Patience is a virtue, it’s also getting VERY boring now!
Taking the weight off whilst the IT department sort out a problem
Last Sunday we waved goodbye to the Calendar Girls who have been staying with us. Almost as soon as Fenella had pulled away in a car Mick and I got busy moving ourselves from my workroom and The Shed into the back bedroom. This is now my third bedroom in three weeks and Mick’s forth! I had to promise Tilly that this was the last time we’d be moving the inside until we moved back to the inside where the outside moves. We were now left with one lodger, Alex who had headed home for the weekend.
Monday the cleaners arrived to give one side of the house a spruce up. No news or photos from Redhill.
Camenbert and smoked salmon quiche to help use up pastry
Tuesday, a message was sent to Tom to see how things were going. A while ago he’d said he was aiming to be finished this week, we’d taken that to mean the end of the week at the earliest. I’d done a tot up of the jobs still to be done and reckoned it would actually end up being next week.
A message came through from Tom. Next job would be to prepare the grabrail for the red, he’d realised the black he’d been sent was actually gloss and we’d asked for matt, so he was waiting for that to be delivered. The joiner was going to get back to him on timings for his jobs, he’d be in touch later with a better idea. Definitely not this week then.
Mick, some lady and Paul
The day, however, improved with a visitor all the way from Bristol bearing boaty bootie! Paul Balmer from Waterway Routes had decided to have a day out to deliver various boaty items he no longer needs as he has sold his boat NB Waterways Routes sometime ago now. (Note: he has only sold his boat not the Waterway Routes maps business.) Last weeks blog post had landed at just the right time as Paul had spare blue ropes which needed a new home. So early in the morning he’d packed up a bag and set forth to venture northwards. We popped down to the station to meet his train, decanted his boaters bootie into a couple of bags and then walked down to the Cats Pyjamas, we’ve never been to this cafe before, but it is close to southbay so at least Paul would get to see the sea before he headed back southwards.
After inspection by Tilly, the boat hook was put to use to fish things out of the high cupboard in the kitchen. Sadly the custard container was empty.
Thank you very much Paul for the goodies
A very nice hour and a half was spent hearing about his recent trip on the Mon and Brec, us filling him in on the boat repaint and general boaty conversation, all accompanied by butties and cuppas. Then it was time to wave goodbye again, hopefully our paths will cross should we be able to cruise anywhere as he and Christine are itching to help work locks. They may be able to help Mick should we manage to get south for me to go to Panto.
Abandond buckets and spades
Wednesday. A catch up message from Tom. Tomorrow they’d be fitting the windows and then putting black on the gunwales. Other bits would go back on Oleanna, but the red wouldn’t happen until next week.
School holidays will now add to delays, there’s a family festival to attend next week so only a few things will get done on Oleanna. So he’s now looking at the week after for completion. Another disappointing day really. We checked to see how the solar was going, Matt is going away for two weeks from next week. The roof gland had been fitted, where the panels are going marked out and the panels are in transit. Patience!
First thermal break window frame going in
Thursday we got a photo of one of the new windows having gone in, our picture window in the bedroom. The brown paper having been removed from that section. They apparently were going in well. The frames inside will require some joinery. They should slot in around the frames, but then will need wooden plugs putting in over their screws.
Moody skies over Scarbados
Friday, the plan was for Oleanna’s doors to go back on today along with mushroom vents. However, Whatsap was quite quiet.
In the evening we headed to the SJT to watch Handbagged, a political satire which imagines what happened behind the Palace doors when Margaret Thatcher and the Queen met for their weekly meetings over eleven years. Alex our current lodger is playing the older Margaret Thatcher in the play. We’ve been hearing how things have been progressing during the production week and tonight was the first preview. We enjoyed the show, it’s amusing, very different from Calendar Girls and needs a few more shows to bed itself in, but as I say it was the first preview.
Saturday, we decided to unpack some clothes, it’s fine living out of bags for a couple of weeks, but not really for a month. We’ve welcomed in another lodger, Anna who is an Assistant Stage Manager for the new Ayckbourn which starts rehearsals on Monday.
We’ve installed a makeshift barrier on the landing where the two houses connect. This is because next week we will have two visitors, Angie and Polly, Polly is a woofer! So we’re giving Tilly some time to acclimatise, or do calculations to be able to climb it! We’re hoping the off cut of kitchen worktop is not scalable!
Happy Yorkshire Day!
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 date moved again, 2 boaters moving around the house again, 2 lodgers out, 1 new one in, 1 feline/canine barrier built, 1 long distance visitor, 4 x 9m ropes, 1 escape ladder, 1 extendable boat hook, 1 pair pond gloves, 1 set of windows installed, 2 solar panels on their way, but not fitted, 1 family festival, 2 weeks holiday, 1 veg box, 1 GF focaccia, 2 Maggies, 2 Liz’s, 8 diddy quiches, 1 CD to pick up, £? is it Duncan?
Living on land now involves creaky staircases, encouraging Tilly to sleep in a different room, making a list of things that need to be done before leaving Scarborough, starting to tick them off, unpacking boxes to find that thing or bag of sugar you didn’t think you’d need again until returned to the boat. It’s fine, but I’m glad we’re not having to do it for too long though. This weekend we may well have eight people in the house as one company of actors perform their last shows in Scarborough and have family to stay, good job we’ve got four toilets!
Anyhow, Monday morning we hired a van again, cheaper than a car for the day, sadly they didn’t give us a car, but the van did have aircon, so that was a bonus. Should we take a load of things down to the boat? We decided not to. When we do get to move back on board, I suspect even though the boat will have been cleaned through (we hope) there will be places that didn’t get done. All the cupboards that have crockery in will need a clean and tidy etc. Anything that we take down to the boat and put in the stores will need to be onboard before Oleanna goes in the water, so we’ve already got more than enough to move around as we get ourselves sorted. When we do move the next load can stay in the van until we’re ready for it.
Choo Choo
At the paint shed our neighbouring boat had been prepped, blacked, and had it’s high build coats sprayed, the yellow layer quite obvious but nowhere near as yellow as Nb Lillyanne was. Also sat out the front of the workshop were four little engines for a fairground ride. They also had a coat of yellow highbuild waiting to be sanded back.
After spotting things other than Oleanna, our attention was grabbed by her bow flash.
Bow
Now here I now have a dilemma. Do I reveal Oleannas finished bits as they happen, or give you ambiguous photos for a while to then do a big reveal when she’s out of the paintshed? Hmm, not sure. Maybe we’ll stay ambiguous for a while!
Well her bow flash is wonderful, a lovely Mackintosh inspired nod to Oleanna’s previous livery. Claire has done a lovely job. The red sings on the dark blue, we’re very happy.
The sign writing at the stern is lovely, but at the moment under the lights in the shed and no natural daylight hitting her cabin side it looks a touch dark, but this may also be just the way colours sit against each other.
Have to say we’d hoped to see another colour sprayed, but other than the bow she looked pretty much as when Mick had been down last week. I’m aware of drying/curing times of paint and I suspect they also had to fit in with times Claire could work, plus having another boat to work on whilst the paint goes off on Oleanna.
Lots of colours of tape
Tom was busy marking out the long coachlines along the cabin side. Purple, blue and yellow tape were being applied in straight lines. When a cabin side isn’t actually just straight, it curves and kicks up at the rear, you can’t just do a few measurements and join the dots. Sometimes things need adjusting to look right.
Brown paper being added to protect the cream
Did we want the shadow to cut off at an angle, as it should or be square as it had been on her original paint job? We’re all for improvements so chose an angled shadow which would match the sign writing. As the day went on more lines of tape were added for both the blue and red lines on the cabin sides. Then once everything was in place a layer of brown paper was added over the sides to protect it from over spray.
