Category Archives: Boat Yards

Preparation Is The Key. 20th April

Goole

We didn’t quite manage to leave the house at 8.30am, but soon after with another boot load of things including a set of steps. Goole Boathouse will be blacking Oleanna for us, but I’m going to be doing above the top rubbing strake on the gunnels and refreshing the tunnel bands whilst she is out of the water.

The chaps had started to abrade patches where the blacking was flaking. We headed into the office for a catch up. Whilst cleaning Oleanna off for blacking they had been surprised at the amount of the previous layer that had been coming off her, certainly the area on the swim looked like it hadn’t been prepared properly.

Boats tend to be grit blasted after construction to get rid of mill scale which happens when the steel is rolled at the steel mill. This then gives a good key for the 2 pack blacking to stick to. It looked like either she hadn’t been grit blasted or a layer of grease had been left on her in places.

We talked through solutions. Not everywhere was flaking, some of the original layers had stuck as they should.

The best course of action would be to get her grit blasted and start again, but they don’t offer that service in Goole. For this we’d have to go elsewhere. We’d thought about using bitumen to give her a coat of something, then finding a boat yard for this time next year to get her sorted. But this was seen as a step backwards, even if we’ll end up getting her grit blasted next time she comes out of the water.

In the end we decided to carry on with the chaps removing as much of the loose layer as possible and then 2 packing over the top. She won’t look as good as she should but will have the best protection she can get right now. We’ll think about when and what to do over the next few months.

Time to get going on the gunnels. Dungarees on, tools at the ready.

We’d brought along our cordless drill and attached what I call the attachment of doom. One of these worked wonders on Lillian’s roof years ago, I was wanting to get back to the steel where rusty patches were. However our drill batteries are seriously on the way out, so after ten minutes the drill didn’t have enough umph anymore.

Angle grinder of Oblivion and my Boaters PPE gloves

I was loaned an angle grinder with an attachment of Oblivion! A disc with a thick wire brush, this worked a treat. I was warned of the dangers by one chap, then the other suggested I should wear gloves. As I’d really rather not loose any more digits Mick hunted round for my Boaters PPE gloves which have leather fingers.

Now power tools are made for male hands, heavy and bulky. So two hands were needed at all times. I worked my way round attacking any rust spots getting them back to shiny steel. The chaps (I’ll try getting their names tomorrow) worked from bow to stern with the first coat of 2 pack. Once the catalyst is added there is an hour and a half in which you can use it before it goes off, so no stopping. I did feel a touch bad as their lovely coat of black then got covered in dust.

Then followed a little break, blimey my shoulders were aching. Time for lunch before starting with the orbital sander. The gunnels and tunnel bands got a good sanding back, I was glad I’d overestimated the number of sanding sheets I’d be needing only ending up using half of them.

Next a wash down before some fertan was applied to the areas I’d attacked the most. A misting of water back over the top of them to help the fertan do it’s job in killing off any remaining rust. My job list for the day was complete. It may take my hands, arms and shoulders a while to recover though!

Whilst I was busy working and topping up my vitamin D Mick was busy inside. He’s been wondering for a while why the Alde boiler doesn’t show up on any of the Victron statistics. It is of course a gas boiler, but when we’re hooked up it can work off the electric. So far we’ve had to be careful with what else we use at the same time. The electric kettle necessitates the boiler to be off. Mick had a good look round in the electrics cupboard and thinks that if the boiler was wired in a different way he’d be able to keep an eye on things better.

He checked in the cabin bilges by moving the fridge out. All was lovely and dry down there. The front step where the water pump lives was also checked, also dry. He pumped the accumulator up.

A mission to find a 20 litre container with a lid is on going. Before we head out onto tidal waters, Mick is wanting to check on the anti-freeze problem we had when on the Thames two years ago. A load of clinker/stuff clogged up cooling system and we don’t want this to happen again. If the coolant is okay it would be nice to be able to put it back into the system, saving replacing it and also the problem of disposing of it.

With the freezer having been empty for months the drawer has got stuck. Last time a few biffs on the back of the drawer (accessible from under the dinette seating) got it freed up. But this time it was being stubborn. More time is required for this along with a better solution to the problem of condensation.

