Category Archives: Boat Engines

From Being The Only Boat To…. 23rd June

Batter and Bowler Bridge to Shepperton Village Moorings, River Thames

Another early start for us. The Woodham flight is open from 9:30, however Mike the lock keeper had said he’d be there from 9. It’s quite a distance to the locks so we set off hoping an hour would get us there in time.

Cobham Road Bridges profess to be low, but we know that they aren’t! More gardens to nosy at, not such big houses today. Lily pads, a big tree house with a full flight of steps and now we can say we’ve been to both Ripon of Greywell Tunnel.

As we approached the top lock of the flight Mike could be seen, the top paddle raised filling it for us, it had taken us a bit over an hour. Today we’d be on our own going down the locks, all other visiting boats having left the canal yesterday, not strictly true as there is one in the dry dock up at Deepcut. We’d not wanted to miss out a wander around Woking, maybe somewhere there was more to it than just the shopping centre, but we’d not found it yesterday.

Mike was here to close up after us down the flight, ashing up the locks. His long pole and what I’d call a wafter on the end would come out at every lock. The wafter is more like a rubber rectangle that is used to waft up silt from the bottom of the canal to fill any gaps in the gates. Along with this is a bucket of tree bark. I asked if they used a specific bark for the job, he didn’t know what trees it came from, just that it was left to rot down for three years before being used and that there was never enough of it.

Today we were to close the bottom gates and leave a paddle up, ensuring the lock would stay empty. One gongoozler exclaimed at how much the bottom gates leaked, the newer gates never getting long enough with water behind them for the oak to expand. I suppose that doesn’t really matter as the only time the locks are filled is when a boat is coming through, yes it means they take longer to fill, but its the top gates that need to hold the water back.

Above photos before we arrived with no leaking. After we’d opened the top gates.

Arriving at a lock, a bottom paddle needed lowering. The lack of leakage through the top gates obvious. Then the top paddles raised filling the lock, gates open, boat in. Mike asked us to leave a 2 foot gap between the top gates and then lift a bottom paddle to close them, this seats them better on the cill. Once the level in the lock was getting towards the cill you could see the difference that ashing up makes. He then waggles his wafter around in the silt above the lock, this gets pulled in by the water leaking through the gates and closes up some of the gaps. More stubborn gaps require the tree bark, a handful at a time, sometimes a bucket full at a time. As it’s dropped in above the gate you can see the spouts of water go brown for a second or two, then they reduce in size. Once Mike had finished there were only a couple of small spouts of water coming through the top gates. Quite impressive.

There were plenty of people out for walks, lots watching, lots wanting to help with gates. Lots of comments that they’d been walking the canal for ten years and never seen a boat. Well to see boats on the locks you need to first be there on the right day and at the right time. So if you only walk the locks on your way to and from work, you’re very unlikely to see boats.

Kath had always thought the canal was unloved, but after working through the locks with us she now knows they are very much loved and cared for.

At the bottom lock we thanked Mike for his work then headed along to Woodham Junction and the M25. We beeped our horn as we were about to turn onto the River Wey, no-one coming, we’ve got used to that.

New graffiti under the M25.

New Haw lock needed turning, we were back in the land of leaving the gates open on locks as you leave but with all paddles down. The cranked lock beams took some closing, as Oleanna could get into the side at the lock landing Mick could lend a hand with the top gates and paddles.

Approaching Coxes Lock we could see a small cruiser waiting to go in and a small electric rib coming out. We joined the cruiser to go down, clinging onto our ropes tightly so as not to squash them. Weybridge Town Lock was set in our favour, down we went back onto the river turning left to head down stream.

**Wonder how much bark it would take to stop that leak?**

There was room above Thames Lock for us to pull in. 12:45 we’d have lunch and wait for the lock keeper to have hers too. Just gone 14:00 we pushed off and headed towards the lock landing, a beep was heard from below the lock, the lock keeper came from her office and walked down to chat to the arriving boat.

I could hear that she’d clocked our arrival, she closed the stop lock bottom gate, asked the crew on the waiting boat what their draught was, once the chap at the helm understood what she’d asked he said, ‘Oh 2 foot something!’ Hold onto your ropes when I empty the lock were the instructions, then Oleanna would come out of the lock and they would then go into it whilst we waited for them on the offside. The crew onboard had all the gear and no id…….!

Time to sort our transit licence out and return our long reach windlass. The lock keeper wasn’t happy, ‘I don’t like being Beeped at!’ I don’t blame her. More boats arrived below the lock, breasting up and sending crew to get their paperwork for a licence, they didn’t beep!

Down we came, off the River Wey. We pulled out of the lock and kept to the far side, leaving enough room for the waiting boat to go in. The lock keeper waved them on, the crew ignored her, had they not heard? She tried again, still nothing. I relayed her message. The chap at the helm refused to move off the mooring until we were out of the way, except we needed to be where they were! He refused for a while longer but eventually relented as there was nowhere else for us to go. We pulled up onto the stop lock mooring and started to fill with water. The lock keeper would come and let us out once she’d penned the other boat up.

This took really quite sometime. The two ladies from the waiting narrowboats walked up and had a chat on their way with paperwork. It turned out we’d been at Watford with the lady from NB Spruce Goose last year, we remembered each other. The boat in the lock seemed to sit there forever, the stop lock was emptied for us and we could be on our way again onto our third navigation of the day. We wished the narrowboat crews fun on the Wey, maybe they’ll get to go up the Basingstoke when the temporary repair is done at lock 27.

They’d warned us that the Thames was busy. We were sort of prepared for this. Sailing boats, paddleboarders, cruisers everywhere at the junction, nowhere to moor. We’d carry on to round the back of Desborough Island and hoped for a space there.

The junction below Shepperton Lock had been busy but nothing compared to what we found round the back of the island. A sailing course with many boats weaving in and out of themselves, cruisers of all different sizes weaving in between too. ‘Remember the Basingstoke Canal!?!’ Mick said as the shock of a sunny Sunday afternoon on the Thames dawned on us, maybe we should have waited another day.

**How many boats? Hardly a peaceful activity**

Round the bend to the park moorings, there were two spaces. Mick called out to the small cruisier that was following us, we wanted to wind to face upstream and pull in. We aimed for the second space , they went for the first, thankfully no boats got in the way of our manoeuvres. Spikes in, Tilly you have 2 hours! At bloomin last!!! I did think that Tilly would look at all the boats and decide it was far FAR too busy to bother with this outside. However I was wrong. Our mooring was a 20 ft dash across the grass to some friendly cover and sideways trees which then had trees TREES!!! Wonderful trees that I could climb! Not just look at through the window!!!

Another boat squeezed into the gap behind us a woofing woofer onboard. I chatted to the chap and warned him that Tilly was out. He was great and did his best with his feisty Collie blocking it’s way off the boat and always on a lead when off. Only one visit for Dreamies from Tilly. She was reminded that she was meant to be home I know but I’m busy! Around 7pm, an hour after cat curfew she came home. She was reminded that shore leave was given under trust and that other pussy cats have ended up with far more shore leave than they’d planned!

Just the day for a roast chicken! At least we’ll be able to have the leftovers cold as the temperature is set to increase over the next few days.

A message from NB Olive late afternoon. No sign of Liquorice. Rangers will be putting out a trap tomorrow, phone numbers have been left at properties nearby and several people will be keeping an eye on the trap for them. We’ve all got our fingers and paws crossed for Liquorice.

10 locks, 7.9 miles, 3 waterways, 3 navigation authorities, 2 lefts, 1 straight straight on, 1 wind, 1 mooring quickly grabbed, from being 1 moving boat, 2 there being 4535345 moving boats, 2 boaters in shock, 1 blown bow thruster fuse, 1 roast chicken, 2 hours into 3, 1 happier cat, 1 mooring status changed, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval, 0 for the Basingstoke, not one!

Basingstoke Bouffant. 11th June

Frimley Lodge Park

A day to rest, a day standing still was the plan.

We enjoyed our cuppas in bed. Enjoyed a cooked breakfast that only just fitted onto our plates. I caught up with blog writing, new waters always have loads of photos to sift through, I think I’d taken around 200 yesterday!

Other things needed to happen too, the engine needed a service. Not a full 750 hour service. The engine oil, gear box oil were changed along with the air filter. The diesel filter will be changed another time, we need to get one before the next 250 hour service.

The engine needs to be warm for a service, but not too hot. We thought of moving up to the next mooring a short distance further on. I went to do a recky. A clearer bank to moor to, it also looked as if the depth was better. It was just the abundance of school kids playing hookie, or appearing to be that put me off. Lots of squealing from one girl about the geese, the lads being overly unsupportive. This wasn’t the main part of my report back, they would move on soon, well the goose freaked girl ran a mile when one of them got out.

Just by the mooring is the Frimley Miniature Railway, not in operation today, but the sheds were a good place for youths doing deals and the aroma was quite pungent! We’d leave them to it and stay put for the day. They did move on as I walked back through the park, at great speed in a car!

So Mick ran the engine for a while, then donned his overalls. He gave the new oil pump a go that we’d bought in Lidl a few weeks ago, all good.

I caught up with writing cards, mostly condolence cards sadly. There have been too many deaths in the last couple of weeks. Several not unexpected of ninety year olds, but also Jack Brady a large quietly spoken actor who used to work at Hull Truck, still in his fifties.

Then I turned my attention to lighter matters, a retirement, on-line card needed signing and photos sending and then reminiscences to add to a 60th birthday book.

Mick had been in touch with Nebo regarding our none working Nebolink, this didn’t work yesterday to record our journey up the locks. They suggested that the position of the unit may be at fault, gaps in our tracking suggested this. Well up till yesterday the majority of our journeys have been recorded, a few gaps, mostly when in the bottom of locks, or so we thought. So Mick ran through the trouble shooting that they suggested, each one requiring an hour between them. The unit was unscrewed form under the 20mm thick wooden cratch board and popped on the roof. Turned off then on again. Nothing, not even a change of location. He then tried checking the sim was in properly. Nothing. Followed by a hard restart. Nothing.

**Yarn selection for the next pair of socks**

Another email was sent with screen shots showing satellite locations that Mick’s phone had picked up from under the cratch board. We’ll see what the next step is tomorrow when Australia wakes up.

Frank fancied our cheese, so a catch up chat with him and important key identification, we’d given him one a few years ago, just in case. Phone signal in the boat wasn’t so good, so I opened up the towpath side of the cratch, just flinging the cover onto the top so I could sit comfortably on a locker to chat. There were a couple of things we’d forgotten to put out at the house so Frank was to call when he got there.

Tilly and I had a bit of a play on the towpath. We inspected what Mick was up to in the engine bay. A glance down the towpath and I spotted a woofer off the lead. As we’ve now had at least two moments of woofers rudely running up to Tilly and barking I suggested that maybe we should both get back on the boat. The bow a little bit away from the bank. I stepped on, so did Tilly. She then decided that she’d rather watch the woofer from a higher position and jumped up to be on the cratch.

WHAT THE……..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My calculations had been correct. My potential and kinetic energy perfect. Despite my landing being on the top of the cratch, the cover slipped under my weight, slipped over the edge, slipped over the edge with me on it. I slipped over the edge and then downwards the mutual attraction caused by gravity pulled me towards the water. SPLASH!!!!!

Oh crikey. I turned to see Tilly, head above the water facing the boat, I had to adjust my position to assist, by which time there was nothing to grab onto. Turning towards the bank there was nothing there either!!! This way Tilly, this way. Thankfully she swam towards me, I managed to get both hands under her and hoiked her out and into the welldeck. Rescue successful. Now attention turned to the amount of water there was in Tilly’s fur and everywhere in the boat!

One continuous puddle from the welldeck through the bedroom, bathroom, across the sofa and floor, across the dinette to the drawing board slot, where she’d managed to soak a little into the towel there. The towel and Tilly were picked up put in the bathroom both doors closed and given as much of a towel rub as I was allowed to do. I apologise to other boaters for soaking up SO much water and reducing the canal depth by at least a paws worth!

Encouraging her to sit on her bed to dry off took a bit of time, but we got there in the end. Then the mopping up could start whilst Tilly licked herself dry. A full hour, thank goodness the canal is an SSSI.

Gradually Tilly dried out, under her collar always remains slightly soggy for a while. At least the water had got rid of all the dust she’d been rolling in on the towpath. In it’s place was super soft bouffanted fur. The locals pay a fortune for this look, mine was all DIY!

For the rest of the day Tilly stayed in, not wanting to venture far. The afternoon was cold enough for us to light the fire, so the damp one took up her position to make the most of it. We got soggy bums from sitting anywhere, thankfully our bed had missed the tidal wave she’d brought in with her.

This outside will NOT be awarded a stamp of approval, the woofers can keep it!

A few boat movements today, a patrol boat that looked like it was picking up rubbish. Later on a boat pulled up on the mooring ahead of us and an hour or so later another boat came past. As it approached I was busy stripping a chicken, the bow looked familiar. We both said at the same time, ‘Is it Jubilee?’ Sure enough stood at the stern were Jan and John (Halfie). Mick waved to them as they passed.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 recky trip, 2 many youths, 1 interesting railway, 5 messages, 2 condolence cards, 4 photos, 10 litres oil, 1 air filter, 1 pattern designed, 1 new stitch practiced, 24th pair cast on, 1 very soggy moggy, 1 clean boat floor, 1 hour drying, 1 stove, 1 free bouffant, 1 t-towel and towel, 1 cloth, 1 pint milk removed, 1 cheese block donated to Frank, how were your beans on toast?

Nasty Or Nice? 23rd April

Bramble Cuttings to Rookery Moorings

Time to start the climb up through Cheshire today. We made our way towards Middlewich breathing in as we crossed the narrow Croxton Aqueduct, here we leave wide boats behind despite the first lock being wide itself.

**The banks have been raised, possibly to stop too much water going over the overspill**

Big Lock is just that, big and can hold two narrowboats. Today we got to share our first lock since the Calder and Hebble, it will be our last until we start going down hill from Birmingham. We chatted to the owners of NB Autumn Haze which looked immaculate, had they recently had her painted? Oh yes, 4 years ago. Four years! There wasn’t a mark on her and she looked like she’d just come out of dry dock. If only Oleanna looked so smart! They were heading up to the Macc, shorter trips for them nowadays after exploring much of the network through the years.

**Sharing a lock, we’ve not done that for a while**

They went on ahead as we were pulling in for a touch of shopping to tide us over. The small Tescos had most of what we were after, no need to walk on to the larger supermarkets today. Back on board we set off for the Middlewich three locks, we’d already spotted volunteers, so it would be an easy journey around the bend.

**Our first narrow lock since Foxton last year**

Last year the bottom lock had required some gentle handling, one of the bottom paddles could only be lifted at a certain water level. Today new gates held the water back and the paddle problem is no more. A volunteer headed down to help me, no other boats in the flight, so the next two would be set ahead for us. The bottom gates may be new, but the metal board that runs up to meet the one on the top gates was hanging off at a jaunty angle. I mentioned this to the volunteer, who then mentioned it to another who said they’d mentioned it to CRT several times. Mick had spotted it as he’d come into the lock so stayed back.

Moving into the middle lock Mick misjudged the bywash and his speed, quite a clonk to the port side, he blamed the wind! Hope Tilly wasnt too upset inside! Round the tight bend to the top lock Mick made up for his earlier mistake entering the lock without touching the sides. Here two volunteers helped us ascend. The younger chap was watching the time, Kings Lock chippy would now be open, were there any more boats coming or could he head off to get himself an early lunch?

I walked up towards the junction. I spied activity at Wardle Lock, but couldn’t see if a boat had just descended. A lady popped her head out from under the bridge I was walking over, we both clocked our boats were wanting to head in the same direction, so they held back whilst Mick brought Oleanna past. There was a space outside Kings Lock Chandlers, a rare sight, so we pulled in letting the other boat go ahead.

Time to get that replacement bowthruster fuse. They had to look for the correct one, but they did have it in stock. Their white spirit was also getting on for £2 cheaper than we’d seen at Preston Brook. I did look around for a chimney brush as our original one had come from their stand at Crick, but none were to be seen. Our current one has a short handle and needs to be attached to something longer to do a good job.

Now there was a queue starting to form at King’s Lock. With one boat waiting below, Mick quickly pushed Oleanna over to claim our position whilst I helped at the lock. A hire boat arriving from Wardle followed by another from the Middlewich Locks. The first couple were heading for the Ashby, their last big cruise before resticting themselves to pootleing up and down the Llangollen. The lady on board used to be a sailor, single handing across the oceans.

Up we went, the lady from two boats behind joining to help, only a short cruise out for them at the moment.

Only fourteen swans in the next pound, we used to count so many more when NB Winding Down was based at Elton Moss. We also spotted what looked like a new Morrisons Daily which would have been even closer than Tescos for our small shop today.

Rumps Lock, one boat in, one boat out. A couple heading north from Droitwich. The Kiderton Arms now looks totally unloved. Through the last fifteen years we’ve watched it have a new roof, a pub, a thai restaurant, possibly other versions of itself. Today black fabric covers the downstairs windows, dust the upper windows and behind it another new housing estate is being built.

Time for lunch, we tucked onto the end of some armco above Rumps Lock and watched the boats following us come past. Not a place to moor for the night due to the proximity of the road we pushed on.

**At least one house in the estate will have a chimney**

This stretch of canal is possibly the one we know the best, although it’s been five years since we travelled it last and there has been a lot of building work happening. One lone half timbered Cheshire house sits in amongst new houses, it’s windows shuttered off. Hopefully it will recieve some tlc and have a new life once the estate around it is completed.

Up the two Booth Lane Locks, a hire boat just leaving the second one was confused by us leaving the gates for them. There used to be a couple of boats moored on the offside by the winding hole, but they are long gone. By Stud Green Bridge a building is having a revamp and the slatted fence has nesting boxes at about 10ft intervals along it, what a nice idea.

Moston Mill just below Crows Nest Lock 67 (Booth Lane Top Lock 67) is also having some work done to the banks, it looks very smart. Back in the 1880’s there was a big mill pond behind it. It last sold in 2020 for £820,000, now the value is estimated at £960,000.

Crows Nest Lock was the first lock north we would pass through when we were on NB Winding Down, our old shareboat. Going out it was Nice Lock, coming back to base it was Nasty Lock! Mick thought that the nice lock moments outnumbered the nasty, as we’d done the Four Counties Ring on one occasion. I then pointed out that on another occasion we’d picked WD up from Aqueduct Marina after she’d been blacked and returned her to base. So maybe this equalled it out. Now it just brings back memories of our time when a week possibly two were eagerly waited for.

A few changes along the on line moorings above the lock, no longer the ice breaker and a farm shop. A boat came towards us at Elton Moss Bridge. A moment of panic had then they went skew wiff across the cut, it was the helms third day on a boat, we’ve all been there. The old Carefree Cruising yard is very different now, three houses not one sit on the plot and Artie seems to have aquired himself a rather nice soft top Morris 1000.

Under the railway bridge where you used to be able to wind a 57ft shareboat, we stopped at Rookery Moorings, big piling and rings. Out came the tyre fenders soon followed by Tilly whos little legs made a quick beeline for the trees behind us. Last time we moored there she did exactly the same.

More boats came past, most heading towards Wheelock. One very familiar boat in her recent new blue livery came past heading to Middlewich, NB Winding Down. She’s now based at Aston Marina, the owners on board were taking her to the Carefree Cruising base as her gear box had gone. Unfortunatly nobody we knew from the original syndicate, but we said hello anyway.

Are they more boats heading south on this route due to the landslip on the North Oxford, Vazon Sliding Bridge being out of action to give access to the Trent? Or is it just normally this busy. Maybe the later and we get spoilt up north with the lack of moving boats.

9 locks, 1 fat one even though canalplan counts it as narrow, 6.7 miles, 4 volunteers, 200amp fuse, 2 litres white spirit, 274 new houses, 14 swans only, 1000 morris, 2 warm for coats, 2 cold to be without, 1 spinney, 4 little legs, 4 chicken spring roles, 1st sock of pair 17 cast off, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/9NJm3Z1L4LTBwHk76

Fully Charged. 16th March

Above Lemonroyd Lock to Lemonroyd Marina

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Msbz6dFwVTCeq9Hk6

11 pairs knitted

36 pairs spoken for

41 to go

£795 raised

https://www.justgiving.com/page/pip-leckenby-1704636205453?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fpip-leckenby-1704636205453&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share

Is That Near That Lemonroyd Place? 15th March

Above Lemonroyd Lock

Not a good night.

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!

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.

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.

Not a good day.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 taxi’s, 1 smiley lady, 2 possibles, 1 temp filling, 0 part, 2 offers of a tow, 1 red flashing light, 1 lazy day, 1 statement staircase, 1 snoozy lady, 2 disappointed boaters.

It Just Came Off In My Hand! 14th March

Above Lemonroyd Lock

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sitting Higher And A Friendly Goodbye.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

We could now sit and use the table again for lunch, in comfort. Much better than the old cushions.

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!

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.

New Bully Boy Batteries

Mick here again.

Long time readers of the blog might remember that when Oleanna was being built in Sheffield back in 2016 we decided that we would have a lithium battery bank installed. Finesse, our boat builders, had suggested it to us and we decided it was a good idea. There were many delays in getting them from the supplier but we finally got our three RELiON LiFePO4 24V 50Ah batteries installed giving us 150 amp hours of electrical energy. We were quite happy with them although larger capacity would have been nice.

One day last summer (2023) the voltage of the battery bank wasn’t as it should be. Upon investigation I found that one of the three batteries was faulty. It was showing 23 volts instead of the more usual 26. I tried to revive it by connecting it on its own to our Victron Multiplus charger whilst we were hooked up to shore power in Cropredy Marina. But it didn’t play ball so a replacement was required.

In theory these batteries have a 10 year warranty so I set to with some investigation. I spoke to Ricky at Finnesse who said that they had not used these batteries again after the long delays in supply that we had experienced. I contacted RELiON direct and they explained that the 10 year warranty worked like this:

Legacy Series (Model numbers that begin with RB) – Should the manufacturer deem a valid warranty claim exist and battery(s) are unable to be repaired in year one (1) through three (3) the manufacturer will replace the defective battery free of charge with a similar product. Should the manufacturer deem a valid warranty claim exist and battery(s) are unable to be repaired in years four (4) and five (5) a similar product will be offered at 20% off the retail MSRP listed at the time of the offer. Should the manufacturer deem a valid warranty claim exist and battery(s) are unable to be repaired in years six (6) through 10 a similar product will be offered at 10% off the retail MSRP listed at the time of the offer.

So, not really a 10 year warranty after all. We fell into the last category of getting a 10% discount off the retail price of a new battery. That was really not an option. We toyed with getting a new bigger battery from another supplier to connect in parallel with the two remaining batteries. At first this looked hopeful but in light of the fact that the old batteries have no programmable battery management system (BMS) it would be difficult to get the settings of a new battery to match. So we decided to limp along on 100 amp hours for the rest of the season and sort it out when moored for the winter back in Goole.

I did a lot of research. There is a very useful Facebook group the “12 volt boating group” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/144684286108763 ) which has many knowledgeable members. In the end I decided that we would buy two new self heating 24v 230Ah LiFePO4 batteries from Life Batteries, a nice friendly company in Cornwall https://www.lifebatteries.co.uk/. There will be a very useful big step up in our capacity from 150Ah to 460. I considered getting just one battery, but as Paul Balmer of Waterway Routes fame (https://www.waterwayroutes.co.uk/) pointed out, if that one battery goes faulty then you have no domestic power. The self heating will come in useful if ever we need to charge the batteries when they are below 0 degrees C.

Measuring the battery tray. 53 x 33 cms available.

The new batteries will be connected in parallel with the lead acid bow thruster bank thereby providing the alternator with somewhere to send its electricity when the lithium batteries are full and switch themselves off from charging. Our old batteries were connected up in the same manner. One new battery would go in the old battery tray in the engine bay and the other in The Shed cupboard inside. There will be a shelf over it so the cupboard can still be used as a Shed.

A bit of a rewire was required. The original installation was a bit untidy and in seven years I’ve not been able to find any fuses in the DC supplies to the inverter or the domestic distribution panel.

**Old batteries. The one in the middle was faulty and bypassed with a bolt!**

**Two of the three old batteries. Showing the lack of bus bar and fuses**

**A total of three old batteries. The one with yellow tape on the terminal is faulty. “Temporary” connection block in the foreground**

When the old batteries were removed it was clear that the tray neaded a bit of TLC. Now painting is not usually my reponsibility on Oleanna but in this case I took on the job, mainly because once completed I would be the only person who would see it and Pip was busy with other stuff.

Next came the installation of a new positive bus bar and fuse holder. It is attached to a bit of wood that was glued to the bulkhead with Gorilla Two Pack glue. It’s a bit skewiff, my excuse being that I was working upside down, back to front and left handed. By the time I noticed the skewiffness the glue had gone off so there was no moving it to make it straight. But it does the job. Along the top is the bus bar. The thin red cable on the left goes via an inline fuse to the shunt for the battery monitor. Next is the orange cable to the new inside battery, then a black cable to the bow thruster bank (via a Mega fuse), another black cable to the 24v alternator and then another orange cable to the new outside battery.

The Victron inverter / charger is connected via the blue Mega fuse at the bottom and the 24v DC system to the orange fuse. All is covered by a plastic cover.

The independant 12v starter battery is on the left. A wooden cover will be placed on top of the whole lot to protect it.

**The inside battery. Terminal covers yet to be fitted**

The BMS settings in each battery were programmed as advised by the very helpful Mark Cheesman at Life Batteries https://www.lifebatteries.co.uk/. You can connect to each battery via Bluetooth and an app on a phone. There are two important settings to change: the “batt over voltage” is the voltage at which the charging is turned off, set to 28 volts. It turns back on again when it drops to 27 volts. The other setting is the “batt under voltage” which is when the discharging is turned off, set to 24 volts, it comes back on again at 25 volts.

Time to start the engine. A final check of everything then turn the key. The engine fired up and I monitored the charge going to each battery. Just under 30 amps to begin with which was good. The 100% state of charge (soc) is incorrect. The BMS requires a few days of use to work out the correct soc and even then, as with all soc readings it is liable to inaccuracy.

The temperature of the alternator needs to be monitored and after about 30 minutes it was reading a steady 40 degrees C. This is on the cool side, apparently 90 degrees is ok. I think I need to get rid of the surplus length in the battery cables. I reckon I’ve got about a metre too long in each cable. Once this is done the charging current should increase. To do this I need a crimping tool and some new lugs which I don’t have. That can wait for another day.

I’m looking forward to using the electric kettle when making tea in the morning.

TLC Day 8. 30th January

We called into Sainsburys to pick up an order from Ikea, I’d not had confirmation that it had arrived, but it should have been there since Sunday. The lady suggested looking for my delivery on DPD, she needed a QR code to scan before I could have my parcel. Then of course she needed to see some ID for me, which I didn’t have! Thankfully she believed me that I have a driving licence and handed over the order. Thank goodness we’d gone by car, it was a huge box! We chose some soup for lunch and then headed on to Goole, thankfully the sun was out today making for a pleasant drive.

More cupboard sorting, this time the cat proof cupboard. Illustrations for Seperate Doors, bits of panto model, some of these need to stay on board, others need to head for safe keeping at the house. Now we no longer live on board full time some things don’t need to be at hand should we want them. The big box of boat build details was packed along with the folder on Stillwater Narrowboats, that can be filed away somewhere upstairs upstairs, no need to look at that again.

**One of my all time favourite illustrations for Seperate Doors**

The office cupboard moved from port to starboard. I’d like to have a pull out shelf for the printer at some point, it now being on the starboard side means the power lead will reach a power socket. Whiltling things down is good, but I’m also mindful that we need to compensate for the weight of the new batteries and not end up on a list.

Mick ran the engine. I made a cardboard template for the shelf that will sit above the battery in The Shed. Pea and Ham soup, then a final tidy of various things, The Shed put back together. I could then hoover through and get ready to put a coat of Danish oil on the floor. With the hoovering done, Oleanna was winterised.

**Glad you can’t see the diggers on the otherside of the Dutch River**

Thankfully the day being bright, Goole looked like the Med today, I had plenty of light to be able to do the oiling. I took my time gradually working my way backwards to the bow. Making sure everywhere got an even coat, no slap dashing today. The last bit is always so hard to do from the bow steps leaning down past your toes to cover the last foot square. Done! The front door was locked, the oil can now cure over several days before anyone will walk on it.

There will need to be another trip so that we can put everything back where it lives and give the bathroom a good clean. The Shed will need it’s new shelf and some hanging rods rather than rails, but we need to see what space we’ll have once the fire extinguisher is back on the wall.

Mick will be along sometime soon to explain more about what’s been happening in the engine bay with the new Bully Boy Batteries. I’m now heading off to chain myself to the sewing machine to cover the dinette cushions, oh and a bit of knitting too! Hopefully soon I’ll be able to show you some of the finished socks, once their sponsors have received them.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 last trip, 1 engine ran, 3 Chippy lanyards, 1 panto car, 2 phone boxes, 1 Petiti tree, 1 hoover, 2 last soups, 1 onion, 1 careful coat of oil, 1 face looking forward to not wearing a mask again, 1 boys blood pressure creaping down each day.

TLC Day 7. 29th January

So much for treat pizza and that fire!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

**Connecting the second bully boy battery**

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

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

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

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna