So, over the last few months, I’ve been wondering if I should come clean about something. Would anyone notice? Would anyone care? I have felt guilty about this, I have felt stupid to have done this. So now is the time to confess and get this off my chest.
Smile
Last year I smashed Oleanna’s smile!
There I’ve said it, it’s out in the open.
It was on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and we’d been warned about the pipe bridge just below Lock 42E. C&RT had suggested opening a paddle at Lock 41E to drop the level to make it easier to get under the pipebridge after emptying the lock above. Was it that we’d just said hello to Pete from Mikron? Was it that it was a damp day? Was it that we were pleased to see Paul who’d come to assist us down to Slaithwaite? Or was it that we just thought we were invincible? What ever it was we should have listened and taken action accordingly.
Bastard!!!
We dropped down Lock 42E and I popped Oleanna into gear to bring her out of the lock. I looked ahead to the pipe bridge, it looked tight, but we should manage it. Mick and Paul chatted, one about to walk on ahead to set the next lock, the other loitering to close the gates behind me.
Forwards she came out from the lock. Maybe it was going to be just a touch too tight? I popped her into reverse. I SLAMMED her into reverse, just when it was too late!
Not even a wink
Oleanna’s pair of horns that have seen seven/eight good years of service, been dropped from there support to go through low tunnels and limbo under low bridges, that smile that has shone back at us when at the helm, pleased to be on the move, were now crumpled like Quality Street wrappers as they’d hit the seam of the pipe bridge! She couldn’t even winking back at me!!
Paul went ahead to drop the pound. We waited, then Mick stood on the gunnel to help get us under and away from the protrudance. I was mortified at what I’d done. I loved her smile.
Coming down the locks without a smile
Paul said that no-one would ever know if I kept quiet about it. Oleanna certainly would stay quiet about it as now she had no voice along with no smile. Thankfully we didn’t have too far to go to get back to Goole, although turning out onto river sections it would have been nice to give the horn a blast, instead we did our best to shout BEEEEP! as Oleanna’s bow peeked out from the locks.
Ripped apart
The bracket the horns were attached to was in desperate need of de-rusting, I’m not sure it was ever prepared properly, it may just have had a coat of blue paint sprayed on it when she was built, certainly no prime or undercoat is visible under the bubbling blue paint. The plan had been to bring the bracket back to the house anyway to be sorted this winter, now the need was even greater.
We deliberated on whether to get the same two identical horns, or should we get two with different tones? Many people think Oleanna had a two tone beep, they’ve asked us to beep them and then have been disappointed when the two horns just make the same tone. The horns are 12volt and we had to have two as she is a 24volt boat. What had to be the same, identical even, was Oleanna’s smile. She would have to smile back at us as she’s done for eight years, that was none negotiable.
Mangled to death
One of the first jobs we did on returning to the house was find new horns. Mick ordered them and they arrived quickly, one shorter than the other. This was also an opportunity to replace the mightily rusted head lamp too. This has been rusty since Oleanna was about a year old. I’ve had a go at it a couple of times, but the chrome really wasn’t up to much, so I just gave up with it.
Cables were cut and the bracket was removed from the cratch. Next job was to remove the brackets that had supported her smile for so long. We knew this wouldn’t be an easy job as we’d tried to remove them before going through Froghall Tunnel. Penetrating oil was sprayed onto the screws and left to soak, several times.
Stubborn screws
Mick spent an afternoon trying to undo the hex screws that held everything together. All but four came out. These four were seriously going to stay put. Mick tried drilling one of them out breaking four drill bits in the process. More penetrating oil was added. Would an angle grinder be of use? Maybe, but would that only take the tops off the screws and leave the rest rusted in the bracket?
Time to call in the man, the one man I knew who would be able to undo them. Frank! Always at the SJT if there was a screw with a mashed up head you’d call Frank in to help. There were boxes of Frank screws in the workshop, he was the only one with the perseverance and magnetism to shift these screws.
Sparks flying
Frank arrived with an angle grinder and a different approach to ours. The hex heads were now nicely rounded so no chance of any grip from them. The grinder was put to work flattening off two sides of the heads, something to get a grip on with mole grips. The grips were tightened, Frank tried to turn them. No chance. Then by adding first a hammer which was soon replaced by a long allen key he gradually managed to get the screw turning having extended his leaver.‘Give me a leaver and a fulcrum and I’ll move the world‘ Frank was winning. The process was repeated three more times, sparks flying around the back garden. Then the bracket was free of all the now redundant screws. Time to hand it to the preparation department. Time for a well earned cuppa in the warm. THANK YOU FRANK!!!
Doom got rid of the rust
A few days later the rust was scraped off with a wallpaper scraper, the really good scraper having been left on the boat. Then the attachment of doom was attached to a drill and used to remove as much rust and paint as was possible. This took some time and a revisit the following day. Areas of shiny bright metal, next to pitted brown areas, next to areas the attachment of doom couldn’t reach no matter what.
One of my Mum’s old catering trays was covered with a layer of thick plastic. A liberal coat of Fertan was applied all over, then every other hour I would give the whole bracket a misting of water. It was left overnight.
The following day I washed the fertan off, black areas now next to the bright steel. The hard to reach parts were given a vague sanding, my sanding block only just fitting in the gap.
Two coats of primer undercoat
Once it was all dry I then opened a tin of One Up. This is a primer/undercoat. One layer went on quite well, it would certainly require more than one coat. When removing the failed paint I had noticed under the blue there had been a layer of white, undercoat or primer, but the layers of paint very very thin, where they still existed. Hopefully my attempt to paint this will last us until the repaint when a pro can do a much better job.
From white to Oleanna blue
Left in the utility room to dry off a second coat was applied before breakfast the following day. A little sand where things looked a bit too painty then a third coat. A day or two sat under the boiler before the tin of blue paint was stirred up. Screw holes and access holes first then a full coat. Second coat the following day. Ooh all shiny now!
Glad it’s not the cabin side
With a visit to Oleanna in a few days time, Mick used a tap to clean out the screw holes. Horn brackets were attached where the previous ones had been, no need for new holes thankfully.
Taps from Lidl
I returned from a walk to see the two horns sat proud on top of the bracket. But was the none negotiable smile there? One horn seemed to be sitting a little bit differently, did something need adjusting or was I just being a seriously picky Theatre Designer? Had the old horns been slightly off before? Most probably as the brackets had been fixed in the same place. Could one bracket be bent slightly to line them up better? This was tried, but the end result not noticeable, I was being too picky.
New horns in position
The new tunnel light has a smaller profile then the previous one. Hopefully the chrome will last longer.
A slimmer light, still with its cover on
With lights and horns attached we discussed Oleanna’s smile. Previously both horns, as I’ve mentioned were 12 volt, they needed a cable between the two of them which created her smile. These new horns are both 24 volt, so they don’t need connecting in the same way. But they do need connecting to return Oleanna’s smile, remember it’s none negotiable.
Two tones!
This will get done when the main bracket is back on the cratch, all cables that supply power have been attached, then we can give her an even better smile then she had before. But for now we’ll have to make do with Mick’s cheesy grin reflecting back at us.
On leaving Swanley Bridge Marina, we chatted through the painters we’d seen and the boats that they’d painted as we started to head northwards to join the M6. We’ve seen lots painted by The Paintshed, several from Willow Boats, but none finished by Gibson and Kenwright. Before Christmas Tom had two boats in his shed, one primed, the other a little further on, we wondered if they might be finished and still in his shed.
As Mick pulled into the car park of Middlewich Morrisions, a drink required and somewhere to sit to eat our lunch I gave Tom a call. The two boats we’d seen were now very nearly finished, could we call in on or way back to Scarborough today to have a look? ‘The door is always open’.
Kings Lock, Middlewich
Walking into Morrisons ahead of us was a recognisable voice. If you’ve watched any of Taylors Aboard vlogs about the Bridgewater breach you’ll no doubt have seen Joe, more commonly known on the vlog at Johnny Vegas. Once the boats were re-floated and the stop planks removed, Joe headed back towards the Trent and Mersey.
With lunch eaten we recalculated our route across country to Redhill Marina, an hour and a half. The sun was out beside the giant cooling towers as we let ourselves into the shed.
Cwoor!
Tom still had some final details to paint on the longer of the narrowboats, gas locker hinges, anti slip would then follow. Certainly the finish looked very good on the powder blue boat. You don’t often look up at a narrowboat, Tom assured us the finish was even better from the usual angle of viewing. Coach lines were razor sharp crisp. This boat was being painted for Aqua Narrowboats, Tom has the contract to paint their boats, it would be collected early next week and head off for its fit out. It was nice and cosy in his shed, maybe he’d stood us by the heater on purpose!
A touch dark for my walk
We were only there about ten minutes, having seen what we wanted to see and asked a few more questions. Then we were soon back enroute to Scarborough, returning up the M1, M18, a little wave to Oleanna in Goole then over the Wolds to arrive back in Scarborough in the dark. I got Mick to drop me off at Masham Bank petrol station so that I could have a brisk walk home. This gave me time to think a few things over. By the time I was back at the house I had come up with an ideal plan for this year I wanted to talk it over with Mick a slight adjustment to our cruising year might be required. Tilly had a few things to say about it all too!
Thursdays walk was far jollier
So we wait for a price from Danny at Swanley Bridge, our decision on boat painter nearly made.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2nd revisited, 2 shiny boats, 3 power stations, 1 Johnny Vegas, 1 boat moving on the Aire and Calder, 1 wave to Oleanna, 31 minutes dark walking, 1 offer, 1 estimate to wait for, 1 decision to make soon, 1 cat not impressed with the menu for the last two days.
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!
Ages ago Mick spent quite a while trying to find the fuses on Oleanna, fuses between the batteries and … well, everything really! He couldn’t find any. Had they been tucked away well and truly out of sight? It appeared not, he has never found any fuses that the boat builder may (or may not) have fitted. With the new batteries he wanted to rectify this. When he fitted the new batteries last year he fitted a bus bar for the battery cables to terminate on. The bus bar contained fuses to protect the onward cabling to the inverter and the 24v domestic system. The new battery supplier told him that a fuse at the battery end of the positive cables is not required because the battery management system (BMS) would cut off in the event of a short circuit. So it was probably very safe so he didn’t fit any. But it niggled away in his mind. There were various opinions on facebook groups and internet forums, some saying “Oh! You must have fuses” and others saying “You don’t need to bother, nobody has fuses at the battery end” Anyway, due to their relative cheapness and being fairly simple to fit he decided to do it anyway.
So he obtained two “cube” fuse holders from 12 Volt Planet and 2 x 150 amp fuses.
Today he caught the 10am train down to Goole, taking the Brompton with him to avoid having to paddle once reaching the marina. The usual photos of the sea near Bridlington or the Humber and the bridge didn’t get taken due to thick fog, today the world wasn’t picturesque.
In fact the only photo he did take was of the new wee tank connector that Alastair has made for us and left on the stern lockers. Thank goodness, we won’t have to keep our fingers crossed that the connector connects without spillage, or more likely splurtage as the pump pumps!
We can wee now
When Mick had fitted the new fuses and reconnected the batteries the inverter wouldn’t turn back on. About an hours worth of head scratching ensued but eventually he remembered that back in October when we left Oleanna in the Marina he had remotely switched the inverter to “Charger only”. This must have overridden the physical switch on the front of the inverter. This had the effect of not powering up the inverter if the shore power was disconnected (which it was). Anyway, all sorted in the end. Back in the days when Mick worked as a techie in the telecoms and IT sector he had a saying: “Every fault is easy when you know what it is”. Very true in this case.
Meanwhile back in Scarborough one project I’ve been working on has been completed. All three of our garden benches have been repainted and the slats replaced. Not a cheap job but all three have cost us the same as replacing one. Frank leant us his pillar drill and I made sure the new sapele slats got the full number of coats of protective varnish. Hopefully they will now see the two of us out.
Last week I visited a physio for the second time. The wonderful Meera (self referral NHS physio) had given me a few simple stretching exercises and they seemed to have done the job. She believed my muscles were all far too tight and causing me extra problems and exacerbating my knee pain. If only I’d seen her back in August! I have one more exercise to help strengthen my hips and was given an open appointment should I need it before the end of February. No stick needed and I’m increasing the distance I’m walking every day, I’m determined to be able to push lock beams again this year. Thank you Meera!