He also had a chat with the chap from Goole Boathouse regarding Trent Falls. Choosing the right day and weather is the key. He would anchor rather than beach a narrowboat as when the flood comes in a wave can build up against your boat if you are beached. If anchored you still need to be ready to lift it and be on your way. A new copy of the Boating Association charts was purchased which means we now have charts from Naburn all the way to Cromwell.

A good day with lots of jobs ticked off the list. Loads more for tomorrow!

With regards to the scrapyard fire, there was still smoke coming off the site today, white and far far less than yesterday. Wonder how long it will be before it is fully out?

0 locks, 0 miles, 1st coat, 2 pack, 2 gunnels prepped in 1 day, 1 attachment of doom, 1 attachment of oblivion, 1/3rd sheet sander, 2 numb hands, 2 aching shoulders, 1 pooped Pip, 20 litre container needed, 1 obstinate freezer, 1 lonely Tilly.

PS For those who get the blog by email, are the photos appearing normally? Or only partially and in a line? Please let me know.

High And Drying. 19th April

Goole

The view wasn’t so good this morning. There were two things missing, one the view the other Tilly! Outside it was foggy, or was it smoky?

We both made comments along the lies of being glad we wouldn’t be heading out onto the Tidal Ouse this morning due to the fog, today being the first day leisure boaters could book passage through Ocean Lock. Yesterday we’d pulled out the relevant Nicholsons guide which apparently has good navigation notes about Trent Falls. The other book that was sought out was our Ripon Motor Boat Club “Cruising Guide to the North East Waterways”, this has a wealth of information in it.

Todays breakfast was a meagre one of just toast and spread, maybe we should have tried one of the jars of jam we threw out yesterday! First job, empty the wee tank, yes we could have used shore based facilities, but that’s not so good in the middle of the night.

Time to untie Oleanna, a slightly simpler job than the last time we’d done this, then we backed away from our mooring, me pushing the bow out to help start the turn. Several people were about, asking if we were heading far.

Our pootle wasn’t a long one, we came out of Viking Marina, turned left, then right at the nesting swan into Goole Boathouse Marina and then right down the last arm towards the slipway.

Looking over the Dutch River we could still see flashing lights of fire engines, one hose and white smoke rising from the scrapyard. There was a slight smell in the air too. I think we’d been lucky last night to miss the smoke.

Oleanna trod water whilst last weeks boat was hitched up to the tractor and gradually pushed backwards towards the slipway. All air vents into the engine bay were covered with tape and then the boat was eased back into the water. Blimey the stern only just staying above the water before she started to float off the trailer.

Once the boat was clear it was our turn. Mick brought Oleanna in towards the slipway. We are quite deep drafted and the level in the docks was quite good, but not as high as it can be, so we soon ground to a bit of a halt.

With us and ropes off of her we pulled her back to allow the trailer to be brought in to meet her. Vents and exhaust taped and bunged up, we then pulled her as far forward as she would go. She was pushed over to meet up with the side guards on the trailer and eventually pulled out. Mick says her back deck did dip under a touch, I’m glad I wasn’t at that end to see it. Just glad we weren’t going flying on a crane, because that is scary!

Once out and on dry land a prop was popped under the stern as she was overhanging the trailer somewhat. Time for a look round to see what over 4000 miles, 2500 locks since brand new had done to our two pack and how well the anodes were holding up.

Well on first look all seemed good. The anodes still have a couple of years left in them, it was hard to tell how the hull was doing with all the gunge on it. The chaps set to work with the pressure washer and a big scraper, knocking off a few hitchhikers in the process.

As they worked their way round the verdict was that she was in good nick, a little surface rust in parts. Then on one section of the swim the blacking came off leaving it almost bare steel, Hmmm? They didn’t seem too bothered by it.

We decided that as Oleanna is not likely to come out of the water for another four years it would be worth getting new anodes welded on. Here at Goole Boathouse if you buy them from them they fit them for free, so for just over £100 it’s worth doing them earlier. Cheaper than getting her out of the water just for that job.

Whilst Mick walked back round to Viking for the car I had a walk up to Goole Caisson. The Waterways Museum that closed a while ago now seems to have been take over by an auction house. Such a shame.

Up at the caisson the lights are still red, nothing much has changed there. Reports of it going to be opened have not as yet come true.

With Mick back we walked up towards the service block where several boats have been moored since what feels like forever! One of these is owned by David who set up the Goole Escape group on facebook. Time to introduce ourselves.

It was good to meet up and compare notes. I think David’s calm attitude with ABP has helped a great deal. Tides look good in a few weeks time, which way were we planning to go when the time came.

David has been round Trent Falls several times so was able to offer us some advice. With ABP penning boats out an hour before high tide this means that if you headed for Trent Falls you’d be pushing the tide for an hour and then have a long wait before the tide comes back in again. So David and Karl plan to actually carry on up stream with the tide to Selby. Then when there is a suitable tide they would leave Selby and head downstream to Trent Falls, have a shorter wait for the tide to come in and then head up the River Trent to Keadby Lock. Doing it this way means doing the trip is likely to be easier and boats wouldn’t be restricted to when ABP let you out. We may well follow suit, plus it means cruising on the part of the River Ouse we’d otherwise not have been on.

Oleanna’s nose, which didn’t go red this year

A few more things went in the car and we headed for home. Driving down the long road alongside the Dutch River we could still see smoke rising from the scrap yard. A fire engine sat close by and a TV camera pointed at a fireman. Sadly our waving wouldn’t make prime time tv as the camera faced away from us.

Mick said we’d have a bit of a bump when we got to the end of the road and he certainly was right. The fire service had been drawing water from the docks last night and this morning. Around ten tenders had attended, and numerous hoses had been joined together to reach the blaze. So our hire car had to hoik itself over the fat hose to get out.

Back at home we were told off by Tilly. Her food bowl empty and she was insisting that her new dingding time was midday and we were late! The afternoon filled itself with jobs. Wallpaper was patched up in a bathroom, one colour added to my panto model and the boat dinette cushion covers went in the washing machine. Hopefully these will be okay as the fabric said dry clean only, fingers crossed they still fit the cushions when returned to the boat!

0 locks, 0.19 miles, 1st trip this year! 1 left, 2 rights, 1 trip computer, 2 slices toast, 1 nesting swan, 1 boat out of water, 1 jet wash, 4 anodes, 1 mile walk, 1 full car, 1 escape plan, 1 bathroom ready for paint, 1 mardy cat.

Here’s one I Poohed In Yesterday. 24th November

Caution This Is A Toilet Post!

Thrupp

Today we have been on a bus trip. The S4 picked us up from Thrupp Turn, a short walk away, winding it’s way around villagers taking us to Banbury. I picked up a parcel from the Post Office, more wool and handed over another with finished woolly things inside. M&S supplied us with lunch before we headed to Tooleys Boatyard.

Kate Saffin and Colin Ives were running a workshop on composting toilets this afternoon. Recently on a facebook group Composting Toilets for Boats and Off-Grid Living Mick had made a comment about the installation of our set up. We have a Separett Villa which doesn’t come with a collection tank for your yellow water, we had one built in under the floor and have a pump to empty it. Kate asked if Mick could write something to add to the files on the groups page and then invited us to join in at the workshop. As it was a free event we decided to go along and see if we could learn anymore about waterless toilets.

Kate Saffin (Alarum Theatre Company and doyen of waterless toilets) talked everyone through the basics of how a composting toilet works. The name ‘Composting Toilet’ is a bit of a misnomer. In the early days of boaters buying into this type of toilet the companies selling them suggested that the contents would compost, some saying within 6 weeks, the contents of the solids buckets could then be used as compost. This was never the case. If you are a vegan your deposits might be composted down after 4-6 months, a meat eater 12 months. No matter what diet you have all the bugs in the solids will have died off within 100 days.

We were talked through the differing types of waterless toilets, how people tend to use them. Kate had brought with her her three buckets. A single lady living on her own she tends to have a bucket in use, one stored away doing its secondary composting and a third either empty waiting to be used or fully composted down ready to be returned to the earth. Today she showed us a new bucket which she was preparing for use (wood cat litter pellets are her preferred base layer), a bucket that had been on her roof doing it’s stuff about eight months old and her third bucket which she had finished using yesterday. My out of focus photo is of her 8 month bucket and the one she’d been using for the last four months. The photo isn’t out of focus due to aroma as there was absolutely none.

Conversations were had about what cover to use in your buckets, whether to leave toilet paper in the mix, any concerns about being on medication, just about every question you could possibly think of was covered by the workshop.

Colin of Kildwick and The Little House Company started about four years ago, building himself and family a composting toilet to use on their boat. A family of four quickly filled up their cassette toilet and walking up a steep hill to the elsan was becoming a very regular thing. Colin designed and built his first toilet and then looked at how to improve it with a better separator etc. Other boaters asked if he’d make them one too. Over the years Kildwick has expanded and now they have difficulty keeping up with the demand. The Little House Company are now the UK stockists for Separett Toilets.

There were several of Colin’s toilets to have a look at, including one with, what has become known as, a glitter shitter. This is a separator that is glittered and has become very popular. I think that if we’d been aware of Kildwick when Oleanna was being built we’d most probably have gone with one of their toilets. Having said that we are very happy with our toilet and would never go back to a pump out. Having been in a house for almost a month doing panto, I was appalled at the amount of water being wasted every time I flushed.

We were already converts and our approach is very standard. However we seem to fill our solids bucket a little bit too quickly. Colin and Kate recon that we might be using a bit too much cover material, so we will try a bit less in future. We’d also been wanting to see options that people use for the secondary composting stage on boats. If we had a home mooring we’d be able to carry on the composting process on land, but we don’t. We came away with a few more ideas which need thinking about a touch more before we go for it. A very interesting afternoon.

By the time we got back to the boat we wanted something to eat so headed over to The Boat. The menu seemed to have changed since we last visited, but the chips were still not as good as they could be and most of our food wasn’t that hot. I say most, as my BBQ chicken bacon and cheese pot was bubbling away, but our peas were decidedly cold. Next time we’re in Thrupp we’ll try the Jolly Boatman instead.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 buses, 2 parcels exchanged, 3 balls of yarn, 2 jacket potatoes, 2 cups of tea, 1st visit to Tooleys, 2 poo experts, 3 toilets, 3 buckets, 8 months old pooh, 4 months old pooh, yesterdays pooh, 1 glitter shitter, 1 gammon, 1 cheese pot, 1 pint, 1 glass wine, 1 very very very very bored cat!

A Change Of Roof. 18th October

Brinklow Marina, North Oxford to Lock 7 Long Buckby, Grand Union

Today we’ve had a change of boat. This one currently has a bright blue roof and was built around 1995.

Becca and Sam bought their boat last summer along with her mooring at Three Mills in London. They lived on board hooked up until spring this year when they decided it was time to get some work done to her. Both of them are originally from the Sheffield area and ended up asking Jonathan Wilson (builder of Oleanna’s shell) who they should use to carry out the works in the south of England. His suggestion was Brinklow Boat Services who have spent much of the summer working on her on and off. Becca and Sam have spent most of this time sofa surfing around friends and family, but yesterday they picked their home up and moved back on board.

We’d last seen them in the summer at a wedding in Scarborough, got talking about our boats and discovered that they were planning on cruising her back to their London mooring, having done virtually no boating before. Naturally we offered to lend a hand and show them the ropes if we were still in the area. Reaching Banbury yesterday meant that we could catch an early train over to Rugby with a plan of meeting them at the moorings near Tesco. However they’d been held up leaving, but had managed to make it to near Brinklow Marina in the dark.

Excuse me!

A taxi ride got us to the marina gates where Becca met us, then a short walk down the towpath to their boat and Sam. They’ve had all sorts of work done, new floor as the old one was rotten, the batteries had corroded away the battery tray, the galley and bathroom have had lots done to them and they have a new Squirrel stove with a back boiler. We were slightly jealous of the boiler as we’d wanted one, but it proved problematic with the gas boiler that we’d specked on the same system. The copper pipes look lovely running through the boat to several radiators giving out heat. They’ve matched the galley and bathroom sink taps with the copper pipes and their pull out larder unit at the end of the galley is a great idea. All the cupboards have leather straps rather than knobs or handles. It’s going to be a lovely boat when all the work is finished and they’ve re-varnished and painted the interior. Next summer Becca plans on painting the cabin sides too.

Hello!!

Once we’d had a quick look round it was time to fire up the engine and set off, hoping to get through Braunston Tunnel and down the first lock of the Buckby flight before nightfall. The engine took a bit of stirring, but then kept going all day, grumbling at certain revs. I suspect after they have spent the next ten days cruising they’ll be jealous of our hospital silencer.

Sam took the helm and Mick gave guidance whilst Becca continued to unpack inside. Yesterday Sam’s Dad (Roger) had been on hand at the helm and helped them out of the marina. Today we hoped we’d be able to leave them more confident with cruising and handling locks. Progress was slow to start with, but as Sam grew accustomed to the helm the engine was pushed up a bit and our progress increased. It took over an hour to reach where we’d originally hoped to meet them near to Tescos. Passing through Newbold Tunnel gave us the chance to see what their tunnel light was like, not bad, but a bit of a pain to have to go to the front of the boat to turn it on.

Hello! Remember me!!

Their stocks of gas were low so when we saw NB Callisto we slowed to see if he’d sell them a new bottle. The gas he had was all spoken for so that would have to wait for tomorrow. The new bridge outside Rugby has come on since we came through. A concrete wall stands on one side of the cut and the reinforcement stands waiting on the other. At Clifton Cruisers Sam negotiated his way around the hire boats as we noticed NB No Problem in the shed. In the strong winds a few weeks ago a large tree fell onto NB No Problem and caused a lot of damage, luckily nobody was injured. We could see a welder busy inside the shed and it looked like a lot of work was happening to the cabin sides.

I’m still here, I’m quiet without my collar.

Approaching Hillmorton Locks a Lockie set one of the locks for us and as Sam brought the boat into the lock Becca and I hopped off. These three locks would be the only narrow locks they’d come across on their cruise, quite handy as an introduction being lighter than the broad locks they would live with for the next ten days. A work boat came up the lock next door and the lady was very keen to give us a hand, but when I explained that these were their first locks of many she held back and left us to it. This did give them the chance to get ahead of us.

Hello, my bowl got empty far quicker than normal!

In the next lengthy pound we had some food whilst cruising along. No time to stop we had miles to cover to get to do one down hill lock with them.

Straight on at Braunston Turn but no sign of another boat to share the locks with.

This was quite handy really as at this time of year they are quite likely to have to do the locks on their own and more importantly we could take our time to explain things to them and try to impart as much knowledge as we could whilst doing the flight.

By the time we were three locks up Mick left Sam on his own at the helm and walked ahead to set the next locks. A boat was coming down so the boats had to pass in the next pound, Sam managed to hold his course and hovered without feeling the need to tie up and wait. By the top lock Becca was getting the hang of doing everything in the right order and safely.

The stove went out ages ago!

Tunnel light on, chimney removed, and a handy light the boat yard had left onboard was popped onto the hatch for extra light at the stern. Sam still at the helm was about to do Braunston Tunnel, our least favourite on the network. We had the tunnel to ourselves, no one coming towards us, Sam held his line well, not one bump. By the time they reach Islington Tunnel, which is one way traffic, they will be more confident and hopefully they won’t do too much preparation for repainting the grabrails.

It’s getting past my dingding time.

Becca took over at the helm and cruised us to Norton Junction and then the top of the Buckby Flight. The sun was sinking fast now, we decided it was still worth doing the top lock, so that we’d at least taken them through one downhill. So long as you keep away from the cill and don’t get caught on the bottom gates, going down hill is easier, far less instruction was needed. Sam and I worked the lock in the dark as the light kept flicking on and off at the pub.

We’d reached our aimed mooring, one lock further than they had planned and we’d had three to four miles extra to do too. This was as far as they would be able to go today anyway as the rest of the flight of locks are still being locked overnight to help with water levels. A space quickly showed itself and spikes were hammered into the ground in the dark.

And it is days past morning dingding time!!!

A shame we’d not arrived in day light, it was 7pm and we’d still got to get the train home. Sadly no drinks with them at the end of the day in the pub. They had to go to be able to charge their phones after discovering yesterday that they don’t have an inverter and there isn’t one 12 volt socket anywhere on board! Suspect they’ll enjoy their evenings so long as they find a pub.

We walked down the flight past the locked gates of the next lock and joined the road leading to Long Buckby Station. We arrived just at the right moment as a train was pulling in that would take us as far as Coventry where we’d change to get back to Banbury. A long but enjoyable day. We wish them luck for the rest of their journey to London.

Long!! Long Day!!!! Tell me about it! One very long, cold, boring, hungry day! Tomorrow had better be better than today and yesterday.

10 locks, 18 miles, 1 leftish, 1 rightish, 1 tunnel with 2 mysterons, 4 trains, 1 taxi, 1.5 miles walked by torch light, 2 newbies, 0 inverter, 0 hosepipe, 1 new one on the way with Roger, 3 baskets, 1 slash curtain, 3 cuppas, 9 up, 1 down, hope they can remember how to go up again when they get to do it again, 1 hungry cat who should be more proactive about food.

Trying To Share. 7th September

Flecknoe Field Farm to Bascote Aqueduct, Grand Union

The blackberries round here are numerous. In fact in places they almost resemble bunches of grapes. Many sadly just that bit too high to reach. We filled a container enough for another two crumbles, so they can go in the freezer with the apple, all ready for a day mid winter when only one pudding will do.

Plenty of boats passed before we were ready to push off, including the big wide beam from yesterday. We hoped it wouldn’t hold us up down through the locks today, after it passed we fortunately didn’t see it again.

Soon we reached the junction of the Oxford and Grand Union at Napton Junction. I stood at the bow to get an earlier view through the bridge, just as well as I could hear voices which were soon followed by a boat reversing. They came out and as they turned towards Braunston we turned down towards Calcutt Locks. As we approached there was a boat that had just gone into the top lock, they opened up the gate for us only to have us point towards the water point, we were stopping to top up.

One boat came up and by that time our tank was full and another boat appeared ready to go down. We shared the first lock, but lost our companion as he headed to the boat yard, he had a leak of some sort. Meanwhile another boat had arrived, so whilst Mick went and set the lock below I went back up to help. NB Peaky Blinders a new boat this year, the couple bought it at Crick show. The lady seemed to still be finding her feet after they’d sold their business, not yet able to relax fully at the slower pace of life owning a boat brings. We chatted away down the next two locks after which we went our separate ways, us straight on , them into Ventnor Marina.

A stop for lunch before we tackled Stockton Locks, a flight of ten with paddles that you get bored of winding. This stretch of the Grand Union was rebuilt as a wide canal in the 1930’s and all the paddle gear is the same. The mechanisms remind me of sea mines.

As we approached the locks we could see all this weeks hire boaters getting ready for the off at Kate’s Boats. It looked like at least five boats were going to be heading out. Last time we came down the flight on Lillian we shared with a hire boat. They were shown how to work the first lock, were watched at the second and then left to get on with it with our help, they did look like rabbits in the headlights.

The lock was being made ready by a group on one boat with two members of staff. So I checked that it was fine for us to share with them and was warned that they would be going slowly. I was then told to put my feet up and let the hirers do all the work. Instead I walked down to the next lock and started to fill it. The hire boat came down then winded and went back up the lock, a handy place to be shown what to do.

So we were on our own for the rest of the flight, every lock set against us. I walked down lifted a paddle then returned to wind the paddle up on the lock above. Mick had worked the second lock, but they empty quite quickly and he felt too rushed to get back onboard safely. I had to walk back to let him out anyway. 21 turns is what most of them take to open fully, which gets repetitive very quickly, especially when there are ten locks ahead of you. At least you know when they are nearly empty as they make quite a noise as the culvert for the paddles surfaces above the water. This noise is quite unnerving if you are sat inside with a broken ankle, well until you’ve heard it ten or fifteen times.

After the eighth lock there is a slight gap, passing the Blue Lias Pub which was festooned with flowers. Leaving the next lock we heard a boat horn as a boat came round the bend meaning I could leave the gate for them. By the time we got to the last lock another boat was just finishing coming up. These last two locks have very stiff paddles, just what you need when your arms are out of practice!

We pulled up a short distance on where there are rings. It’s a shame we weren’t here a couple of days ago as the Tour of Britain passed over the canal just behind us. Sadly our shopping held us up too long to get here. Tomorrow it is meant to rain for much of the day. We are near the village to get our Saturday newspaper, Tilly will be allowed to roam whilst I continue on with my working drawings for Panto and Mick listens to the cricket.

13 locks, 6.67 miles, 1 right, 1 fat boat, 1 reversing boat, 3 boats shared with, 9 locks done alone, 1 big container of blackberries, 1 hedge full for the morning.

https://goo.gl/maps/VRAaRXntXrD2

Taylor’s Boatyard. 11th February

Chester

Whilst we waited for paint to dry on Friday we were invited by Yvette to have a look around Taylor’s Boatyard.

Taylor’s Boatyard is the only remaining traditional boat building yard of it’s kind left in Great Britain. The facilities were originally built around 1845 by the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company who owned the canal and a large fleet of boats. At that time the yard provided a Blacksmith’s Shop, Sawmill, Offices, a Dry Dock and Slipways. These services were added to in the late 1800s by a Travelling Crane, Flat Shed, Carpenter’s & Painter’s Shop and a canopy for the Dry Dock.

In 1921 the Shropshire Union Canal Company finished canal carrying and the yard was taken over by the London & North Western Railway a year later. Then in 1926 J.H. Taylor leased the slipways and dry dock and by the 1930s had taken over all buildings that is now known as Taylor’s Boatyard. Taylor’s thrived, building wooden boats into the 70’s when the fashion for steel hulls took over.

When we first passed on our very first cruise on NB Winding Down in 2009 the yard looked in a sorry state. Unloved, the slipway area covered in rotting boats and more sat gunnel height in the water. At that time British Waterways ran the graving dock, but this was rarely used by anyone. To hire it you had to provide railings around the site to protect the public, this cost was on top of hiring the dock. So a few locals would club together and hire it out for a several months at a time to spread the additional cost of the railings.

By 2011, we noticed someone was on site at the boatyard as things were starting to look a touch more cared for. The sunken boats had been removed and the place had a tidier look to it. Pete and Yvette had taken over the yard after lengthy negotiations with BW and have returned it to a working yard. In between the usual work of a boat yard, restoration work has been taking place on the Grade 2 Listed site.

The first job was to paint the pillars and trellis iron work over the slipways. This has been done in London and North Western Railway colours. The roof lights of the main shed needed replacing and timber of the right period was used from an old mill in Manchester.

Work rebuilding the Carpenter’s Shop and the Blacksmiths Shop are on going.

The old wooden sawmill which originally housed a steam driven circular saw bench was my favourite and has had work done to stabilise it.

Three small wooden boats sit in the main shed. Here the Shropshire Union Canal boats would be built and launched into the canal sideways on sleds of greased timber. The canal has a sort of beach on the yards side creating a short slipway. The current boats were hauled out from the canal on metal rails, this doesn’t happen often and there are a lot of boats to move when it does. Pete works on fitting boats out and a grey primed cruiser stern narrowboat sat in the water nearby.

Pete and Yvette also look after the Graving Dock and Lock and the moorings below on the Dee Branch. They bought their own fencing to surround the Graving Dock which does the job and no more. The name comes from the verb ‘to grave’ a ship’s bottom by burning off accretions and applying tar to it, ‘blacking’. It was built in the 18th Century for wide boats and was open to the elements at the time, having it’s roof added in the late 1800s. The lock down into the Dee Branch is known as a graving lock. This could also be used to grave boats for short periods of time only as it closed the navigation to the Dee. Wooden planks were inserted into slots in the side of the lock which as the lock emptied the boat would rest on so that work could be done on the hull. By the 20th century there was a sliding roof on rails that could be used to protect boats being painted . Through 2017 this lock had a lockage count of 72 one of the least used locks on the system where as Locks 2 & 3 Hillmorton were counted 9552 times, the highest lockage count.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 interesting visit, 1 last historic working yard.

A Dry Bottom. 9th February

Taylor’s Boatyard Graving Lock

Today has been a busy chilly day.

At Taylor’s Boatyard you can hire out the Graving Lock for blacking, surveys and checking to see what is stopping your bow thruster from working. They do 6 day hires Saturday to Friday morning and on Fridays they tend to hire the Lock for a single day. We’d called them a few weeks ago to see if there was any chance of us having it for a day. Originally we’d tentatively booked it for last Friday, but because of the extended stoppage on the Llangollen and strong winds we moved it to today, which was just as well as the boat that had hired it that week over ran.

So this morning at 9am we were ready to move the short distance into the lock. First a charity boat needed to be raised, they’ve been busy blacking all week. This didn’t take too long and once they’d moored in the basin past us we pushed off and pulled into the dock. Pete and Yvette were on hand to lower Oleanna down onto the bearers and make sure we were safe in the dock.

Once in the lock, bow and stern lines were tied to railings holding her roughly in position above the bearers below the water. The lock gates were closed and then a paddle at the other end was lifted a bit. The lock drains out into the Dee branch, it is done slowly so as not to jostle the boats moored there and so that Oleanna could be gently positioned correctly. Pete then has to seal the lock gates, they leak a lot. So thick plastic sheeting is held by water pressure over the gates and extra bits and pieces are added in between so as to hold as much water back.

Gradually Oleanna lowered and soon we could see that she was resting on the supports, the water continued to empty. The whole process took half an hour. The lock empty of water, any leaking in through the gates drains away around a trough either side and the lock floor is slightly convex in shape to help shed the water. With a ladder tied to the bow we could come and go as we wished through a gate and the newly revealed steps.

The main purpose of hiring the lock was to see what if anything was caught around the bow thruster prop. Pete had a quick look down the tube, followed by myself and Mick.

None of us could see anything in there that shouldn’t have been. The grills came off, the prop turned. Mick removed the prop, checked it and fixed it back in position. Next he changed the blown fuse and went to the back of Oleanna to power it up. We’d checked with Finesse that it would be alright to run the bow thruster out of water, which it was. The prop worked fine, in both directions, in fact it was a bit of a shock when it changed direction and blasted droplets of canal water into my face.

So with nothing obstructing the prop and it working in mid air, Mick decided not to open up the workings. If it didn’t work in the water then it would be a warranty issue with Vetus.

Meanwhile I made the most of Oleanna being out of the water, there was the black band on the tunnel band still to go black. Once the red rubbing strake was sanded down I gave it a good wash. Whilst this was drying off I gave the rest of the water line a good clean down. As I worked along the boat I also cleaned off where there was the odd scrape along the blacking.

Masked off, the tunnel band took little time to paint with a careful coat of black multiforte.

The sun was out and dried off the hull quite quickly, so I then touched up any scrapes above and below the water line with some blacking. Ideally it would have been good to have stayed in the dry lock until tomorrow so that the paint could have cured more, but the noise of the water would have kept us awake. So we left it as long as possible before Pete returned to refill the lock.

Just where had they moved the outside to? I could see them out of the window but they had shrunk! They were way down there and I was way up here. I was very relieved when they came back inside and they were still normal sized.

We on the other hand were totally thrown by the boat not rocking under our feet! Being totally stationary in your home that normally moves is very disconcerting. Also doors and cupboards react differently as there is a slope through the boat from bow to stern (being lower). We found ourselves almost tripping up on nothingness.

Pete closed the paddle that had been open all the time we’d been in the lock, he then moved to near the gates. The leaked water started slowly to fill the chamber. With the tarpaulins removed more water was added, then the gate paddle was lifted and the level started to rise at a greater rate. It took around 14 minutes for the lock to level with the canal pound. Here is a link to a video I took of Oleanna coming up. I thought of it a bit late to sort out angling the camera to catch all of Oleanna, but I’m very glad I refrained from sitting it on the top stone step from the lock as this became submerged too.

Once we were level Mick powered up the bow thruster. From where I was stood it seemed like it worked, but apparently it stopped having blown a fuse again! No celebratory pizza for us tonight.

With the gates opened, I hopped back on board and we reversed out from the lock, headed back into the basin, winded and returned to where we’d left this morning. Tilly was ever so excited, now she’d be allowed out again. I made her stand on her shelf to see that we had brought back the one treed Chester outside that she hates so much. One day we’ll be in the countryside again.

1 graving lock, twice, 0.13 miles, 2 winds, 1 reverse, 30 minutes down, 1 spinning prop, 1 boat finally fully painted, 1 touched up hull, 3 hours, 14 minutes up, 1 more blown fuse, 1 outside with shrunk people and no water, 2 times bad boring Chester, 0 pizza, 2 disappointing portions of fish and chips, next time in Scarborough we must remind ourselves that fish and chips can be jolly good, 1 year since breaking my ankle.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna