Thankful for just about a full nights sleep, maybe things were improving. I popped some painkillers just in case, which was just as well! As we had our breakfast Tilly was allowed shore leave, she went self catering and would have liked to join us at the table, however we turned her away at the hatch, our breakfast of blueberry porridge far less crunchy than hers!
Some feline comfort
Mick headed off on the Brompton to get a newspaper and a few supplies. He returned with news. He’d had a phone call from Alastair in Goole saying the part for our engine had arrived, he was on his way!
A short while later we had a knock on the roof, this was Sue and a friend (sorry I can’t remember your name) from the marina, they or another boat were ready to come out to give us a tow into the marina later in the afternoon. We updated them with our news, hopefully we’d be able to run the engine again soon and head that way under our own steam, we’d let them know.
Cleaner cabin side
It took us several days, admittedly slowly to reach Lemonroyd, it took Alastair 40 minutes! Mick walked up to the nearby car park to help Alastair find us. The sun was out, things were starting to look up. I decided to give the cabin side a wash down with canal water, get rid of the mud splatter we still had from Goole, a general covering of something pale washed off too, general Goole docks dust. A full on proper wash still awaits Oleanna, but this certainly made me feel better.
Smiling as ever!
Alastair sat in the engine bay chatted away, found a suitable tool to remove part of the broken fixing that had sheared off and been left on the engine side of things. The replacement part and pipe were put on. Mick was instructed how to tighten the connectors should he need to in future, they turn the opposite way to how you’d think. The engine was started up and left to warm up to check for any leaks, none. Jobs a good’un! Hooray!!!! Thank you Alastair for coming out to us as soon as the part arrived. We’ve still not heard back from RCR!
Lunch, then we untied, winded and headed for the marina. Yes we could run our engine now to charge the batteries, but with the new bully boys this would use a LOT of diesel as they were down to about 30% after three days of no engine. So instead we’ve opted to go into the marina for a couple of nights to recharge the batteries, fill up with water, do some washing and most importantly have showers!
Red flashing light ahead
Alex the marina supervisor was there to help us tie up. An ap needed for us to be able to have electric was donwloaded. Sadly a miss understanding had us thinking that the mooring fee included electric, it didn’t and the minimum we could add was £10. The invertor hummed away as the batteries charged most of the afternoon. The water tank was filled and we both had lovely showers. first load of washing done. By the time it was bed time we’d used more than £5, but the batteries were fully charged.
Oleanna, about to be hooked up and recharged
Pair 11 of my Sockathon came off the needles as we watched Traitors Australia. I managed a good evening, pain relieved by Ibuprofen taken with food. A return visit to the dentist most definitely on the cards.
0 locks, 0.5 miles, 1 wind, 1 right, 40 minutes drive, 1 small part, 1 cuppa, 1 engine mended, £10, 5 familiar boats, 1 bored cat, 2 full bully boys, 1 full water tank, 4 Ibuprofen, 4 paracetamol, 2 cocodamol.
The co-codamol that had work yesterday evening was topped up when we went to bed, by 2am its effects had worn off. Next dose at 04:15 didn’t have any effect. At 06:00 we were on the phone to a rather sleepy sounding lady from 111. When asked for our location she said ‘Is that near that Lemonroyd Place?’ She was very helpful, however there were no appointments in Leeds for today, Bradford or Harrogate were the nearest she could find. We’d done a bit of online hunting for ourselves this morning so opted for a Dentist in Beeston (south west Leeds) they had an appointment at 08:30.
As I got dressed Mick called for a taxi, then we walked down to the marina to meet it. The driver was very chatty and my toothache faded away for a while, but only for a while, as we drove round the southern side of Leeds in rush hour.
I opened the front door to one of those wonderful cut glass doors and surrounds that Edwardian houses do so well. Inside was a wonderful hallway with plaster panels and a statement staircase, it was almost enough to distract me from my pain!
What a lovely set of steps
Xray, poking about. It could be a wisdom tooth over growing, it could be a touch of decay on the tooth destined for a crown, but which one? The later was chosen, numbing done, no pain evident from the wisdom tooth, it looked like we’d found the culprit. A temporary filling and £125 later I was waiting for a taxi home, Mick and Tilly had stayed at Oleanna in case RCR arrived with a replacement part. The return taxi driver used to work in the post office in Fulford where I grew up, he’d most probably served my Dad!
Back onboard, Mick had tried calling RCR to see what progress had been made, they’d call back. With water and electric running low he’d called Lemonroyd Marina to see if they might have room for us, they did, we just needed to get there! As part of our bronze RCR cover they will tow you to the nearest marina, but when Mick called them to see if this was possible we were told to flag down the first passing boat. Well, there aren’t any due to the river being in flood, this also did mean that it would be hard for RCR to get a boat to us too. However there was a possibility of a tow from someone at Lemonroyd, the marina manager would ask round for us. Two offers came, one for Saturday when the wind had calmed down, the other Sunday.
Colour work Pattern
Alastair the engineer at Goole was more than likely to be coming out to us, as he works for RCR and this was how we first got to know him a few years ago. Mick called him, we were on his radar, the part not arrived, it would most probably be Monday or Tuesday. A while to wait but we’d now got a tow organised and tomorrow we’ll be plugged in and by a tap, oh for a shower!
As the day progressed the anaesthetic wore off, as it did so the pain returned! Hopefully it was caused by the treatment I’d had and would improve in a few hours. Back on the paracetamol, a dose of Ibuprofen taken after dinner, it’s been suggested that I avoid Ibuprofen after taking so much of it when I lost my little finger, but sometimes needs must. I spent the evening sipping water which eased the pain for a few minutes. Think I’ll be up and down all night going for a pee if the pain doesn’t keep me awake!
Blue skies, however the tree was in the way of the solar
At least the sun made an appearance.
Over the last couple of days rumours have been spreading that the current stoppage on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal at Vazon Sliding Bridge which was due to reopen next week will be extended for another 9 weeks! A post on the Trentlink group suggested that this is almost certainly going to be the case, Network Rail just need to confirm it with C&RT.
With our current engine problems, river flood gates closed ahead of us, medical appointments, the quick route south on the Trent now unlikely to open for a couple of months (closing our alternative route south), our plans for the early part of the year are no longer possible. We’d been aiming to join a Fund Britains Waterways campaign cruise on the Thames. This was timed to happen just after Cavalcade. Boats would head out of Limehouse Lock onto the Tideway and cruise down stream through the Thames Barrier, wait for the tide to turn then head up to West Minster, joined by more boats coming out from Limehouse, arrival timed for the end of PMQ when all boats would sound their horns. We simply haven’t got enough time to get there anymore.
Time to pack some socks up. We wouldn’t be going anywhere today as the lock light was flashing red, the river had come up overnight. It may not have rained here very much but up stream on the Pennines it certainly had, down at Castleford the level had risen higher than when we’d been there.
River Aire levels at Castleford
Mick wanted to tinker in the engine bay. The new batteries are not doing quite what he’d expected, one charges more than the other. So whilst I did sock things he took the engine board up. Power was turned off for a while. I took photos of a couple of pairs of socks, then they were labelled and packed up. Postage paid, address labels printed and attached when the power came back on. I just needed to find a post box now.
Socks ready for the post
Maybe we’d go for a walk and shop after lunch.
Since having the new batteries, when we are stationary we’ve been running the engine whilst running the dishwasher, this gives the batteries a top up whilst the dishes wash and gives us hot water for showers. It’s been working quite well and a massive difference to last year when no matter how long we’d cruised during the day we’d need to give our depleted battery bank an extra charge before 8pm to have enough power to see us through the night. None of that now.
Such a small thing
Mick appeared from the engine bay. We had a problem. In his hand was a pipe/connector this was from where the engine connects to the calorifier. We once had a problem with this connection on the Thames. It’s position is where Mick finds himself sitting to do things in the engine bay. Today he’d noticed it was leaking, so he had a go at tightening it with a spanner. Instead of tightening it came off in his hand!
Now we can’t run the engine, now we can’t move, now our water reserves are getting low (we should have topped the tank up to the top the other day rather than being eager for breakfast!). Add to this the lack of sunshine, solar being the only means to charge our batteries without the engine. Economy mode engaged and a phone call to RCR.
Hiya!
Stephanie called him back, Mick sent photos, a new part would need to be ordered then an engineer would come out to fit it, hopefully it would be that simple. However something had sheered off so there may have to be some drilling involved too. Oleanna’s W.O.C. number was required so the correct part could be ordered. Mick pointed out that we would run out of battery power without the engine, there was talk of hiring a generator should we need one.
After lunch I headed off to do some shopping and post socks. We are half way along one side of a triangle to the nearest shops, the rail line making a direct route impossible. I walked up towards Woodlesford then up the main road, past the Co-op and on to Lidl. A top up shop of essentials, a bigger shop could happen another day, after all I’m still hobbling.
The road back to Lemonroyd Marina
Back at Oleanna Mick was still waiting for RCR to call back. They didn’t. Electric saving measures were implemented although we did allow ourselves to watch the first episode of Traitors Australia Season 2 (you are a bad influence Adam!).
The last few days I’ve had a bit of niggling tooth ache. For years I ignored such pain quite successfully, my relationship with my teeth wasn’t good for many years. Today the pain increased. Paracetamol was doing nothing. Thankfully Paracetamol and Codeine gave me a few hours of relief, something would need to be done. Was it a tooth that is on the cards for a crown? Could I get to Birmingham to my dentist tomorrow morning? Was there somewhere in Leeds I could go?
Oh what a day!
0 locks, 0 miles, 0 engine running, 1 gas boiler, 0 showers, 1 hour TV, 1st sock of pair 11 finished, 1 broken bit,1 painful tooth, 3 miles walked, 1 camera suggestion.
As we were getting ourselves sorted with a cuppa in bed this morning we both could hear a droning noise. What was it? I went on for ages, then it just stopped. Ahh of course, Exol Pride on a run up to Rotherham! We’ve normally checked Ship Tracker to see where she might be when we’re in the area, then listen in on the VHF radio, but we’d been lax about it. She must have come in off the Ouse last night or early this morning.
Tilly was keen to be out again, we didn’t have any plans to move today, well maybe to the other side of the junction as we wanted to be Billy No Mates. But there wasn’t any need in the end as our neighbours moved off just after we’d had breakfast, so Tilly was awarded another 7 hours to go with her original 1.
Look into my eyes. You will get out of bed and let me out!
My current pair of sockathon socks have been giving me some trouble. I’ve tried several techniques of colour work, but I’ve been over complicating everything. A simpler approach was needed and it now being Thursday and I’d not turned the first heel, I needed to catch up. The next job on the list of boat jobs for me was to give Oleanna a damn good wash, she is filthy as ever after being tied up in Goole for months. But I decided that this should wait until we were closer to a water point, so I got on with knitting, soon frogging back to the toe yet again.
Old tap soon to be replaced
Meanwhile Mick got on with his boat jobs. time to sort the galley tap out. Water off he attempted to remove the ends of the taps to replace the cartridges. One side came off fairly easily, the other one was not going to budge an inch. Good job we’d bought a whole new tap. I emptied the under sink cupboard, the least I could do. A check over the instructions and comparing tap for tap. The new tap seemed to have extra bits compared to the old one. Finesse possibly had left some things off as there is less space under a boats sink than in a house. Mick soon had everything plumbed back in and working again. No river of water running over the worktop anymore.
New tap. More shiny things
The amount of space under our galley units is vast, having lifted the inspection hatch under the sink we got to see just how much air there is down there. Quite a few people remove their cupboard plinths and replace them with drawers, useful for tin or bottle storage, maybe an extension to the shed? We could think about this, but as our cupboards are not made from standard kitchen carcases and were made to my requested measurements I think the plinth is part of the main structure and not just clipped on. Further investigation will be done, when Mick isn’t lying on the floor with his head in a cupboard.
Empty cupboard with lots of air beneath
Throughout the day I’ve received several emails from a producer I’d worked with on a tour of ‘Bouncers’. He’d been thinning out his store and was wanting to either sell on or give away seven DJs, the costumes from the show, but he couldn’t find any labels with sizes. Could I remember what we’d bought. Well no, it was twelve years ago and all my records are back in the house, if I still have them. I got in touch with my friend Sian who’d done some alterations on them, she made a guess at sizes, but her main comment was ‘Who would want those after how ever many sweaty shows?!’ Finally my phone stopped pinging and the producer went away.
Another job Mick ticked off was installing lights in cupboards. He’s always wanted these, they were on the wish list back in 2012 when we visited Stillwater Narrowboats. Somehow when Finesse built Oleanna the lights dropped off the list. Then they reappeared on Christmas lists. I attempted to buy them but they never arrived. The following year my brother tried again, they never arrived. Mick spotted some in B&M last September, but they had vanished by the time Christmas shopping was being done. So finally he gave up hoping someone would buy them for him and ordered them himself.
How illuminating
One went in The Shed, two in the corner pull out cupboard. I can actually see where everything is in there now! One might have gone in the electrics cupboard. All very good and he’s pleased he now has them.
By the end of the day my sock was progressing well, it’s just taking twice as long to knit as the others I’ve done recently. I was planning on doing a few more pairs similarly, but I may simplify them a touch. There’s more to them than I’m willing to show you right now as that would be unfair on the person they are for.
Pair 10 coming along
Another episode of Traitors USA. Well so far it’s the same tasks as the UK first series which is a touch disappointing. But Alan Cummings outfits and his demeanour more than make up for it.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 big blue boat, 1 The Boat, 1 light in the shed, 2 in the pan drawer, 1 new tap, 8 hours! 1 sock nearly up to the heel, 1 boat still very dirty.
Whilst we had breakfast, all cosy inside, Tilly was given freedom of the towpath, she went self catering rather than tucking into her morning biscuits. 8 hours! I’m never going to be able to use all of those! It’s good to see her being active again although the local rodent population wouldn’t agree and I was on edge much of the time as running around, jumping on and off the pram cover could have ended with a very soggy cat. Hopefully she’ll calm down soon.
Time to reclaim the dinette and sort The Shed out. Mick’s wood cutting he felt would not be up to scratch so I dried off the saw under the pram cover and used the seats as a saw bench. 1 length at 12″ and three at 6″ would do us, ends sanded. The 12″ and one 6″ were fixed in around the battery so that it wouldn’t be able to move more than 10mm, this would now meet the BSS requirements.
The other two 6″ lengths were used to support the front edge of the shelf which would be used to cover the battery (another requirement) and also give us a new base to The Shed cupboard. The shelf slotted in perfectly. Now to sort out where things will go.
Looking organised…ish
There used to be a hanging rail, but this was only ever used to hang coat hangers on, not even coats. The hangers are used when drying cloths in the pram cover, so it’s handy to have a supply of them at the stern. A hook above the power socket will do that job. A deep hook accommodates all four life jackets and the spare fan belts tucked in behind the fire extinguisher.
Another two hooks were positioned high up on the tumblehome to hold the window vac. Now where to put the bag for the hand held vac? In the corner behind the power socket. I found my bag of heavy duty poppers and proceeded to attach two, the hard edge to the canal handy for flattening the rivets onto the fabric side. Two poppers were okay, but the vac is quite heavy so a second two were positioned further down. Far more secure. Just need to tidy the cables, now where did I put the spare black net with lots of small cuphooks?
A tidier Shed, just a shame there was still a lot more to go in it. The Brompton cycle bag, bag of hats, gloves and scarves plus coats. Hmm? I might make a couple more bags to go on the walls of The Shed to accommodate gloves etc, the bag contents also need rationalising. Somewhere for Mick’s coats was next, a flip out hook was added to the bedroom bulk head, just about the only bit of wall we have. We are nearly there.
Wonder where this path leads to? Too late to explore
During the afternoon a boat arrived across the Went Aqueduct. They obviously made a late discission to pull in and moor in front of us as it took them quite a while to back up and position themselves to be able to moor. Space for a little one between us, only just.
Having been inside just about all day, unlike Tilly, we headed off for a walk. Along the New Junction Canal to the first road bridge and back along the other side, crossing back over on the footbridge at the Went Aqueduct.
Winter sunset over the Went
The hazy blue and pink light with the sun setting highlighted the amount of extra water there is around at the moment. A lovely walk on the way out, a touch less so on the way back.
Discussions on our cruising plans. Earlier this year we’d made a plan, this has been then amended due to an event we’d like to attend in the south in May. However! We originally thought we’d be away from Goole a week earlier and had plotted an open route across the Pennines. This route is currently blocked at Woodnook Lock on the Aire and Calder for another ten days. There is still time for us to reach London, but it might be quite a dash. Now when I say quite a dash I’m meaning 4 plus hours a day, there will also be a couple of return trips to Scarborough for us. If any more stoppages happen ahead of us then our plans will be thwarted.
What do we really want to do this year? Which things are more important to us? Are we happy rushing? Or would we rather be more sedate? We now have a back up plan, plan C. Hopefully we’ll not have to put it into operation, but you never know.
Viking Marina to Sykehouse Junction, New Junction Canal
When I woke I popped the emersion on, yesterday I’d let it run for 90 minutes and the water was at best almost hot. I hoped for better this morning. In the end I gave it a boost by adding in the central heating and ended up with enough hot water for a shower.
Mick was soon on a train back from Scarborough, the house ready for our first lot of lodgers, just the plants to pick up at some point. I decided to give Tilly’s scratch post a make over, well the base of it which has lasted almost ten years, 8 with it’s current owner. Stripping off the old cover took some time, but with pliers and a flat headed screw driver it all came off in a dusty mess. New fabric was cut to size and then stapled on the back, the post was bolted back on and a square of fabric stapled over the bolt and washer to save it scratching the newly oiled floor. Job done, still a bit wobbly, but Tilly hasn’t complained about it yet.
Once Mick was back we went over to check out and pay our electric bill with Laird. A meter reading was done, but the one from when we arrived had gone awol. A historical one was found on the system but we’d never have used that much. Mick checked to see what our inverter thought we’d used, a bill of £32 sounded far more like it for 5 months and everyone was happy. We thanked Laird, returned to Oleanna for a spot of lunch then it was time.
Green coiled up ropes
The Nebo switch was switched on (voltage sensitive relay will be added soon) and push back was at 14:32. It was nice to be leaving the build up of diesel and urgh that had surrounded us in the marina. Mick reversed Oleanna out of our mooring, winded in the marina and then turned us to face west.
Marinas serve their purpose for us, but it’s not our natural habitat, at least this year we didn’t feel hemmed in amongst other boats having a bank side mooring. Downside of the mooring however was the amount of mud that got splashed up from puddles.
Goole caisson
Through Goole Caisson which had been closed for maintenance until ten days ago.
Weather tight
Along the long straights, a slight kink at Rawcliffe. Under the M18. Past the chunky tree house which now has a completed roof, not sure how it was five months ago, but it looks more weather proof than I remembered. Past the breach site and round the bend.
The steam from Drax cooling towers just visible in the background
Drax came into view behind us, time to wave the NORF goodbye. Well Drax will stay in view for a while, but this stretch of canal now has the feeling of the start or end of a years boating. We’re having to admit to ourselves that we are no longer full on live aboards / continuous cruisers.
It’s good to be outside and moving again
Round the next bend and towards Sykehouse Junction. Now where should we moor? Part of the bank along the New Junction is cordoned off as the metal top is leaning towards the canal. Or do we go just past the junction and moor with chains round the metal bar where Kingfishers fish? We opted to turn into the New Junction and pull up on the stretch of moorings that hasn’t been affected, easy to tie to and no wet knees.
Tilly’s excitement from inside the boat could be heard for miles! No photographic proof as she was darting from window to window checking out the outside. This is the most active she has been in five months. Our location was noted before the rules were recited, then she was off like a shot, staring into the friendly cover and pouncing. We have a happy cat once again.
Drax, Sykehouse Junction and Tilly, free again
A roast chicken was prepared, spitting on the clean oven glass, and enjoyed.
To make up for Tilly’s very exciting day I got the flea and tick spot on treatment out, never a popular thing to do and it means no head nudges will be given for a couple of days, but needs must!
Tonight will be the first test of our new batteries. Mick is confident all will be good in the morning.
0 locks, 6.5 miles, 1 wind, 1 left, 1 boat back out on the cut, 2 happy boaters, 1 ecstatic cat, 1 roast chicken, 1 tank of proper hot water, 1 blog writer trying to remember how to do maps! 1st Mrs Tilly stamp of approval of 2024.
Last night we ate the last bits and bobs from the fridge and freezer, but were left with some ice-cream, hash browns, tomatoes, gluten free crumpets and eggs. Only one thing for it, although we decided that vanilla chilled medication wouldn’t really go with poached eggs.
The last round of packing. Shower cleaning, some things left as Mick would be staying a night after returning the van. Tilly assisted with the idiot check, then there was only one thing left to pack.
Last week we’d managed to close Tilly and myself in the bathroom, Mick brought out the cat caravan and opened the bathroom door for me to pop her straight in, next to no stress until she realised what was happening. This was for her visit to the vet. Today things didn’t go as smoothly. Firstly Mick had efficiently popped the bag with puppy pads and just in case items in the van before I’d put a puppy pad in the caravan. I know what you’re doing! I’d be seriously stupid not to have noticed everything being packed up. It’s quite exciting really, but also concerning too. I tried being very interesting with the bathroom cupboards to lure her out from under the bed, it worked, but she just chose to then sit under The Shed bed instead. Then Tom brought the smiling big sucking noisy thing. It got closer and closer, only one thing for it, run to the bathroom for protection from She.
Maybe I’m stupid after all!
Straight into the van. Cat caravan sitting on my knee, engine started up, we pulled out of the parking space. How far would we get today before having to stop to renew the puppy pad? Well, I am so proud of Tilly. After five minutes standing, shouting at the front of the caravan she retreated to the rear of it and sat down, keeping an eye on the outside moving past.Tom moved it far too quickly, surely that isn’t safe! She kept on shouting with a few intervals to compose herself, but we didn’t have to stop once, not once! So proud of you Tilly, so proud. No calming stuff at all today too, so proud.
I can still talk to you from in here
Straight into Oleanna, Tilly was set free. A quick shout check everywhere (she’d make a good Stage Manager) and then it was time to find a safe place. The Nicholson’s shelf was tried first, but that hasn’t been sorted yet soit wasn’t very safe clinging on the edge of it. The nice little hollow behind Tom’s pillow wasn’t there, it was full of mattress. Only one place left, the secret passageway behind the sofa. Squeeeeeze!
Lunch first. Yesterday we’d sterilised the water tank. When about a third full we’d added a bottle of Milton fluid, filled the tank up to the top, water run through the taps and then left it for about half an hour. Then the tank was emptied, the water pump working overtime. Tank refilled, we then used as much as possible. Today taps were run until they didn’t smell of Milton anymore, the kettle and Tilly’s water bowl filled from the tap alongside our mooring. The tank was emptied and then refilled again. We don’t do this often (possibly the second or third time ever) as when we’re on board all the time the water is used and replenished frequently.
Just where does it all go?!
Off loading the van meant we filled up the cabin quickly. I wanted to get The Shed sorted so things could go away, but Mick had other priorities. Popping Mick’s tool box on top of the wooden shelf on the ledge didn’t work as a temporary measure sadly. We did manage to get the hook up for the life jackets to live on, mainly so they could be put out of cat claw danger.
Green dribbles, again!
Hang on Tilly, who did the idiot check and totally forgot about the herbs and strawberry plants?! Well you wouldn’t let me outside this morning. Anyway, hadn’t you noticed, I’m only a cat!
Dinner cooking away
More things were stowed away, the bed was made up, we were finally finding places we’d be able to sit down. The last meals worth of lamb stew left from our gathering of friends went in the cast iron pot on top of the stove, two potatoes wrapped in foil were popped inside by the coals and dinner cooked as we tidied up. Tilly did manage to come out from behind the sofa and took up residence on the bottom shelf. Another busy day for us all.
My shelf!
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 handy beds, 1 smiling monster, 0 stops, 1 very proud She, 1 squeezed cat, 1 Shed still not sorted, 4 life jackets hung, 1 bed made, 1 last lamb stew, 1 big click and collect order made, 1 pink sunset, 2 green dribbles again in the bathroom! 2 boaters and 1 cat back on board.
Tilly’s annual vaccinations. A years supply of wormer and flea treatment was sought. Sadly a misunderstanding regarding her flea treatment (they don’t know how much of a thug she is!) has meant a delay in obtaining the good strong stuff. But we will be getting a prescription, at some point, to be able to purchase it online, far cheaper than the other options.
Making sure it dies!
Test the new rug out for murderability!
Shiny!
Order spare parts and spare taps for the galley. The mixer tap we have is being discontinued, so we’ve bought two spares and spare cartridges for them, these should out last our boating days.
A slipper for the vac
Make the bag for the handheld vac out of sturdy fabric to go in The Shed cupboard.
The Shed on Oleanna fully sorted. I’ll come back to this in a bit!
See you later in the year Scarborough
Collect new glasses and purchase a protective phone case. Phone case not so good as it inhibits fingerprint recognition, but it is extra strong should I drop my phone. Also not waterproof! *The Power button on side of phone case has now been cut away so fingerprint recognition is possible.
Mick’s medication approved by the GP. An up in dose and a blood test in a few weeks, but nothing to stop us returning to Oleanna thankfully.
Final Sunday walk in Scarborough
My calf muscle to improve. GP surgery still not given me a date for an appointment, been waiting three weeks now. I keep hobbling and am trying to keep up my step count. Here’s hoping the doctor doesn’t want to see me!
Bathroom sink and mirror sorted in the house. Well…. This job had to be abandoned a few weeks ago due to too much plumbing in the way. Then we changed our minds on the solution. Duncan, not THAT Duncan, came round and fitted an extension to the stupid box above the sink instead of removing it all together. Only problem was the backing board didn’t want to stick too well, so had to be left overnight before the clamps could be removed. New flooring was laid. Now Duncan (not THAT Duncan) needs to finish off and then I’ll be needed to touch up the decoration over two days.
Clerk of works inspecting the job
A leaking water pipe into a toilet was fixed, but we now have a noise three minutes after flushing the toilet!
Socks knitted and sent off. I got ahead of myself so have given my sock knitting hands a bit of variety and knitted a few blanket squares for Boaters Blankets. Once back on Oleanna I’ll be back on with socks.
Gardener organised, FAILED yet again. We tried a chap who’d been recommended, but he didn’t call back.
Packing
Builder/roofer to sort leaks, FAILED. We tried a chap who said to call him in a couple of weeks, then he didn’t answer his phone!
Weather to improve for transit on river sections which can’t be avoided. Out of our control sadly.
New stoppages being added to the list. Will we be able to escape Yorkshire before April? Also out of our control. Current stoppages mean we won’t be able to cross the Pennines for a few weeks. A new stoppage at Bank Newton has closed the Leeds Liverpool, Woodnook Lock on the Aire and Calder is closed til mid March cutting off access to both the Rochdale and Huddersfield Canals. But thankfully two locks near Manchester, on the Rochdale which had been suffering from subsidence have reopened. So once we can get through Woodnook we’ll be on our way.
Sparkling!
The house oven got a good clean, we got a man in to do it for us. The oven is only a few years old and wasn’t that bad, but now looks wonderfully sparkly. Mick asked if the chap would travel to Goole to do the one on Oleanna, sadly it was too far. Mick normally cleans the house oven, but he’s never felt the urge to get down on his hands and knees to do the same on Oleanna, neither have I!
Mick made a call to a company in Howden, they were booked up til May. But the chap might be interested in fitting us in so that he could clean an oven on a narrowboat. The lady rang back and if we could be at the boat Saturday morning he’d fit us in. Brilliant! We’d already booked a van for the weekend so moved the pickup to Friday afternoon.
Friday we continued to pack and got down to some serious cleaning in the house. Kitchen sink was resealed had new cartridges and was out of use for 24 hours so we had to eat out, Taj got our custom, their menus a touch tall for a romantic evening.
Up early Saturday. We loaded the van up with various bits and set off to Goole to meet the oven cleaner. On arrival we cleared the work tops, lit the stove, turned on the emersion. Our plan for today was to sort The Shed out so that things could go back where they live. The shelf above the new bully boy battery needed supports, however we’d omitted to bring the flipping drill with us! Oh well we’d not be able to do anything with The Shed whilst the oven cleaner was about anyway.
Nick arrived, took over the hole galley, as expected, and set to on the stove. Well you all know how much I like to cook and the oven has never been cleaned so I’m a touch embarrassed at how horrible it had got. Shelves, stainless steel trays and all the supports from the oven were popped into Nick’s caustic soda tank in his van, heated to 70C it does the job for him. In and out of the boat, his belt maybe needing to be tightened just another notch or two! Three hours later they just needed a spray down with white vinegar to neutralise the soda and they sparkled like new. Much scraping kept him busy with the double oven.
He certainly lived up to his companies name. The ovens look like new, the extractor hood pretty clean and the hob which I thought was pretty good before he started you can now see your reflection in. Well worth the money, we’ll not leave it so long next time.
The boat curtains were put on to wash, once spun they were rehung on their rods to dry in situ, avoiding shrinkage we hoped. The bathroom got a very good clean, some of the sealant could do with being redone but that can wait a little while.
Cutlery tray with obligatory section for handcuff keys and hose adapters
The van was emptied and most things stowed away. The kitchen was put back together the cutlery tray sorted out. New oven glove and saute pan, a treat for the clean cooker.
All very smart now in the galley
Then it was time to find space for all the donated yarn for my Sockathon. I’d just about cleared out the big drawer under my side of the bed a few weeks ago, today I emptied it completely. Full to the brim and a couple of bags of yarn have been found another home. Best get back to knitting socks soon!
Back across the Wolds to a hungry Tilly. Time to finish off bits and bobs of food with some pasta and a glass or two of wine whilst starting to watch the first series of Traitors USA. Yes we’ve been hooked on the English version, watched the Australian first season, now I think we’re going to get annoyed with the USA version.
Bacon, green beans, peas, onion, cabbage, two types of pasta
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 batteries with new owners, 2 sparkling ovens, 2 dripping taps, 1 bathroom sink still to finish off, 60% moved to Oleanna, so much yarn squished into a drawer, 1 clean bathroom, 1 stove backed up for the night.
Before these go onto ebay I thought I’d offer our old batteries on here to see if there’s any blog reader that might be interested in aquiring them and putting them to use.
Two RELiON RB24V50 LiFePO4 lithium batteries for sale. Each battery is 24 volts, 50 Amp hours. They have been installed on our narrowboat as domestic batteries for 7 years. They were new when they were installed. The battery management system (BMS) is pre programmed by the manufacturer so the settings cannot be changed by the user.
They have worked fine on our boat for all this time, running in parallel with a 24v lead acid bank and being charged by the 24 volt alternator on the main engine as well as a 500 watt solar array.
They were replaced a few weeks ago because a third battery in the bank had gone faulty and rather than try to integrate a new battery into the old bank I decided to replace the whole bank with two much larger capacity LiFePO4 batteries.
I’d be open to offers of maybe £50 each plus deleivery costs. They were over £1100 each when new. Will split if you only want one. UK delivery only.
Please add a comment or use the “contact us” form if you are interested.
Firstly thank you to Chris and Rufus for helping the blog move earlier this week and to those who commented that they were hearing us loud and clear.
It’s a touch concerning who reads our blog!
Back in 2014 we were getting ready for a life afloat, a year on a boat was calling and work for me was starting to wind down, we’d not yet found NB Lillyanne but had hopes that NB Oleanna (Mark 1) wouldn’t be far away from being completed. Little did we know what was going on back then! But in the summer of 2014 as we were finally packing up the house to move onto NB Lillyanne our friends in Scarborough got together to wish us well on our travels, a nice gathering at a local pizza restaurant and a few pints later, a lovely evening was had.
Nowadays, we get to see our friends every now and again in Scarborough, but not really often or for long enough, so this had to be put right before we left for the spring and summer months. A gathering was organised at our house last Sunday afternoon and it just so happened to be half-term too.
Lamb and veg stew
Catering for a possible twenty was put into operation starting on Friday. The cheapest way to buy lamb was by the leg, this was roasted then chopped up to be added into a stew. A separate veggie stew was made up and potatoes were scrubbed and ready to be baked in the oven. The house was given a dust down and we awaited our friends to arrive.
From left to Right. Pip, DUNCAN! Gill, Jenny, Jaye, Dawn, Mick, Charlie (down the front) Tucker and Lee just leaning in. Ben and Frank are missing from the photo.
Sadly some friends were too far away to join us, had family visiting or had come down with a lurgy, so the numbers dropped! Never the less we had a lovely afternoon, nibbles, cheese and puddings provided by our guests. Lots of catching up to do especially for Jenny and her son Charlie who live that little bit further afield and hadn’t seen some people for about ten years. A gathering like this simply would not be possible on Oleanna, we have difficulty having two of us in the galley never mind twelve!
Stocked up for the next year
Thank you all for coming and sorry to miss those from further afield or with a lurgy. We also topped up on Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil and Charlie and Ivy‘s goodies for the boat, delivered by Charlie.
Left overs
Because the numbers had dropped our freezer, which we’d been doing a very good job of emptying, has now been filled up again, but we’ll gradually eat our way through them, we’ll just have to vary our diet occasionally!
Tuesday, Mick picked up a hire car and we loaded it with cushions for the dinette and headed over the Wolds to Goole. Time to start putting Oleanna back together again before we move back onboard.
Mick checked the Bully Boy Batteries from his phone whilst I screwed the pan drawer back to the pull out corner cupboard. The old screws had only just managed to last seven years, so new holes and screws were needed, I also added some facing the opposite direction too so hopefully they will last a lot longer.
Now it was time to move things back into cupboards and drawers that had been moved for varnishing. The galley tops also got a very good clean.
Will they all fit?
Before lunch we needed to see if the new dinette cushions fitted. The new foam is a lot firmer so it took a touch more effort to squish them into position.
Hooray!
The one new corner cushion, replacing two, fits well. However the end back cushion now is a little bit too long at the bottom. It’s the same size as the old cushion which was also rectangular, but now it just needs to have a slight angle taken of the bottom for it to fit perfectly. For now this is fine. But if anyone happens to have an electric carving knife as we pass, I may borrow it to trim an inch off it. All cushions are now double sided, which the original ones weren’t, so if they start to look a touch dirty we can flip them over.
Left over cheese by the hatch
We could now sit and use the table again for lunch, in comfort. Much better than the old cushions.
Life Jacket hook position
The afternoon, we checked that the new shelf for The Shed would fit. It does but only goes in one way and still needs blocks to rest on before things can go back in the cupboard. The battery below it also needs some blocks of wood round it to hold it in position for the BSS, Mick is also thinking about shortening the cables to the battery. This all needs doing before the fire extinguisher can we put back on the wall. But I got chance to decide where and how other items would be stored in The Shed rather than just being piled up on top of each other. Our life jackets will happily sit behind the extinguisher on a big hook. Coat hangers on another deep hook above the power socket, this is only for storage as they get used in the pram cover for drying washing not for hanging coats on. The window vac will happily sit in a couple of big hooks on the cabin side, but the hand held vac is too bulky for hooks and there is nowhere to be able to attach a string to hang it from. I’ll make a bag for it which will be fixed to the cabin side also. This should then leave us with little needing to be piled at the bottom of the cupboard in future, just the Brompton bag and took box, Hopefully!
See you soon
It was starting to get late, so we packed up deciding that we’d need another visit before we move back on board to finish off jobs and I also want to give the bathroom a good clean too. As we loaded up the car Alastair came to say hello and handed Mick an invoice for the couple of little jobs he’s done in Oleanna’s engine bay for us this last week.
Hopefully we’ll be back down soon to finish off.
0 locks, 0 miles, 20 down to 12, 1 lovely afternoon with good friends, 5 litres rapeseed oil, 1 car, 7 cushions, 1 a touch too tight, 2 batteries playing nicely, 1 spotless galley, 1 pull out drawer, 1 stove top kettle under the sink, 2 boaters sitting higher, 1 plan for The Shed, 1 more visit, 2 of each back at the house, 1 slightly amended cruising plan.