Doors, hatches, and locker lids ready to be painted
Normally when spraying the main cabin colour, Tom would work his way round the sides of the boat and roof. Then have a little break as the paint goes off before following round with a second coat on all sides. However, the high temperatures on the day he was spraying the cream meant that by the time he’d worked his way round both cabin sides back to where he’d started, it was ready for it’s second coat, no time to spray the roof as any overspray would be noticable. So it had been left for another time. By the end of the day the roof was being sanded back ready for the top coats.
Lunchtime view
Lunch at the cafe, a cheese and salad cob and a tuna mayo sandwich with a cuppa each, sat watching the occasional boat on the River Soar. Maybe today was the day NB Bonjour would pass the marina? Maybe they’d already passed this morning? Another near miss with a blogging boat.
New bow and stern protection
We loitered, trying to stay out of the sunshine, waiting to meet with Matt regarding our new solar panels. Our new bow and stern fenders had arrived, now our thoughts turned to new ropes. Oleanna has so far had two sets, we soon replaced the original thin weedy lines she came with, 16mm much better for my reduced grip bought from Tradline in Braunston. These showed their age a bit quicker than we’d expected and we replaced them 2 years later, also with ropes from Tradline. With a new paint job we’d like her to look smart and her current lines are now in need of replacement, not bad after about 7 years. Not being near a chandlery means we may have to purchase without being able to feel them. A choice, should we go for multifilament or polyester? A look back on the blog to see what we’d had previously, this only gave me the lengths not the type of rope. I think our current one’s float.
CRT number with the logo from when she was launched
Matt arrived and chat started about the size of solar panels for Oleanna. We’d originally wanted to up how much solar we can get, but panels need to fit on the roof between mushroom vents. The location of the old ones would be best then we’d not need to either rewire the boat or have numerous wires across the roof. Two manufacturers were looked at, one panel a touch tight, the other would only give us a bit more power. Matt would be in touch tomorrow with a quote. Time is now pressing as he and his colleague go on holiday soon for two weeks, we’d like them fitted before then, plus Tom needs the panels so he knows where to anti-slip the roof, avoiding where the panels will be stuck.
Tuesday. Matt got in touch. The panels we’d opted for were out of stock, but he’d found some others, 290 watts each, which would give us a bit more power and would fit the original spaces. A quote was sent through, we checked it over and approved it. Hopefully now the panels will arrive this week so as not to hold anything up.
Later in the afternoon photos came through from Tom. The roof had been sprayed plus the doors that are going cream along with all the mushroom vents. The mushrooms were originally chrome, in the hope that they’d stay shiny and not require polishing. However within a few months they started to tarnish and we could never get them to be shiny, so just gave up. Hopefully now being painted they will stay looking good far far longer. This now leaves red and blue to be done, followed by the gunnels going matt black, anti-slip, and the base plate getting sprayed, which apparently is the last thing to happen almost as she is wheeled out of the paint shed. However there is now a day to wait before they can cover up the roof with paper to protect it from over spray.
Mushroom coloured mushrooms
Wednesday. An expensive day! Claire sent through photos and an invoice for her work. This was soon followed by Tom asking for his next payment. He also sent ideas for the T studs for the bow. Two options which were okay, but Mick found one that would have a similar feel to the T studs already on Oleanna. The new ones however are stainless steel, so no painting required and will bolt on to the top of the gunnel, meaning should they ever need to be removed it would be an easier job. I doubt we’d ever remove them as they will be useful for river locks and give us an extra option when mooring at oddly spaced rings.
By the end of the day Oleanna was just about ready for the red to go on and money had been moved across from accounts leaving our pockets emptier than they were at the start of the day.
Thursday. Tom seemed to have changed his mind as to which colour should follow. Photos started to come through mid-morning. The mushroom vents were now very much mushroom coloured and waiting to go back on the roof. Then in the afternoon photos of all the doors and hatches came through all shiny and blue. Maybe Tom changed his mind about the red as things like the gas locker lid hinges and dollies will be going red and it’s far easier to spray a big area and then mask out the for the finer details.
In Pantoland I had a go at scanning the cloths. Laptops have changed since I got good results last year and my old laptop has been defaulted. The scans weren’t going quite as large as I need and try as I did, I really couldn’t remember how I’d persuaded the scanner to go large last year. Of course the IT department was busy sitting around in Derby Hospital at the time so he has no recollection as to what I did either! Work in progress. I turned my attention to some visuals for a props maker instead.
Design Assistant Tilly hard at work
Conversations have turned to our cruising plans. Firstly will we be able to go anywhere due to low water levels, CRT are filling up our inbox with lock flight restrictions. Should we move Oleanna back northwards where levels may be better? Or should we carry on with our hoped for destination and a canal we’ve not visited for quite some time?
We have two routes southwards we can choose from, both had restrictions imposed on them last summer. Both would give us somewhere an hours bus ride from Chippy for panto. Stoppage lists were studied, there’s still a few weeks before these are confirmed so they could still change. We also have to take into consideration whether Mick should be single handing this winter or not, this could well steer our cruising plans.
Friday morning, more photos from Tom. Lots more blue had been sprayed, the bow and stern and the cabin coach lines. Next will come the red. We wait for the next photos to arrive, nothing had arrived by the end of the day, so that is likely to happen on Monday now as the blue needs a day to go off before it can be masked out.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 van hired, 1 bow looking stunning, 2 panels on order, 9 doors and hatches, 4 choochoos, 3 coloured masking, 150 ft brown paper, 1 imp, 8 mushroom mushrooms, 1 visit to Sir and Lady A, 1 solicitor, 2 Eat Me burgers, 7 scans not big enough, 2 alternative plans, 1 Blackbird back to the nest? 1 assistant working hard, only 2 more shows of Calendar Girls, 2 boaters now at least 9 weeks behind the original plan for this year.
Well, this week we’ve been waiting for news on progress from Tom. Mick tried giving him a call on Thursday, but got no answer. He was possibly being too noisy doing jobs, we hope.
A message was left regarding the leak into the bow thruster locker. We’ve heard nothing back from Finesse, which was expected, sadly.
A pretty full diddy car for the weekend
On Friday we packed up a hire car, full to the brim for a weekend away in the Dales with family. Fairly soon after we arrived at our destination, we got a message through from Tom saying he’d only just heard our message.
‘All well at the shop, pretty much ready for epoxy and high build, it’s going to be a productive week with the first main colour of cream on by the end of next week.’ He’s going to send photos at the end of each spray stage. He then wished us a great weekend. Did he know something that not many people knew !?!
Edale and Kirk Yetholm are the opposite ends of the Pennine Way
The weekend was billed as a ‘Not Quite Birthday Weekend’ up at the curly wurlys on the Leeds Liverpool Canal, above Bank Newton Locks. Back in January we’d been looking for a venue/location for a celebration. It is my 60th birthday this coming Christmas, and for at least a decade I’ve been wanting to hold a party to celebrate a big birthday. Nineteen years ago I had a 40.5 party at the beginning of July, this decade there is an extra reason to celebrate a year early.
Thank you for suggestions for venues from some of you. These were looked at, but none really grabbed us. I then remembered seeing a sign alongside the canal above Bank Newton Locks on the Leeds Liverpool, something to do with cottages. For my 50th this had been discounted, as I’d been looking for a location with a nearby pub, a campsite along with bricks and mortar accommodation for a party. But maybe, just maybe, it would be worth going to look at the holiday cottages and see if we’d be able to have a do a Grange Newton.
Grange Newton seen from the canal
On a rather damp January day we drove over and met with Rachel and had a guided tour round most of the cottages, all six on site would accommodate 24 people. If we wanted to have more for a do then we’d be needing to have a marquee and extra toilets. We chatted through various options, two fields were possible locations, and a grassy area by the main car park. One field was almost below our all time favourite mooring on the whole network, which back in January was occupied by our friend Chris on NB Elektra (sorry we didn’t come to say hello it was really quite a soggy day). The price of catering, a mobile bar, marquee hire, were all considered whilst sat in the farmhouse kitchen having a cuppa with Rachel. We then walked up to stand on Bridge 164 and a decision was made. We’d keep the do just to family, they’d fill the cottages, there’d be room for us incase we couldn’t get there by boat, other options all felt a touch too weddingy.
Invites were sent out for the Not Quite Birthday Weekend, billed as 59.5 + 68.11. Thankfully everyone thought it was a great idea, Mick’s family tend to be up for such things and my family quite like Mick’s, so they were game for it too.
Oleanna’s repaint being delayed meant that our first planned cruise up to York didn’t happen. Then on to Leeds and a climb up onto the Leeds Liverpool Canal also couldn’t happen, good job we’d made sure there’d be enough room for us too! Just a shame that Tilly would have to stay at the house and not be hunting for friends in the field that sits between the canal and the cottages.
So now back to Friday just gone, we packed the car with baked goods, clothes and two barbeques, the hope was that the weather would be fine enough to make use of them on Saturday night. We made it over to the cottages around 1pm and collected a key for one of the cottages where a gazebo had been erected to offer us some shade/cover depending on the weather. A visit to Robertshaws Farm Shop followed, here we bought ourselves some lunch and had hoped to stock up on meat for the barbeque, sadly nothing really took our fancy even though it was an interesting shop.
Back to the cottages to await various cars coming from across the UK and a very big Sainsbury’s order. The shopping arrived, as did most of our siblings, just one of Mick’s sisters and the London Leckenbys who were cutting it fine for a curry at the Bollywood Cottage down in Gargrave. But all twelve of the early arrivals managed a very nice sit down curry before heading back to meet with the next generation and their offspring, school and work having delayed their arrival. Sometime around 10pm the last car arrived and the youngest generation squealed and ran to greet each other.
The youngest pushing and pulling lock gates
Saturday was a day for people to do what they wanted until late afternoon. We popped into Skipton to purchase meat for the hoped for barbecue, the weather not playing ball in the morning or early afternoon. I set about icing cupcakes and prepping various bits of food for the feast later whilst others headed off to explore Barnoldswick, others walked down to Gargrave via the lock flight gongoozling and helping with gates as a hire boat made its way up. There was just enough time after handing out jobs for a quick stroll along the towpath to visit our favourite mooring. One boat occupied what has now become pole position, where the wall has collapsed giving a better view across to Newton Grange from inside a narrowboat. What a shame we couldn’t be there on Oleanna, but at least we were there.
The view from our favourite mooring
Party clothes were left in bags, too damp for those! After my walk I did have to change as I’d got rather soggy, but warmth was the order of the evening.
Monopoly, such a serious game!
Next problem was to collect everyone together on the terrace for a drink. Easier said than done, a Monopoly game was ongoing, potatoes being cooked for a salad, a shower being taken! I suggested that maybe a drink on the terrace would help whilst waiting for the potatoes to cool. Eventually everyone, bar Sean, was present. Mick tapped on a glass to get everyone’s attention.
York Minster
‘Some of you may have guessed that we’ve had an ulterior motive for gathering you all together.’ Daphne (aged 4) had kind of guessed yesterday as her mum had been packing, asking if she was coming to a wedding!
On the 2nd of June, Mick and I became Civil Partners at York Registry Office at a simple standard ceremony with two witnesses, two of our best friends dating back to school days. We’d dressed up smart, new clothes, newly knitted cardie, some of Mum’s old buttons, Mick borrowed my belt and my dress was dark blue. Morag and Mark took photos whilst the registrar Gareth performed the ceremony. Fifteen minutes after arriving our partnership of 23.5 years had become Civil.
Morag, Mick, Mark, Pip
Thankfully the sun was out, so we walked down to the River Ouse for photos, plenty of space should we have brought Oleanna, but a film crew for the next series of Patience were taking up quite a bit of space. We then headed into the Museum Gardens for a few more photos, being followed by another couple who had also just tied the knot too.
A drink on the rear terrace of the Judges Lodgings, opposite where my Dad had his architectural practice. Then we walked over to The Refectory, a restaurant which used to be the Minster Song School, for a very nice meal. A very lovely afternoon with two very good friends celebrating. All they and we had to do now was to keep quiet until the family get together. When we arrived back in Scarborough the following day we took off our rings, popped them back in the box they’d come in.
.
After our announcement in the Dales, our rings came back out, now to remain on our fingers. I left a message for my best friend in Sydney for her to wake up to, she’d got married last weekend and I needed to tell her that we’d beaten them to it by three weeks!
Us
A lovely lovely evening, with lots of food, four barbecues going, Josh’s tempura prawns and John doing his best to off load rocket! Once the sausages, kebabs and salmon had been consumed, it was time for cake, birthday cake, after all the weekend had been billed as a Not Quite Birthday weekend!
So everyone had to have a cake with their ages on them. Sadly it was a little bit too blowy to light everyone’s candles, but that didn’t stop all 22 of us singing Happy Birthday to US! at the top of our voices and blowing out our imaginary candles.
Everyone, except Sean who was charging his car!
Sunday morning was spent trying to return bowls, plates and glasses to the right cottages before we all headed out to various places. Three carloads headed to Malham Cove, a walk to the base of the cove to watch climbers, followed by some chilled medication. Kath, Sean, Fran, Mick and myself then carried on to find Malham Tarn above with a little walk from the car to find the lake.
Others had carried on to Settle, others explored Skipton Castle. Then it was time for the younger generations to head for home, school and work waiting for them the next day. An evening meal of left overs and the sausage rolls I’d made were enjoyed with a few more drinks.
Our cottage for the weekend
Monday morning and it was time to pack the final cars and say our goodbyes to Mick’s siblings. Everyone pulled away from our celebratory weekend at 10.
The Leckenby contingency drove down into Skipton to catch up with the Hall family. Robert and Margie have lived in Skipton for a few years. Since our last visit Margie has moved into a care home, a very nice care home overlooking the canal. It was lovely to see both Robert and Margie, then we had lunch and a further catch up with Katy their daughter and Trevor her husband.
Tilly having missed her bridesmaid duties twice
We were back in Scarborough by 6 to unpack the even fuller car and give Tilly a very BIG hug.
Back in our natural habitat
What a wonderful weekend.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car, 22 family members, 12 for curry, 23 cupcakes, 1 big cake, 1147.74 years between us, 1 average Richard, 2 jugs Pimms, 12 bottles wine, 35 bottles beer, 1 favourite mooring, 0 boat 🙁 , 0 cat bridesmaid, 1 announcement, 2 rings back where they should be, 1 car being charged in Skipton, 2 much food, 15 bookmarks, 1 klippy klippy, 12 bananas too many, 1 large bar of chocolate smuggled home, 3 birthday cards, 1 exceedingly good weekend, 1 Oleanna ready for Monday!1 secret kept, 2 Civil Partners.
We’d hoped to be able to head down to see Oleanna on Monday, but we also wanted to coincide with Matt from Onboard Solar and he was busy. I worked the whole day model making for panto which meant I could afford to have a day off on Tuesday to accompany Mick to Redhill.
The temperatures in Scarborough were to remain below 30°C on Tuesday, well, they’ve managed to stay pretty low all week, but Redhill was in the Amber zone, so we opted to hire a car with air conditioning. I made sure I had plenty of knitting to keep me occupied in the car, casting on a second sock just in case I ran out.
The journey down was pretty pleasant, the temperature gradually rising the further south we ventured. An eye was kept out for the brief glimpse of the River Trent from the M1, just in case NB Alchemy had headed that way, but no boat was spotted, green or otherwise. Nb Alchemy had actually set off pretty early to avoid the heat of the day and headed for the River Soar, they were most probably already moored up in Zouch for the day the time we arrived at the marina a little before midday.
There she is
The roller shutters were rolled part way up at the front and back of the paint shed, almost a breeze rolling through past the two boats. One chap was busy sanding away the gunnels of the boat next to Oleanna, the blue paint on its bow a mirror finish. Not much left to do on this boat which is headed to AquaNarrowboats for fit out.
Stood in front of Oleanna we could now see where the blasting had happened and where had been left. The front bulkhead was just about untouched, which had been deceiving in the photos we’d had last week, but stood here in front of her it was now obvious why it had been left, the wooden front doors and hooks would need removing first.
Big rusty patch where the wooden rest for the top of the cratch normally sits
Tom was busy with a scabbler stripping the paint off around Oleanna’s starboard side gally window, the last of the paintwork to be stripped on the cabin sides and gunnels. Apparently under the top coats Oleanna had what I think Tom called a filling coat which was taking time to grind off to get back to the steel. This may have contributed to some of the rust patches we’d been getting as once chipped, water could easily get behind it and make it bubble up, the bond between it and the steel not so good.
Dribblyness
A drain from the galley was dribbling, possibly where a damp trap had been emptied down the kitchen sink when she’d been stood out on the hard. Now Oleanna sits at a different angle, so what was left in the sinnk bend is able to leak out. Tom will put a bung in this and clean up before she is blacked.
Attention was given to the porthole above our crossbed. When Oleanna’s layout was designed we wanted a porthole behind our heads and a picture window at the foot of the bed, so we’d have a nice view to drink our morning cuppa’s infront of. Once the plans had been handed over to Finesse, we remembered that we’d wanted to have the stove chimney on the port side. A quick solution was to flip my tracing paper drawings over and rescan them so that the apertures could be cut in the correct places on the other cabin sides.
You can see the rectangle of what was a hopper window!
In early years I’d often stood looking down at Oleanna in a lock, her (then) shiny paintwork slightly rippling in the sunlight around the bedroom porthole. Then after she’d been sat on the bottom in Goole after the Aire and Calder breach, the sun had started to bleach the paintwork, revealing the reason for the ripples. Where the porthole was had originally had the picture window cut in it. Once the mistake had been spotted the hole was filled back in with steel. Thank goodness it was only one opening.
Enough of the anodes left for a few more years
The chap who does the welding had been to have a look at the couple of jobs we’re wanting doing. He’d walked all the way round Oleanna to check the state of the steel. No signs of any pitting, no dints from collisions and the prop dint free too.
The stick on solar panels had been removed. You hear so much about how the roof can rust underneath them, Tom said the roof wasn’t bad at all.
Checking out the gas locker
Now our attention turned to the bow thruster locker, the main reason for our visit, to try find the cause of all the water in there. First things first, empty the water out of it. A wet dry vac was found, but there was far too much water for that, so instead a bilge pump was set up with an added hose reaching out of the paintshed door. The pump was set going, it carried on for getting on for an hour, the colour of the water checked. If it was clear water, that would suggest it had come from the fresh water tank, but it had a tint of canal colour to it, so it had come from outside. Good in one way, bad in another!
You can see where the water tends to sit in the gas locker
The gas locker was emptied of gas bottles and hoovered out. The vents very visibly below the water line. Oleanna has always sat low in the water, most probably lower than thought when the gas locker floor was welded in. When Tom had been removing the windows and their liners he’d noted that above gunnel height the cabin sides had been lined with 18mm ply. This is usually 9mm. I wonder if my choice to not have any visible grain on the painted cabinsides meant they ended up using 18mm? Anyway all that extra weight will be helping her to sit low.
No obvious hole in the locker floor could be seen. So whilst the bilge pump continued to do its thing, we headed to the cafe for lunch. We managed to find a bench outside the portacabin just about in the shade to have our cuppas and sandwiches. Next we headed to the office to pay the remainder of our dues for sitting out on the hard for eight months. We chatted with Mandy about when we go back in the water and that we might need to be on one of their moorings for a couple of days, this was fine with her, if the boat that had been dumped would only move on, it’s been there for weeks!
Redhill is very much a working boat yard. One old wooden cruiser came past heading to sit out on the hard for a while. Then another narrowboat came past, this was laid off outside Tom’s paintshop. It had been jet washed on the hill and was now due to be blacked.
Whilst we’d been elsewhere Tom had managed to get his phone deep into the bow thruster locker to see if there was any sign of where water might have been coming in. He videoed a pan round, the depth the water had been obvious. Right at the pointy end of the bow, possibly the least accessible part of the hull. A rusty dribble from an inch under the gas locker floor which had then spread. Somehow the water was getting in here. Possibly a failed weld at the pointy end of the gas locker floor which always sits in the water. This leak I suspect has been happening for sometime, but Mick reckons he’d have noticed water on the bowthruster locker floor. When was the last time he’d looked in there? Just how long had the leak been leaking? How had the weld failed if that’s where the water is coming from? Well we just need a solution for it.
That looks like where it’s been coming in!
Can it be welded? Most probably not as this part of the boat is likely to have been made early on in the construction, working from bow to stern and getting in to weld it just about impossible. Tom could do a broad band of PU filler around the edge of the gas locker floor, sealing in the weld. Or maybe some two part epoxy putty could be pushed in where the hole might be. We planned on emailing Ricky at Finesse to see what his thoughts might be on a solution.
Matt from Onboard Solar arrived. Mick chatted away to him about solar panels. I’ll let him chat about those later.
18mm ply cabin sides visible here
The odd wiring, loose connections were chatted about. It looks like the cables from the electric cupboard to the junction on the roof had been cut too short on the original fitout, so short lengths had been chock blocked on the end, these were loose when Tom came to remove the junction. Matt will see if it’s possible to replace the wiring in the roof. We’ve dug out photos of the fitout and the cables should run in a conduit along the edge of the roof, but to access this will mean removing the covers which have been plugged with wooden dowels.
Matt is going to email through a quote for new panels and installation next week sometime
So Oleanna will continue to be prepared this week, it’s all in the preparation, After the preparation is completed she’ll have a good clean inside and out. She’s quite a state inside, so I strongly suspect we’ll be hoovering for a while once we start to move back onboard, maybe we should have removed EVERYTHING to make this easier, but we didn’t as that would have required several more trips in a van and then finding somewhere to store it all.
Just because they are there, demolition due 2029/30
Once Tom gets started with painting, the blacking will go on, the whole boat gets painted. Jacks will lift her so they can paint the base plate too, then below the gunnels will be skirted off with brown paper for them to work on the cabin sides and roof. The next coats will go on the day after so that there is a good bond between coats and no need to sand between them. Then layer on layer and sanding smooth will happen to get a mirror finish.
We reminded Tom of when we’ll be needing to move back on board. Claire the signwriter is booked for the beginning of that week so all the major painting will be done by then.
Will high temperatures affect the painting? Tom said that actually the heat will make the paint more viscus, so they shouldn’t need to thin it down. It’s more about keeping himself hydrated as he paints. He wears a suit and gloves, fresh air is pumped to his face behind his mask, so that is quite pleasant. But when he takes his gloves off they tend to be full of sweat! We wished him well, wanting to provide icelollies to keep moral up, but they’d melt before they got anywhere near the paintshed.
We headed back to Scarborough with a little list of jobs that need doing. New fenders, photos of the electrics to find, an email to Ricky.
Wednesday Mick put together an email with photos for Ricky at Finesse. Maybe he could come up with a solution to the leaking gas locker. On Saturday morning we’ve still not heard anything back.
Pretty carrots from our veg box
Mick also chatted to Hannah our most recent BSS examiner regarding the vents from the gas locker. She’d be happy to leave the existing ones and then add new ones above the next rubbing strake which will be above the water line.
Friday morning an email came from Claire regarding the bow flash design. She has worked up the one we prefer, suggesting keeping lines parallel to each other rather than parallel to the shape of the bow, all of which we are very happy with, so she has been given a big thumbs up from us.
My last mosaic session
Little else to report this week. Hopefully sometime next week we will get info about the solar panels, finalise a solution for the leak and maybe just maybe Oleanna will start to change colour, but that may be the following week.
Christmas!!!
Meanwhile I continue to paint my panto model, being in a snowy world is helping with the heat, although we are very lucky not to have reached silly temperatures. The other evening we used the barbecue to roast a mass of root veg from our veg box, the aim of keeping things cool in the house, we however required jumpers as we watched things cooking. I’ve attended the last mosaic session I think I’ll be able to go to, things are nearing completion, and too many hands are trying to fill gaps now. Hopefully soon we’ll get time to think about starting to pack our belongings ready to move.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car, 30+C, 1 cool Scarborough, 1 almost naked Oleanna, 1 shiny neighbour, 1 leak! 1 welder with Gogo Gadget arms required, 10cm christmas tree, 18mm! 1 prospective lodger informed, 1 last mosaic, 1 set of bow and stern fenders to find.
Mick picked up a hire car first thing, returning home for a quick breakfast, then we were on our way to Redhill. Tilly was miffed as she wasn’t allowed to come with us, but she’d not have enjoyed the car journey, best to leave that for another time when she wouldn’t have to come back again. Pah!
The drive took around two and a half hours, thankfully not too much traffic but the occasional rain shower. We pulled in towards the back of the marina (if you can class the land based boats being in a marina), away from the workshops and even further away from the river. Gosh things have grown since I was last here! The ground before was at least visibly uneven, but today it is hidden beneath an awful lot of friendly cover, Tilly would so love it. You can tell Oleanna has been sat here for around eight months, thistles, nettles, even an elder bush has grown alongside her, the flowers pickable from the side hatch.
The hill where Oleanna will be blasted
First thing was to open up Oleanna and find the sketches I’d done of her new colour scheme. The step ladder was brought down out of the welldeck and Mick climbed on board, the sketch book was soon found where it had been left ready for today’s meeting. Then it was over to meet Tom in the paint shed. It took a little while for us to realise he was inside and shouting that we should come in.
Inside was the 45ft boat that was ahead of us and another boat, more like 58ft which has been primed and is sat waiting the next stage. The 45fter was having its windows put back in, ready to be taken out of the shed tomorrow and refloated, she looked good.
The lower cream one
The three of us walked back over to Oleanna to take a look at her and discuss the jobs we are wanting doing on top of the repaint. Time to show Tom my sketch, cream cabin sides and roof, the bow and stern to be the dark blue, grab rail still red, lettering blue with a red shadow. I made sure Tom knew where I wanted the shadow to be and why, we don’t want another paintgate!
Paint tins for reference
RAL numbers were discussed, I still had the touch up pots of paint inside so would dig them out later for the numbers. We may go for a dark blue with a touch of purple in it, which was the original plan when she was first painted, but Finesse couldn’t match the colour.
Extra T studs at the bow to match the one by the gas locker, welded or bolted on, we opted for welded. The locker lid hinges have seized again due to lack of use this winter, they will get looked at. The Alde boiler flue on the cabin side will have new screws and a clean up. Mushroom vents will be painted to match the roof. The stern locker lids which have done serious damage to the paintwork will be adapted by a carpenter, leaving a wooden surround and then having a lift out section to keep the maximum opening rather than adding hinges to the lids. Our double-glazed windows arrived a few months ago and the internal window surrounds will need some alteration for the increased depth of the thermal break frames. The galley sliding windows will remain single glazed and get a good clean before going back in.
Poor Oleanna
We looked at the state of the hull with all the large rust patches. Tom gave them a wipe with his hands. Apparently 1mm of rust equates to a thou of steel having eroded. The large areas of the hull feel pretty smooth so he suspects once Oleanna is grit blasted we won’t be able to tell where she’d rusted with little if any pitting. We’re hoping he’s right about this and await the verdict once the paint has been stripped. Tom did say that the chap who does the grit blasting will love doing the hull as the paint will come off very quickly.
Can you spot the vent?
The vent from our gas locker has always been very low. It’s a wet locker meaning that water gets into it when we cruise, well if the water tank is full and the gas bottles are also full we rarely get to see the vent even when stationary. Hannah, who did our BSS last year, suggested we have the vent extended upwards. Tom will check inside the locker as to where the water lies and most probably put a new hole further forward so as not to cut through a rubbing strake. The amount left on the two sets of anodes is more than brand new ones, so we’ll not be needing to do that. Tom suggests that after four years we get Oleanna out of the water to inspect the blacking, and then we might require new anodes.
Hello!
He looked at the woodwork we want re-varnished. Moving the plank and pole rack towards the bow, so that the centre lines don’t catch. We talked about removing the solar panels, which we intend to replace with modern panels, a chat with Matt from Onboard Solar will be arranged for when Mick is next down.
Clare Norton the sign writer will be put in touch with us to discuss any art work we’re wanting.
We’ll be staying with the same type face
Next we got onto talking about windows of good weather. The forecast would be watched over the weekend, he’d chat to the grit blaster if there was any chance of a dry day on Monday. The marina was also aware of Oleanna needing to be moved to the hill and then into the paint shed. Then we chatted dates and how our house will be full with nowhere for us to sleep in a few weeks. Tom counted the weeks, we should be back onboard before we run out of time, but we can always move back onboard whilst Oleanna is still in the paint shed as the final jobs are done to her.
Lunch at the cafe
With everything discussed, Tom went back to putting the 45fter back together, and we walked down to the cafe for lunch. A tuna cob and a jacket potato were enjoyed with a refreshing cuppa before we headed back to Oleanna to do some jobs.
Really hope the sink can be cleaned once we’ve got water again
Mick ran the engine whilst I got a scraper out to see what I could do with the sticky mess we’ve got on the dinette. The new cushions and covers with flame proofing have reacted with the ten year old varnish and made it all sticky. This has stuck to the cushions over the last couple of years and left red sticky fluff everywhere. We’ve had the cushion covers dry cleaned, but now the stickyness on the woodwork needs to be solved.
I spent a good couple of hours with my scraper removing the failed varnish, it was a bit like chewing gum. Then I had a go at cleaning the remainder off with white spirit. This worked on the solid wood edges, but once dry on the faced ply areas they were still tacky! Further investigation was later done, so I may try meths, thinners, acetone, but I don’t want to sand the wood as it’s only faced with oak and it won’t take much before the surface has gone.
Covers off
Whilst this all happened, Mick busied himself removing the pram and cratch covers. These would be taken off by the painters anyway before the grit blasting. Our original plan had been to get new ones made either by SPL or All Seasons, keeping the same framework. However, due to the delay in our repaint we now won’t be going anywhere near either of these companies as we’ll be heading southwards not north once back in the water. So the new plan is to clean the current covers up as best we can back in Scarborough, re-waterproof them and continue to use them until we return northwards to have new ones made which will also take into account the new T studs in the bow.
The River Soar
As we were closing up a chap from the marina drove along the track infront of us, he was checking to see what would need moving to get Oleanna out from her resting place, a small dinghy was the only visible thing. He drove round the friendly cover opposite to check there wasn’t anything lurking there and then warned the boat across the way that we’d be moving next week. Tomorrow the jungle surrounding Oleanna is likely to be strimmed to make her extrication easier.
Still smiling
With jobs done it was time to say farewell to our dull rusty dark blue Oleanna. We climbed into the car and headed back northwards. Sadly the distance between Redhill and Scarborough means we’re unlikely to be able to watch her transformation in person as much as we’d like, but Tom will send us updates and hopefully we’ll be down to see her for ourselves at various stages.
Yum!
As we dropped back down from the Yorkshire Wolds, I put an order in for fish and chips from Capplemans. These were enjoyed with a glass of wine, it’s been one of those weeks where wine is allowed most days. The covers are folded up and in the dining room, we’ll have to hope for a dry day here to give them a good clean in the back garden at some point, then when dry, store them for a few weeks.
So at last things are progressing. We still need everyone to keep their fingers crossed for a fine dry day early next week for the blasting.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car, 0.75 of a sock knitted, 1 colour scheme, 1mm equals 1 thou, 1 jungle, 3 colours, 1 different blue, 1 jacket, 1 cob, 1 shiny boat, 1 rusty boat, 2 hours scraping, 1 hour white spirit, 2 sticky still! 1 jungle to be strimmed, 0 elderflower cordial, 1 rusty sink! 1 service station pit stop, 2 of each, 2 covers taking over the dining room, 1 busy week.
A bit of an update before we get going on what Oleanna news there is, as I’m conscious that some are missing out on the design of panto this year.
Chippy Panto. The Snow Queen model box has been stripped back. A storyboard was drawn up, ideas swapped with Caroline the Director. Then I’ve worked on the white card model, a couple of versions have been worked on and now I’m starting to work on the sketch working drawings so that quotes for the build can be worked out. I have a white card model meeting in London next week, so fingers crossed everyone likes what they see!
Bridget and Storm have been to stay. It was lovely to spend some time with them and show them around Scarborough. The tide was well and truly in, and they met up with Freddie. Hopefully they’ve had a great time on a hire boat with their grandkids and they’ve had more thoughts of being boat owners once again.
John Godber recently turned 70, so there was a big catch-up with lots of old Hull Truckers at The Little Wold Vineyard near Brough. The dress code was ‘A nod to the 70’s’, so with two charity shop shirts and half a metre of suitable fabrics, I adjusted the collars and made us each a kipper tie. It was great to see so many people from my Hull Truck days to celebrate John’s birthday.
Us
On the hottest day of the year so far we travelled over to York for a night with the London Leckenbys in their top floor flat. Gosh it was hot! Wonderful food as ever, time to catch up with them all, Josh currently in the middle of his second year exams.
At around 10pm we had a walk down to the River Ouse where the air was cooler. A sign on the Blue Bridge, where the Ouse meets the River Foss suggested that work was ongoing at Castle Mill Lock. So we wandered up to take a look in the nighttime gloom. New lock gates were sat on the bank, and the lock had a work boat in it and two cofferdams were doing their best to keep the lock water free for the works. We had been planning to come up to York this year and had hoped to be able to get onto the River Foss. But with the slipping of time on Oleanna’s repaint we’ve run out of time to visit as we want to be in the south by the end of August.
We now have two lodgers living with us, both rehearsing for Calendar Girls at the SJT. So we have a full house which will get fuller in just over a month’s time, so the clock is really ticking now until we become homeless.
Everyone with their heads down, cutting tiles and sticking
Mosaicing is having to take a bit of a back seat whilst panto needs my attention, but I try to go to a session every other week. Things are progressing very well and I suspect all the pieces will be finished soon. Sadly I don’t think I’ll get a chance to help with the installation, but hopefully that will be because we’ll be moving back onto Oleanna then.
I’ve had a break from knitting socks for a few weeks, making a cardie for myself. But now I’m back on with Felicity Edition Sockathon Socks in memory of my friends Mum, Felicity. I have several pairs to knit for children, so I’m concentrating on those before their feet grow too much!
I’ve also been doing some trial baking. Just which is the best GF cup cake recipe? The jury is still deliberating and wondering if a third version would be worth trying, however Spanish Buttercream has been deemed too much work for not enough flavour. Our alpine strawberries are doing very well this year after transplanting some into a urn at the house.
There have also been numerous walks around Scarborough, I’m quite enjoying seeing the town full of visitors and at a time of year I’ve not been here for in over a decade.
Tilly still waits in hope for an imminent return to Oleanna. Whenever a bag is brought out she makes sure she is the first thing to be packed. Well, I can’t have them leaving me here with all these singing Shes and annoying cats can I !!!
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trips away, 1 confused cat, 70, 2 kippers, 12 cupcakes, 2 ex boaters, 30C, 1 emergency cardie, 1 mosaic coming together, 2 new lock gates, 1 white card model ready, I think!
There were many boats in the loch this morning, mostly battleship grey. What a fantastic view to wake up to every morning. Christine made us scrambled duck eggs and bacon for breakfast, followed by some lemon curd on toast. This was lemon curd left over from making a wedding cake last weekend for Ed, Mick’s son who works for Finesse, our boat builders.
Christine’s Christmas creations
Before leaving, I had to have a look at Christine’s glass workshop. She makes beautiful items from fused glass and sells them at the local post office and at craft fairs in the area. Time for goodbyes. Thank you for the remainder of the lemon curd, one of my favourites.
Not done this for a while!
Car packed for the last time we pulled away, only to pull in a short distance on, it was time for me to take over the wheel. Today there were many miles to cover, Mick said he was happy to drive it all, but that seemed daft, after all we’d paid extra for me to be a second driver. I’ve not driven for at least eight years and then only on two days, prior to that it was another four years, I think. After Mick’s stroke last year he wasn’t allowed to drive for several weeks, it was really about time I sat behind the wheel again.
Sterling Castle
I’d avoided driving on the wiggly winding roads, and motorways. Just bog standard A roads would be wise for a first outing, maybe I’d drive to our first break, then let Mick do the motorway. Have to say it wasn’t as daunting as it was eight years ago when I had to drive from Manchester to Ipswich and back on my own. Then I’d found it scary getting up to speed on motorways, far more used to travelling at 3 miles an hour and having a good 50ft ahead of me on the boat. Having six gears was a new thing today. Getting the seat set for me was interesting, was I at a suitable height distance from the pedals? Or was I just quite tense about the whole thing? I drove us to the first motorway section near Sterling Castle, maybe not as fast as Mick would have. A good start, just need to find more opportunities for me to sit behind the wheel, not so easy when you don’t have a car.
There they are!
This was our last day of holiday, there was one place on our list we needed to visit before we left Scotland. This of course was the Kelpies.
The drive east took us around 1 hour 50 from Christine and Micks, the last section through major road works. Two car parks to choose from, we opted for the free one and a bit of a walk along the side of the Forth and Clyde Canal. The canal was empty, quite a few traffic cones in the bottom and a scooter visible.
Moquettes
The 100ft high horses heads had been visible from the motorway, now they loomed ahead of us. 1:10 moquettes of the sculptures sit by the visitors centre, these a work of art in themselves. The final pieces were scanned from the moquette then cut from steel and bolted together, unveiled in 2014. They are surrounded by a watery moat and between them is Kelpies Lock 1A, on the newest stretch of the Scottish Canals. The horses represent the heavy horses that once pulled boats and cargo along the towpaths of the Forth and Clyde and Union canals in their heyday.
Moquettes and the real Kelpies along with our lunch
The horses were designed by artist Andy Scott. The moquettes hand crafted using thousands of steel segments. When completed, they were scanned and scaled up to the full size. They are quite incredible, huge sheets of steel with square corners and holes bolted together to make up such majestic, strong creatures. I think the only real curves on them is their eyes.
Mick enjoyed a pork and haggis sausage roll whilst my gf options were limited, a bowl of luke warm cheesy chips. Then it was time for us to start to head back southbound. Our options for routes: head back westwards to retrace the mostly motorway route, head east towards Edinburgh and then down the A1 and the North Sea coast, cut the corner and go through Coldstream. In the end we opted for the A1 with sea views most of the way and the Tyne Tunnel. The last time I did this journey was after opening a show at the Edinburgh Festival driving through the night to get to opening night of an Esk Valley Theatre show in Glaisdale the next day.
Stood either side of the lock
As we drove we kept an eye on petrol prices, would the next garage be cheaper, should we find a supermarket? In the end we opted for a price that wasn’t too alarming, had a comfort break and finished off the yummy banana cake Christine had given us. Mick valiantly carried on driving us back to Scarborough, picking up a Chinese takeaway from a place that had been recommended to me by friends who are also gluten free. Sadly we maybe didn’t make the best choices and understanding the lady with a very strong Hong Kong accent was a little hard, she had difficulty understanding us too. Next time we’ll think about it more before ordering.
Back at the house our lodger was at work. I stuck my head up against the bay window setting the security light off. This prompted our guard cat to hop onto the chair to see what was happening. If a cat could smile, Tilly would have had a broader grin than the Cheshire Cat.
View down the Northumbrian coast
No telling off, which was a surprise, just requests for lots of head nudges strokes and once we’d eaten I was pinned to the sofa by a furry purry cat. I think she’s very pleased we’re home.
Purring away
We’ve had a great holiday, thank you to everyone who we stayed with, it was great to be able to spend time with you all. Also a big thank you to Vicky who fed and looked after Tilly so well for us, saving her having to go to cat prison for a week which would have meant two car journeys for her.
Us at the end of our holiday
Will we be transitioning to being motorhome owners to explore different parts of the UK as lots of boat owners seem to? The answer to that is …. no, I doubt it very much. I suspect we’ll try to travel a bit more in the winter, but we’re far from being bored of boating. We have plans in the embrionic stage for winter next year, but that all depends on various things coming together in time. We’ve our fingers crossed it will come off, but many aspects are nothing we can control. We have put in a request that a frequent lodger gets at job at the SJT so she could look after Tilly for us for longer than just one week, we’ll see if that comes off.
0 locks, 0 miles by boat, 753.4 miles by road, Fiat 500, 2 drivers, 6 nights away, 1 sister, 3 friends, 1 wheel, 2 horses, 2 squirrels, 76 miles by road rather than 35 by crow, 5 mine sweepers, 1 silent woofer, 2 60ths on the horizon, 2 yummy cakes, 3 portions fish and chips, 1 beautiful house, 1 mass of pink scaffolding, 1 barn, 3 canals, 1 pleased cat, 1 stroke allowed to Vicky, 2 boaters still with weeks to wait, 1 Easter getting in the way!
Time for us to turn around, after all there wasn’t much further west we’d be able to go. Maybe northwards would have been nice. We’ve a friend on the Isle of Skye, but that would have taken us at least another four days there and back and we’d already been away from Tilly longer than ever and with the boat paint possibly due to start soon we didn’t want to be too far away to make a trip to Redhill should we need to.
However, the weather was a touch inclement overnight, even more Scottish than yesterday. We’re accustomed to wind and rain on the boat, occasionally sideways rain at the house can be noisy, but last night there must have been some squalls come over Tayvallich. This morning Morag reported that there was snow on the fells when she’d been out with Fig first thing.
We left Morag in her idyll retreat, waving goodbye with plans to meet up later this year and maybe early next year too, there are big birthdays to celebrate after all.
Would we find a window of weather long enough to explore Crinan?
I managed to get them both!
Back along the passing place road. A sign saying there were red squirrels. No chance we’d see any by the road, they’d be too timid. A bend to the left and there scurrying along tree branches was not one but two of our tuffty eared friends. We paused the car, I aimed the camera backwards rather than reversing to the blind bend. Would I have caught them? Two photos out of ten, not bad but not brilliant. Wish we could have stayed longer, but we were at risk of causing a crash!
Mick clinging on in the wind
Back at a bigger road we took the steep turn to the west, going round a marina on the canal, sailing boats, no narrowboats. Then a few wiggles, then down quite a steep hill back to sea level and Crinan.
Crinan Sea Lock
Here a marina/chandlers sits on the side of the water, round the bend a 1930’s hotel and then the sea lock from the Crinan Canal, we pulled in, the sun almost showing it’s face, we had hope.
Blimey it was windy though and COLD!
No narrowboats round here
Crinan used to be called Port Righ (Kings Port). In 1793 two canal routes had been considered, one surveyed by James Watt the other by John Rennie. Rennie’s route won and an act of parliament gave permission for the canal. In 1801 the canal opened, two years late. Herring boats arrived, there was a trade in eggs, fish, timber and grain all of which would bring in revenue. It took until 1809 for the reservoirs to be complete so the canal had a reliable source of water.
By 1839 the canal was busy. Boats travelled from the Isle of Skye along the 9 mile long canal from Crinan to Ardrishaig to the Firth of Clyde, cutting out the need to go round the Mull of Kintyre. 1847 saw Queen Victoria pay a visit, tourists from Glasgow soon followed. By 1896 proposals for a wider, deeper canal were put forward, a ship canal, locks operated by hydroelectric power, but this never came about. Taken on by the Ministry of Transport the canal was given new locks and had a new reservoir in the 1930s, only for World War 2 to come along, lights along the canal had to be put out for fear they would lead bombers in towards Glasgow.
Works on going, just look how deep it is!
Across the sea lock and up to the first lock on the canal proper. Here the pound was drained, Scottish Canals were busy rebuilding the banks before the next lock. A track down into the pound had diggers and dumper trucks, lots going on, the canal closed until the end of April. Here we could see how deep the pound was, not much detritus in the bottom. The canal has 15 locks and 7 moveable bridges. On the Scottish Canals the locks tend to be worked for you, I did wonder if our key of power would work on the control box, but now wasn’t the time to give it a go!
A walk round to look at the sea/loch it’s a bit hard to know which around here! I didn’t venture too close to the edge as the wind was so strong.
Morag had mentioned there were toilets here, we found them a little up the hill. By the time we came out any sign of sunshine had vanished and sleet was horizontal! Time to run to the car and get a move on.
Lock on the summit
We paused close to the summit of the canal, hoping for a walk, but the sleet still came down. If we’d had a flask of coffee we could have sat, steaming up the windows looking out towards what was once the Linnet Shed for the passenger boat The Linnet.
Ruins of the Linet Shed
Another pause in Lochgilpead to stock up on lunch bits for Mick then back around the lochs, high up on the fells an obvious snowline was visible. Lunch was had in the layby we’d used on the way west, as we pulled in the fell tops shone in the sunshine, but by the time we’d got settled and the camera out dark clouds had descended again, most probably adding to the layer of snow.
I’d not noticed Inveraray Castle on the way out, but going over the bridge in front of it, it stood out. Grey blue as if it was in a Disney film, sadly the next layby wasn’t useful for photos, the best place being on top of the bridge, not a safe place.
Quick, Sunshine!
We opted to drive down the side of Loch Long to reach our next destination. This took us through Coulport another Navy Base where Trident Missiles are stored. Down onto Shore Road through Cove where very large houses stand back from the waters edge. Round the southern edge of the peninsula with views across to Gourock from Kilcreggan.
White tops
Christine and Mick moved to Kilcreggan about four years ago, I used to work with Christine at the SJT in Scarborough, she left a few months before I did and moved south. We’ve managed to meet up a couple of times when we’ve been near to Worcester. Now we got chance to see their new (to them) house. Just walking into the dinning room with the hatch open gave us a glimpse of their view across the water. Wow! By far the best view of our holiday and a view that kept them captured when they came to view the house for the first time.
Naval ships
A tour of the house, Mick has been busy, the latest project working on their winter living room which has a secret door which opens up onto the annex, which they hope will provide accommodation for friends when they come to stay.
Great view from the front door
A cuppa with a slice of extremely nice (if you knew Christine and her baking skills this would be no surprise) Banana cake, a WI recipe that Christine had improved!
Sun, look sun!
A walk from Peaton Hill Conservation Reserve took us up onto the tops for a view over the lochs below, thankfully the sleet and hail held off.
Action shot of fish and chips with Christine and Mick
Lots to chat about and a visit to the Creggans Bar for fish and chips, I happily gave up my mushy peas to Christine, there’s nowt so queer as folk! Pudding was back at the house away from woofing woofers in the pub, another Christine bake, clementine cake with a glass of wine.
Morag was out taking Fig for a walk when we got up to have breakfast. The weather was really quite Scottish, but the radar suggested there might be a few breaks in the rain, we kept our fingers crossed as we really wanted to see some more of the area other than just down the road.
Fig likes to show off his toys around the kitchen
Once fed watered and Fig had been walked, we all hopped in Morag’s car to head off and explore. I haven’t driven for around eight years, just the way things have happened over the years with hiring cars and getting insurance to cover the hire companies excess insurance. But Morag held off longer than that, thirty four years. Living in such a remote place, she lasted three years before buying an electric car from someone in the village who was upgrading. There is public transport, a bus that runs three times a day, only one of them linking up to another bus at Lochgilphead, so having more options of transport became important. It being an electric car means she can run it from her solar panels, so she’s also not reliant on petrol.
Quite Scottish
We headed back into the village and then turned south and drove to near the end of the most westerly peninsula to Keillmore where we left the car and walked round the end. Fig was on his lead as there were sheep about, no lambs as yet in this part of the world. The weather was just about right, continuing to be atmospheric, damp, windy, misty and quite cold.
Just needs a roof and a few triple glazed windows
We followed the road round, passing an old barn, ripe for development but with a cross across its door. A short distance on was a white washed cottage with a barn conversion next door. Apparently on warm summers evenings the owners sit out in front of their house enjoying a glass or two whilst the sun sets.
Quite a place to live overlooking Jura
It all conjured up my early life idyll, owning a thick walled cottage on an island, with views out to sea, spending my days sitting in a deep window seat with a log fire crackling in the back ground, watching the seasons pass. Morag has almost achieved that.
Past the house was a small stone wharf, angled against the sea. Here sheep drovers from Jura would bring their sheep to the mainland, landing against the wharf no matter what state of the tide. Mick checked it out as a possible mooring for Oleanna, a couple of large mooring rings quite a distance from the water, quite a rocky approach to it too. Back in 2021 I plotted a fictional route to bring us to Scotland, beaching on beaches, sheltering in harbours, it didn’t get us this far though, ending in Helensburgh. Maybe one day I’ll work out how to get us this far west.
Sheltered slightly from the wind back on the east side of the peninsula is Keills Chapel, surrounded by a stone wall to keep the sheep out. It is a typical stone built chapel from the 13th century. Inside it contains a collection of late medieval west highland grave slabs recovered from the churchyard and a 7th Century cross which formerly stood 50 yards to the north west. The few windows have perspex in them to keep out the gales and a new looking roof gave us good shelter.
Whooper Swan?
We then walked along the causeway that joins to the next peninsula, tarmacked, but you can see where the sea has eroded it beneath. A Whopper Swan sat in a field, the locals wondering if it had lost its partner. Apparently otters swim nearby and bask on the rocks, none visible today as there was no sun to bask in!
Back to the house to warm up a touch with some very tasty soup. Morag and I left Mick to have some down time and walked across the village to visit her 90 year old Dad. I think I last saw him at a motorway service station about 35 years ago, he’s changed quite a bit since then. It was good see him and to meet his wife, Morag’s step mother who is also called Morag.
Landscape
Morag and I caught up on plenty more news as we walked back and chatted about our future plans. The remainder of the afternoon was spent sat in front of the log burner knitting. Morag had a committee meeting about the village hall to attend, when she was back we sat down for some gnochi fish pie accompanied by several glasses of wine, very tasty.
A day to try out my pair of Sockathon Socks
The evening was finished off by watching Pina, a documentary film about Pina Bausch a German dancer and choreographer who made a significant contribution to neo-expressionist dance, her work had a influence on dance from the 1970’s onwards. She died in 2009 from lung cancer five days after she’d been diagnosed and the film is a tribute to her from the dancers she worked with. A fascinating film.
Time to move on, time to say goodbye to Anne and Alasdair until later in the year. The sun was almost out as we reversed off their drive. First stop was Morrisons to top up on petrol, where we were headed the price was guaranteed to be higher. We also picked up some bits for lunch, Mick a sandwich, me some spreadable cheese and salami to go in some bread I’d brought with me.
Climbing up high
Which route to take? We opted to drive along the sea front and along the side of Gare Loch, an uppy downy road that passes Faslane and HMNB Clyde. Armed officers stood on a grey ship, no idea if any of the submarines were in. More than 6500 civilians and service personnel work there, google shows a Greggs, so they’ll all be living off sausage rolls.
Looking down on glens
Along the side of Loch Long on the A814 to join the A83, a faster road with fewer ups and downs and twists and turns. We saw Lochs, Glens, Fells small patches of snow left in tucked away recesses. We passed the Rest and Be Thankful, stretches of the road are being worked on to improve drainage and fencing as the road is prone to landslides. Along the side of Loch Restil high up then back down to sea level to drive along the side of Loch Fyne passing what we thought might be Oyster beds.
Up ahead was Inveraray, a possible lunchtime stop, certainly a comfort break. We pulled in facing Inveraray Church and walked round to the pier to make use of the shore based facilities. Here we took note of how much it would cost to moor Oleanna for a visit, £25 per 24 hours as she’s over 9m long.
Inveraray moorings
Most of the parking was payable, so we opted to not visit the sweet shop and carry on a little while, there was bound to be a layby somewhere we’d be able to stop for lunch. Well that’s what we thought as the road proceeded to cut across a headland, the loch vanishing for a while. But then near Furnace a long layby with a Loch view, we pulled in, as did others, to enjoy our lunch.
On to Lochgilphead, here we paused to get some cash at the Post Office. Then a turn towards the north on the A816 right alongside the Crinan Canal. We’d thought about a walk along the canal, but it was raining now. Maybe it would brighten up as we drove, but it didn’t!
The Crinan Canal in the rain
We passed locks water cascading over the bottom gates. Then the dark stone sided channel on low pounds. Blimey just how deep is the Crinan Canal normally? You wouldn’t be able to stand up if you fell in here! The canal is currently closed for maintenance until the end of April, so we’d not see any boats go through locks today.
A nice house over looking the canal £260,000
As the main road carried on north to Oban, we turned off onto a smaller road still hugging the canal. At Bellanoch a swing bridge sits over the canal taking the road northwards again, we stayed on our westerly course, turning onto a road with passing places, climbing over the fells, passing more lochs then down into Tayvallich our destination for the day.
Tayvallich
Mick asked me if I knew Morag’s address. Well it’s just the name of her house and the village, luckily when she first moved here I’d had a good nosy on Google maps and found her house, so I knew which way to go as we turned away from the natural harbour of Loch a’ Bhealaich.
Morag is an old school friend of mine, she moved to Scotland around four years ago to a place she’s been coming to since she was a young child on holidays. Her dad has lived nearby for many years.
Fig after a swim in the sea
Time to meet Fig her dog, a very well behaved woofer, in fact we never heard him woof once! A tour of Morag’s house, then a walk over the other side of the peninsula to look out from Carsaig towards Jura all whilst Fig swam to retrieve a ball. What a wonderful place to be. What a difference from Morag’s flat in south London!
Lots to catch up on, a walk to the village shop followed by a veggie curry before Morag headed out for the evening. She goes Scottish dancing with a 89 (?) year old neighbour and her friend who is 85. We were quite happy to keep her sofa warm in front of the log burner watching The Other Bennett Sister and as we enjoyed Small Prophets, it was time to get Mick to watch a few episodes of Detectorists.
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