Eastfield Medical Centre in the sunshine
My next project was to redecorate a room that hasn’t really ever had much thought put to it. The dining room had only ever been painted white and felt a little bit sterile now that we have people staying on that side of the house more often than not. A couple of years ago I made some curtains, last year I added a print out of the swirly wave that I’d used as a front cloth for Rapunzel at Chippy.
Tilly in the fish tank
Taking colours from the curtains and painting I selected a pale yellow and a turquoise. I’d ordered the paint before Christmas when Dulux were giving 20% off most things, so the colours were a little bit of a surprise when I opened the tins, especially the blue/turquoise.
Blimey, that’s bright!
There are still a few bits to do before it’s fully finished, hopefully before next weekend when our next lodgers arrive.
Yesterday we had a phone call from one of the boat painters on our short list. We’ve not yet managed to visit them. They had had a cancellation for a repaint, sadly someone had passed away, would we be interested in the slot? The slot was in three weeks time. Three weeks at this time of year to get across to the other side of the Pennines, there were bound to be stoppages that we weren’t aware of, tides to consider, weather, possible flooding. Then we’d also need to finish preparing the house for lodgers, leave Tilly with them or heaven forbid she’d have to go into a cattery What’s a CATTERY!?! Best she doesn’t know.
Cattery!!!!
It didn’t take me long to turn down the opportunity, three weeks was just too soon sadly. I hope they managed to find another boat to paint and we’re hoping to be that way in a couple of weeks.
Can you see what it is yet?
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 fuses, 1 wee connector, 3 benches, 1 possible gardener, 1 hibernating cat, 1 dining room far brighter than before, 1 new painting started but put on hold, 2 knees actually working again, 1 cat prison avoided.
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!
Having a hire car for a week we were going to make the most of it. The car was about to be loaded with all sorts of things that could head to the tip when a chap in a van turned up in the street asking if he could take it for us. Not quite the look of the usual rag and bone chap who cruises the streets of Scarborough but he saved Mick the trip.
We’ve been to the pictures too
The final Christmasification happened with me getting my annual hair cut, 6 inches was cut off taking 2.5 hours. I have to say the majority of that time was spent catching up on things and putting the world to rights with Giselle, she must put the time aside between appointments knowing that we’ll be gasing away for hours!
6 inches shorter
Over the coming weekend we are heading to a do in London, more of that in a later post, so we decided to set off a day early and call in to see a second possible boat painter. Down the M1 past Nottingham in the sunshine to the shadows of Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station. Have to say I got a touch over excited at how close we got to the cooling towers and on such a wonderful day too.
Look at them!
We were here to meet with Tom from Gibson and Kenwright Painters. He had given quite a quick response to our original email and his quote/estimate had been detailed and thorough. Options as to using one or two pack paint had both been priced.
Today was their last day at work before their Christmas break. Mick tapped on the workshop window as a chap worked away wearing a mask. Tom came out to meet us.
He chatted away the process they would normally go through. The boat would come out of the water, be washed off and then left for a day or two on ‘the hill’ before being grit blasted, the windows would be left in for this, keeping as much of the grit out of the boat as possible, then it would be brought inside their insulated shed.
Here all the fixtures and fittings would be removed. Windows taken out and boarded over from inside to keep everything out. Now patches of paint left around windows and under fixtures would be worked off, the boat coming back to bare metal, including the base plate.
Tom then works his way round checking any welds around hatches etc, smoothing them out, this stops them from having a tendency to rust in a couple of years. Any metal work, such as welding would now take place, so extra T studs could be added. Then two pack epoxy blacking is sprayed over the whole exterior of the boat to a thickness of between 500 and 600 microns.
Other boat trades next door
The gas locker, bow lockers and stern lockers are all included in the works along with the bowthruster tube which would be painted by hand rather than sprayed, the actual bow thruster having been masked off before hand.
Below the gunnels is then masked off, the cabin sides now sprayed with high build sanding primer, several coats. This is then sanded back to a smooth finish. If in any areas they get back to the blacking more primer is added so the whole cabin is one colour before they start with the top coats.
If we were to purchase new windows for Oleanna they would be fitted all as part of the price. Our stick on solar panels would not survive being removed, so an upgrade would be sought and this could be done via Matt Gibson from Onboard Solar who is also at Redhill Marina.
Once the top coats have been applied Tom has recommended Claire Norton to do the sign writing, she would need to quote separately for this as no two boats are the same.
Unfortunately neither of the two boats in the shed were in a finished state. One had just had the coats of high build primer applied, the other was a day boat which had been painted with extreamly resilient paint , but not as finer finish as we’d be after. Tom is going to let us know if there are any boats near Goole we could go to look at.
Hello Soar
The shed is kept to a steady 20C and is big enough for two narrowboats. He took time to point out details that he insists on doing such as with hatch openings and avoiding any chance of them rusting. They would need Oleanna for between four to six weeks and the next available slot is now January 2026. Any good painter is booked up.
If we were to go with them, their location would have good points and bad. It is close to Trent Junction where the Soar meets the Trent, so only about five days cruise from Goole. The downside is should the rivers be in flood then it would be hard to get there or away. However Oleanna could be delivered early and stay out on the hard until it was her turn. I suspect it wouldn’t be a problem for her to be there for a while afterwards either, we of course would have to pay for her to be there as we would anywhere.
A good visit. We both liked Tom and his enthusiasm for what he does. Any extra jobs we’d be wanting would be possible as other trades work close by at Redhill. In fact next door is Ovation Boats then Tristar.
Looking towards the flood lock under the bridge
Once we’d said our goodbyes we had a walk down the muddy track to see the river. This morning a notice had come through that Cranfleet flood gates had been closed so it was no surprise to see the river flowing quickly past. To our right the flood lock, then out of view to our left around a few bends Ratcliffe Lock.
It was then time to head on southwards as there was a weekend of celebrations to be enjoyed.
0 locks, 0 miles by boat, 2nd painter, 1 nice chap, 1 okay price, 12 months waiting, 6 towers, 1 birthday cake decision made, 1 more batch of biscuits, 2 more painters to see next year.
Things have been busy here in Scarborough getting ourselves ready for Christmas.
A tree was purchased from a pub car park, lights added and celebrated with this years new version of mince pies, Viennese topped, think I prefer frangipane topping. We celebrated our 22nd anniversary of being together with a Chinese, very nice too. Mick walked up the hill to help me collect ivy for wreaths and the outside of the house is now decorated.
Last Friday we headed out for drinks with friends and managed to catch the Snainton Illuminated tractor run along the Foreshore, a very noisy affair, but very festive. The Christmas biscuit factory got busy last Saturday, 60 gluten free Lebkuchen were baked and have now been distributed about town.
After four quotes for a new lean too we’ve decided on the company, but now just need a roofer to come and see if we need reroofing on the house, wise to work both things around each other. A new cooker hood was fitted by Mick and his friend Mark and at the end of last week, a new lid to the coal bunker and we’ve had a new back door fitted, the last bit of single glazing in the house now replaced.
Humberside NHS on the top floor in Eastfield
My GP has referred me to the Self Referral Physio! I got to meet Meera last week who checked my knees over. My leg muscles are strong, all that lock beam pushing. So far she thinks that my leg muscles are too tight, so new exercises consist of stretches. She also spent time explaining the x-ray I had done in the summer and why it was deemed normal. No signs of arthritis but the cartilage behind my knee caps may not be helping things to glide as it should. I think I can tell the difference all ready, we’ll meet up again in early January.
Cake cake cake
The choice of birthday cake is still to be made, three contenders have been whittled down to two. So it’s between rice or oranges and plums.
We’ve now received 7 estimates/quotes to have Oleanna repainted. Only one company we contacted hasn’t replied, sadly that was Finesse in Sheffield, most probably busy getting the next batch of new boats in the water and out before Christmas.
One company were several thousand pounds more just for painting her and before adding in the alterations/additions we are wanting to do. But there does seem to be a going rate between several painters and yards. The quotes have been whittled down to four now. We’ve seen examples from two of them and heard good reports whilst out on the cut. The other two have advantages about them, but we’re not aware of having seen any of their work. So we’ve arranged to go and see them before Christmas.
This morning Mick picked up a hire car and we headed down to Goole. I had my knitting to keep me busy over the Wolds, finishing off pair 52 and continuing pair 53. There are some things that can’t be done in the passenger seat of a car so I’d got a more complicated bit done last night in preparation.
Not a bad view of Goole
Plenty of ships in at the docks. We headed straight past Albert Street, the way to Viking Marina, and instead turned up alongside the Dutch River and headed to Goole Marina. It was lunchtime for us so we decided to try out the Coffee Dock which over looks the visitor moorings in Goole. A covered, zipped up outdoor area was negotiated and inside it was nice and cosy. Mick had a toasted panini and I enjoyed a generous jacket potato. Highly recommended and we’ll be back should we not have sandwiches with us when we visit Oleanna.
Then to the marina office to meet with David Brown who now runs Goole Marina, which was Goole Boathouse.
A friendly enough chap who wanted to show us a boat they’d painted and done some work on six months ago which was located at the far end of the marina, close to where we’d moored a few years ago. He talked through how they paint the boats.
Jacket and a cuppa
All boats are shot blasted as standard, including the base plate. Then all fixtures and fittings are removed, apart from through skin fittings. Areas which were missed by shot blasting are cleaned back to metal ready for painting. This is when any steel work would be done, we’re wanting to add a couple more T studs at the bow. The hull is then fully painted in Jotun Jotamastic 90 two pack epoxy including the base plate, with an airless spray to a min of 200 microns, which allows for a 9 year guarantee.
Above the D-bar the boat is then painted in Jotun Megaprimer, also two-pack system (additional 150 microns). Then all areas are sanded and prepared for final coats, anti slip areas done where requested. 3 coats of Jotun Mega Gloss (UV resistant) which is a two pack polyurethane system.
From cabin sides to water line, is done in Jotun Hardtop HB, more two pack, giving a satin black on the gunnels, this also protects the two pack epoxy from UV stopping it from going a milky colour. They aim for a 500 microns of paint in total.
Signwriting and coach lines follow before all the windows, fixtures and fittings are put back on. They’d be able to replace the windows for us with thermal break double glazing, do some wood work jobs too.
Apart from the boat we were stood in front of we’d not seen any of his work, also when asking on various groups for recommendations he hadn’t been mentioned. I asked where he’d come from before taking over the marina. He used to build boats near Ferrybridge, then ran Selby Boat Centre. We were shown a few photos of other boats they’d painted and we can go to see them if we’d like.
DB Marine build boats, so are not solely painters as other places we’ve approached are. Their location would be ideal for us to have Oleanna repainted out of season and currently their next slot would be June 2025. The price quoted was a little bit higher than others, but does include all the extras we are after.
We thanked David for his time and then headed back round to the other side of the docks to Viking to say hello to Oleanna.
Hello lovely!
There she sat, front door sticking a little from cold and dampness. Mick wanted to run the engine for half an hour and I wanted to top up the damp traps that we have in various cupboards.
I also wanted to see what radius our windows were. From inside it was a little ambiguous, well if you are not dealing with boat windows regularly. From out side the outer frame suggested 4 in. One boat painter has suggested that we may not be able to replace the windows with double glazing of the same radius, right now I can’t remember which radius is done both single and double. However David today said that they are available in both 3 and 4 inch. I may need to phone Cauldwells to check for myself at some point.
We knew Alastair had been about yesterday to do an engine service and check the engine mounts etc. Mick lifted the engine board to check all was fine. Ah, the oil filler cap was off! Had Alastair finished? It didn’t look like it, unwise to run the engine not knowing how much oil there was. The engine board was replaced.
Not much more we could actually do today. We spotted Alastair before leaving so managed to have a chat. He’d got so far yesterday with Oleanna’s service and then been called out by RCR, he’s a trusted engineer for them. When he got back it was too dark to continue, he hoped he’d be able to return to her tomorrow. Nothing much to report other than the inline diesel filter which he’d like to replace the seals on, everything else looks good.
A pat goodbye, see you soon
Back across the Wolds for us arriving just before evening Dingding time for Tilly. I think she’d only just woken up, her tummy rumbling.
Another painter to see before Christmas.
0 locks, 0 miles, 37 tractors, 1 works do, 1 improved bunker, 1 shiny extractor, 1 double glazed door, 1 blind cleaned, 60 lebkuchen, 5 miles delivery, 4 new exercises, 3ft tree, 2 wreaths, 1 batch mince pies, 1 very bored sleeping cat, 1st painter, 54th pair of socks in sight.
