Whilst being in Scarborough we’ve managed to catch up with most people, some more than once, some many times. However one person has eluded us, I knew there’d be trouble if he didn’t get a mention here on the blog, so there was only one thing for it, best invite Duncan and Jaye round for some food. It also gave me a good excuse to make the Squash Winter Herb Crust Butter Bean Pie I’d made last winter. It was just as delicious as last time, the company wasn’t too bad either!
Lovely to have an evening with you both
More walks have been had.
The other Saturday I took advantage of all the sunshine and managed to walk through the old cemetery, down Peasholm Glen to the park (sadly no Naval Battle taking place), round by The Corner onto the North Bay, said hello to Freddie and held his hand, then walked round Marine Drive spotting the fin of a dolphin in the waves, round the south bay which was a bustle with day trippers and back home up the valley (the daffodils still waiting to come into flower). A good 5 mile walk.
More of the roof space has been emptied, we just hope the floor of upstairs upstairs can take the extra weight for a few months! Family history treasures have been seen for the first time in eleven years, theatre models have been reduced in number and scrap books of when the SJT first opened perused.
I think I’ll have quite a project next winter sorting through my Dad’s kitbag with letters, sketch books and negatives from the late 1940’s.
With the weather being that bit better Mick hopped on a train to head to see Oleanna with the aim of getting the horns and tunnel light attached and wired up ready for cruising soon.
Stuck in the mud
Earlier this week we’d seen photos of a ship bound for the Trent that had managed to get itself on a sand bank on the Humber. This was achieved on one of the biggest spring tides of late. Tugs, the Coast Guard came out from Goole and Hull to try to free it at the next two high tides. They had no luck, so with the tides now getting lower the ship will be stuck for another couple of weeks with the hope that when the next spring tides come it will be able to be re-floated. On Mick’s return train journey he managed to catch a glimpse of it, here’s hoping we manage to stay the right side of the buoys when we come to cruise the Muddy Humber in the summer!
Mick’s photo from the train
Mick checked over the electrics on Oleanna. The engine was turned over for a while. He popped into the office to catch up with Hannah and pick up the new BSSC. When we come to leave we may need some extra pairs of hands as we are breasted up to the boat next to us. People to flick and hold ropes as we extricate ourselves would be handy.
Bracket back on
Then it was time to fix the horns and tunnel light back on the cratch. The cratch cover needs removing to do this at the top, then it slides back over the top of the bracket. Mick had purchased a waterproof box so all the cables could be connected and stay dry. However, as thought, it was too bulky to slot in somewhere on the bracket.
Cables were joined, self amalgamating tape used then covered in heat shrink. This hopefully will keep everything dry until he has a smaller box for the connections.
That’s better
Before he’d left Scarborough this morning we’d discussed Oleanna’s smile. Now with 24volt horns the cable connecting them isn’t actually needed as it was before when they were 12 volt, it will purely exist to give her her smile back. What colour should it be? I was given the choice of black, grey, red or cream. Red would fade and her smile had been black, so black in preference.
Top at the top
The horns were connected up to power and tested. The same tone plus one a touch higher. He hunted round for a suitable piece of wire for the smile and connected it.
I got a message that he’d not manage to catch the next train but would be on the following one. This was followed by several photos that I’d nagged him to take. The light in situ. The horns in situ. Then her smile.
Hang on hadn’t I said not to use red wire this morning?! Either he had no suitable wire other than red, or he’d not been listening to me!
WHAT!!!!
I showed Tilly to see what she thought.
Why has Oleanna got LIPSTICK on?!?!!
Hang on
When questioned later Mick said he had been listening, but had no choice as there was only enough red cable available for the job. Having some black cable would be a good thing in his tool kit, so once some has been purchased the red will be swapped out.
RED Lipstick
So even though Oleanna looks a little bit strange with her statement smile, she at least has it back along with her voice. History of lipstick.
Red lipstick showed strength and power in WW2
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 1 ship aground, 2 horns, 1 light, 170 Rimmel Alarm Red, 1 Duncan, 1 Jaye, 1st tidal lock booked, but more about that in the next post.
The last couple of times Mick has been down to check on Oleanna he’s not been able to run the engine, the starter battery had lost all it’s charge. The battery charges as the engine runs and for the last few years we’ve put up a small solar panel which has trickle charged it when in a marina. But with one thing and another this year this didn’t happen straight away this winter and the battery is now dead.
It’s lasted us eight years so we can’t complain, time for a new one. Last week Mick had measured the battery tray it sits in and popped into the marina office to see if they had anything suitable in stock. There wasn’t anything that would fit. A hunt round on line and there was a suitable, lead acid 12volt, 80 amp hours, 740 cold cranking amps, maintenance free battery, one was put on order for us. Yes we could have sourced one ourselves, but it just seemed easier to get it delivered to the marina.
The start of my first mosaic sock
With both of us planning on a trip to Goole it made sense to hire a car. Originally booked for Tuesday, but the battery hadn’t arrived before the office closed for the weekend. The car was moved to Wednesday, no battery Tuesday. Then it was nudged by another day to Thursday, a chase up of the battery , it would be delivered on Thursday too. We’d already decided to go to Oleanna anyway even if it didn’t arrive, other jobs could be done instead.
An early pick up, an early walk, breakfast and we were on our way across the Wolds snowdrop spotting as we went, the daffodils still a long way to grow to meet the sun yet.
Condensation on the flue pipe
Today the temperature had changed from the cold it’s been for months to pretty warm. This showed itself on the front doors of Oleanna, condensation on the outside of the front door windows. The door stuck a little as usual in the winter when she’s unoccupied. Inside the ceiling and every wall had a coat of dampness, time to light the stove, turn the heating on and add extra ventilation to help dry her out a touch.
Taking the new battery for a walk
Mick headed over to the office and returned with the new battery on a trolley. Swapping starter batteries over would be his main job today. The location it needed to go in very awkward so it would take some time.
I set about giving the ceiling and walls a wipe down. It always amazes me how much spider poo there is, little brown dots. But more amazing is how they can poo on the ceiling, upside down! Just how do they do that?!
Starting to warm up
The stove fan took some time to get warmed up. A little nudge required to get it moving. Oh dear it squeaked! Thankfully after a few minutes it started to loose the noise as it turned, we’d not be needing to stop at Aldi or Lidl for a new one on the way back to the house.
Chicken and mushroom today
Lunch, a bowl of soup each with some bread and a cuppa. Then back on with jobs.
It was windy outside, Mick considered putting the horn and light bracket back on the cratch board, but as it started to rain he put the job off and spent time checking things were good for the boat safety next week.
Getting the shower gleaming again
I took the shower to bits. Gave all the nooks and crannies a scrub with a tooth brush, then had a go at the glazing with lemon and bicarb, it worked wonders in the house. One of the door wheels seems to pop out of the track often, so I had a go at straightening both of them up, hoping this would solve the problem. Time will tell. In one corner the sealant wouldn’t come clean. Is it worth redoing? Or maybe leave it till next winter when more will require attention.
Mick by now had finished his jobs so as soon as the shower doors were rehung we packed up and made ready to leave. A chat with the Diver chap, sorry we’ve never got to know your name, and Alastair before we left. I took some photos of Oleanna so that I can do some colour schemes for her repaint. We’re so used to her being dark blue I want to see what she’ll look like being cream before we commit to it.
Full side profile
Oleanna had a new starter battery, the engine was run for a while. Shower cleaned, boat warmed up and dried out for now. But most importantly she’s ready for her boat safety next week. We rode back across the Wolds as the sun was setting in the west.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 damp boat, 10C warmer than yesterday, 1 dribbly flue, 1 boat wiped down, 6 dead spiders, 3 alive still pooing! 1 new battery, 1 engine run, 2 new horns and light left on the bed, 1 clean shower, 1 grubby bathroom floor, 3 down to 2, 1 new carabiner, 1st go at mosaic knitting, 1 cat left all alone whilst they went and had fun on the boat! When’s the outside going to start moving again?Soon…ish
Not a bad nights sleep, the cat kept quiet! Time for some breakfast. The Travelodge only offers a grab and go breakfast, not suitable for me, so we headed into Northwich, surely Waitrose cafe would have something I could eat, surely!
We stood in line then I asked if there was anything on their menu I could eat, did they have any gf bread? The lady serving said she was embarrassed to say that the only thing she had to offer me was flapjack. How disappointing. I ended up opting for some porridge, if I was coeliac I wouldn’t have touched that.
One solitary sandwich
A sandwich for lunch maybe. One, just one gf sandwich and I didn’t like the filling so Waitrose were disappointing again. They tried to make up for it as we left as a lady thrust two bunches of flowers into my hand, sad gits flowers that had already been reduced a few times but now were free! Mick posed with them pretending he was being ever so loving getting me flowers.
Just after 10:30 we pulled up having followed google directions to Swanley Bridge Marina, at the wrong side of the marina! Round a big stinky block, a farmer was spreading muck, and we found the entrance along with big signs for Willow Boat Painting. Sally was here to meet us and show us what she had in her shed right now.
Such an old romantic, when things are free!
Sally and I had a long chat before Christmas and it was here that had a slot become available in the next couple of weeks time. This would have been really quite well timed meaning we’d be able to move back on board a freshly painted boat and sail away more or less when planned this year. However it would have meant dropping everything a couple of weeks ago and cruising long days, hoping the Trent didn’t go into flood and then waiting for C&RT stoppages to open ahead of us. It was all a bit too quick.
It would be possible to get Oleanna grit blasted by D and J Engineering next door, Danny would be able to weld the extra T studs on for us and do anything structural we wanted. He would also do the 2 pack blacking before Oleanna would move into Sally’s shed for painting.
Sally’s process is pretty much the same as other painters, the number of coats of primer, undercoat and top coat. Sign writing would either be done by Martin her partner or a lady who used to work for them, this would be at an extra cost (as it is with most painters). Wood working could be done by a carpenter who also works at Swanley Bridge, so everything close together. Getting your boat in and out of the water is charged for by the marina, so on top of Sally’s price. Other extras would be things like having the gas locker repainted, other lockers, woodwork varnishing, such as doors or hatch linings.
In the shed were two boats gleaming with their top coats. One was still taped and masked up for coachlines, the other nearing completion. Both looked lovely, we’ve seen a couple of her boats recently out and about NB Alchemy being one of them.
Blasting
We went to meet Danny next door and remind him that we would rather like a price/estimate for grit blasting and blacking. I’d chatted to him before Christmas about this on the phone, but he’d not sent me one. He’s a man that does his work, emails and paperwork are not his specialty, however when you want to compare painters and their prices, even if you are looking into the future it would be handy to have a price. He said we’d have one before the weekend.
Noses in waiting
It had been good to meet Sally and see her work. As we pulled away we chatted over our impressions and what we thought. Willow Boats has a very good reputation, we liked Sally. It would be good to have a price from Danny, Sally would kick him if he didn’t get one to us soon. Downside is they are a long way from Scarborough for Tilly. We’d be realistically looking at October 2026 as we’d not really want a slot in the middle of summer when we could be cruising. There are also all the extras, like gas locker, woodwork, so it’s hard to put an overall price on the repaint. The jury is out until we get a price back from Danny, which will hopefully be soon.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 times round the inner ring road, 1 disappointing Waitrose, 2 bunches flowers, 4th painter, 1 chatty Sally, 1 even chattier Danny, 1 absent Martin, 1 chippy, 1 waited for price.
With a window between house jobs and appointments we booked ourselves a hire car for two days so that we could cross the Pennines to visit another couple of boat painters.
Mick headed off early to pick up the car and I got on with my exercises followed by my daily walk, today before breakfast. I’m doing my best to get fitter, loose some weight and get ready for boating again, so I’ve downloaded the NHS Active 10 app. This measures how many minutes of brisk walking you do in a day. I aim for 30 minutes, on some days I’m managing far more which just shows how much better my knees are now.
Earlier than normal morning walk
The magic food bowl was set for Tilly. I thought She was starting to pack to go back on the boat, exciting! But no, I’d be home alone with Thomas Tom and Singing She next door to keep an eye on. Our car journeys normally take us over the top of the Yorkshire Wolds, but today we were back on the A64 heading towards York, then the M62 across over the top of the Pennines in the rain.
I’m helping put together a community mosaic
We were headed for the top of the Trent and Mersey Canal. Once off the main roads place names started to become familiar, a few more wiggles and we were crossing the canal, Anderton Marina to our left and the boat lift to the right. A pit stop at the services was required, we pulled up by the rubbish skip a white van parked next to it. A chap inside asked if we were wanting to use the elsan, no just the loo. He was there to mend the elsan and it should be up and running again in half an hour.
Whoever cleans the service block manages to mop the floor, but the black mould around the sink and on the door frame was horrible, plus the smell was pretty bad too, maybe something to do with the elsan. I made sure I washed my hands knowing I’d be able to get out of the block without touching anything!
We had our lunch over looking the marina. Long pontoons stretching off into the distance, much bigger than we’d imagined it to be. There was one familiar boat moored up by the slipway. NB Firecrest, Eric and Cheryl whom we’d met shortly before the Thames flotilla and then afterwards whilst in Paddington Basin.
Hello Firecrest over there!
Time to see if we could find Nick from The Paint Shed. We’d been warned that the boat they’d be working on today was quite a rusty old boat and they would just be starting to strip it back. The covered dock was very noisy, but someone spotted us and Nick came over to say hello, he just needed to finish something so maybe we’d want to wait in the office.
I’ve been doing a touch of painting
As a scenic artist I’ve had several spray guns in my life, several giving up the ghost on me getting clogged, that’s when I yearned to have more than one. Here they had at least four and several spare needles for them too, I was jealous.
Nick came to chat, then we had a walk around the marina. As with most boat painters the nearest marina tends to have several boats that they’ve painted, so as we walked he pointed out boat after boat and told us roughly how long ago it was that he painted them. Of course today was a good day for him to show off his work, rain makes everything shiny and bright, he admitted they all looked top notch when wet.
Four or more guns
Over the years we’ve seen quite a few boats painted by Nick, the last one we shared Big Lock in Middlewich with, it looked immaculate and when we asked how recently their paint job had been we were surprised when they mentioned years rather than weeks. So we’ve seen quite a bit of his work around the north west, when it hasn’t been raining.
We sought refuge back in the paintshed to have a look round. They certainly had their work cut out on the boat in there. One chap was stripping the paint off in the well deck as another was removing window frames. Here they strip every boat back to bare steel using scabblers, needle guns etc. Then the shell is acid treated, this kills off any rust and gives the shell a layer that acts as a primer. 2 coats of 2 pack epoxy primer are followed by 2 coats of 2 pack base coat, then 2 coats of the desired finish including bow, stern hatch, tiller and anti slip painting all in their heated dock. Their sign writing is done by Robin Wagg.
The Paintshed’s dock is not a dry dock, meaning that they don’t do blacking at Uplands Marina as your boat sits in the water. They can black your boat but they do this at Hesford Marine on the Bridgewater, there the hull could be shot blasted. Nick chooses a day with suitable weather, the chaps at the marina shot blast the hull and then Nick very quickly follows them with the first coat of 2 pack blacking to keep the hull as dry as possible. He also insists on doing the job himself. We chatted over logistics for this. Ideally the hull should be shot blasted and blacked before the cabin is painted. However this does mean that when the cabin is being prepared dust and swarf from the sanding is likely to end up sitting along the water line of the new blacking, not ideal really.
Their next slot for painting would be March 2026, but he suggested that we should get the blacking done in the last warmer months of this year when the weather is better for such things. He’d be able to do it in September then we’d look at mooring at Uplands for the winter so then Oleanna would be sat ready and waiting for her painting.
We chatted through all the other jobs on our list, he made some suggestions and nothing would be a problem. He called Caldwells Windows regarding a delivery he was expecting, but also asked them if they do double glazed sliding windows for us. They don’t, I’d suspected as much just from looking on line.
Nick is a nice cheery chap, we liked him. We worked out an estimate for blacking and shot blasting so that this could be added into the price he’d come up with, so we’d be able to compare painters prices better.
Down side to The Paintshed was the blacking having to be at a different time in warmer months. September was suggested, we already have a lodger booked in the house, so we’d be homeless and more to the point Tilly would be homeless! Not being able to grit blast the cabin sides and get them painted quickly due to a days cruise between Hesford and Uplands Marina is also a negative. The distance back to Scarborough in a vehicle for Tilly also might be too much. So sadly as much as we liked Nick and the boats of his we’ve seen he dropped into second position.
Barnton Tunnel
It was still quiet early in the afternoon when we left. What to do with ourselves for the rest of the afternoon? Cinema? Nothing on we fancied. We ended up driving to find the portals of the tunnels on the Trent and Mersey, one found, no boats waiting to go through. Then headed on up to Midland Chandlers at Preston Brook to see what we could see. Mick was after a few connectors for the tunnel light and horns and some new screws for fixing things back onto the bracket. We had a good look round and gave up, only purchasing a bottle of Marine 16.
Neoprene lined fender hooks, might be worth it once Oleanna’s painted, expensive though
We then wiggled our way back towards Northwich. Sign posts to Lewis Carroll’s birth place and visitor centre caught our eye close to Daresbury, shhhhh! Would these be close enough to the canal to be able to walk there in the future? It was too late in the day now to visit.
Hello Dante
Our accommodation for the night was the Travelodge at Lostock Gralam, just off the A559 to the north west of Northwich. It has recently had an upgrade! I think this means a new lick of paint, a funky covered arm chair and a new painting above the bed. Instead of having Rudolf’s red nose in the painting we now had a stylised landscape with moon and we’d be serenaded by a black cat plucking a fiddle.
Nearby is a La Turka, a Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant. It was big with a very good menu having plenty of gluten free dishes. Mick chose a pizza and I had chicken kebabs with a side salad, twice as much as was need for both of us, maybe we should have got a doggy bag for breakfast. It was very nice and I suspect if we ever moor near Wincham Wharf we’ll be back as it’s only 1km away.
Us in Scarborough
0 locks, 0 miles by boat, 1 yellow car, A64, 3rd painter, 1 blogging boat, 4 spray guns, 1 wet day, 2 complicated sadly, 1 small bottle Marine 16, 1 Dante pat, 1 cat and fiddle, 1 pizza, 2 kebabs, 1 side salad, 1 bottle of wine on a week night, 1 cat home alone!
Time for the annual round up of travels on Oleanna. So sit back with a glass or mug of something nice, put your feet up and I hope you’ll enjoy the read.
We saw the New Year in in the house. Some canal side painting to hang in the downstairs toilet kept me busy during betwixtmas. I decided to set myself a new knitting challenge for the year, to knit a pair of socks each week for the full year to raise funds for Dementia UK. Emails were sent out to numerous yarn dyers and the parcels of generous donations started to arrive along with my needles starting to knit round and round in circles.
Late January we hired a car. First trip was to Dewsbury to purchase fabric for new dinette cushions, it also gave us chance to catch up with Mick’s old work colleagues Mark and Sarah on our way back. The next day we started to do jobs on Oleanna. Mick set too in the engine bay and The Shed to get ready to install our new lithium batteries, I sanded and cleaned the oak floor inside. Window surrounds with water damage were sanded back, stains removed and then revarnished. The stove top was given a fresh coat of paint and the floor two coats of Danish Oil. Mick fitted the batteries and chunky cables and tested things out, all seemed to be good.
Bowls of soup kept us going whilst on Oleanna and whilst in the house I made gluten free crumpets and focaccia. I just have to make the most of the big kitchen whilst I’ve got it!
February. More and more donated yarn arrived, I was going to have to make space on Oleanna for it, just as well I wouldn’t be making a panto model this year!
New dinette cushions were covered. The Galley tap was replaced, we’d discovered that the tap we had was no longer made, but managed to buy two along with spare cartridges, hopefully these will see our boating days out! The new battery installation was tidied up and hooks were added into The Shed to make better use of the storage in there.
Tilly had her yearly vaccinations and we stocked up on flee and wormer for her. Opticians were seen, improvements to a bathroom in the house were started, we had our first lodgers of the year and a lovely visit from Pip’s old school friend Morag. We then called together our Scarborough friends for a gathering before a final tidy up of the house and our return to Oleanna at the beginning of March.
Shore leave permitted for another year
With just about all the house jobs done in the house we moved back onboard, this pleased Tilly and she found her way into the secret passage as soon as she could If I stayed in there I might never have to return to the house again!
Our first aim for the year had been to join the Fund Britain’s Waterways cruise on the Thames, quite a journey from Goole especially when all routes south were blocked by winter maintenance. Once we’d stocked up the boat we headed straight for the New Junction Canal, pulling in to give Tilly some much needed shore leave. She was happy and so were we to be back out on the cut.
We headed towards the first of the stoppages that would be lifted, got stuck by rising waters on the River Aire, made a dash to Lemonroyd when levels dropped a touch. Here things didn’t go too well, two visits to an emergency dentist and Oleanna’s cooling system developed a fault for which we needed a part. Thank goodness we’d upgraded our batteries, but there was no hot water. Alastair from Goole came out to fix our problem and we had a few days plugged in at the marina before river levels dropped and Woodnook Lock on the Aire and Calder reopened we could now be on our way again.
Making our way up towards the Rochdale Canal we negotiated river sections just coming out of the red and made our final dash to Brighouse before the level rose again. We were now at least two weeks behind our planned schedule to reach London in time for the campaign cruise, yes we could have upped the hours we were cruising, enlisted extra crew in places to speed our journey, but we opted to slow down and enjoy the journey and abandoned joining the cruise.
Through Tuel Lane the deepest lock on the network arriving in Hebden Bridge for Easter weekend. We enjoyed cheese, hot cross buns and a pint with Alex one of our favourite actors. Then an evening with old college friends Alan and Doug up near Todmorden before we carried on climbing over the Pennines.
The Rochdale was how we remembered it, hard work but wonderful scenery. The Great Wall of Tod and ducklings took us up towards the summit where we’d booked our passage across the top, a shame it was an overcast damp day. Two C&RT chaps helped us up the last uphill lock and then down the first few locks on the other side getting us through a section guaranteed to be low in water.
There was a pause in Littleborough meeting up with Mick’s sister Anne and his niece and great nieces, first time I’d met the great nieces and the first time we’d seen Anne and Ruth since lockdowns.
A mystery man arrived near Slattocks on our descent towards Manchester, Paul Balmer (Waterway Routes). He’d offered to help us on the long stretch into Piccadilly but arrived a day earlier to help get us to the Rose of Lancaster, he did return the following day and was rewarded with the first batch of apple flapjack.
Down the Rochdale Nine and onto the Bridgewater Canal where we turned left heading southwards. We pulled in for a couple of days at Little Bollington for Mick to have a couple of days away in Scarborough, leaving Tilly and myself on the embankment where the breach on New Years Day 2025 has now happened.
Through Preston Brook Tunnel and on southwards on the Trent and Mersey. Up the Cheshire Locks for the first time this year we paused and had a night out at the New Vic in Stoke to see One Man Two Guvnors with a cast of so many familiar faces. Then on through Harecastle Tunnel and down to Stone where we were joined by Bill and Lisa who got to work their first locks.
At the beginning of May we turned a right at Great Heywood and onto the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal. Unfortunately one of our new lithium bully boy batteries had gone faulty. This needed sending back which took some packing and planning for a pick up. It was deemed to be faulty and a replacement was made ready to be sent out to us when we’d reached somewhere suitable.
Pretty when the sun’s out
A dentist check up in Birmingham suggested I’d be needing a few appointments so it was just as well I’d been before we arrived in Birmingham. Up the Wolverhampton 21, we like that flight, and an overnight stop at Urban Moorings to donate our deposits from our separating toilet.
We now had a rendezvous. Messages had been sent back and forth and as we arrived in Birmingham we were able to pull in right behind NB Lottie Jane where Clare and Graeme were waiting for us. They were over from New Zealand for a few months and had borrowed their friends boat. Over dinner we arranged to share the broad locks ahead of us, they’d head off in the morning and we’d loiter for my dentist.
A few days later after coinciding with another Graeme on NB Misty Blue, then descending Lapworth Locks we rendezvoused again on the embankment above Rowington on the Grand Union. Here there was a meeting of boats as we managed to also coincide withChris on NB Elektra and have a guided tour and a catch up sat out on the towpath.
Down Hatton, both boats glad to have company to work the locks, we rewarded ourselves with a meal at The Cape of Good Hope. Onwards to share the locks back up the other side with Clare and Graeme. It was very nice to be able to spend some time with them again before our journeys took us in different directions at Napton as we headed onto the South Oxford Canal and they headed towards Crick for the boat show.
Mick’s birthday was seen in on the South Oxford, now a state pensioner! A new battery was delivered and looked after at Aynho Wharf for our arrival, more socks were knitted, one pair hand delivered in Thrupp and we managed to moor at several of our favourite moorings as we headed down to Oxford.
Sally, Andrew, Ian, Mick, Jenny, Pip, Sam, Jac
A big Leckenby get together was arranged at the Kings Arms by Sandford Lock on the Thames. Andrew and Jac drove over from London and Ian and Sally along with Sam and Jenny drove over from near Lechlade and Windsor. We had a very loud Sunday lunch, so good to be able to get us all together at a jolly event.
Now we headed down stream on the Thames, we usually end up going up stream! Perfect timing to meet up with Australian visitors Siobhan and Patrick in Wallingford for lunch.
A perfectly timed arrival at Clivden meant we got to moor on an island for the second time, perfect for Tilly. A warm evening bbq above Boveney Lock, watching the royals in Old Windsor. Then we arrived at Weybridge where we joined the River Wey, with a transit licence we moved up to Pyrford Marina meeting up with Ann-Marie and Dave from NB Legend and then a trip back to Scarborough to do a turn around at the house.
On our return we picked up extra crew member Kath (Mick’s sister) and turned onto the Basingstoke Canal. Kath has lived close by to the canal for several years but never seen a boat on it. The following day we joined forces with NB Olive to continue our climb up the locks, there were now 6 cats in the locks not just 1! We cruised our way up to the end of the navigation only to have a phone call saying that a boat had hit a lock gate behind us and that the Deep Cut flight of locks was now closed. Would we be stuck for days, weeks or months?
Oleanna’s horns were removed for some of the lowest bridges on the network, we’d actually have had plenty of space for them. Lunch was enjoyed with Marion and John, a walk over the top to visit the other end of Greywell Tunnel was enjoyed in the sunshine. We then spent the next few days waiting for news on the broken lock and trying to find moorings for Tilly away from NB Olive as Tilly isn’t too keen on other cats!
We spent time visiting Brookwood Cemetery, walking in the woods near Mytchett Visitors Centre and caught up with Sam Leckenby for a meal. Then we heard that the Canal Rangers would be able to give us assisted passage through the troubled lock. Four boats were bow hauled through, only cats allowed to stay on board. At least we’d managed to cruise The Basingstoke Canal on our second attempt.
Downstream on the Thames again to Teddington and a lovely early evening trip to Brentford ended our journey on the Thames this year. We’d booked a mooring in Paddington Basin for a few days giving us chance to catch up with friends and family in London. Andrews birthday was celebrated in true Leckenby style, meet ups with Christine and Paul for Tapas, brunch with Kathy and a few pints with Nick, Kerry and Harry were all enjoyed even though my left knee was starting to seriously play up.
We pulled out from London as the General Election was looming, we’d done postal votes some days before hand. Back along the Grand Union heading northwards we decided to attempt the Slough arm for a second time. Sadly our depth meant all we achieved was a load of weed around the prop and had to abort our mission.
The Grand Union is a very familiar waterway now to us, we climbed up to the Tring summit and headed off to Lizzie’s 50th birthday party in Crick. Lots of boaters we’ve met through the years were there to have a catch up with. We also took the opportunity to catch up with my college friend Jen who’s joined us for a or two cruise in the past.
The first lock of the Marsworth flight was hard work for my knee, the second impossible. Time for role reversal, I’d be at the helm, Mick wheeling a windlass from now onwards. A turn onto the Aylesbury Arm, water Oleanna hadn’t been on before. Our only sight seeing was at an NHS walk in (more like hobble in) centre in High Wycombe, but we did pop to say hello to Ronnie Baker.
Another turn around in Scarborough before we headed towards Milton Keynes joined for a lovely day by Mike and Chris. Northwards to Braunston and onto the North Oxford Canal passing through the large landslip site which had the canal closed for months earlier in the year. Right onto the Coventry Canal, Atherstone and up to Fradley where we turned left for the first time in years.
Now we met up with our old shareboat NB Winding Down and walked round Shugborough Hall, my knee having improved with exercises. Straight on to Stoke then a right onto the Caldon Canal. There was the opportunity to coincide with Debbie and Dave on NB Bonjour, handing over another pair of socks, before we carried cruising both arms of the canal. Having limboed our way on the Basingstoke we decided to give Froghall Tunnel a go. Horns removed again, we slowly but surely managed our way through and had a very quiet night in the basin one lock down on the Uttoxeter Canal, another first for us.
At the beginning of September we retraced our route back to the Trent and Mersey with perfect timing to meet up with Mike and Christine on NB Alchemy, we had time for a catch up and introduction to Tilly before we headed in different directions. Middleport Pottery was visited for the first time, then it was through Harecastle Tunnel for the second time this year.
Paul joined us again to assist us down the Cheshire Locks getting us a little ahead of schedule which meant we were at the Anderton Boat Lift at a weekend meaning Lizzie could join us for the trip, even though it was an exceedingly wet day. This ticked off Oleanna’s seventh and final wonder of the waterways.
We cruised to both ends of the River Weaver on new waters for all of us. A tour of the Daniel Adamson was offered and taken and the last pairs of socks for my sockathon got sponsors. The monthly market in Northwich caught our attention and we had a very lovely evening in Manchester with the London Leckenbys when Josh moved to the city to study at the University.
Back southwards on the Trent and Mersey we crossed paths with NB On The Fiddle and NB Cobweb meaning I could hand deliver some more socks to an old SJT colleague. We started up the Cheshire Locks on our own, but soon picked up Bridget and Storm who were in need of a canal fix, it was great to have a couple of days with them.
Now we turned over the Trent and Mersey and onto the Macclesfield Canal. The Bosley flight was low on water so I handed the helm back to Mick and reclaimed the windlass, Mick is willing to give Oleanna extra umph when needed.
A belated birthday trip on the PS Waverley for Mick had us moored in Macclesfield for a few days, NB Alton stopping to top us up with diesel and coal. Then we were across the top of the Macc and down the Marple flight ready to turn onto the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.
Rain gave us a day off in Stalybridge. Another pause was taken at Uppermill for a trip to Scarborough to see the latest Ayckbourn play and meet up with our lodgers before they headed homewards.
On our final ascent to the summit of the HNC, we thankfully we swapped roles due to low water levels, a 100 meter dash and quick thinking by Mick averted disaster at Lock 29W where Oleanna had got stuck on the cill as the lock did it’s best to empty itself behind her. Once we’d reached the summit we had a quiet afternoon preparing for Standedge Tunnel the following morning.
Our third time through the tunnel, Tilly resigned to hide tucked away behind Mick’s pillow. In Marsden there was then a wait for a lock bridge to be mended before we could descend through Yorkshire. Paul came to assist again on a very drizzly day getting us to Slaithwaite.
From here we had a trip southwards to help celebrate Kath and Sean’s Civil Partnership, a wonderful day with all the Geraghtys together.
Mick and I worked the rest of our way down to Huddersfield where Paul came to assist again wanting to check data for Waterway Routes which is hard to do without being on a boat. We finally waved goodbye to Paul in Wakefield and did our best to avoid the River Aire going into flood, but ended up having to wait a few days at Castleford.
Back on the Aire and Calder we headed to Sykehouse Junction and tucked ourselves on the moorings at the start of the New Junction where we’d moored on our first night this year. Tilly was given shore leave, I remember it well! whilst I tried to finish off some painting jobs before we returned to Goole.
By the end of October Oleanna was tucked up in Goole and we were back in the house with our next lodger, the baddie from the Christmas show at the SJT. Back in the land of veg boxes, get togethers with friends, lantern parades and walks on the beach. Jobs in the house have been listed, a few ticked off and more to work through next year in between lodgers.
The run up to Christmas also included visiting a couple of potential boat painters. A trip to London for a boat trip on the Thames to mark Marion and John’s Golden Wedding Anniversary and at the same time catch up with my family too.
This year Christmas was just the three of us with lots of food and some sock knitting of course. In fact I knitted right up to the bongs of Big Ben at midnight getting part way through my 55th pair of socks in 2024.
So this year was The Year Of The ……
… SOCK!
Now for our final statistics for 2024
This year is the first full year that we’ve logged our journeys using Nebo, but I’ve also kept a tally as we’ve cruised using Canalplan, I’ve got quite a spread sheet. The two methods of recording distances give different totals so I shall list them both. Nebo calculates distances, has average speeds and maximum speeds. Canalplan doesn’t do speed, but includes locks, tunnels, bridges, etc so I suspect I’ll carry on with both next year.
Canalplan stats.
Total distance of 956miles, 4 furlongs and 846 locks.
There were 56 moveable bridges, of which 11 are usually left open; 205 small aqueducts or underbridges and 28 tunnels – a total of 12 miles, 4 furlongs under ground and 1 major aqueduct.
This is made up of 426 miles, 1 furlongs of narrow canals; 279 miles, 7.5 furlongs of broad canals; 55 miles, 1.75 furlongs of commercial waterways; 44 miles, 1.5 furlongs of small rivers; 137 miles, 5.75 furlongs of large rivers; 5 miles, 0.75 furlongs of tidal rivers; 417 narrow locks; 353 broad locks; 55 large locks; 2 boat lifts.
Nebo stats.
Underway 289.95 hours; end mileage 943.24miles; average speed 2.5mph; maximum speed 27.8mph (the link was doing something odd for the first few months then it became more realistic); maximum speed 6.5mph (I hasten to add this was on the River Aire heading downstream in the amber)
Nebo2024 Cruise Map
Other stats.
58 Vehicles held up at moveable bridges; 1011.03 litres of diesel bought; £0.90 lowest diesel at Viking Marina Oct 2024; £1.24 maximum diesel at Aynho Wharf May 2024; 490kgs coal; 3 x 13 kg bottles of gas; £52 electric at moorings; 2 buckets of compost deposits; £20 donation; 630.4 Engine hours; 4 packs Dreamies; 51 friends; 4 brought in; 2 upset tummies; 40 Mrs Tilly stamps of approval; 51 boxes of wine; £252.45 spent on mooring fees; 1 overnight guest; 0 shows; 12 lodgers; 5 supermarket deliveries; 1 problematical knee; 8 months cruising; 20Litres oil; 0 fuel filters; 2 oil filters; 1 kitchen tap; 3 new batteries; 1 faulty; 150amp hours to 460 amp hours (at 24 volts); 1 boat mover sighting; 1 blue boat sighting; 11 days of guest crew; 54.4 pairs of socks; 1,000,000 plus knitted stitches; £1525 raised for Dementia UK; 271 posts; 268,000 words; 353 likes; 399 comments; 15900 visitors; 41300 views!
Thank you for joining us on our travels in 2024.
The count down to the start of our travels for 2025 has started.
Alastair finally got round to finishing off the engine service, Christmas and the New Year having got in the way a touch. Mick wanted to make a trip down to Goole to wish Oleanna a Happy New Year and turn the engine over. He’d forgotten to put out the portable solar panel he got a couple of years ago which helps to keep the starter battery topped up in winter, so by now it would need a good charge. Decision made and he was on the 10am train to Goole, it being quite frosty he decided against taking a bike with him, he’d just have to negotiate the puddles at the entrance to the marina on foot.
Tilly slept away the day on our bed whilst I busied myself with applying the third coat of varnish to new slats for three garden benches at the house, two had stopped being sitonable! Thank you Frank for the loan of your drill.
That looks a bit soggy!
At Oleanna Mick used the main entrance to the marina, avoiding getting exceedingly soggy feet. He saw Alastair and had a chat, the engine service had gone well along with various other checks. Mick usually does our servicing, but had decided he’d like a professional to give her the once over before we take to tidal waters this year. They also chatted about our wee tank connector, there may be something in the workshop that can be adapted.
Oleanna was cold, the engine was run, both gas and electric heating put on to get the chill off quicker. This resulted in a gas bottle running out, so bottles needed changing over in the gas locker. Mental note, before we leave, we need to replace the empty one.
Hello lovely
Last time Mick was down he’d set up a webcam pointing to the electrics cupboard, with the door open he could see from Scarborough what the temperature was. Well that was the intention, except the cupboard door had been closed, so no view of the heating controller which tells us what the temperature is. He also thinks that the temperature gauge that we have in the cabin is faulty. This was confirmed yesterday by it suggesting it was 11C when he arrived! Well that was a big fat lie!! The thermostat on the heating has been raised to take this false reading into account.
An old phone was repurposed to be able to gain access to the batteries. A Tapo socket added to charge the phone when needed, remotely controlled. This means he can now see the BMS (battery management system) to check things over from anywhere instead of via bluetooth which requires him being on the boat.
Exol Pride heading past the marina
A new licence was printed out and popped in the windows.
Our Boat Safety will be due before we leave the marina this year, so various things will need checking over. Mick gave the fire extinguishers a turn upside down and checked that they were still okay to use. They were. Next he attached the labels for the extinguishers onto the cupboard doors where they live. We know where they live should there be a fire, so don’t feel the need for the signs, but they should be obvious to other people.
There are a few more jobs to do onboard before the Boat Safety happens. Alastair suggested using Hannah who works at the marina, as she is fastidious which is what we want for our own safety rather than someone who passes just about everything.
Engine off and Oleanna locked up, Mick headed back to the station. Four ships in the docks today, Exol Pride had passed the marina too. He was back in Scarborough before 6pm.
We now need to find the time and a gap in weather to visit two more boat painters over in Cheshire. Also sadly it looks like we’ll not make it to Chippy before their panto finishes, a shame there wasn’t a show on the day we had spare when down south before Christmas.
More photos of the River Hull show that the bags of aggregate are being used to shore up the bank behind where it had slipped.
That’s my Boat!
On another note, remember that little boat we saw up on the Macclesfield last year with my name on it? Well, NB Pip is for sale. If we still lived on board full time I’d consider buying her as a floating studio, but right now we need the money for Oleanna’s repaint. Joanna got in touch after seeing NB Pip on the blog, so I said I’d pop a link on here for her as she’s reluctantly having to sell. Link to Gumtree
Tide was in by the time we got to the beach Christmas morning
Christmas and Birthday. We’ve had a good year this year, not so many boaty presents as usual, but still some worth mentioning.
Mick got a serious pair of bolt croppers. These may be handy should anything ever seriously stubborn find its way onto Oleanna’s prop. A new weather station is currently being tested out, there are frequent comments as to the temperature on the coal bunker outside the back of the house. The old weather station wasn’t quite so detailed and it had ceased to show you much other than the time! I had considered getting Mick one that showed the tide times, this may have come in handy for 2025, but he’d selected a different model on his present list. Gardening gloves and bulbs for the house, hopefully the squirrels will leave the bulbs alone as the number of daffodils in the front flower bed seem to have decreased since we let the house out ten years ago, so hopefully we’ll be able to boost them again this year.
I got a new ‘to me’ camera! It was a well researched pre owned purchase from Amazon. I’ve taken a few photos so far mainly of garden benches for reference in the weeks to come. I must read the instruction book to make the most of it. So far so good, it has a 30 times optical zoom. No macro setting that I’ve found yet, but a symbol occasionally appears. I’ll just have to get used to carrying it about with me again and using it rather than my phone.
We need at least two more people to be able to play The Traitors game
A new bumbag came from Josh. The one I bought last year was waterproof to start with, but as it was used the coating was wearing off, so a bad purchase. Hopefully this new one will be better and there is plenty of room for my camera and phone. As suggested by Jennie I will endeavour to swivel it round to the side or my back when working locks so as to avoid pressing buttons on my camera which most probably did for the last one.
Tilly got a book on the Regents Canal with places to eat.I’ve had a scan through it, however it doesn’t mention Perivale Wood at Ballot Box Bridge, a busy fast moving spot, with delicious rodent main courses. It also mentions too many places I’ve not been allowed to sample as shore leave was deemed unsafe.
There’s always scissors
I’ve also had three large white hardback books. One a gluten free baking book with lots of science in it, another a veggie cook book and Billy Connelly’s arty book. All will require some looking at. I also got a bag of Italian pizza flour that is gf. I’ve heard good things about it so I’ll be giving it a go in the new year. Oh and some sock stitch markers.
A cats Protection t shirt and a chopping board came from Tilly, She needs reminding of my dingding time at frequent intervals throughout the afternoon when She’s in, so let this serve as a reminder when she’s outside too! I also got some new baking trays for the boat, the ones I’ve been using were really quite cheap and tinny, so these are an upgrade.
We’ve gradually been eating our way through the mountains of Christmas food, my birthday cake is still on going, I must remember to make a half sized one next year. It was a very good choice, but we’re a little bit bored with it now.
Well the time of year to buy a new licence for Oleanna has arrived. A bigger outlay than in previous years as we now have the Continuous Cruisers surcharge to pay for. We want to cruise the network so we don’t mind paying the extra. However we have waited for the latest credit card statement to come through before buying next year’s licence to help spread the cost a bit.
Tilly’s new rechargeable catnip felt balls
On the renewal there was a button to read the continuous cruisers rules. Mick clicked the button only to find it led to a “404 error. Page not found”! He then hunted round until he found a version of them from 2022. I have just found a more up to date copy (03/2024) but blimey it doesn’t half take some finding!
For those who don’t know about the new Continuous Cruisers surcharge, this has been brought in this year for boats that don’t have a home mooring, we fall into this category. The T&Cs say that we have to move every 14 days, this is nothing new and we abide by this as it’s what we’ve always signed up for and we prefer to be cruising anyway. To avoid the CC surcharge you need to prove that you have a home mooring for 6 or more continuous months. On the latest T&C’s (I think they are the latest!), I’ve just spent a couple of hours searching for, our winter mooring at Goole is covered in the section “14 days or such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances” in Schedule 1. For staying longer than 14 days anywhere we should have immediately contacted the Trust’s Licencing Support Team, this is what you should do if you have engine failure, medical requirements etc, to overstay in an area.
Foggy Scarbados
In previous years we’ve logged onto our C&RT account and changed us from being a Continuous Cruiser to having a mooring. This meant that should we want to go out every weekend to Sykehouse Junction or Pollington Lock we wouldn’t be classed as over staying if spotted in the same place three weeks apart as we’d have returned to our mooring in between. Now that there is the CC surcharge you can no longer adjust this on line, it appears we should have contacted the Licencing Support Team regarding our marina mooring otherwise we could get an overstay notice. Oh well, we’re fairly unlikely to go out for little jaunts every weekend anyway, but contacting a team member to let them know seems like a waste of their time when we just used to switch from CC to a mooring.
Christmas cheese from Hebden Bridge
PS if you follow a link on the C&RT website to what is expected of you as a Continuous Cruiser you end up with a document from 2012, long before the surcharge came into existence! Oh Well!!!
But Oleanna is now licenced for the next year, that is what’s important and we can start looking forward to our new adventures on her.
0 locks, 0 miles, 3 treat cheeses, 1 year older, 4 balls, 8 pairs of socks, 2 pairs scissors, 1 green triangle, 3 white books, 1 weather station, 1 camera, 1 very cheeky cat, 2 much to eat, 1 Christmas show, 3rd Paddington film, £1525! 54 pairs of socks, plus a little bit.
Thank you Bridget and Storm for your photos this morning of the last official #pipssockathon2024 socks
I have managed a 54th pair too. I really must get round to updating my sockathon page!
Our journey continued down to London Town, conversation regarding Oleanna’s boat paint as we headed southwards. We shouldn’t chose a painter just because his paint shop is in the shadows of cooling towers! This wasn’t the case but Tom was certainly in the lead.
The traffic was bad in places. Our satnav decided to take us on a short detour at one point, handy as it avoided standstill traffic and took us past Wansford Station where we’d moored a couple of years ago on the River Nene. Good Christmas lights were seen, no time to stop to see any of the trains though as we were directed back onto the A1 in time to see the field Tilly had gone AWOL in until well after dark.
Ziggy checking over the local news
It’s been sometime since we drove to my brothers in Hackney and we nearly always get the turn off wrong, but this time I’d remembered to look out for B&Q, then there’s a really tricksy junction to get on the right road. I think this is the first time we’ve done it without a single hitch and thankfully there was a parking space not far from Andrews front door.
Josh was home from University and we had a very pleasant evening catching up, eating a seriously chunky beef bourguignon and drinking maybe just a little bit too much wine. Good to see them all for an evening on our own.
Friday some of the morning was spent sending, or trying to send our email Christmas card. Why does it always have to be so hard? But we got there in the end. What to do with ourselves for the rest of the day?
Selfridges windows not as good as I remembered them being
We didn’t really want to spend any money on going to a museum or a special exhibition. For some reason the Wallace Collection came to mind. Mick checked out a route by bus and we were off heading into London. Three buses later we pulled up outside Selfridges, their Christmas windows were okay, but not quite as slick as I’d expected.
A Christmas staircase
Now it was lunch time, we ended up with an M&S sandwich each sat on a bench outside the Wallace Collection, their cafe menu a touch too expensive for us. Time for some culture. Hertford House in Manchester Square was the home of the Seymour family, it’s named after Sir Richard Wallace who built the extensive collection along with the Marquesses of Herford in the 18th and 19th Centuries.
I was expecting quite a good collection but nothing by any means as large as it turned out to be, 25 galleries housing arms and armour, furniture, porcelain and so many paintings from the 15th to 19th Century. Yes you will find The Swing by Fragonard, much smaller than I’d thought it would be, The Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals to name just two of the very famous paintings in the collection.
There are Watteaus, Velazquezs, Rubens, Rembrandts, Gainsboroughs, Canellettos, Van Dycks all great stuff amongst lots of Francois Bouchers fluffy pink huge canvases which don’t really do anything for me. I walked round spotting paintings I’d learnt about in A Level art, but then pin pointed paintings that stood out to me.
What an elaborate ruff
My favourite was simply called A Dutch Lady, by M.J. Mierevelt. She was just at the right height to have a conversation with. Her 1628 ruff exquisitely painted. I wanted to ask her so many questions about life in the 17th Century and why she wasn’t named on the frame as many were.
Mick, Rob and Nick
Then we hopped on buses out to Camden, catching glimpses of the canal as we crossed over bridges. A quick call in to drop off a Christmas present with Christine and Paul before we met with my friend Nick and his Canadian friend Rob at a pub just round the corner. I’ve known Nick since we were babes in arms, for some years we went to school together, then did our Art Foundation course together too, we’ve never lost touch. The frequency meeting for drinks on Christmas Eve has dropped in recent years, parents no longer calling us back to York for Christmas. So it was very nice to be able to exchange presents face to face, have beer, food and conversation this close to Christmas.
Saturday was the main reason for our trip down to London. Regular readers will be excused for not remembering what we got up to 10 years ago on the 20th December. Back in 2014 we joined all the Geraghty family for a vintage bus tour around London to celebrate Marion (Mick’s sister) and John’s 40th Wedding Anniversary. Today was naturally their 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary.
Interesting buildings in the complex
Andrew and Jac joined all the generations of Geraghty family and friends for the day. Meeting up at Richards flat on the Isle of Dogs we had nibbles and a glass of fizz whilst every one gathered. Then a five or so minute walk to Masthouse Terrace Pier on the banks of the Thames. There waiting for us was an Uber Clipper hired for a trip on the Thames. Marion and John had originally booked a smaller boat, but the toilets weren’t working they’d had an upgrade to a much bigger boat.
Our boat for an hour or so
With about 40 of us onboard there was plenty of room, you could stand out on deck or stay inside with a window seat, where ever you fancied really. Soon we pushed off, two other boats were waiting to come in. Off upstream we headed. Downstream of Tower Bridge boats go fast, it was quite exhilarating stood out on deck at the stern.
The first 2km of our cruise was water we’ve not cruised on Oleanna, in fact I think I’ve only been further downstream on a Clipper for Kath’s 50th birthday when we headed to Greenwich. When Canary Wharf came into view we were now on water we’d cruised on the night time flotilla in 2022. Past Limehouse Lock, now landmarks were familiar.
Sadly the weather wasn’t on our side so many of the taller buildings were only just visible . As we approached Tower Bridge we were all called towards the bow, where John and Marion put on floral garlands to mark the occasion of their anniversary.
Tower Bridge
Under the right hand span of Tower Bridge. Landmarks were pointed out to the youngest of passengers. Places of work were pointed out to new victims and sisters by Mick.
We were moving quicker than we did on Oleanna, the bridges coming one after the other. It was handy to have Waterway Routes up to confirm the names as we passed underneath.
Occasionally John would go on the tannoy, pointing out places of interest in his and other passengers lives. The National Theatre, Royal Festival Hall, the Tattershall Castle that many a Geraghty had crossed the Humber on. The exclusion zone in front of the Houses of Parliament seemed to be smaller than I remembered it.
Houses of Parliament
We made it under Vauxhall Bridge but sadly not quite as far as Battersea Power Station. It was in view though and everyone got a good view as the clipper winded to return us back to Masthouse Terrace Pier.
Power Station in the distance
The first time we’ve been under the centre span with it down
Then it was back to the flat where a chap had been laying out a fantastic buffet from The Space Bar. Drinks, conversation, speeches, photographs and plenty, I mean plenty of food was enjoyed. Then there was cake! Not just one but three types of cake! What a grand way to celebrate 50 years of marriage. Congratulations to Marion and John and thank you for sharing it with us all.
Speeches
Back at the London Leckenby’s we fell into the sofa and didn’t do much for the remainder of the evening.
Cutting the cake
Presents were exchanged on Sunday morning, then we climbed back into our little car and headed back northwards. A pause near Cambridge to refuel and have a substandard breakfast before we carried on up the A1, M18, M62 and then back across the Wolds to Scarborough.
Knitting two together so as to not run out of yarn
Tilly was very pleased to see us. David our lodger had been feeding her whilst we were away, but he’d left food for our return, Tilly apparently hadn’t been impressed with not getting her dingding earlier than normal and she’d been quite noisy about it after not being spotted for three days.
Back in Scarborough before the sunset
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car to London, 3 London Leckenbys, 2 cats, 1 huge gallery, 1 oldest friend, 1 whiffy pub, 5 buses, 1 train, 1 clipper, 40 passengers, 50th anniversary, 50 golden balloons, 2 much yummy food, 3 cakes, 1 gluten free take away box of brownies, 1 lazy evening, 1 pleased Tilly to see us, 1 poorly baddy!
Well my fundraising for Dementia UK has reached £1360 which is absolutely brilliant. THANK YOU!! And there is still some sponsorship money to come in for the 53 pairs of socks in my original challenge. Yes a year has 52 full weeks and knitting a pair of socks a week throughout 2024 would mean that I could stop when I reached 52 pairs. But that would leave a couple of days overhanging and as the 53rd pair will be for someone who’s birthday happens to be right at the end of the year I obviously had to include them.
Some Panto socks
However in the last few weeks I’ve had quite a bit of interest from a Boat Women group on Facebook, people wanting to be added to a waiting list. Then whilst at a friends house the other evening I had requests for 3 more pairs. So currently I have an extra 22 pairs to knit, not all this year I hasten to add! I might allow myself the first week in January off.
I’ve decided to keep my list open until the end of November for anyone else wanting to sponsor a pair. I don’t want anyone to miss out and it would be great to be able to use up more of the wonderful yarn that was donated by indie dyers.
If you thought you’d missed out and would like a pair, speak up NOW! Or forever have chilly toes.
80th Birthday socks
I’ll need your shoe size and a word to base your socks on. This could be anything, a season, mood, era, colour, just so long as it’s not blue as I’ve just about run out! You could even request socks to match your boats livery. I’m happy to add your name to my list, then get in touch shortly before I’m about to cast on the first stitch for you to make a donation to my Just Giving page. Mental reminder to self, must extend the closing date of my page.
Pair 49 are currently on my needles so as it’s week 47 (I think) I’m a couple of pairs ahead of myself. So there are nine days left to put in your request to be added to my list. More photos of finished socks have been added to the Sockathon page
Anyhow, boat news. On Tuesday our webcam showed us that the world of Goole had gone white with snow. We’d been expecting some here in Scarborough too, however it missed us. Mick can tell how cold the engine bay is whilst sitting in front of our fire, the temperature had dropped to 2C.
On Wednesday morning we woke to a little dusting of the white stuff. Whilst we lay in bed with our morning cuppas Mick had an alarm from Oleanna saying the power was off. It came back on briefly, but went off again, all before the marina was open. Was it just Oleanna or a more wide spread power outage?
Pair 48 with my faithful assistant
I checked all the Goole facebook pages I’d joined when there was the breach on the Aire and Calder, no mention there. Should Mick jump on the next train to Goole to check things out? The next train was cancelled.
Just gone 10am he gave the Marina a call. It wasn’t just Oleanna, Mick got to talk to Laird and he was having difficulty getting into his office due to the lack of electricity. Mick quickly left him to get on with things, no point in getting a train, our inverter would inform us when the power came back on, this was 3:15pm.
MY PAWS!!!!!
The heavens opened in Scarborough and the world became a very white one, over a proper inch, maybe even two fell during the morning. Very glad we didn’t need to go anywhere. Once it had stopped Mick swept the paths in front of the house. Tilly headed out to assist, but soon changed her mind. I couldn’t see my paws and She’d suggested I should get them painted a different colour, maybe a dark red! I wasn’t up for that. Maybe she should knit me some bright socks to wear out in the snow. I don’t fancy trying to put them on you though Tilly!
A touch different
The image for our Christmas card has been chosen and worked on, a little bit different from past years. Veg box ordered, Duck ordered, Christmas booze arrived. I’m going to run out of things to do in preparation for Christmas before November is out! Well that’s what comes of not doing panto and not being able to get on with a decorating a dining room due to having a lodger.
Another visit to the SJT last week to see the touring production of John Godber’s Perfect Pitch. The play was commissioned back in 1998 by the SJT and premiered as part of the 10 x 10 Season. It was also my first design for The Round. It played in rep through the summer with Comic Potential (Alan Ayckbourn) and Love Songs For Shop Keepers (Tim Firth). A couple going caravanning for the first time to a site just south of Scarborough, having their idyllic weekend broken by a couple who pull up close by. The play has been updated and sections rewritten meaning the caravan can now be just off stage, saving on set build and touring costs. Back in 1998 we also had real grass that required watering and grow lamps on through the night to keep it alive. I’ve now seen several productions and still no-one has beaten John Branwell in the part of Grant.
Perfect Pitch 1998
More quotes have come in for both boat and house. One boat yard’s excuse for not having got back to me in two weeks was ‘That boat doesn’t need repainting!‘ Well that’s because the photos I sent were when she was a matter of weeks old, she’s done at least 7000 miles and most probably over 5000 locks since then. Still to hear back with a price from them, think he’s already lost the job.
Anyhow, keep warm everyone, well until the weekend when we’ll be leaving doors open and admiring the blue bells coming up!
0 locks, 0 miles, 53 to 75, 5 house quotes, 6 boat quotes, 2 more to come in, 1 appointment, 3 Morse episodes, 1 extreamly bored cat, 1 focaccia, 2 veg boxes, Tilly Too keeping the snow outside, 2 boaters nearly ready for Christmas.
When I installed the new LiFePO4 lithium batteries back in the spring of this year, I had ordered cables that were too long. Better too long than too short! At the time, I didn’t have the right tool for cutting the big chunky cables (35mm²) nor a tool to crimp new terminals onto shortened cables. In my 40 year career in telecoms and IT, I didn’t work with thick wires, the wires I normally dealt with were only 0.2mm². So I left the battery cables long and tucked the surplus away in a corner of the engine bay.
Monitoring the charging of the batteries over the summer I noticed that the batteries rarely get above 27.3 volts while charging from the alternator and the current, whilst it starts off high at 80 amps or so, quickly drops to 30 amps and stays there for hours. The domestic alternator on Oleanna is a Beta original 24 volt 100 amp. Here is an example from a long day (for us) cruising. Ignore the big downward spikes, they are where we put the kettle on.
My suspicion is that the charging specification of the alternator doesn’t get up to the 28.4 volts that are required to quickly fully charge LiFePO4 batteries. But that is more complicated to deal with so as a first step I thought I’d shorten the cables. I purchased a pair of cutters and a crimping tool as well as some terminals. Tools (and pictures) from https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/
Equipped with these tools I took a train ride down to Goole. I turned off the inverter and disconnected the incoming 230v supply. I turned off all the DC systems at the isolators. Both domestic batteries got disconnected at the terminals and from the positive bus bar. I pulled back the spare cables from the engine bay to the inside battery that is located in a cupboard just through the bulkhead, measured how much I needed to connect, took the plunge and cut the cables. I took just under a metre or so off each cable.
Cables before cuttingInsulation cut back and heat shrink sleeving attachedCopper terminalReady to crimpCrimping tool ready to be bashed with 4lb club hammerCrimpedHeat shrink sleeve heated
Time to repeat for the negative cable.
It was then on to the battery in the engine bay. The same length of each cable was cut off, stripped back, terminal applied, crimped, and heat shrunk.
I reconnected all the cables, thought about things for a while and turned everything on. No smoke or sparks so that was good.
The engine was started while I monitored the current going into the batteries.
The values were slightly higher than before but not hugely. Time will tell but for now that will do. I am going to investigate external alternator regulators to try to boost the charging voltage. A Mastervolt Alpha Pro III is top of the list but further investigation is required. I’m also wondering if I shouldn’t get a marine electrician to look at it and do the job.
Time to pack up and go home.
Oleanna tucked up in the marina
Since last posting we have enjoyed bonfire night in Scarborough. I, Pip now, have spent many of the last six years being busy on panto, normally painting the floor. Only able to hear the occasional pop bang whizzzzzzz of fireworks from Chippy stage, so this year I was determined to see some.
Scarborough has a tradition that people light fires on the beaches and along with that come fireworks, no need to go to the organised display. So we caught the Coastliner bus to Peasholme Park and walked down to the Corner to see how much beach close to high tide had left in the North Bay.
Freddie on Bonfire Night
There were hundreds of people, several fires all huddled onto the 20ft of sand. Plenty of people had fireworks, just how much do they spend?! But it did mean we got quite a good display once we’d decided to move away to a safer distance. There seemed to be a bit of a duel going on between the bottom of the castle cliff and up by the beach huts, We stopped to say hello to Freddie and check he was alright, before walking around Marine Drive where fishermen sat on the accropodes with head torches and luminous lines on their rods.
The South Bay with the Grand Hotel in the background
Round in the South Bay there was more beach with a huge fire. People huddled round as others set up rockets facing out towards the sea, a bit more of a comfortable space and the road to be able to watch from. The beach was strewn with spent fireworks, just how much had gone up in glittering whizzing bangs? Certainly none of them had come from the sort of selection box I grew up with. The Scarborough seafront more than made up for the last few years.
Quotes have been coming in for house and boat jobs. Most of them twice what we thought they’d be. Some careful consideration will be needed before we make our minds up.
The cavolo nero has lasted us over a week
Veg boxes have started again.
Mick has been tidying up the garden and making use of some two year matured compost, we’ll see how the wild flowers like it.
A visit to the Stephen Joseph Theatre to see The Whitby Rebels, the true story of Captain Jack Lammiman who took a crew of unlikely misfits on a voyage to the Arctic. Three of the actors are old friends so it was great to see them, they had the better parts in a show that we weren’t too convinced about, it felt as though several ideas had been put together and none of them managed to take the lead. But it’s a local story and the audience seemed to enjoy it along with the huge set.
Just a few ingredients!
A day was spent in the kitchen, a second go at the chicken, leek, ham dauphinoise pie. This was tasty but as I’d used soya cream it was nowhere near as tasty as when I’d used double cream. I’ll write the recipe up if anyone fancies a go at this self indulgent pie!
Left to Right. Mary Berry crunchy top, yummy pie, River Cottage GF super nice lemon drizzle cake
There was to be a Leckenby get together and my job was to do pudding. A request was made that there should be a takeaway version for Josh to take back to University. So one gluten free posh lemon drizzle cake and a gluten filled lemon crunchy topped cake for Josh were made.
We caught the Coastliner across to York where we got a full tour of the London Leckenby’s holiday let that they have invested in this year. Andrew and I grew up in York and it’s been 11 years since we sold our family home, so it’s rather nice to be able to meet up in the city once again. Andrew and Jac have been taking advantage of gaps in bookings to have a few days in York and putting their mark on the flat. Standard pictures of York have been replaced with pencil sketches Dad did of the bar walls, I may even sneak in a painting of my own.
Set to work!
The letting agents had advised them to deck the flat with Christmas cheer as guests expect such things from now until Christmas, so illuminated trees were already in position. Left over baubles were handed over to me to make a wreath for the flat door, good job I’d taken my glue gun with me expecting I’d be given a making job.
Lovely Salad
A leg of lamb was enjoyed along with lots of wine to celebrate us all being together in York. Plans are afoot for a special get together next year, we may bring our own accommodation on Oleanna, though. The sofa bed was okay but has been put higher up the list of things to be replaced in the flat, we’d been guinea pigs. A lovely evening with the London Leckenbys and a very early start to Christmas. I hate to think what Granny would have thought!
Hello!
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 4 shorter cables, 2 bays of fireworks, 3 buses, 1 very wide boat, 2 boxes of things for Oleanna, 1 wreath, 2 lemony cakes, 1 special pie, 1 Leckenby get together, 1 river view, just.
