Category Archives: Boat Engines

Breach Part 2, It’s Very Low. 21st December

Goole

There was plenty of standing water on the roads as we headed out of York on the A19, we passed close to Drax Power Station and then the salt and pepper pots of Goole came into view. Our route hadn’t taken us near the breach site, but all the low lying land looked quite soggy, so with several million gallons of water from the canal added into the equation there could be quite a problem!

When we last saw Oleanna 5th November

On Mondays the marina is normally shut, we had our fob ready to open gates, but this wasn’t required as the place was a hive of activity. It took a while to find a parking space, plenty of owners about. Groups stood and chatted, others moved the old work boats back and forth, getting them off the mud. Just about all the boats looked reasonably level, just a lot lower than normal.

The level today

Geoff came over to chat, he’d loosened our ropes, as I think had the chap on Nomad along with Al from across the way. Oleanna sat at least two foot lower than when we’d left her at the beginning of November. The normal level stern was now going to be interesting to get down to.

Close to the cabin side

Al had moved fenders up on the pontoon, but there was still a risk that the end might just catch a window or the paintwork of Oleanna.

We managed to get down by sitting on the edge of the pontoon and carefully lowering our selves down onto the gunnel, the slightly mangie off cut of purple carry mat we’ve been carrying around for years instead of going in a bin came in handy so as not to get a wet bum and to cushion knees when getting back up onto the pontoon.

That’s a long way down

As we stepped on board she rocked, phew we weren’t on the bottom … yet! The Dutch Barge a couple of boats up from us was very much sitting on the bottom, their draught being about 4ft, so Oleanna may have a foot and a bit under her still, but who knows what lurks beneath the surface.

Mick ramped the electric heating up and Oleanna was soon warming up quite nicely. Nothing seemed to have come to harm inside, hard to tell when we’d left every cupboard open, mattress up and the sofa on it’s back to keep everything aired. But the crockery was still in the cupboards and bottles of wine all upright. She’d been looked after well.

Talking to Geoff he suggested that the level may still drop some more. The caisson stop gates by the railway bridgehad been closed yesterday but they were leaking. At the other end the docks are closed, no movements of ships in and out of the docks. On previous visits to Goole when moored on the visitor moorings, we’ve noticed the level change by a few inches as the ships come and go, but the level was soon topped up from water coming down the system from the Aire at Knottingley. Victoria Lock, the older lock at the docks also leaks, so if the tide is out on the Ouse the water would gradually empty out at both ends.

News reports suggested that at the breach site culverts and drains had been blocked stopping the water from heading towards housing, the fields being flooded instead. Hundreds of tonne bags of sand had been brought to site and large bags of stones also sat waiting to be used to block the breach, they just needed a helicopter to lift everything into place. We all waited to hear a chinook but with the site just over four miles away we might not hear it. *It turns out it was too foggy for the helicopter.

Exol Pride with a full load

The water level going down is one thing. Tight ropes, getting caught on something on the way down might have your boat list. Al had said the day before was a bit like juggling plates, loosening ropes here and there, then there and here again. If vents to the engine bay get under water this can let water in, helping a boat to sink. Oleanna and the vast majority of boats at Viking were all sitting level, just lower than normal. An older boat in the corner was listing, maybe sat on something under the water, people were on hand checking her over to see what they might be able to do.

Maybe if people have lots of showers the level will start to come back up

Then there is what happens as water levels are restored. Vents close to the water line are one thing, but the biggest worry for most is gunnels getting caught on the underside of the pontoon, holding one side of the boat down as the levels rise. A few of the pontoons in the marina have planks attached to keep your boat from straying underneath, but others like ours have quite a big overhang. Without some fat fenders our cabin side would have been making good friends with the pontoon.

Will this be enough?

Mick spent his time seeing what we had to be able to keep Oleanna from drifting under the pontoon. Our boat pole was long enough and tied to a big T stud on the pontoon would do one end. But our other boat hooks and poles simply wouldn’t be long enough to do anything. He put our big red buoy fender out towards the middle of the cabin. Hopefully this would do the job, it might rub the paint work, but that is cheaper to sort than a sunken boat.

Bloomin bl**dy screws!

I’d come equipped to rehang curtains. Nicely washed and relined they were a little bit tighter than they’d been when I took them down, but the curtain rods seemed to still fit and the length was okay even if a touch tight. One thing however was a right pain, the f*ing screws! I’d forgotten that they were nearly all Frank screws (just about no head left)! I struggled on for a while, but having had eye drops at the hospital, slightly blurred vision and a headache I have to admit to giving up very quickly. Mick later did better but he gave up too and we will source slightly shorter new screws which will make the job a lot easier.

One set up

Oleanna had her engine run, charging the starter battery was important as this doesn’t get topped up by solar or from the hook up. I checked the damp traps in cupboards, emptied them and topped up the crystals. Need to buy more! The heating on Oleanna is set to come on when the temperature drops to 8 degrees, the advantage of having a boiler that works on both gas and electric.

Next it was time to find the things we needed. We’d left various things on board as we’d planned to have a week or two out before Christmas, but that simply hasn’t happened. I needed lots of things for my work on next years panto. My old sketch books for Aladdin and Puss in Boots have handy information in them. So a full big bag of drawings was removed from a cupboard. We prefer the bread knife on the boat, a gravy boat for Christmas dinner and the most important things our Christmas Stockings.

Stockings! I won’t have to make new ones now

We had our premade butties and cups of black coffee and tea, no milk!

Just as we’d locked up and climbed back onto dry land, Laird the marina owner came past checking we were alright. Mick asked if there was anything we could use towards the bow of Oleanna to keep her from drifting under the pontoon. Soon Geoff returned with a new long plank, 10 to 12 ft long. This was slotted down between Oleanna and the pontoon and then pushed into the mud at the bottom. We found a short length of rope and then tied the top of the plank round a beam on the pontoon, hopefully enough to stop it from moving. People around said they’d keep an eye open.

That’s better

Before leaving we drove up Albert Street to the end, near to the caisson stop gates. The water was higher on the dock side, we could only tell this by the water bubbling up from under the gates on the breach side.

During the afternoon we’d received an email from C&RT

Various bits of information came through during the evening Humberside Fire and Rescue, a good bit of footage on ITV news.

Hopefully see you soon Oleanna

Lisa is heading down tomorrow, Al is staying over on their boat again and hopefully we’ll sneak back across the tier border when we have a car next. With the plank and pole stuck in the mud down the side of Oleanna we felt happier. Just have to hope the levels don’t carry on dropping too much and us end up on a list.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2ft plus (or should that be minus?) drop, 1 breach, 1 pole, 1 plank, 1 new friend met, 1 still to meet, 0 milk, 1 warm boat, 2 sketch books, 1 gravy boat, 1 bread knife, 3 stockings, 2 relieved boaters, 1 boat blog list again!

The Week That Turned Into A Day. Catch up 10/10 to 2/11

Scarborough/Goole

Downstairs Toilet

Kitchen ✔

Utility Room ✔

Downstairs Toilet ✔

Front Doors ✔

Kitchen windows ✔

Sadly the list of things still to do is still long, but there is plenty of time.

All shiny again

Frank has been visiting a few times a week to work his way through various jobs for us. A thumped bedroom door is now back how it should be. The front door lock has been changed back to an old one, rejigged for new keys and I can now open the front door with ease. One window sill has been replaced, the others will be worked on in fine weather, lockdown permitting. Various items of furniture have had the top layer of stains, paint and glitter removed and are now looking much better with a few coats of Danish Oil on them.

Fabric for new curtains was ordered along with lining. Sadly Boyes in Scarborough has reduced it’s stock so this had to be ordered on line. Getting new curtains made was going to be at least another £250, so I’m just hoping my sewing machine is up to the job along with me!

Weekly veg boxes arrive on Wednesdays to keep me being creative on the cooking side and fill our tummies. Sainsburys delivers once a week and we’ve had a second delivery from Dulux with more paint to keep me going. I hopefully now have all I need to get the remainder of one side of the house finished, then we can clear one side of my work room for access to the end wall which needs some attention from builders. It’s still all go.

An early mast

Sundays we head out for a walk each week. We’ve headed inland, climbing up the hills behind Falsgrave. At Irton Moor we tip toed past the GCHQ listening station, making sure we didn’t stray from the path.

Then veered up to Seamer Beacon where we enjoyed 360 degree views, out to sea, inland towards Pickering and Malton and along the coast with Bempton Cliffs leading towards Flamborough Head. Our return route brought us down off the hills along a very muddy autumnal bridleway, past schools that have changed their names and along streets with very posh houses.

Scarbados

Another weekend saw us walking along the ridge above the A64 with fantastic views over Scarborough to the sea. It has always amazed me how certain landmarks in this town have a life of their own. The Castle and windmill move around at will whilst your back is turned always to appear in the wrong places.

We then dropped down into the valley and walked round the Mere, getting a fix of water, ducks and swans. It appears there are unwelcome otters here as fences have been erected to keep them out away from the fish.

Clerk of works keeping an eye on things

With the country looking like every area would gradually creep into Tier 3 we planned on having a trip to Oleanna, before we couldn’t. Scarborough is in Tier 1, Goole and the East Riding had just made it to Tier 2. With all none tidal routes from Goole leading to Tier 3 areas we decided that we’d have a pootle about staying within Tier 2. A week afloat for the three of us would be great, a deserved rest for Mick and myself and some towpath respite away from the urban felines for Tilly.

Have another one

On Friday hire cars and train tickets were booked along with a food shop to be delivered to Oleanna on Tuesday morning. With everything sorted we’d then head off towards the New Junction Canal, Pollington Lock and Great Heck. Not far but far enough.

Friday evening I started to remove the ripped lining from the boat curtains ready to replace it, planning to sit at the sewing machine over the weekend so that we could have some privacy again.

Before that we had tickets booked to see the brand new John Godber play at the SJT with Bridget and Storm on the Saturday. Sadly I woke up in the morning not feeling quite myself, instead of improving during the morning I went downhill requiring to be near to shore based facilities. It was not a good idea to head to a theatre feeling unwell, even though I know where all the toilets are. So Mick headed off to watch the show leaving me with Tilly as nurse maid, a duvet and the TV. Fred Astaire entertained me more than The Trump Show!

Mick Bridget and Storm enjoyed the show very much, I hope I’ll get chance to see it sometime next year when theatres can reopen again.

News had filtered through that it was looking very likely that the country would be entering another lockdown in a few days. We waited patiently and not so patiently for Boris Johnson to announce his plans. These of course were not in line with our plans which now would have to change.

Unfinished curtains

So instead of a week on board we headed to Goole on Monday in the first hire car, just Mick and myself, leaving Tilly very disappointed holding the fort at the house. She had tried to sneak into a vacuum bag of clean bedding, but had been spotted before I sucked the air out.

Living in an upside down world

The Wolds are greener than they were when we moved to the house. The stubble in the fields has gone and the earth has been turned over, new crops are starting to show their heads.

Sat patiently waiting for us

We let ourselves into the marina and pulled up close to Oleanna. There she was still tied up well to the pontoon, maybe a little bit dustier than when we’d left her, but that’s only to be expected close to the docks.

A day of boat jobs.

Eergh!

I chose to attack the shower sealant, the corners long gone black. This is a job I really do not like doing. Baths and showers in the house have been my nemesis through the years. But I was determined to get the job done, especially as Tilly wasn’t around and we wouldn’t be using the shower today.

I’d brought various tools with me. A window scraper, craft knife and a piece of wood with a blunt point to it. These all gradually worked to clear out the mangy sealant from the corners.

Meanwhile Mick did a firmware upgrade to the inverter. Hopefully he’ll still be able to remotely turn the inverter on and off. Time will tell.

Masked up

After some lunch I then set to masking off the areas that needed sealant. Originally the corners of the walls and where the shower screen met the tray had been sealed with translucent and the shower tray to the walls with white. I decided to change the tray to screen to white as even though the sealant had been okay here it had started to turn orange. White would be better.

I started with the translucent and that went on nicely. The white however had a slightly different quality to it, so it splurged a bit. I smoothed everything off doing my best to avoid making a mess then removed the masking tape.

All done

The sealant behind the galley sink had also seen better days so I’d dug this out, masked it and then applied sealant. This went on better and once the masking tape was removed I decided to smooth it off with my finger, so that it matched the rest of the galley. This worked a treat so I returned to the bathroom to smooth everything off there too. A skin had already started to form, but it was still suitably squidgy to get an okay finish to it. Infact this is possibly the best sealant job I’ve ever achieved, looks wise, time will tell if I’ve sealed it well enough.

Mick had attached a remote heat sensor to the boiler so that the thermostat wasn’t in the electrics cupboard. Our Aldi boiler can work off both gas and electric. Whilst we are hooked up it will work off the electric and Mick has set the thermostat to 9 C.

A second coat of Danish oil was applied to all the window frames, another job to do whilst Tilly isn’t about. One more left to do and that is a much bigger one, re-oiling the wooden floor. This may require an overnight stay, getting everything clean one day and oiled the next, leaving as I finish.

Everything left airing, including the sofa

Oleanna was given a quick check over. Everything winterised. All moisture traps were checked, cupboards and drawers left open, mattress and cushions left so that air can circulate and the sofa bad was opened up and left on it’s back. We don’t know when we’ll be back next due to lockdown, but if we happen to come back with Tilly she will have a field day!

Bye bye, hope to see you soon

It had long gone dark when we locked Oleanna’s back doors and climbed back into the car. A big shame not to be staying longer as originally planned, but we are glad we’ve been able to visit to check on her, run the engine and do some more jobs. She’ll be sat waiting for us to return when we can, hopefully in four weeks time, but we’ll wait and see how things go. It does mean I don’t have to rush to reline her curtains.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 hire cars, 1 cancelled, 2 train tickets un-cancellable, 5 doors, 3 rooms, 1 thermostat, 1 cat preferring the front, 2 bedside tables, 1 computer desk, 1 bored cat, 0 friends, 1 show missed, 1 week, 1 day, 2 sealants, 1 upgrade, 1 winter ready boat, 2 resigned disappointed boaters, 1 boat cat without her boat.

Where were we

2019 On the flooded River Thames to Isis Lock South Oxford Canal and Chippy Panto. LINK

2018 On the South Oxford Canal, Thrupp and Chippy Panto. LINK

2017 On the Trent and Mersey at Church Lawton, a day trip to Bowness. LINK

2016 On the Trent and Mersey, Marston Bridge to Billinge Green Flash. LINK

2015 On the River Trent, moored at Kings Marina. LINK

2014 On the Grand Union Leicester Section, Crick. LINK

Sensors and Catch Up 2/10 to10/10

Scarborough/ Goole

Seagull

It’s been a busy week for us here in Scarborough. A visit from a plumber gave us a more favourable quote than one we’d had a month or so ago. Then last weekend we heard from Darran (the plumber) that the job he should have been doing this week was delayed so he could fit us in. He arrived Tuesday morning and by the time he left that day the old boiler and tank had been removed and replaced with a combi.

The new boiler provides heat to half the house and hot water to a bathroom. That night we both partook of showers and sat on the sofa warm without having to have electric heaters on. The following day Darran finished the set up then ran through a list of other jobs, including two new toilet innards and several sticking taps.

A builder has been to look at damp we’ve got in a couple of places and we’ve had a chimney sweep so we can now have fires again.

Paint has been stripped from the rotting window sills to see to what extent they need replacing and Frank by the end of yesterday finished securing the first new piece of wood onto the first sill, along with realigning a set of bannisters and gluing a spindle back together. Hopefully the weather will be okay to do more next week along with changing the locks on the front doors now that we’ve managed to get the springs changed inside them and have new keys.

It’s just too noisy in there!

Tilly hasn’t been too pleased with people coming and going, making noise and her areas of the house reducing in size depending on where people were working.

Inspecting the bay tree

Her job title has changed a couple of times this week. On Oleanna she is the Second Mate, earlier this week she became Clark of Works and yesterday she decided on another job.

Her beautiful white paws no longer white!

As yet we’re not sure if she would like to be a chimney sweep or if she has ideas of being a feline Fred Dibner! Her route up the chimney has hopefully now been blocked successfully.

The kitchen and utility room are almost complete paint wise, just some undercoat and white gloss (hard to get hold of currently) to go and they can be ticked off the list. Just a shame that it looks like our kitchen floor will have to be dug up. Remedial work for damp a few years ago meant the builder, whilst digging up the kitchen floor put a nick into a gas pipe leading to the hob. This was spotted a year or so later and a new copper pipe was passed through the flexible stainless steel pipe. This works, but the two metals should not be together so will degrade, therefore it needs replacing. We’ll replace the gas hob with electric, but a suitable cable can’t go through the flexible pipe, hence the floor needs to be dug up! I am currently on the hunt for matching tiles.

He only needed two jelly beans

Mick got several parcels. One containing some jelly beans which meant he could move the internet up to the room we call the shed. Our internet still isn’t as good as on the boat and another issue has been raised with our provider as when you pick up the phone the internet cuts out.

Gardens! Gardens!!

Tilly has ventured outside a few times, but isn’t that impressed. If we hold her cat flap open she’ll go through it, but she hasn’t as yet mastered coming back in. I think we will still be custodians of the door in the house as well as on the boat. I think once we let her out the front of the house she will be more enthusiastic as she’s already spied all the trees in the park.

Eggs delivered with the milk once a week

Friday morning we were up early to receive a Sainsburys delivery before it was even light. Then Mick got a train down to Goole to visit Oleanna taking his tool kit on a bike.

Neighbour from last week gone

He gave Oleanna fresh oil and a new oil filter. Then he attached a couple of Temperature Sensors. One was attached to the batteries and the other end to the Victron system monitor. The other one was attached to the engine. This means we can monitor the temperatures remotely, either at the tiller or from further afield.

When Oleanna was built the control panel was housed behind a lockable panel which we requested. Because of this we ended up with a standard panel which doesn’t show the engine temperature, this is located just inside the hatch. Due to Tilly not being allowed up on deck whilst we cruise this means the back doors are always closed when we are on the move, so it’s not so easy to check the engine temperature. Mick can access the system monitor from his phone and see what the temperature is now.

Over the last three weeks Mick has been keeping an eye on the system monitor. He can remotely connect power from the hook up, but so far our solar panels have been looking after the batteries on their own. The new temperature sensor will enable Mick to see when the temperature of the batteries drops to 5C or less. Lithium batteries don’t like to be charged when the temperature is below 0C. So remotely he will be able to stop the solar from charging them. This morning their temperature was 7C. The big spike yesterday on the chart was when Mick ran the engine.

All fine until next time

All the doors were opened up to refresh the air inside the cabin and all was well onboard. Before we can return for a night I’ll need to sort the curtains for our bedroom. I may just take a pattern from them, give the old ones a wash and rehang them for the time being. But the curtains in the rest of the boat want new lining (thanks to Tilly!) and I’m aiming to make new curtains for the house, so it looks like I need to work out how much lining I’ll need and put a big order in.

The Cinder Track

Last Sunday the weather was fine so we decided to head to the North Bay to say hello to Freddie. Our route took us through Sainsbury’s car park and then along the cinder track, which used to be the railway line to Whitby. We then headed down towards Peasholm Park walking through Manor Road Cemetery, first bumping into an old friend Jim and then Jaye and Duncan.

The Cemetery is very atmospheric with little gardens, there is a memorial to civilians who died in the bombardment of Scarborough in December 1914. Every twist and turn brings more stories. Without really noticing it you leave the cemetery and enter Peasholm Park with it’s beck, Japanese Gardens and then boating Lake with pagoda looking down from above. Built in the 1910’s the park became the focus for fetes, galas etc and in 1927 the model Naval Warfare was introduced which you can still see today, although I’ve heard it I’ve never seen it.

We crossed the roundabout and walked down to what used to be called The Corner.

The North Bay watched over by the Castle

Here the footpath is nice and wide, despite being popular there is plenty of space. We walked round to say hello to Freddie, one of my favourite sculptures. This giant chap sits on a bench, in his coat smoking. The Ray Lonsdale sculpture depicts Freddie Gilroy one of the first soldiers to relieve the Bergen-Belson concentration camp at the end of WW2.

We followed Marine Drive round the headland, watching the waves. The seagulls waiting for unsuspecting visitors to drop their guard and loose their chips! A walk round the harbour would have been lovely, but it was far too busy so we side stepped away from the crowds onto Burr Bank, walking into town through the Old Town, waving to Alan and Heather as we passed their garden.

Tut tut

Hopefully this Sunday the sun will be out again, although I’m not sure we’ll venture far as one of my knees is seriously complaining about steps, climbing ladders and kneeling on the floor. Two days off decorating should help, I may even pick up my knitting needles again, something I’ve not had the inkling to do since early lockdown.

Views of the harbour

o locks, o miles, 2 trains, 9 litres oil, 2 sensors, 1 gravel barge, 1 parcel of yarn, 1 present for Tilly, 1 sill nearly mended, 1 spindle glued, 7 windows undercoated, 1 boiler, 1 chimney swept, 1 chimney climber, 1 MBE Congratulations Sarah! 1 brick laid, 1 patch of plaster required, 4 hidden knives found, 1 boater longing to walk the towpath with her cat, 1 bag of frozen peas.

Where were we

2019 On the Kennet and Avon Canal, All Cannings to Woolhall Bridge. LINK

2018 On the South Oxford Canal, Aristotle Bridge to Isis Lock. LINK

2017 On the Trent and Mersey, Taft Bridge to Lower Burston Bridge. LINK

2016 On the Leeds Liverpool, Bingley Five Rise to Holden Swing Bridge. LINK

2015 On the Nottingham Canal, Nottingham. LINK

2014 On the Shropshire Union Canal, Avenue Bridge to Little Onn. LINK

2011 On the Shropshire Union Canal, arriving in Chester on NB Winding Down. LINK

Frank Screws and Catch Up 20/9 to 1/10

Scarborough/Goole

Road works at Falsgrave traffic lights

Life in Scarborough has been busy. Reclaiming our big house is taking time, on the first day I managed to walk over a mile without leaving the front door, I suspect on Oleanna I’d have only managed a couple of hundred yards! Just moving from the cooker to the sink or fridge is several paces rather than just a turn. All the stairs are hard work for knees!

Why are we here?!

Our first week has been spent bringing down from the top floor only those things we need, which isn’t much. This is so that as I decorate the house there isn’t clutter that needs to be constantly moved from room to room. Hopefully as I work my way round we will have more than just a sofa to sit on.

Geraghty zoom from the living room

Having so much space means we can inhabit one side whilst I work on the other side, the only down side is that the boiler on the side we’re inhabiting doesn’t work and needs replacing. We’re waiting for quotes, but it looks like it won’t be until November until the work could be done, good job we’ve a 15 tog duvet on the bed!

Much of our furniture that we’d left in the house has gone through the years. Somethings needed replacing quickly, ie the washing machine and tumble drier so that we don’t have to go to Oleanna to do our washing! We’d leant our TV to some friends whilst we were away, so that was collected early on saving us from having to buy another. We also stocked up on toilet roll, 48 recycled rolls.

Good window shelves

Tilly is just starting to get used to there being SO much space, At least four Oleanna’s worth and then there is the upstairs upstairs inside that I’ve only had a sneaky peek at so far. There is still more for her to explore inside, at least it’s keeping her busy until we allow her to explore the new normal outside.

Over lockdown I loved getting a veg box in Nantwich, so I’d already sussed out where I’d be able to get one from in Scarborough. Tree Top Farm delivers organic veg to your door, so Wednesdays is veg box day. Red Kale and Marrow made a few very nice meals and the last of the swede and squash will go into a soup. So far we are managing to get Sainsburys deliveries and three times a week we wake to a fresh bottle of milk on the doorstep.

We are hoping to live without a car, hiring when one is needed, pretty much as we’ve done for six years. Time will tell if this works, the only downside being that we can’t be spontaneous and head to Oleanna without a bit of planning. I suspect the walk to B&Q will become a regular thing, although I have placed a large order with Dulux which gets delivered.

So far we’ve only seen one friend, Frank who came round for a cuppa and catch up almost as soon as we got back. Sitting out in the garden it felt like we’d never been away. Thank you Frank for the beans, tomatoes and apples. We’ve just about finished the beans, some apples went into a sticky toffee apple pudding, but there’s still plenty left for other things.

Just to keep the breakfast club happy

We’d like to see other friends, but so far we’ve been a touch busy and keeping ourselves to ourselves feels right as the local cases of Covid 19 increase. We were so busy that I got my days mixed up and we missed a trip to the Stephen Joseph Theatre to see The Lighthouse which had been booked for a few weeks!

A good sea breeze

Last Sunday the sun came back out after a few miserable days, so we made the most of it and walked over onto South Cliff, along the Esplanade, down to the sea where Holbeck Hall Hotel slipped into the North Sea back in 1993. Then we walked back to the valley along the sea front about an hour before high tide, the wind blowing, surfers surfing and the sea crashing against the sea wall by The Spa. We paused and waved to Duncan and Jaye as we passed their house, but nobody looked out the windows. We hope to get out at least once a week to be able to blow away the dust and cobwebs from the house.

Hello!

This week decorating has started. On days when the weather is favourable I aim to get as much of the outside repainted as I can, someone else will need to be employed to do the stuff up high. Two chaps turned up the other day to do some pointing, they’d actually got the wrong house and street, but they cleared our gutters for us there and then. They think they might be able to paint the gable end without scaffolding, so that would save us some money.

On cold and wet days there is plenty to keep me busy inside. Kitchen first, followed by the living room. If only it was as simple as getting the brushes out, so far there are five rotten window sills that need replacing and numerous sticking doors which have handles that fall off in your hand. This is all going to take time.

Holding on I hope!

The 1st of October was Tilly’s birthday. Her fifth birthday. She was hoping that this might mean she’d be able to go off and explore the trees in the park above our road but they will have to wait a few more days until her two weeks ‘House Arrest’ is finished.

There she is

So instead of spending the day with birthday girl we hired a car and headed to Goole. The sun was out, a good day to get some undercoat on the outside of the house, but an even better day to visit Oleanna to do some jobs.

Midland Chandlers had delivered a new 24volt automatic bilge pump along with fresh filters. Mick was wanting to change the oil so that Oleanna can sit over winter all fresh. Scarborough Halfords didn’t have enough, but Boyes in Goole did at a much better price. We also made use of the car by picking up several heavy things for mending a rather large hole that was put in the wrong chimney breast at the house, which currently is stopping us from lighting a fire!

Liberty our new view

Lisa my Instagram acquaintance had sent photos earlier this week showing that all was well at the marina. Oleanna’s ropes had slackened a touch and she has a couple of new neighbours, a small cruiser and Liberty a Dutch Barge we’d seen about the Aire and Calder recently.

It was good to be back on board. The hull rocking as we stepped on board. People ask us if we’ve got our land legs back, well that rocking feeling left us years ago, we kind of became ambidextrous with such things. Wonder if that will still be the case after being on land for a while?

Tools at the ready

Once we’d got everything powered up again Mick put on his overalls and lifted the engine board. I did a bit of chopping and frying, a chicken and swede soup to bubble away on the stove for our lunch, getting veg boxes means you have to keep on top of the supply so that nothing goes to waste.

Nearly gone. Frank!

Then I started on my job for the day. Curtain removal. The rods that hold our curtains up have plenty of screws that needed to come out. Some of the screws will need replacing as they have almost turned into Frank screws. So little head left that next time only Frank would be able to remove them for us. Last time we took them down we had a bit of difficulty putting them back up as the brackets although they look identical are not quite. This time as they came down, the brackets were taped onto the ends and each one was labelled.

What a state

The curtains need a good wash, but also some TLC. Tilly has a tendency to head behind the curtains head first and then do a tipple tail to turn round, her claws grabbing the lining as she goes. The lining has been suffering for some time. Do I replace the lining now or leave them a while longer, maybe just patching them up? I can’t decided. The bedroom curtains need a bit more than the lining replacing. I’ll use the old curtains as a pattern as I already have new fabric for them. Just a shame I forgot to take down the blinds on the bow doors that match. That will have to be a next time job.

Legs in the engine bay

It took a while for Mick to get the bilge pump operational, pipe attaching had been a touch problematic. Then there was the wiring in, the old 12 volt one had run off the starter battery, the new 24 volt one he wanted to run from the leisure batteries. The original pump hadn’t had a fuse, so a visit to the chandlers was needed. This all took longer than expected. It was decided to leave the oil change for another time.

New coat of Danish Oil

With all the curtains down I gave each window surround a good sanding back. A metal scraper would have been better to remove the old finish, but as I didn’t have one I could only sand back as best I could. Once everywhere was cleaned down I then applied a coat of Danish Oil.

Tilly Too heading off for a wash with the curtains

Most frames came up well, but the occasional water stain despite looking identical to the others decided to darken with the oil. These patches will require a bit more attention. Oxalic acid can be used to bleach out the oxidisation of the wood, but also you can try Bar Keepers Friend, here’s a handy link. Sadly my stains didn’t show themselves before I started so they now have a coat of Danish Oil on top of them. So they will have to wait for another time. Another time when Tilly is not around.

With most of the wood looking better it was time to head back to Scarborough. Mick will return by train to do the oil change and to fit some temperature sensors in the engine bay (when they arrive). We picked up a few bits we’d noticed we could do with at the house, Micks waterproof coat and a couple of cereal bowls, as living with three was getting annoying.

Plenty of tractors about

Then back over the Wolds, such a pretty drive with no motorways. The farmers were busy in the fields, the earth being turned over ready for the next crop to go in. Pheasants and deer showing themselves in the grass verges.

I can’t sit still for my photo!

Back in Scarborough Tilly was waiting for us and we spent the evening celebrating her birthday. She has a new mouse on a stick which kept her amused for ages and 40 meters of sisal string to restring her scratch post, what a lucky girl.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car, 7 windows sanded, 7 windows oiled, 5 pairs of curtains down for tlc, 24 volt bilge pump, 2 big bowls of soup, 0.5 mission complete, 1 sunny day not to be cruising, 40 meters 6mm 3 ply sisal string, 5 years old today (ish) or 36 in cat years, 1 boating blogger trying to wean herself off taking photos of Everything!

Where were we

2019 On the Kennet and Avon Canal, I was near Plymouth painting Panto LINK

2018 On the South Oxford Canal, Allen’s Lock to Dashwood Lock LINK

2017 On the Trent and Mersey Canal, Red Bull. LINK

2016 On the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal, Victoria Quay to Mexborough LINK

2015 On the Erewash Canal, Sandiacre to Langley Mill. LINK

2014 Trent and Mersey to Staffs and Worcester Canals, Stone to Tixall Wide. LINK

Spaghetti Western. 16th September

Nearish No 4 Swing Bridge

You could tell the wind direction had changed this morning. Last night we went to bed in the warmth left from the day, this morning the temperature had dropped by at least 10 degrees, the north easterly bringing with it the need for jumpers and long trousers.

A check on the possibility of rain during the day, which was slight meant I hoped to be able to get a top coat on the stern. Mick also wanted time in the engine bay, so after breakfast he got to lift the engine boards for a while as I tinkered with other things.

Contemplating

Our bilge pump is meant to be automatic and should go off if the water level rises. For ages it has gone off every couple of minutes for a second or two, no matter what the water level is in the bilge under the stern gland. Mick suspects that the sensor is clogged with grease, so he disconnected it from being automatic to being a manual on off switch months ago. This morning he had a go at cleaning the pump, but not knowing where the sensor is doesn’t help. A new one will need to be purchased. A width of pipe was noted to aid buying the correct one.

The pipe’s that wide. 19mm

With him out of the way and the front doors open for Tilly to come and go I got the stern to myself. A rub down of undercoat and surrounding areas then a wipe down.

I checked on the quantity of black Epifanes paint that I use for the gunnels. If I had enough the stern counter would be painted in this, if not the whole area would be painted blue. This is how she was originally painted, blue then with a coat of black over the top. This was for ease of touch up! Well that worked didn’t it! Too busy boating is my excuse.

Sanded down ready

The tin of black paint last year was replaced by tupperware. The seal had gone/been too strong which necessitated so much leverage to get the tin open it would no longer close with a good seal. In hindsight this wasn’t the best method of storage as the outside of the paint sets, leaving a giant blister of paint, at least there was still liquid inside.

Lovely again

The blue coach paint went on like a dream, just a shame I couldn’t lean over quite far enough and missed a little bit on the underside of the rubbing strake. I did my best to leave a clean cut edge where the blue would meet the black.

Ready for the black

The black paint needed a touch thinning, so I added a glug of Owatrol to the roller tray to aid it’s flow. Edges cut in first then the central area rollered. Job done, at last! Yes I could apply a second coat of black, but todays temperatures were not suitable for the paint to have gone off sufficiently. This can be a touch up coat come the spring instead.

At long last

Now all there was left to do was keep Tilly off the wet paint for the rest of the day.

We decided to go for a walk. I changed out of painty clothes and Tilly and I first headed that way. Today the shooting range has been active again. The last two days has been silent round here, but today the echo that has followed every shot is as though we are in a 1960’s western. If you follow this link to the Colt 1851 Navy, Fire 3 ,we’ve been waiting for Clint to ride by.

Time to get out of the painty clothes

We followed the path in the grass up to a gate, here is where I decided it would be good to turn around quite a distance from Oleanna who was out of sight. Tilly was quite happily trotting further along the path that went off to the side, ignoring my calls to turn back. Well She’s the one who wanted to go for a walk!

Eventually she twigged that I wasn’t going any further, so she shouted for me, a slight panic in her meow. She then launched herself over the friendly cover to find where I was and came dashing with tail bushed right out. Our progress back was slower, well I needed to pay a call! Once this was done it was loony running back to the boat.

I can see it from here!

I pushed on further in the opposite direction, a now slightly puffed Tilly still following. It must be hard work down there with all the long grass. We reached where I think the kingfisher hangs out. This was confirmed as it didn’t like Tilly being about, so we retreated to leave it in peace.

The cooler weather meant the stove got lit and that we didn’t have to fend off quite so many midges this evening, just as well as we both have getting on for 20 new bites each. Is it that this year we are that bit more tasty? Is this the week for all the female midges to come out and get their hit of blood before laying eggs and we’ve missed it for the last six years? Are we just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Has the lack of pollution earlier this year increased their numbers? What ever the reason, we don’t like it.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 grey chilly day, 1 bilge pump needing replacement, 1 coat blue, 1 blister popped, 1 coat black, 1 stern almost as good as new, 3, 1 hour proof reading, 2 white items, 857 peeeeows! 1 reluctant cat, 1km walk, 1 comfort break, 2 jacket potatoes cooked in the stove, yum.

Red Hand Gang. 15th September

Nearish No 4 Swing Bridge

Another hot day. A layer of dew clung to everything this morning so whilst we had breakfast I hoped that all the woodwork I’d worked on yesterday would dry off so that I could apply a second coat of woodskin.

Don’t stand on the dew

Meanwhile Tilly was given another 9 hours of shore leave, the first part of which was spent inspecting my work from yesterday, I so hoped that everything had dried fully!

A quick wipe down to remove any stubborn drops of water and any unfortunate insects that happened to have landed yesterday whilst things were still sticky. Luckily this didn’t include Tilly, although there did seem to be a paw print visible on the locker lids as I started to wizz on the second coat. Locker lids and the wood at the stern were done first before the cratch so that hopefully by the end of the day they could be brought back on board.

Soaking up

Meanwhile Mick popped on his boiler suit and climbed down into the engine bay. The water and anti-freeze from the leak the other day needed cleaning up. He first pumped out into a bucket. Then what? There was quite a lot of it. In the past we’ve found it hard to dispose of old coolant/antifreeze, some council tips you have to make an appointment to dispose of such things. Nappies were used to soak up the liquid and gradually bin bags were filled with them. We now have three black bags of nappies awaiting disposal, one nappy left and still some liquid in the sump below the engine.

Second coat drying

I decided to revisit the red paint that I’d touched up whilst in Naburn a few weeks ago. The horrible red paint that had dried almost instantaneously as soon as I’d got any on my brush!

Red

I masked off the areas and gave them a sand down. The dust produced quickly clogged the sandpaper and clung to my hands, little left on the surface to clean off. One small patch on the starboard side got a sand down too, this didn’t receive the horrid red paint before as it was on the offside in Naburn. Today though I braved the offside gunnel. The cabin side being dark blue had spent the morning absorbing the sunshine and blimey it was HOT, almost burning my leg as I lent against it.

The wrong red

After lunch, the last of the treat cheese being consumed, I mixed up the wrong red paint on purpose. This is the red I had mixed to the RAL number in Oleanna’s bible. Last year when at Finesse the painter confirmed my suspicions saying that it was a different red than that had been used, a touch darker. But this wrong red flows properly and doesn’t go off within seconds of opening the tin.

Our grab rail is very faded now and will want a repaint next year, so making it a touch of a patchwork right now to protect it this winter is fine in my mind, just so long as we can take time out from boating when the weather is good enough to do the job properly in the spring and maybe after a trip through Standedge Tunnel.

Before

The paint went on like a dream, luckily the rail not too hot for the lengths I was painting. The sunlight on the smooth finish picking out the blemishes I’d not spent enough time on! Oh well, it’s better protected now.

As I stood on the offside again, toasting my legs, I heard a high pitched cheep. Then flying past at speed low to the water a Kingfisher it’s latest catch still in it’s mouth. Oh to have a motion sensor camera set up, it was quite a sight.

After

Tilly took a bit of persuading to come in, she was found about to pounce at the far end of the open towpath. The pounce proved fruitless so she followed me back to Oleanna for dingding. This now meant I could get some undercoat on the stern, the primer/filler sanded down once Mick had finished in the engine bay. As I applied the paint, two fishermen packed up a short distance behind us, only for our local Kingfisher to dive in in front of them to retrieve a fish.

You can’t see me!

We’d just settled down to watch Des, the dramatisation of Dennis Nilsen a serial killer played by David Tennant, when Mick checked the weather. It was due to rain. Time to lift everything in off the towpath carefully. Mick tip toed around the wet undercoat on the stern to bring the locker lids back in whilst I carefully, in the dark, poppered back on the cratch cover. I’d have preferred it to have another night drying off, but it was better to get everything covered up again. We then sat and listened to the rain whilst we swatted this evenings blood thirsty midges!

0 locks, 0 miles, 2nd coat, 3 buckets! 25 nappies! still more to soak up, 2nd coat, 2 red hands, 1 nice coat, 1 undercoat, 1 hour homework, 2 kingfishers, 1st episode, 4, 10 new bites each, 2 rain showers, 24 items on the new list of jobs.

THE Slowest. 13th September

The Shooting Range to Pollington Visitor Moorings

Mr Blue Sky heading towards Knottingley

Boats started coming past as we had our morning cuppa in bed with the Saturday newspaper. The second one deserved a photo, NB Mr Blue Sky, I just managed to get a picture as they disappeared out of view. This was the boat we’d shared the Rochdale locks into Manchester with last year, but the crew would have no idea who we were, Clare and Graeme being from New Zealand and most definitely not on board today. We waved anyway.

Gun fire started at 9am, we intended to move once breakfast had been consumed, no shore leave for Tilly this morning.

Covers rolled up and chains extricated from around the beam on the bank we were just about to push off when an alarm sounded! Hang on! The engine was over heating, after only about ten minutes. This is what had happened on the Thames last year when Mick and Paul (Waterway Routes) were moving Oleanna from the Kennet and Avon back onto the Oxford Canal. At least this time there was no need to deploy the anchor.

Engine off, ropes passed round the beam, time to open up the engine bay to see what was happening.

Topping up with water

The filler cap of the header tank was removed, the level in the tank was low, the temperature reading just below 100 when it normally sits at 80. Two plastic milk bottles were retrieved from the recycling and filled up, 8 pints of water required to be able to see the level again, a good glug of antifreeze was also added. Engine turned on, temperature back down.

The join below the white tape was loose

Before the engine board was lowered Mick checked the pipe that connects to the calorifier. Last time this happened an RCR chap found this to be very loose, tightened it up thinking that the problem was solved. Well on that occasion it wasn’t the main problem. Today spanners came out from the tool box and did the tightening, hopefully this time we’ll not have a load of gunk in the tank. Mick is considering having a proper look over winter, drain the system down to check that the problem from last year hasn’t recurred. At least this time we’re not trying to punch upstream against rising waters.

Winding

We pushed off winding a short distance ahead where the canal is a few feet wider. Several boats had come past that we knew had been moored at Pollington yesterday so we were likely to find space for ourselves.

Maybe there’s a match on

Sure enough there was plenty of room, only one boat left and another at the water point topping up their tank. We took the end mooring nearest the tap and Mick took our hose across to stake our claim as being next. The couple sat by the tap hoped we weren’t in a rush as it was a very slow tap. No problem.

Definitely a match

They had a dog, so despite Tilly thinking it was her right to strut her stuff on the towpath she was kept in. The washing machine was set going, a breeze and sunshine the perfect day to dry washing. We waited for the tap and waited.

Ribblesdale Blue Goats Cheese and Garlic Yarg, yum!

Lunchtime we were now wondering if the boat ahead were actually filling as we’d been here for over an hour already. We had lunch, time for that treat cheese to help while away the time. Eventually they disconnected their hose and pushed off. Our second hose was needed to reach the tap from our mooring and as Mick turned the tap the flow was completely underwhelming. Those who complain about the tap at Hillmorton have seen nothing! The trickle took around two hours to fill our tank, good job we weren’t aiming to go anywhere else today.

Yummy cheese

Tilly headed straight off to the drain that runs alongide the moorings. In the past she has ended up on the wrong side of this and had difficulty in returning, necessitating the mad cat woman walking all the way up to the swing bridge to find a suitable crossing place, which earlier in the day had been full of dogs! Luckily today this course of action was not required.

Time to do some jobs. The bubbles of paint on the stern, which I’d started to sort last year, then re-fertaned when we were near Saltaire, needed another scrape and more fertan applying. This time I’m determined to get further with it, but having a freshly painted stern means you can’t cruise anywhere and you have to be careful of white paws treading in the sticky paint.

I must get further than just priming it this time!

Next I had a go at polishing out some scratches on the cabin side. At a troublesome swing bridge on the Leeds Liverpool in the wind Oleanna had got caught against some branches, which left a good mark. Blue scratch cover has helped a little, but it is still visible.

Next the blue paint came out. The tin needing a good stir. I always like the first few turns of a stick bringing the pigment up to the top and the swirls it makes, just a shame it then takes ten times longer to be convinced that pigment is evenly distributed through the medium. A few chips of paint were touched in where there was still the underlying coats of paint visible. A couple of bad ones on the bow.

Boats came and went as the afternoon got wonderfully warm, not a cloud in the sky.

Just starting to set

The stern deck was rinsed off with the hope of getting a coat of primer on once Tilly had returned, very late in the day for paint, but hopefully it would be alright.

Despite there being quite a breeze we decided to go ahead with having a barbecue. Whilst in Doncaster we’d popped into the fish market and bought a couple of very generous salmon steaks. A comment on the blog from Marilyn a few days ago regarding the quantity of ginger we’d received and what I could use it for encouraged me to have a go.

Salmon, ginger, garlic, lemon juice and soy sauce

Each Salmon steak was laid on some foil, a thumbs worth of ginger and a small clove of garlic were grated over them, a light sprinkle of sugar, a glug of soy sauce and a small one of lemon juice. They were then wrapped up and left waiting to be cooked.

Sweetcorn for starters, then the salmon and some veg and haloumi kebabs. Our restaurant grade charcoal still pumping out plenty of heat long after everything was cooked and consumed. The sun gently going down behind the swing bridge below the lock.

A lovely evening only slightly marred by the midges arriving, so we beat a hasty retreat indoors and closed all the windows.

Ahh

Verdict on the salmon. Very very tasty. Thank you Marilyn for the inspiration, this will definitely be added to the repertoire.

0 locks, 1.37 miles, 1 wind, 8 pints, 1 tightened joint, 2 hours to fill, 18 fishermen, 2 loads washing, 1 stern scraped, sanded , fertaned, primed, 4 scrapes, 2 chips, 2 very tasty chunky salmon steaks, 2 corn on the cobs, 4 veg haloumi kebabs, 1 stunning evening, 6, 1 pooped cat, 0.5 internet coverage.

https://goo.gl/maps/MKTH9romXNbRs65H6