I’ll have to make at least two batches of mince pies! Suspect we might be needing your help to eat them Frank.

There’s a LOT of water about! Most rivers are full to overflowing, The Went Aqueduct on the New Junction Canal looks like the river and canal are not far off becoming one, all of the surrounding fields are lakes. The River Soar is starting to come down, some people are very aware of how high it got.

PS today 13th the Don Doors have reopened, so levels are dropping.

In knitting news the November Knitting Challenge for Dementia Uk managed to raise £171,867.96 which is fantastic.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 1 very muddy puddle, 1 engine run, 2 windows, 1 BORED cat, 1 extricated designer, 1 reverse to safety, 2nd Christmas show, 460!

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna