Monday morning a message was sent to Tom to see if we could pay a visit this week. Wednesday was to be a spraying day, so not a good day to visit, but Tuesday was looking good. As both of us wanted to visit Mick tried to hire a car or van for the day, but all hire companies in Scarborough were fully booked. Not one vehicle to be had in town. So he then spent a while susing out trains. With some flexibility built into our tickets we were booked on an early train via Hull, hopefully we’d manage a quick change at Sheffield.
Tuesday morning and we were the first up in the house. A cuppa each was consumed whilst packing a bag for the day with a sandwich breakfast, knitting and plenty of water. Our journey through the Yorkshire Wolds was a very golden one, all the fields now harvested. A few also very black following field fires last week. In Sheffield our next train sat on the next platform waiting for us and there was just enough time to buy a decaff tea, Mick says I jumped in front of a couple, but they were dillydallying too much and my need for tea was obviously far greater than theirs!
Was Good Cop / Bad Cop needed?
We arrived at East Midlands Parkway just before 11am, I’d finished a sock and cast on the toe of the next one. It was a pretty warm walk down to the marina.
So what had changed since the last photos we’d received? Oleanna’s gunnels were now matt black. The paint applied with a roller, so when it comes to touch-up time, the touch-ups will match and not be so obvious. The matt paint dries really quite quickly. Oleanna’s neighbour had also come on, more or less in the same state as Oleanna. Sign written and masked out for the final colour on the coach lines.
New dowels cover the screw heads
Windows were in. Paul and Spec, the joiners had been busy redrilling the holes on the window frames and then filling them with oak dowels to hide the screw holes. One job we’d omitted to think about has been to have the frames sanded back and revarnished. Sadly the water stains from condensation and rain are there, now with the windows in the way! Oh well, we’ll see what happens this winter before I consider doing something about the stains.
Different frosting on the bathroom windows
The new windows are double glazed and have a thermal break. We also opted for the stays or rests to have two positions to them. This will mean we can have the windows just cracked open as well as the usual opening. The frames sit into the boat more than the single glazed ones did, but that’s due to the frames being thicker to accommodate the two layers of glass.
Wider frames and black gunnels
The galley windows are still only single glazed as they are sliding windows which are not available in double glazing, The frames of our new windows are that little bit wider than the old frames, at least both sides of the boat look the same and I suspect not many people would notice at first glance.
Tape to protect the new paintwork as we talked lids
Inside Paul and Spec were starting to be briefed by Tom regarding the stern locker lids. I decided that I should go and check what was being discussed. The idea was to trim around an inch and a half off around the two sides and the back edge of the wooden locker lids. The trimmed off border would then be fixed to the steelwork and we’d be left with a lift out lid that still sits on the steelwork but is far FAR less likely to bump and scrape the fresh paintwork, as it did with the original lids.
Smile still sat inside. Hope my paintwork from last year matches
Paul was concerned that trimming the ends of the lids would mean that the wood for the border would be made up of end grain, so liable to split. He then suggested making the opening smaller, therefore keeping a larger surround which would be more stable. This however would make the opening of the locker a really small size and actually make using the lockers almost impossible. We stow buckets, ropes mooring items and all sorts in there, the lockers are used daily. Placing the locker lids on the lockers helped, suggesting that the border was not made from the offcuts, but new timber with the grain running the length of each side would be better. Soon I believed we’d be getting what we wanted.
A straight transition between black and blue, it used to be curved
The other job we wanted them to do was to cut an inspection hatch at the stern under the treads. When Oleanna was being built Finesse were really reluctant to do this for some reason. We’d however like to be able to check the bilges every now and again without taking the fridge out! So hopefully this will also get done. The chaps then moved on to work on our neighbouring boat, putting the windows back together there. A full day for the joiners working on two boats makes more sense than just turning up to work on one, but I suspect that has added to the length of time Oleanna has been in the shed.
The lower tunnel band was ready for the last colour to be sprayed, the red. The roof was having the mushroom vents fitted back on by Bertie. Items had arrived for the solar installation however, the panels were still in transit.
Seyella moored up under trees on the other bank
We headed down to the cafe for lunch. Which blogging boater might we have chance to have missed today. Well across the way was what looked like a familiar boat, however with new owners. NB Seyella was moored under a few trees, looking in good order from a distance, Geoff and Mags now living on a Dutch barge further up the River Soar.
After jacket potatoes, yes it was hot, but we’d already had smoked salmon sandwiches for breakfast, we returned to the paint shed. Here we mentioned the lock we’ve bought for the diesel tank which we’ve so far forgotten to bring down.
Then we talked about the time scale to completion. We don’t want to be in a situation of not being able to hire a van in Scarborough to move everything else back to the boat. Tom said once certain jobs were done he’d be able to give us a better idea. Then if we wanted to move things back on in the paint shed as they finished things off outside, we’d be able to stay overnight and then be there for Oleanna going back in the water. There was a subtle caveat that it would be dependent on how hot the next two days were and what they managed to get done. Really high temperatures would mean any paint would turn matt.
So hopefully next week sometime! Our return journey on the train proved that a single carriage can be both a sauna and a freezer within 2 meters, we chose the cool section and just managed to catch the connecting train in Sheffield back to Scarborough.
Wednesday. Would the red be finally sprayed? We waited for news.
At around 5pm, photos started to come in. The red had been sprayed, a good deep bright red. Tom signed off for the day with the comment ‘Lets see what tomorrow brings’.
Ooooo!
Thursday at just gone 8:30 the first photo came through. The gas locker lid, masking removed and the hinges red on the blue.
Just a taster photo for now
Then views of the cabin sides, plastic still over the roof, the tunnel band now red and the dollies and bottom of the tiller.
Is Oleanna as Bold as this lady?
By 11:15 we got to see her without any masking, her cream roof and grabrail red. ‘Looking really boaty now’. She certainly is. But you’ll have to wait a while longer before I show you, she needs to be out in daylight
Time ticks along in Scarborough
Next will be anti-slip, dry enough for Matt to fit the solar panels next week. The tiller needs finishing, doors fitting, hatch doors fitting and marking up to match the stripes on the cabin sides, woodwork sanding back and varnishing. The base plate finished blacking. There’s also the two new T studs to be fitted. Then all the fixtures and fittings back on, including for the cratch and pram covers, sadly these will for the time being be the old ones rather than new. We’ll have to be careful when we drop the pram cover to make sure it doesn’t harm the paintwork, as one of the connectors tends to slip out.
No news of Friday sadly. So we’ll be getting in touch on Monday to see if Tom now has a plan of which day we can start to move back onboard. We know we’ll have a lot of cleaning to do in cupboards, so it will be a long day for us.
During the week I’ve had a couple of panto meetings and chats, been tidying up some of the print images. We also ticked off a meal out with Mark at the Taj, meaning we missed watching the eclipse. I’ve also caught up with my girl friends here in Scarborough over lots of nibbles and conversation. Thank you Duncan for being a good doorman.
Sitting on the external catwalk
0 locks, 0 miles, 6 return tickets each, 24 tickets in all, 1 boat edging her way to being finished, 1 packet sad gits smoked salmon, 1 sad gits crispy aromatic duck, 1 £3 duck now in the freezer, 60 brisk minute walks minimum each day, 1 cat now getting used to being in the house, 1 woofer visitor returned, 2 boaters having unpacked a bit about to have to repack, we HOPE!
Living on land now involves creaky staircases, encouraging Tilly to sleep in a different room, making a list of things that need to be done before leaving Scarborough, starting to tick them off, unpacking boxes to find that thing or bag of sugar you didn’t think you’d need again until returned to the boat. It’s fine, but I’m glad we’re not having to do it for too long though. This weekend we may well have eight people in the house as one company of actors perform their last shows in Scarborough and have family to stay, good job we’ve got four toilets!
Anyhow, Monday morning we hired a van again, cheaper than a car for the day, sadly they didn’t give us a car, but the van did have aircon, so that was a bonus. Should we take a load of things down to the boat? We decided not to. When we do get to move back on board, I suspect even though the boat will have been cleaned through (we hope) there will be places that didn’t get done. All the cupboards that have crockery in will need a clean and tidy etc. Anything that we take down to the boat and put in the stores will need to be onboard before Oleanna goes in the water, so we’ve already got more than enough to move around as we get ourselves sorted. When we do move the next load can stay in the van until we’re ready for it.
Choo Choo
At the paint shed our neighbouring boat had been prepped, blacked, and had it’s high build coats sprayed, the yellow layer quite obvious but nowhere near as yellow as Nb Lillyanne was. Also sat out the front of the workshop were four little engines for a fairground ride. They also had a coat of yellow highbuild waiting to be sanded back.
After spotting things other than Oleanna, our attention was grabbed by her bow flash.
Bow
Now here I now have a dilemma. Do I reveal Oleannas finished bits as they happen, or give you ambiguous photos for a while to then do a big reveal when she’s out of the paintshed? Hmm, not sure. Maybe we’ll stay ambiguous for a while!
Well her bow flash is wonderful, a lovely Mackintosh inspired nod to Oleanna’s previous livery. Claire has done a lovely job. The red sings on the dark blue, we’re very happy.
The sign writing at the stern is lovely, but at the moment under the lights in the shed and no natural daylight hitting her cabin side it looks a touch dark, but this may also be just the way colours sit against each other.
Have to say we’d hoped to see another colour sprayed, but other than the bow she looked pretty much as when Mick had been down last week. I’m aware of drying/curing times of paint and I suspect they also had to fit in with times Claire could work, plus having another boat to work on whilst the paint goes off on Oleanna.
Lots of colours of tape
Tom was busy marking out the long coachlines along the cabin side. Purple, blue and yellow tape were being applied in straight lines. When a cabin side isn’t actually just straight, it curves and kicks up at the rear, you can’t just do a few measurements and join the dots. Sometimes things need adjusting to look right.
Brown paper being added to protect the cream
Did we want the shadow to cut off at an angle, as it should or be square as it had been on her original paint job? We’re all for improvements so chose an angled shadow which would match the sign writing. As the day went on more lines of tape were added for both the blue and red lines on the cabin sides. Then once everything was in place a layer of brown paper was added over the sides to protect it from over spray.
Doors, hatches, and locker lids ready to be painted
Normally when spraying the main cabin colour, Tom would work his way round the sides of the boat and roof. Then have a little break as the paint goes off before following round with a second coat on all sides. However, the high temperatures on the day he was spraying the cream meant that by the time he’d worked his way round both cabin sides back to where he’d started, it was ready for it’s second coat, no time to spray the roof as any overspray would be noticable. So it had been left for another time. By the end of the day the roof was being sanded back ready for the top coats.
Lunchtime view
Lunch at the cafe, a cheese and salad cob and a tuna mayo sandwich with a cuppa each, sat watching the occasional boat on the River Soar. Maybe today was the day NB Bonjour would pass the marina? Maybe they’d already passed this morning? Another near miss with a blogging boat.
New bow and stern protection
We loitered, trying to stay out of the sunshine, waiting to meet with Matt regarding our new solar panels. Our new bow and stern fenders had arrived, now our thoughts turned to new ropes. Oleanna has so far had two sets, we soon replaced the original thin weedy lines she came with, 16mm much better for my reduced grip bought from Tradline in Braunston. These showed their age a bit quicker than we’d expected and we replaced them 2 years later, also with ropes from Tradline. With a new paint job we’d like her to look smart and her current lines are now in need of replacement, not bad after about 7 years. Not being near a chandlery means we may have to purchase without being able to feel them. A choice, should we go for multifilament or polyester? A look back on the blog to see what we’d had previously, this only gave me the lengths not the type of rope. I think our current one’s float.
CRT number with the logo from when she was launched
Matt arrived and chat started about the size of solar panels for Oleanna. We’d originally wanted to up how much solar we can get, but panels need to fit on the roof between mushroom vents. The location of the old ones would be best then we’d not need to either rewire the boat or have numerous wires across the roof. Two manufacturers were looked at, one panel a touch tight, the other would only give us a bit more power. Matt would be in touch tomorrow with a quote. Time is now pressing as he and his colleague go on holiday soon for two weeks, we’d like them fitted before then, plus Tom needs the panels so he knows where to anti-slip the roof, avoiding where the panels will be stuck.
Tuesday. Matt got in touch. The panels we’d opted for were out of stock, but he’d found some others, 290 watts each, which would give us a bit more power and would fit the original spaces. A quote was sent through, we checked it over and approved it. Hopefully now the panels will arrive this week so as not to hold anything up.
Later in the afternoon photos came through from Tom. The roof had been sprayed plus the doors that are going cream along with all the mushroom vents. The mushrooms were originally chrome, in the hope that they’d stay shiny and not require polishing. However within a few months they started to tarnish and we could never get them to be shiny, so just gave up. Hopefully now being painted they will stay looking good far far longer. This now leaves red and blue to be done, followed by the gunnels going matt black, anti-slip, and the base plate getting sprayed, which apparently is the last thing to happen almost as she is wheeled out of the paint shed. However there is now a day to wait before they can cover up the roof with paper to protect it from over spray.
Mushroom coloured mushrooms
Wednesday. An expensive day! Claire sent through photos and an invoice for her work. This was soon followed by Tom asking for his next payment. He also sent ideas for the T studs for the bow. Two options which were okay, but Mick found one that would have a similar feel to the T studs already on Oleanna. The new ones however are stainless steel, so no painting required and will bolt on to the top of the gunnel, meaning should they ever need to be removed it would be an easier job. I doubt we’d ever remove them as they will be useful for river locks and give us an extra option when mooring at oddly spaced rings.
By the end of the day Oleanna was just about ready for the red to go on and money had been moved across from accounts leaving our pockets emptier than they were at the start of the day.
Thursday. Tom seemed to have changed his mind as to which colour should follow. Photos started to come through mid-morning. The mushroom vents were now very much mushroom coloured and waiting to go back on the roof. Then in the afternoon photos of all the doors and hatches came through all shiny and blue. Maybe Tom changed his mind about the red as things like the gas locker lid hinges and dollies will be going red and it’s far easier to spray a big area and then mask out the for the finer details.
In Pantoland I had a go at scanning the cloths. Laptops have changed since I got good results last year and my old laptop has been defaulted. The scans weren’t going quite as large as I need and try as I did, I really couldn’t remember how I’d persuaded the scanner to go large last year. Of course the IT department was busy sitting around in Derby Hospital at the time so he has no recollection as to what I did either! Work in progress. I turned my attention to some visuals for a props maker instead.
Design Assistant Tilly hard at work
Conversations have turned to our cruising plans. Firstly will we be able to go anywhere due to low water levels, CRT are filling up our inbox with lock flight restrictions. Should we move Oleanna back northwards where levels may be better? Or should we carry on with our hoped for destination and a canal we’ve not visited for quite some time?
We have two routes southwards we can choose from, both had restrictions imposed on them last summer. Both would give us somewhere an hours bus ride from Chippy for panto. Stoppage lists were studied, there’s still a few weeks before these are confirmed so they could still change. We also have to take into consideration whether Mick should be single handing this winter or not, this could well steer our cruising plans.
Friday morning, more photos from Tom. Lots more blue had been sprayed, the bow and stern and the cabin coach lines. Next will come the red. We wait for the next photos to arrive, nothing had arrived by the end of the day, so that is likely to happen on Monday now as the blue needs a day to go off before it can be masked out.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 van hired, 1 bow looking stunning, 2 panels on order, 9 doors and hatches, 4 choochoos, 3 coloured masking, 150 ft brown paper, 1 imp, 8 mushroom mushrooms, 1 visit to Sir and Lady A, 1 solicitor, 2 Eat Me burgers, 7 scans not big enough, 2 alternative plans, 1 Blackbird back to the nest? 1 assistant working hard, only 2 more shows of Calendar Girls, 2 boaters now at least 9 weeks behind the original plan for this year.
We’d hoped to be able to head down to see Oleanna on Monday, but we also wanted to coincide with Matt from Onboard Solar and he was busy. I worked the whole day model making for panto which meant I could afford to have a day off on Tuesday to accompany Mick to Redhill.
The temperatures in Scarborough were to remain below 30°C on Tuesday, well, they’ve managed to stay pretty low all week, but Redhill was in the Amber zone, so we opted to hire a car with air conditioning. I made sure I had plenty of knitting to keep me occupied in the car, casting on a second sock just in case I ran out.
The journey down was pretty pleasant, the temperature gradually rising the further south we ventured. An eye was kept out for the brief glimpse of the River Trent from the M1, just in case NB Alchemy had headed that way, but no boat was spotted, green or otherwise. Nb Alchemy had actually set off pretty early to avoid the heat of the day and headed for the River Soar, they were most probably already moored up in Zouch for the day the time we arrived at the marina a little before midday.
There she is
The roller shutters were rolled part way up at the front and back of the paint shed, almost a breeze rolling through past the two boats. One chap was busy sanding away the gunnels of the boat next to Oleanna, the blue paint on its bow a mirror finish. Not much left to do on this boat which is headed to AquaNarrowboats for fit out.
Stood in front of Oleanna we could now see where the blasting had happened and where had been left. The front bulkhead was just about untouched, which had been deceiving in the photos we’d had last week, but stood here in front of her it was now obvious why it had been left, the wooden front doors and hooks would need removing first.
Big rusty patch where the wooden rest for the top of the cratch normally sits
Tom was busy with a scabbler stripping the paint off around Oleanna’s starboard side gally window, the last of the paintwork to be stripped on the cabin sides and gunnels. Apparently under the top coats Oleanna had what I think Tom called a filling coat which was taking time to grind off to get back to the steel. This may have contributed to some of the rust patches we’d been getting as once chipped, water could easily get behind it and make it bubble up, the bond between it and the steel not so good.
Dribblyness
A drain from the galley was dribbling, possibly where a damp trap had been emptied down the kitchen sink when she’d been stood out on the hard. Now Oleanna sits at a different angle, so what was left in the sinnk bend is able to leak out. Tom will put a bung in this and clean up before she is blacked.
Attention was given to the porthole above our crossbed. When Oleanna’s layout was designed we wanted a porthole behind our heads and a picture window at the foot of the bed, so we’d have a nice view to drink our morning cuppa’s infront of. Once the plans had been handed over to Finesse, we remembered that we’d wanted to have the stove chimney on the port side. A quick solution was to flip my tracing paper drawings over and rescan them so that the apertures could be cut in the correct places on the other cabin sides.
You can see the rectangle of what was a hopper window!
In early years I’d often stood looking down at Oleanna in a lock, her (then) shiny paintwork slightly rippling in the sunlight around the bedroom porthole. Then after she’d been sat on the bottom in Goole after the Aire and Calder breach, the sun had started to bleach the paintwork, revealing the reason for the ripples. Where the porthole was had originally had the picture window cut in it. Once the mistake had been spotted the hole was filled back in with steel. Thank goodness it was only one opening.
Enough of the anodes left for a few more years
The chap who does the welding had been to have a look at the couple of jobs we’re wanting doing. He’d walked all the way round Oleanna to check the state of the steel. No signs of any pitting, no dints from collisions and the prop dint free too.
The stick on solar panels had been removed. You hear so much about how the roof can rust underneath them, Tom said the roof wasn’t bad at all.
Checking out the gas locker
Now our attention turned to the bow thruster locker, the main reason for our visit, to try find the cause of all the water in there. First things first, empty the water out of it. A wet dry vac was found, but there was far too much water for that, so instead a bilge pump was set up with an added hose reaching out of the paintshed door. The pump was set going, it carried on for getting on for an hour, the colour of the water checked. If it was clear water, that would suggest it had come from the fresh water tank, but it had a tint of canal colour to it, so it had come from outside. Good in one way, bad in another!
You can see where the water tends to sit in the gas locker
The gas locker was emptied of gas bottles and hoovered out. The vents very visibly below the water line. Oleanna has always sat low in the water, most probably lower than thought when the gas locker floor was welded in. When Tom had been removing the windows and their liners he’d noted that above gunnel height the cabin sides had been lined with 18mm ply. This is usually 9mm. I wonder if my choice to not have any visible grain on the painted cabinsides meant they ended up using 18mm? Anyway all that extra weight will be helping her to sit low.
No obvious hole in the locker floor could be seen. So whilst the bilge pump continued to do its thing, we headed to the cafe for lunch. We managed to find a bench outside the portacabin just about in the shade to have our cuppas and sandwiches. Next we headed to the office to pay the remainder of our dues for sitting out on the hard for eight months. We chatted with Mandy about when we go back in the water and that we might need to be on one of their moorings for a couple of days, this was fine with her, if the boat that had been dumped would only move on, it’s been there for weeks!
Redhill is very much a working boat yard. One old wooden cruiser came past heading to sit out on the hard for a while. Then another narrowboat came past, this was laid off outside Tom’s paintshop. It had been jet washed on the hill and was now due to be blacked.
Whilst we’d been elsewhere Tom had managed to get his phone deep into the bow thruster locker to see if there was any sign of where water might have been coming in. He videoed a pan round, the depth the water had been obvious. Right at the pointy end of the bow, possibly the least accessible part of the hull. A rusty dribble from an inch under the gas locker floor which had then spread. Somehow the water was getting in here. Possibly a failed weld at the pointy end of the gas locker floor which always sits in the water. This leak I suspect has been happening for sometime, but Mick reckons he’d have noticed water on the bowthruster locker floor. When was the last time he’d looked in there? Just how long had the leak been leaking? How had the weld failed if that’s where the water is coming from? Well we just need a solution for it.
That looks like where it’s been coming in!
Can it be welded? Most probably not as this part of the boat is likely to have been made early on in the construction, working from bow to stern and getting in to weld it just about impossible. Tom could do a broad band of PU filler around the edge of the gas locker floor, sealing in the weld. Or maybe some two part epoxy putty could be pushed in where the hole might be. We planned on emailing Ricky at Finesse to see what his thoughts might be on a solution.
Matt from Onboard Solar arrived. Mick chatted away to him about solar panels. I’ll let him chat about those later.
18mm ply cabin sides visible here
The odd wiring, loose connections were chatted about. It looks like the cables from the electric cupboard to the junction on the roof had been cut too short on the original fitout, so short lengths had been chock blocked on the end, these were loose when Tom came to remove the junction. Matt will see if it’s possible to replace the wiring in the roof. We’ve dug out photos of the fitout and the cables should run in a conduit along the edge of the roof, but to access this will mean removing the covers which have been plugged with wooden dowels.
Matt is going to email through a quote for new panels and installation next week sometime
So Oleanna will continue to be prepared this week, it’s all in the preparation, After the preparation is completed she’ll have a good clean inside and out. She’s quite a state inside, so I strongly suspect we’ll be hoovering for a while once we start to move back onboard, maybe we should have removed EVERYTHING to make this easier, but we didn’t as that would have required several more trips in a van and then finding somewhere to store it all.
Just because they are there, demolition due 2029/30
Once Tom gets started with painting, the blacking will go on, the whole boat gets painted. Jacks will lift her so they can paint the base plate too, then below the gunnels will be skirted off with brown paper for them to work on the cabin sides and roof. The next coats will go on the day after so that there is a good bond between coats and no need to sand between them. Then layer on layer and sanding smooth will happen to get a mirror finish.
We reminded Tom of when we’ll be needing to move back on board. Claire the signwriter is booked for the beginning of that week so all the major painting will be done by then.
Will high temperatures affect the painting? Tom said that actually the heat will make the paint more viscus, so they shouldn’t need to thin it down. It’s more about keeping himself hydrated as he paints. He wears a suit and gloves, fresh air is pumped to his face behind his mask, so that is quite pleasant. But when he takes his gloves off they tend to be full of sweat! We wished him well, wanting to provide icelollies to keep moral up, but they’d melt before they got anywhere near the paintshed.
We headed back to Scarborough with a little list of jobs that need doing. New fenders, photos of the electrics to find, an email to Ricky.
Wednesday Mick put together an email with photos for Ricky at Finesse. Maybe he could come up with a solution to the leaking gas locker. On Saturday morning we’ve still not heard anything back.
Pretty carrots from our veg box
Mick also chatted to Hannah our most recent BSS examiner regarding the vents from the gas locker. She’d be happy to leave the existing ones and then add new ones above the next rubbing strake which will be above the water line.
Friday morning an email came from Claire regarding the bow flash design. She has worked up the one we prefer, suggesting keeping lines parallel to each other rather than parallel to the shape of the bow, all of which we are very happy with, so she has been given a big thumbs up from us.
My last mosaic session
Little else to report this week. Hopefully sometime next week we will get info about the solar panels, finalise a solution for the leak and maybe just maybe Oleanna will start to change colour, but that may be the following week.
Christmas!!!
Meanwhile I continue to paint my panto model, being in a snowy world is helping with the heat, although we are very lucky not to have reached silly temperatures. The other evening we used the barbecue to roast a mass of root veg from our veg box, the aim of keeping things cool in the house, we however required jumpers as we watched things cooking. I’ve attended the last mosaic session I think I’ll be able to go to, things are nearing completion, and too many hands are trying to fill gaps now. Hopefully soon we’ll get time to think about starting to pack our belongings ready to move.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car, 30+C, 1 cool Scarborough, 1 almost naked Oleanna, 1 shiny neighbour, 1 leak! 1 welder with Gogo Gadget arms required, 10cm christmas tree, 18mm! 1 prospective lodger informed, 1 last mosaic, 1 set of bow and stern fenders to find.
A round up of 2025, sit down with your favourite drink and I hope you enjoy.
January started out as December this year would end, us watching from afar the aftermath of a breach. January was the Bridgewater, December the Llangollen. We don’t tend to watch vlogs, preferring to read peoples accounts of their waterway journeys, but updates were watched on youtube from those affected, our personal experience of the Aire and Calder breach back at the end of 2020 had been far less dramatic.
January in the house was spent doing winter maintenance jobs. Three garden benches got a full make over, new slats and paint and a dining room got a colourful lick of paint just in time for the first lodgers of the year arriving. I had a second appointment with a physio about my knee that had given me serious problems last year, the new exercises were working, I ditched my stick by the end of January and started walking around Scarborough every day.
The start of the year it had been wet, but as I strode out the sun would greet me as I reached the beaches of Scarborough. I think this year I’ve visited the seaside more than I’ve done in the last 30 years of considering Scarborough to be my home.
In February Oleanna’s horns got replaced, she now has two tones rather than just one twice. Arrangements were made for future works at the house, carefully planned between lodgers. I joined a community group working on a giant mosaic, sticking glass tiles to brown paper, the final reveal not happening until August which I sadly missed. More walks around Scarborough, longer walks enjoyed on sunny Saturdays taking in both bays. Now I was walking too fast for Mick to keep up.
We visited boat painters, our short list gradually being whittled down. Dates, getting to the painters all had to be weighed up in our decision. One company actually rang to offer us a very early slot, but because of the Bridgewater breach and the end of winter stoppages we’d never have made it in time, plus we’d have ended up being homeless as lodgers were due to arrive at the house. After visiting the last painter we dropped back in to visit Tom at Redhill Marina to see how the boats he’d been painting on our last visit looked. We liked him, his work and a day later called Gibson and Kentwright to book our slot in Spring 2026.
John, the Artistic Director at Chipping Norton got in touch, would I like to do this years panto? This needed some thinking about, last year had been nice without deadlines for designs and we could concentrate on boating, but I’d really missed being part of a team and being a designer. I slept on it then said yes, if the show could be designed earlier in the year then we’d still be able to boat through the summer, hopefully get the best of both worlds. Cruise down to the South Oxford so I could commute to work during rehearsals then we’d make our way back north and arrive at New Year at Redhill to come out of the water and await our repaint. A good plan. But before that, the roof space needed clearing so things didn’t get damaged when we got a new roof on the back of the house. Friends needed meeting and I cracked on with a few paintings of Scarborough.
Mid March came, it was time to give the house a good clean and move back onto Oleanna making way for four lodgers to move in for a month. A new mattress arrived for Oleanna, only just enough headroom for Mick on our cross bed, but a far better sleep than the memory foam mattresses that came before. Back on board, we headed straight out of Goole for the New Junction Canal, pulling in at the first opportunity and letting Tilly have some shore leave once again. She knows where home is and I’m sure she now knows this mooring very well. She was gone for hours, straight back into boat life after a winter of hibernation and inactivity in the house. It felt good for us too.
Some of the team at Level
Doncaster was our first destination for me to head off to do a couple of days work at Level in Matlock with Separate Doors Theatre Company.
Then we gradually made our way to Keadby to wait for the beginning of April, the tide and to meet the Strawberry Fools from Strawberry Island Boat Club who were kicking off the Fund Britains Waterways Campaign Cruises for the year.
Having just left Keadby Lock
Early on the 1st April, the flotilla of Strawberry Fools lined up to go through Keadby Lock onto the Tidal Trent, three boats at a time, turning up stream, southwards. Fog engulfed us for sometime, thankfully clearing as we came close to West Stockwith Lock where more boats were to join the long line all beeping our horns as we approached Gainsborough Road Bridge where TV crews and drones watched us. A great start to the years campaign. The spring tide got us all to Cromwell and off the tidal waters for survivors drinks on the bank.
The following day the boats stormed Newark Castle with a wall of sound before dispersing to several moorings upstream. The morning after we penned the boats up through Hazelford Lock and waved them goodbye and good luck, the majority of boats heading to London to sound their horns outside Parliament. We however turned back, our summers cruising planned to be further north.
Back up the country, down the Tidal Trent, pausing on the Chesterfield canal for a couple of days, across the Stainforth and Keadby, New Junction, Aire and Calder, River Aire, Selby Canal then the River Ouse to York.
Here we met with the London Leckenbys to celebrate what would have been my Dad’s 100th birthday back in his home city. We had a suitable feast, cruised down stream to show Andrew, Jac and Josh the top of our old family home from the river, Josh even had a go at the helm. A curry was also called for along with a visit to a pub which was frequented by our parents as we grew up (we mostly sat in the car with a packet of crisps or a chip butty!).
We were joined for a few hours by old family friend Diana and I got to meet with Philli a boat woman who had sponsored a pair of my Sockathon Socks. It was good to be back in York with our own home and have found somewhere new to moor meaning we could stay longer. We also managed a catch up with Frank over a pint and a pizza.
By now the lack of rain was started to affect the system and our planned cruise. The Leeds Liverpool, I think, was the first of the northern canals to close. The Ripon Canal soon followed. We were wanting somewhere safe to moor for a week or so whilst Mick headed off to oversee building works at the house, our options started to narrow.
We opted to head down stream, the tidal Ouse far more difficult to navigate with the outgoing tide due to the amount of debris in the water. Back onto the Aire and Calder we detoured to Goole to top up on diesel, then headed towards Leeds. A favourite mooring near Lemonroyd would suit us for a while.
A large badger hole proved a bit too interesting for Tilly, so we nudged ourselves up above Woodlesford Lock. Mick headed to Scarborough to wait for roofers, whilst I started to work on Panto and Tilly explored the area. Down south the Strawberry Fools reached their goal on the Thames.
May is full of Birthdays, Mick was allowed some leave from the house to celebrate his with a barbecue. Sketches for panto were revisited, the weather got warmer. Oleanna spent a weekend at Lemonroyd Marina whilst we had a trip to London for another birthday and to see Jane and Kevin who were over from Australia.
Back out on the canal, we opted to stay around Lemonroyd, hopefully far enough away from the badger hole! Mick returned to the house, Tilly sheltered from a touch of rain on her throne under the pram cover, I worked away model making for panto and headed out every day to walk round the nearby nature reserve.
The house roof was finished in time for a new lean to to be installed. My panto white card model was drawn up. New lodgers arrived at the house so all three of us were back on board in time to head into Leeds for me to catch a train to Chipping Norton for a day of meetings.
The weather was hot, along with strong winds in Leeds our plants suffered, above Office Lock on the Leeds Liverpool Canal more locks were being closed. Canal and River Trust were actively discouraging people from cruising up the River Derwent to the Pocklington Canal. The River Hull was closed due to collapsing banks. We’d find somewhere to go, sadly missing out on the main mission of reaching Beverley this year.
However, a return trip to York was on the cards. We opted for a different route and headed back to Goole, topped up again with diesel, then penned down Ocean Lock onto the Tidal Ouse. Back in 2021 we’d headed this way whilst escaping the breach on the Aire and Calder. This time the tide was very strong, we were going to beat our ETA at Selby and had to fight the currents going round bends.
A meet up with my best friend Emma, who was over from Sydney and a chance to meet her new fella was not to be missed. Mooring almost at the bottom of Emma’s old garden in York helped them find us before we had a lovely lunch on the Howardian Hills and a quick visit to Castle Howard for some chilled medication in a thunder storm.
We opted to stay in York. Mick having to find things to do during the day whilst I took over the boat with work. A trip to Headingly for a test match, bumping into his old friend Jeremy and a look at the trains in the Railway Museum. It rained in the Dales, the Ouse came up, we leant Jo and Brian from NB That’s It our Middle Level windlass and key, boats ran away, we checked levels and kept an eye on our ropes, we were fine.
July arrived. Where to head now? A station was needed for another meeting in Chippy. We retraced ourselves back down stream, the Ouse slightly emptier of trees this time, back to Doncaster a good station to head southwards from.
Thankfully there were only a few small aterations to my panto design required, the remainder of the summer could be spent boating, if only the water levels would let us! We headed back towards the River Trent, managing to say hello to our friend David at Bramwith. A few days were spent sheltering under trees of the Stainforth and Keadby, then there was time to explore Thorne more than we’ve done before.
Some Strawberry Fools were arriving back having managed to get through stoppages further south after crossing the Wash and cruising some of the Middle Level and the River Nene. We loitered for Sean from SPL covers to arrive with a new side for our pram hood, the original one had managed to sink into the depths of the Aire and Calder earlier in the year.
Temperatures were high, this wasn’t good. What lay between us and the rest of the summers cruise was Vazon Sliding Rail Bridge, high temperatures meant the bridge could not open for boats. We sat for several days and nights, getting up to chat to the signaller in the middle of the night. One night just as we were about to turn the lights off we got a phone call, the bridge would be opening, we needed to get dressed! A short distance travelled in the dark would mean we’d be able to do some boating again. We were soon cruising for the third time this year on the Tidal Trent, in a down pour of rain!
Surprisingly the Chesterfield Canal was open up to the limit of navigation. Oleanna’s crew had been there before, but Oleanna hadn’t, it was a must. We paused for a few days at the Retford and Worksop Boat Club, our Cutweb membership paying for itself within a few days. I walked whilst Mick headed back to Scarborough to do a turn around and for medical appointments.
A visit to Mr Straws House was enjoyed, locks worked through, towpath walks enjoyed as I sped ahead of Oleanna taking her time in the shallow canal. What a pretty canal, we were glad we’d come back.
The double and triple locks that lead up to the top may take a bit of working, but boy they are worth it. We headed straight to the navigable end before Norwood Tunnel only to find the moorings there full. One chap suggested we’d not have enough depth of water to wind, but thankfully we did and headed back to find another mooring for the night.
On our return journey we had visitors, friends Jane and James on their bikes came and helped us through a few locks. Then the same day Cath and Mark came for a nosy at Oleanna and a meal out in Worksop. Very good to catch up with everyone.
Back at the boat club they found space for us again so we could head back to Scarborough to do another turn around and watch the first night of Noises Off at the SJT. We welcomed new lodgers Liza and Stuart into our house, had a blood test, a dentist visit and headed back to Oleanna and Tilly.
Back out onto the Tidal Trent and onwards to Cromwell. Our timing couldn’t have been better, as we rounded a bend in the river, Cottam Power Station cooling towers came into view. I had just enought time to lift my camera before they came crashing to the ground. A landmark on the Trent now gone. I think we’d already made our minds up not to head towards the Oxford Canal, by now levels were so bad the canal had been closed from the summit to Banbury. We really didn’t want to risk getting stuck somewhere and not being able to get Oleanna to Redhill for her repaint next year. We’d take our time pottering about on the Trent and maybe along the Trent and Mersey Canal. The next day notices came out about further lock closures due to the drought, boats started to turn round, cutting their cruises short so they could beat the closures and return home.
Barbeque at sunset
Newark for a few days, then on to Hazelford Lock one of our favourite moorings, time for a barbecue sat on the big steps watching the sun set. Sounds idylic.
However, that night we got to test out the emergency servies and what3words at 2am. Mick had chest pains, 999 was called, two hours later paramedics arrived, tests were done, followed by an ambulance ride to Mansfield A&E for more tests, lots of waiting, then discharged after twelve hours with what was thought to be pulled muscles. A very lazy day followed.
We continued on to Nottingham, stocked up at Sainsburys and found a mooring near to Beeston. To celebrate Mick not having had a heart attack we treated ourselves to a meal at The Victoria. Always nice, just a shame that things weren’t really quite right with Mick.
Up to Trent Lock, rescuing a boater caught out by shallow water between Beeston and Cranfleet. We turned right, our plan now was to head to Burton on Trent on the Trent and Mersey. An ideal mooring at Shobnal Fields was grabbed so that I could head off to Dawlish to meet the set builder for Panto.
Brian arrived on NB That’s It, able to drop off our windlass he’d borrowed. He’d single handed it from Peterborough on the River Nene managing to beat all the stoppages by doing pretty long days, but now he could relax as rivers would get him back to Strawberry Island again. Coinciding with ‘in steam days’ at industrial museums is a rarety for us, but we managed it at Claymills Victorian Pumping Station, although the volunteers were tryng out some eco fuel rather than coal, they weren’t impressed with the amount of steam it produced.
The water tap at Willington called, the plan was then to wind and cruise up to Alrewas. A mooring was found with better phone signal for Mick to chat with his GP, an appointment already planned. He also wanted to talk to them about some patchy vision he’d been experiencing. Another phone call to an optician, it was suggested he should attend the nearest A&E. That night we made our way back into Burton to be closer to the hospital.
In the morning there was a second visit to A&E this year. A CT scan diagnosed Mick as having had a stroke. I brisk walked my way over to the hospital to find him being put in the back of an ambulance to head to the Royal Derby Hospital. Here there was 24 hours of lying and sitting in various parts of A&E (number 3) before a bed was found on the stroke ward. Thank goodness for a very good bus service between Burton and Derby. They wanted Mick to see an Opthamologist which didn’t happen, the weekend arrived and he was stuck. Then he just needed another ECG and drugs before he could come home, this took another night but thankfully after five nights in hospital he was discharged.
So many people offered help and support, thank you all so much. Thankfully now Mick had no symptoms and felt pretty normal. I kept a close eye on him. Kat on coal boat Bargus stocked us up with coal and diesel and we gradually made our way back to Willington for a moral boosting lunch with the lovely Susie Blake, she even got us tickets to see her show in Derby a few nights later.
Now we found ourselves kicking heels until our lodgers were to move out from the house so we could return, this was more to do with the lack of water in the network than anything else. Bridget and Storm came to check on us, bringing Rolo their new woofer with them. He was very well behaved, Tilly didn’t even mind him being onboard!
We took our time, pausing for a few days whilst storms blew over. I walked to Swarkstone Pavillion, down to the Trent and visited local villages. Next we wanted to check Oleanna could come out of the water earlier than planned, we headed to Redhill Marina to check things out, it would all be fine. We arranged a date to arrive.
We managed only one Heritage Open Day in September at Mills Dock Yard on the Erewash, some beautiful boats and suprising wooden cars on view. Then made our way back to Beeston to be close to a station again.
I had a couple of days at the Seperate Doors Making Tomrrows Theatre conference, watching workshops, listening to discussions and speakers. The mooring in Beeston isn’t so good for Tilly,a brick wall is hardly interesting for anyone! so we winded and headed back to Trent Lock to meet up with an old collegue of mine Jane, from my early days at the SJT.
Kat with Teddy and Bella came to top us up again before we headed back to Nottingham and further on to another favourite mooring above Stoke Lock. Here the mooring by the low wall was available, perfect for Tilly for a few days especially as she was to celebrate her 10th birthday there. However we ended up staying longer than planned, RCR were called out. It was suspected that our drive plate was about to give up. A few days later the engineer returned to replace it with a new one. All good to go!
Back up to moor at County Hall steps, Tilly wasn’t keen. But we wanted to make the most of being in Nottingham, visiting places we’d not been to before.
Our windlasses got used for the final time this year working back up into Nottingham where we took a mooring at Castle Marina for a couple of nights. A trip up to Scarborough to see our lodgers in the latest Alan Ayckbourn play Earth Angel.
Time afloat was now running out, back out to Trent Lock for a few more days before heading to Redhill Marina. Packing up the boat was a little more interesting than usual as we didn’t have the luxury of picking up a van the day before we were to move. Until Mick got to see an opthalmologist he wouldn’t be allowed to drive. So we called on one of those people who’d offered to help when Mick had his stroke.
Mark, Mick’s old friend arrived in a hire van to collect us and all our stuff. The move was done pretty quickly despite having to stop a few times to make Tilly’s journey more comfortable. We’d left Oleanna in the water at the marina, the following day she’d be put on a trailer and moved out onto the hard to await her repaint next Spring.
There were two weeks before I’d head off to work on panto. Phone calls from the set builder came thick and fast. There was time to unpack, see friends, or hybernate, Tilly chose the latter. We managed one trip by train down to find Oleanna out on the hard, she has a fantastic view of the cooling towers, but sadly no electric. We’d need to work on that one.
Mick got the all clear from an Opthalmolgist down in Derby a couple of days before I headed off to Chippy, so he gave me a lift. Whilst I was away working, Mick made up an extra long hook up cable for Oleanna. He had two trips down to attempt to get her hooked up, but for several reasons this wasn’t achieved, thankfully the solar was doing quite a good job of keeping batteries topped up. There was also a trip over to Wigan, where he and Paul Balmer of Waterway Routes helped Chris the Pink Hat Man up the flight along with the help of a CRT volunteer.
Down in Chippy I worked my way through the four weeks of rehearsals up until the show opened. I had chance to catch up with my cousins for Sunday lunch. Met up with Mick at the London Leckenbys for a night and checked on the moorings at Paddington Basin on my way back. I also had a day off in Oxford where I enjoyed a walk along the canal we’d not managed to reach this year, spotting many a familiar boats from previous winters there. My first week in Chippy the canal was reopened to allow people to return to their moorings before winter stoppages kicked in.
Finally on my sixth panto at Chippy it was lovely to have Marion and John (Mick’s sister) and Andrew and Jac (my brother) join us for press night. On his way down to see the show, Mick had fought his way through snow and headed to Oleanna to get her hooked up, unfortunatly the socket available turned out to be faulty!
Back in Scarborough I was pinned to the sofa for a while by Tilly, watching Inspector Morse as is now tradition. Walks along the beach and through the old town were enjoyed. We headed to Filey for a birthday party and unfortunatly ended up in our third ambulance of the year, with another A&E ticked off the list, fortunatly it was only a faint this time.
Mick made another journey down to Redhill, this time Oleanna was plugged in successfully, the electric heating could now be programmed to come on should the temperatures drop enough. He had a chat with Tom who will be doing Oleanna’s repaint, the boat ahead of us is also already on site too. We’re still quietly hoping someone doesn’t manage to get there in time for their slot so we can swap slots and get Oleanna back on the water earlier.
An appointment with a stroke doctor at Scarborough Hospital was had, results and images from an MRI in Derby hadn’t made it to Scarborough so the following week there was an appointment for one here. We now wait to hear what the doctor has to say.
The build up to Christmas kept us busy, our 23rd anniversay celebrated, decorations, cards and presents to make and buy. Hair cuts, the Christmas show to watch. Then a pre Christnmas Christmas with the London Leckenbys in York before returning to Scarborough and coming down with a lurgy which meant most of our festive plans had to alter.
New waterproof trousers, a Victron Smart Shunt and new mugs were all presents for boating. Frank was a lucky man getting his second Christmas dinner in a week. Now that new year is here we need to plan ahead for when Oleanna is going to be painted, windows, new solar and new curtains need thinking about, ordering and making. Hopefully the time will fly by and she’ll be back in the water before we know it.
Us in sunny Scarborough on New Year Eve
Plans for next year, well we know where we want to be in early June, we just hope we can get there by boat. Will we stay up north and be able to cruise the rivers and canals we didn’t manage to do this year? Or will we head southwards to find waters we’ve not cruised yet? We’ll have to wait and see, so will you!
So here are our final statistics for our boating year which ended up being cut short.
According to our Nebo link
Oleanna was underway for 173.53 hours. This is not a real indication of our movements, if we are stationary in a lock it does not count that time
Nebo link was on for 365.48 hours. Sometimes the Nebolink is turned on a bit before we set off, on occasions it is left on at the end of a day incase we decide to carry on, so this is also not a real indication of how long the engine was moving us
End Mileage. 712.725 miles
Distance travelled. 695.6 miles, don’t understand why the two figures are different most days, but I go with the end mileage
Average speed 3.26 miles. We were mostly on rivers this year
Average Maximum Speed 4.78. We were mostly on rivers this year
Total Mileage 719m 3.75f 7 and a bit more miles than Nebolink
Made up of 152 miles 5.75 f of Commercial Waterways, 143 miles 4.5 f of Broad Canals, 61 miles 0.5 f of Narrow Canals, 78 miles 0.5 f of Small Rivers, 66 miles 6 f of Large Rivers, 200 miles 4.75 f of Tidal Rivers, shows how much cruising we did on the Tidal Ouse and Trent this year.
Total Locks 214 fewer than most years as we were mostly on rivers. This figure doesn’t include flood locks
Made up of 51 Large Locks, 98 Narrow Locks, although some of these were broad locks on a narrow canal (Chesterfield), 63 Broad Locks, 2 Locks on Major Waterways
Moveable Bridges 58. 4 were left open, 5 didn’t need to open as we went below them. Although those that didn’t need to open I think should have been 14 to include all those on the River Ouse. 107 vehicles were held up, another 23 when we worked Barnby Dun lift bridge for Mick on Amerouse.
Small Aqueducts 68
Major Aqueducts 6
Tunnels 2, that is 1.4 furlongs underground. I think this is a record for the least amount of time spent underground in a year.
0 Boat Lifts
629.4 litres of diesel. The cheapest £0.89 at Viking Marina, most expensive £1.10 at Kings Marina, total cost £639.26
265kg of smokless coal. This was 12 bags at a total cost of £190.50
2 x 13kg bottles of gas. Cost of £94.87 although we will need to replace a bottle as soon as we get back on board.
Other expenses £144.60. This included 1 starter battery, 1 excess payment for a new drive plate, 2 roller poles, 1 wee tank connector, Cutweb membership
£115.03 Mooring Fees and electricity whilst out cruising
2 Ambulances 3 A&E’s whilst out cruising
1 stroke
0 rain for months
706.85 miles walked whilst on the boat, nearly as far as we cruised! 9504 brisk minutes
Over £3000 raised by knitting socks for Dementia UK (over the last 3 years, 110 pairs) and I’ve still got more to do!
1 Panto design, 3567 pink roses
40 Boxes of Wine
30 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval moorings, she’s not letting onto how many friends!
419.8 engine hours
Us
Phew, that new spread sheet has alsorts on it!
Thank you for joining us on our travels in 2025. We hope you’ll be back for more in 2026 and that the start to our boating year is sooner rather than later.
The other evening I came across a post on social media regarding CRT’s Reservoir Watch. This year, as all boaters know, has been a bad one for water levels around the network. The dry spring and summer along with some reservoirs being kept low for maintenance, halted navigation along many canals. Certainly, our plans changed because of the lack of water. Should the water levels have been better, then we’d have been able to head by boat onto the South Oxford Canal for me to commute to work on panto. Mick and Tilly would have had to have been north of Somerton Deep Lock to avoid being stuck whilst new lock gates were installed at the beginning of November. Then we’d have spent the last few weeks gradually cruising northwards, the aim of reaching Alrewas for Christmas. Our festive duck would have been ordered at Coates Butchers ready to be picked up Christmas Eve. Betwixedmas would have been spent, watching river levels and hopefully making our way to Redhill Marina for Oleanna to come out of the water at New Year to await her repaint in the spring.
Tree!A lot bigger than we’d have had on the boat.
But that just wasn’t to be. Instead, we’ll have a walk along the south bay beach, followed by Christmas dinner with our friend Frank. Our bird will come from TS Horsleys, vegetables provided by Tree Top Press, pudding will be my birthday cake late afternoon as usual. It’ll be a lovely time, but I will miss watching and smelling the braised cabbage slowly cooking on top of the multi-fuel stove and juggling things between the fridge in the galley and the overflow fridge at the stern of Oleanna safely tucked under the pram cover.
However, I’ve digressed.
Me! Never!!
The Reservoir Watch is interesting, levels having risen dramatically in some areas of the country after Novembers down pouring of rain. Did you know it was the wettest month of the year, so far? Not hard during a drought year. But hopefully things are looking brighter for next year as levels are recovering, except for the Huddersfield Narrow and the GU South which are both still hovering around 50% of their capacity. Some reservoirs are still having work carried out on them, Toddbrook being held at -12m below its top until work is completed, the Peak Forest and Macclesfield Canals will sigh a big sigh once Toddbrook is full again.
The cheese has arrived from Hebden Bridge
We’ve not had chance to visit Oleanna for a couple of weeks, she’s that little bit too far away to visit and have a bowl of soup whilst doing jobs. But as time gets closer to her repaint we’ll be visiting to empty cupboards. A chance to rationalise items on board that may not have been seen for years, but have been acting as handy ballast!
Now which one shall I do?
Christmas prep is well under way here in Scarborough. This afternoon will see me baking a spiced orange cake to enjoy with my family pre-Christmas. The choice of birthday cake this year has to cater for diabetic as well as gluten-free diets. I think I’ve decided between a rice pudding cake and a cheese cake.
Waiting to watch the SJT Christmas show
The decorations are all up, cards arriving, cards and biscuits delivered, annual hair cut and a visit to the SJT to watch our lodger in Sleeping Beauty, written by Nick Lane. For those who know Nick’s Christmas shows it doesn’t follow the usual story line. Hippos, Teddys and some wonderful lighting along with Annies very good badie made for a good nights entertainment.
Tilly watching out of the window
Thank you to the Cleddau and Tentatrice crews for your reviews of Beauty and The Beast at Chippy. I think you must have had the Happy Koala performance? Thankfully microphone problems they’ve been having recently had been solved before you saw the show. I hope you all booed in the right places and joined in with the song sheet and ahhhed when Les and Shelly snogged.
Little Ted watching to protect us from Badies in the house
Watching updates from Taylors Aboard about the Bridgewater breach show that the earth dam to the south of the breach has not been completed before the Christmas break. According to Josh it’s because the weather has been so wet. We watch Chris on NB Elektra who is on the Leeds Liverpool Canal and we read the blogs from those on board this Christmas, everyone helping to keep our boating habit fed.
Pair 109 coming along whilst watching films
0 locks, 0 miles, 0 trains, 1 duck ordered, 2kg potatoes may not be enough, 1 London Leckenby gathering, 1 cake to choose, 1 painting, pair 109 just about finished in time, 6 inches of hair gone, 1 Teddy for protection, 1.5 kg plums, 2 oranges, 7 eggs! 1 lonely boat by 8 cooling towers.
Back in April or was it May, we were looking for somewhere we might be able to moor up for several weeks whilst Mick headed back to Scarborough to oversee the building work going on at the house, waiting for roofers to have a working van etc, and for myself and Tilly to be somewhere suitable for the two of us. Tilly would need plenty of friendly cover to keep her occupied whilst I cracked on with designing the Chippy Panto. At the time we were around York on the River Ouse. The thought of mooring on the River Ouse wasn’t that appealing for me, over the last few days the river has shown its normal colours and is rising with the amount of rain that has fallen in the Dales. I ideally wanted to be off the river, maybe Ripon would be a good place. We tried contacting Ripon Marina, then considered Ripon Motor Boat Club. Would they have space for us? Would we need to be members?
Possible new curtain fabric for Oleanna
Years ago, Mick had come across a boat club for itinerant boaters like ourselves, one based virtually, affiliated to the AWCC (Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs).Cutweb Internet Boating Club was set up by Julian Tether along with other like minded boaters in 1998. We’d thought about joining, but this was when we were full time live aboards and we didn’t really see what we’d get out of being members. In recent years we’ve made friends with Brian and Jo on NB That’s It who are members of Strawberry Island Boat Club in Doncaster. Brian on occasion has asked if we’d like him to propose us to the committee to join the club. We’ve also got to know quite a few boaters at St Pancras Cruising Club, joining them on trips on the Tidal Thames. Did we really want to join one of these clubs? A mooring in Doncaster might be handy, but we didn’t really want to be tied to a home mooring.
Decorating supplies for the house
This year we wondered if joining Cutweb might have it’s advantages, we might meet other members and also be able to make use of the affiliation with the AWCC and be able to moor (if there’s room) at other cruising clubs around the network. Maybe being members might help us find a mooring in Ripon? We looked into it, a cheap joining fee and membership, it would be daft not to. We joined up, Brian (from NB Harnser) the Membership Secretary sent out our membership cards. Sadly, Ripon still couldn’t accommodate us, we were too long for their moorings.
In the end the spring had been so dry we didn’t worry too much about river levels and Tilly and I remained moored up along New Walk in York whilst Mick headed back to the house.
Scarborough South Bay
It wasn’t until much later in the year when we were looking for somewhere to leave Oleanna again that our membership came in handy. A couple of turn arounds of lodgers at the house, medical appointments in July and August meant it would be good to have somewhere secure to leave Oleanna. We’d headed for the Chesterfield Canal and thought of Retford and Worksop Boat Club. A phone call later we had somewhere to pull up that would be checked several times a day, being members of Cutweb meant we got several nights mooring for free and all we’d have to pay for was electric. Brilliant, and a very friendly bunch they were too, so much so we stayed a second time with them on the way back towards the River Trent.
Tilly guarding our coal and winning
Come October it was time for the Cutweb AGM. I was in the middle of Panto work in Chippy so I made sure that Mick voted for us. One committee member would not be standing again, the Treasurer, so they were looking for someone to take over looking after the books. I’ve been a Treasurer before for Crescent Arts in Scarborough many moons ago, but I thought being a newbie I wouldn’t put my name forward, also my mind was busy with the lack of props and making hundreds of roses for Beauty And The Beast.
Frank aghast that someone should have Mars bars and Golden Syrup suggested for their diet
Last week an email arrived to all members from the Commodore. Basically, unless a new Treasurer could be found then the boat club would have to be wound up. But we’d only just joined! We’d met with a couple of members whilst in Burton on Trent and taken advantage of the affiliation with the AWCC. What a shame if no one could be found.
Socks 107 and 108 finished
Hang on, just how much work could a boat club require with 96 members? I inquired, was put in touch with the outgoing Treasurer. My self-employed accounts and those I keep for the house are far more complicated. Yes this year had been a lean year for figures but still! I slept on it.
A touch moody to the south of Scarborough
At 10:32 the following morning I clicked send on an email to the Commodore offering to become Treasurer. Had I just saved Cutweb from being mothballed? An email came back would I be able to have a chat the following morning? A Whatsapp call to Italy early Sunday morning, a twenty minute chat with Ian, he seemed happy, so did I, he’d make a proposal to the committee. An email was sent out later that day and on Monday I was notified that the committee had voted unanimously for me to be Treasurer until the AGM next year when they hoped I’d stand for election.
Well you all know me and numbers! Looks like I’ll have a few more to look after from now on.
In other news the house is looking more Christmasy with each day. A new recipe for Christmas biscuits has been tried and rejected, not stable enough for gifts. I’m getting my brisk minutes in walking around Scarborough, the beach has been my main destination. Last week we celebrated being together for 23 years.
Foraged wreaths on the front doors
Elsewhere, there is a new episode of The Water Road to listen to. The latest episode is very Christmasy with Santa and Mrs Claus, plus if you listen to the end you’ll hear both of us. It’s a very festive listen, thank you Adam for asking us to contribute towards it.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 new treasurer, 1 club saved, 23 years, 3 mice! 0 blind, 120m of lining paper, 2 boxes paste, 2 pairs socks, 50 Christmas cards, 2 wreaths, 2 recordings, 1 tree still to be found!
Not much sleep to be had on Oleanna last night. I got about an hours worth before Mick woke me, he’d had none. He had chest pains.
999 was dialled, ambulance requested, our what3words location given to them, nearest road access, that we were on a narrowboat, they chatted to Mick about his symptoms, I chatted again to them. There would be a two hour wait for the ambulance, could we make it to hospital ourselves? No car, not sure we’d be able to get Mick off the boat without suitable assistance, we’d be happy (as much as you can be in these situations) to wait. We were only to call back if his symptoms worsened. I told them about the gate across the weir bridge that I’d need to unlock for them, this was added to the notes for the ambulance crew.
Could we actually move the boat for better access? The mooring by the pub in Fiskerton had been empty when I’d walked there yesterday, not guaranteed to still be empty now, anyhow we’d already given our location. The well deck needed sorting, our chairs had been popped in there after the barbeque last night, stuff that had been in the shower whilst on tidal waters had been put back. I turned the outside light on to help them spot us and for me to see, I rolled the covers up fully out of the way, making the best access I could.
Inside phones were put on charge. The floor on either side of the bed cleared for people to stand. I got dressed, my wallet put in my bumbag, our big strong torch got ready, all whilst Mick rested. The two hours seemed to go quite quickly and before it had elapsed my phone rang, the crew were at the gate.
Tilly was put in the main cabin, both bathroom doors closed, a double barrier to stop any possibility of escape. Don’t rush, be careful, don’t drop the key of power. The crew were pulling a stretcher out from the ambulance, I guided them with our big torch through the gate over the bridge, they’d not get the stretcher much further. It was left by the bottom gates of the lock, the walkway wide, but not wide enough. Mind the drop, these are big steps, we got to the boat and the two of them stepped down inside, leaving me sat on the bank.
An ECG, an aspirin, a spray under his tongue to open his arteries up and increase his oxygen levels. Conversations inside could only be partly heard. They wanted him to go to hospital, a cardiac episode suspected, he needed a blood test. Could he manage to get off the boat, climb up the big steps? Would I be going with them too? Slowly Mick was helped off the boat, back up from the fire brigade wasn’t needed, they’d already been out to help on another shout this evening.
I picked up the essentials, locked the boat, giving Tilly back access to the bathroom saying I’d be back sometime, ‘look after the boat Tilly’. Mick managed the walk to the ambulance where the ecg wires were hooked up again, blood pressure taken, then we were on our way. No flashing lights or sirens, just very bumpy roads for most of the way to Kings Mill Hospital in Mansfield. The paramedic chatted away about various things, occasionally popping in a medical question, all the time keeping an eye on the patient.
There’s not much to take photos of on such a night
Mick was taken through the doors into the Majors part of the Emergency Department and I was left sitting in a corridor with only our big torch for company. A while later the ambulance crew re-emerged with their stretcher, wished us well and headed off, not much of their shift left so they’d most probably return to base in Newark now. I thanked them, such reassuring people.
Mick had had a blood test and another ECG, once he was settled I was allowed to join him in a big room with about seven cubicles. Each cubicle had two people in them, curtains and screens positioned in a way to try to give some privacy, but none was really to be had. We waited. I stood. We chatted a bit. I stood. We watched the staff. We waited.
More patients arrived on trolleys, at least fifteen people. There were the two old chaps, both able to sleep through everything going on around them, both with their heads tilted to the right and snoring, they could have been twins. There was the lady with her brother, her wedding ring needed to come off, but try as they might her 90 year old joints had grown too big, the ring needed to be cut off. The only words she said in all the hours we were next to her was ‘you’re filthy’ to an Asian nurse, the nurse dealt with it pretty well, saying she was very clean and was here to help her.
There was another lady, her shoulder extremely painful, she was scared. Her son smiled so lovingly into her eyes. ‘Oh Dear Gladys’ ‘Oh Gladys’ the poor lady said, she was given some pain killers and told she’d be having an x-ray once the pain had eased. There was a chap stood by his mum’s trolley, he’d been stood there for hours waiting for them to find a bed for her. He was brought a chair, he’d rather stand. I decided to make use of the chair, our torch had a rest on Micks trolley.
We waited, blood tests take about two hours to come back, surely Mick’s would be back by now? More trolleys arrived, only a few patients were sent home. The shift changed at 7am, maybe more would start to happen as the hospital woke up with more staff on hand. Cups of tea! Cereal if Mick wanted it. He didn’t.
Chest x-ray
Around about 10am, a nurse practitioner arrived. She pushed the trolleys either side of Mick away and pulled the curtain round. His blood test was back, but they like to have a second one for comparison. They wanted to do a chest x-ray. Lots of questions. She listened to his heart, his back, his belly, another ECG. The blood test would take about an hour and a half this time.
We talked about what to do if Mick was to stay in hospital. Our mooring not ideal for hospital visits. Oleanna would need to be moved. Could we ask to double up with NB Avalon Two when they came past, they are now on a mission to return to their home mooring? They’d be long gone by now. I suggested Bridget and Storm, Lizzie, Paul before many other names came to mind. But we needed to know what was going to happen first. Mick’s chest pain had dulled after he’d had medication from the paramedics, it was now returning and was stronger when he moved.
I headed off to try to find some breakfast. A walk outside, just where is Mansfield? Just where was the Emergency room again? Mick soon had a chest x-ray and was brought back into the room, now a total of twenty people. They may not have many cubicles, but they do have plenty of trolleys!
Next an ultra sound, easier to walk there than take his trolley. A second opinion. Then the lovely nurse practitioner returned with the verdict. Nothing can be 100%, but it was believed that Mick had strained some muscles which had given him similar symptoms to a heart attack. He was to take it easy, listen to his body, take paracetamol, if the symptoms worsened then he should head straight back to A&E.
So, with great relief we left the Majors section of A&E. The standing man was still standing. The 104 year old lady had new batteries in her hearing aids which was helping a great deal. The man kept smiling that loving smile to his Mum, hopefully her shoulder pain would start to ease soon. We’d never now find out who Gladys was.
I’d left those just in case they never came back!
A taxi back to Oleanna, I followed us on a map, I now knew where Mansfield was! Around 2pm we were back walking over the bridge by the weir, taking our time to climb down the steps to the boat. Everyone wanted some food including Tilly.
A good weathervane on my walk
A quiet afternoon, Mick left snoozing on the sofa, Tilly exploring the brambles, I had a walk along the river bank. The only place we’d be going today would be to bed, there’s a nights sleep to be caught up on.
0 locks, 0 miles, 8 brisk minutes before 5am, 1 torch, 3 enquiries about the torch, 2 blood tests, 4 ECGs, 1 x-ray, 1 ultrasound, 0 heart attack, 1 strain, £41 taxi fare, 12 hours to be back home and on the mend, 2 very grateful boaters, 1 wonderful NHS.
Stockwith Basin Bridge to Cromwell Visitor Moorings, River Trent
About to leave West Stockwith Lock
With a 10am penning at West Stockwith Lock we got ourselves ready for tidal waters and as we pushed off from our mooring Mick radioed to the lock, could we enter the lock to wait for the tide. This was fine and as we made our way it was obvious which boat we’d be sharing the lock with, they were heading to Torksey, where as we’d be heading on to Cromwell today.
Behind us skidding round the bend
As soon as both boats were in the lock we were told that the tide was ready, there was three foot over the cill so we could go, despite it being before 10am. There is so little fresh coming down river that the tides can be early at the moment. As we were heading further than the other boat we got to leave the lock first, gosh that tide was running fast, out of the lock we were straight up to 8mph on the bend! Mick knocked back the revs a touch, we wanted to keep up with the tide, try to keep the other boat in sight, but we also wanted to get as far as we could before 11am.
A new topping to the pontoon. No life jackets in view!
Gainsborough was far quieter than it had been on 1st April when we came through blasting horns at the start of the Fund Britain’s Waterways Campaign cruise. The pontoon mooring was getting a new top fitted to it, men carrying 8 by 4 sheets down the ramp. Today a few people stopped and waved, but today there were no camera crews or drones to follow our every move. We were glad though to be on our own heading for Gainsborough Bridge and not be line astern with lots of boats.
Gainsborough Bridge, more head room today compared to April
We’d picked up a branch on the bow, after the railway bridge Mick slowed us right down with the hope that the tide would carry it off, it worked in the end and we could carry on. A pleasant breeze kept us from getting too hot and thankfully the sky had plenty of clouds to hopefully stop our sun cream from running out.
Aphoto from later of West Burton Power Station, it’s 8 cooling towers in two groups
I started a count down to 11am. West Burton Power Station came into view, cooling towers rising up quite close to the river. We got closer 2 minutes to go. We weren’t here however for West Burton, 1 minute. We rounded another bend in the river. There it was East Cottam Power Station cooling towers. I grabbed my camera and quickly took a photo. Almost immediately, bang on 11am the cooling towers started to lean inwards and crumple in on themselves shrinking down into the horizon. Then up came clouds of dust followed a few seconds later by the loud rumbling bang from 4.5 miles away. What perfect timing!
A few years ago we’d been on the Thames when Didcot Power Station was demolished, we only managed to hear it that time. Of course my footage is nothing compared to others, the best of course is from the demolition company themselves as they achieved a new world record today by blowing up 8 cooling towers in one go.
Mick put the revs back on, the tide was still carrying us. High up on the roof of West Burton Power Station staff stood and watched as the clouds of dust hung in the air, gradually drifting north easterly. I’ve not checked, but maybe one day their cooling towers will go the same way, then there will be no big powerful landmarks left on the Trent, just small gas powered stations.
Watching from West Burton
We followed our charts religiously, yes we were near the top of the tide so shouldn’t have any problem with depth, but with so little water about you need to keep on the red line. Torksey church came into view, then the viaduct a big empty hole on the west bank where the power station had stood less than an hour ago. Was that something in my eye, a tiny bit of cooling tower perhaps!
Obligatory photo
Straight on for us, passing the cut where three narrowboats were sat on the pontoon and Torksey Lock was just emptying. Small clumps of people were still stood on the banks of the river, Torksey had been the place to watch the demolition from. A small group huddled round a drone, ‘if only we could make the towers go back up again’ one of them shouted across to us.
Boat ahead
As we got within sight of Dunham Bridges we could see a narrowboat ahead of us, maybe they’d come from Torksey, we were going to catch them up. A cruiser was having a woofer wee break at the Dunham pontoon, they’d soon be following on behind us. Along the next few miles we slowly got closer to the narrowboat ahead of us and in turn we had two cruisers overtake us.
Vandals!
At Fledborough viaduct our charts are confusing as to which span you should pass under, we headed as always for the ‘England’ span whilst watching the boat ahead go further east. Now there was another narrowboat ahead of them, we were a threesome all headed for Cromwell. The dog walking cruiser passed us and on we headed, the river becoming more and more meandery.
Helen and Pete
Cruisers came towards us. Then round a bend came a boat we’d hoped we cross bows with, NB Avalon Two, Helen and Pete smiling and waving as we passed. One day we’ll be moored in the same place as each other and maybe we’ll end up in a very good pub with them.
Over the VHF radio we could hear the cruisers penning up. Mick called the Lock Keeper from the 48km mark, the lock would be ready when we arrived. We slowed our progress waiting for Cromwell Weir to come into view. Below the lock there is quite a sandbar at the moment, the cruisers ahead of us had been given some direction in towards the lock to avoid it, but our draught is much less so we just took it slowly when the green light showed.
New lock companions
Over the radio came a call from another narrowboat, NB Doris Katia, Andrew and Francis Phasey’s boat from St Pancras Cruising Club. They’d helped organise the Fund Britain’s Waterways Cruise in London, then across the Wash. Their route back to London had been blocked by broken locks on the River Nene so it looks like they’d opted to head back across The Wash to be able to return southwards.
Going up off the tidal waters
The lock keeper got us and the other two narrowboats in the lock, he’d pen NB Doris Katia up after us. It took a while for the boat we were going to be alongside to sort their ropes. I’m twitchy in these locks about the risers so I wasn’t comfortable that the lady at the bow had her line round a ladder and the chap at the helm seemed to be happy with that. It’s hard to relay information in locks from one end of a boat to the other, but the Lock Keeper was also on the case and suggested they move back another riser, phew!
NB Doris Katia heading on to Newark
Up we rose. The moorings above were busy but we’d find somewhere to tie up to. We pulled in just before the lower section of the high wall close to the water point, a nice chap from the boat in front helped with our ropes. We didn’t need to get off the boat, although Tilly was adamant that she should! This took several hours for her to calm down and stop being so SHOUTY! about it all. I’d defrosted some turkey steaks to make some kebabs, planning to put them on the barbeque, instead the grill had to do the job for us, we really weren’t going to somehow get everything off the boat and then back on again up ladders!
Today was, I think, our eleventh tidal cruise of the year, most probably our last of the year too. During the afternoon an email had been sent out from CRT regarding the low water levels. Quite a large part of the network, but not all is suffering from a water shortfall, it has now been deemed as a ‘nationally significant incident’. The short to medium weather forecast does not indicate substantial rain, so they are now ‘putting contingency plans into action to prioritise boater safety and ensure access to essential facilities’ with the water they have remaining. Temporary navigation closures, stop planks to help retain water levels in some areas. We are all being encouraged to prepare for closures, empty and fill tanks, consider relocating to somewhere closer to services.
A woofer
Then more news regarding the Oxford, Coventry and Grand Union came through.
From Friday 15th August we will be increasing restrictions and locks will be open between 10am and 3pm
From Tuesday 26th August we will be moving to a full closure of all locks listed below:
2 locks, 31.4 miles, 1 right, 1 straight on, 1 world record explosion, 8 towers gone forever, 1 boat just in the nick of time, 1 busy river, 2 smiling faces, 3 in a lock, 1 high wall, 1 seriously miffed cat, 1 spot on flee treatment, 4 turkey kebabs.
For those who scan narrowboat blog blog rolls, you’ll have noticed a new one has appeared on the right.
NB Kingley Vale is actually from old hands at blog writing. Very experienced hands at writing about narrowboats in fact. Adam and Adrian from NB Briar Rose are having a new boat built by Braidbar Boats.
Adam and Adrian back at the start of lockdown in 2020
You’ll be able to follow the boat build process over the coming months, always a very interesting read. NB KV will be a hybrid, gas free boat.
Huge congratulations to Adam and Adrian, such exciting times. We look forward to your updates and your move onto the water on Briar Rose until KV is ready. Hopefully our bows will cross sometime this year for longer than just a wave and hello.
On leaving Swanley Bridge Marina, we chatted through the painters we’d seen and the boats that they’d painted as we started to head northwards to join the M6. We’ve seen lots painted by The Paintshed, several from Willow Boats, but none finished by Gibson and Kenwright. Before Christmas Tom had two boats in his shed, one primed, the other a little further on, we wondered if they might be finished and still in his shed.
As Mick pulled into the car park of Middlewich Morrisions, a drink required and somewhere to sit to eat our lunch I gave Tom a call. The two boats we’d seen were now very nearly finished, could we call in on or way back to Scarborough today to have a look? ‘The door is always open’.
Kings Lock, Middlewich
Walking into Morrisons ahead of us was a recognisable voice. If you’ve watched any of Taylors Aboard vlogs about the Bridgewater breach you’ll no doubt have seen Joe, more commonly known on the vlog at Johnny Vegas. Once the boats were re-floated and the stop planks removed, Joe headed back towards the Trent and Mersey.
With lunch eaten we recalculated our route across country to Redhill Marina, an hour and a half. The sun was out beside the giant cooling towers as we let ourselves into the shed.
Cwoor!
Tom still had some final details to paint on the longer of the narrowboats, gas locker hinges, anti slip would then follow. Certainly the finish looked very good on the powder blue boat. You don’t often look up at a narrowboat, Tom assured us the finish was even better from the usual angle of viewing. Coach lines were razor sharp crisp. This boat was being painted for Aqua Narrowboats, Tom has the contract to paint their boats, it would be collected early next week and head off for its fit out. It was nice and cosy in his shed, maybe he’d stood us by the heater on purpose!
A touch dark for my walk
We were only there about ten minutes, having seen what we wanted to see and asked a few more questions. Then we were soon back enroute to Scarborough, returning up the M1, M18, a little wave to Oleanna in Goole then over the Wolds to arrive back in Scarborough in the dark. I got Mick to drop me off at Masham Bank petrol station so that I could have a brisk walk home. This gave me time to think a few things over. By the time I was back at the house I had come up with an ideal plan for this year I wanted to talk it over with Mick a slight adjustment to our cruising year might be required. Tilly had a few things to say about it all too!
Thursdays walk was far jollier
So we wait for a price from Danny at Swanley Bridge, our decision on boat painter nearly made.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2nd revisited, 2 shiny boats, 3 power stations, 1 Johnny Vegas, 1 boat moving on the Aire and Calder, 1 wave to Oleanna, 31 minutes dark walking, 1 offer, 1 estimate to wait for, 1 decision to make soon, 1 cat not impressed with the menu for the last two days.
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