We woke fairly early, had a cuppa. It was quite pink outside, but calm and dry. We decided to make the most of a window in the weather. Waterproofs on, ropes untied, I headed to the lock to set it whilst Mick reversed Oleanna out from our pontoon.
Andrew Denny’s boat
A swan bobbed about in the bottom of the lock. Had it been there all night? NB Grannys Buttons had arrived late afternoon and then the restaurant boat, The Countess had gone out and back with diners. I carefully filled the lock. The swan had no intention of leaving, it wanted the bottom gates opening.
Down we went, only a few people to watch us as it rained. A long sound on the horn before Oleanna turned out onto the river to warn rowers and other boats of her arrival.
The RSC from the river
I hopped on board and then we tried to negotiate with a rowing pair, who was going to go first. They seemed to want to let us head off, even though they would be faster. Past the RSC, it’s a big building! A lady stood painting at an easel as rowers came past.
Hope she’s painting with oils otherwise the paint will run
Ahead two rowing boats were blocking our approach to the lock. We held back, now in the way of the following rowing boat! After some loitering, boats moved out of each others way, good job there wasn’t more of a flow on the river!
Stratford Trinity Lock sat with it’s top gates open for us. Here on the river you close all paddles but leave your exiting gates open. The gates took a bit to get moving, even more to open the bottom gates!
Going down
Under the A4390, we could see where we’d be needing to turn. Mick didn’t get the positioning quite right to make a good swing in, but there was only a light tap as he managed to straigten us out as we entered the marina. We’d already been told which pontoon we’d be on, very close to the river entrance. We opted to go stern in, tied up, the pontoon not quite as short as in Bancroft Basin, but still not long enough for us. Time to check in,
It’s a long walk round to the office, papers to fill in, codes to be noted and a telephone number to call to open the front gates. Once we’d paid for our months visit we headed back to Oleanna taking a better look at other empty pontoons.
Level board in the green
Our mooring has a gap between the pontoon and a high bit of piling, topped with timber. The Cat Health and Safety executives needed to make decisions. This was not suitable, should Tilly not make the jump, she’d be in deep water with no obvious way out. If we could move further round the marina there are reed beds, these of course only hide the water that lies beneath. We’d hoped the gap wouldn’t be too big, but it is. No point in moving as no shore leave will be granted, for four weeks! Eek!! That’s not going to go down too well!
Breakfast. We also opted to wind Oleanna to go bow in before it got any windier. This will make water and yellow water easier and we get a better view from the dinette and bedroom this way.
Turning in
A walk to check on bus stops for tomorrow. The pontoon took 2.5 minutes to walk, then from the top of the ramp to the bus stop on the other side of the river took 9.5 minutes. I walked back and timed it in the other direction to near Waitrose, 8 minutes, but dependant on how much traffic there is to cross the road. I then bought potatoes and an apple to add to our roast tonight.
During the afternoon the wind got up, some slight adjustments of ropes and fenders were required, but we think we are slightly sheltered at our end of the marina. But we’re still very glad we got tied up before Boelo arrived.
A treat Saturday roast
Roast lamb, cauliflower cheese, carrots and beans, followed by an apple crumble with custard. There’s enough left overs for each of us for two meals and some more lamb headed into the freezer. A good last supper.
2 locks, 0.8 miles, 1 right, 1 left, 1 Avon licence, 1 Hamlet mooring, 1 months mooring fee, 2 bus stops, 1 phone off airplane mode, 1 last supper on the boat, 3 meals of left overs, 1 long list, 1 very disgruntled noisy cat!
For the next four weeks the blog will go into Panto Postcard mode.
Cuppa in bed. The weather was still calm, we opted to head off before breakfast to try to keep ahead of storm Austen. Waterproofs on just in case.
An interesting house
The approach towards Stratford is a little industrial, not much to look at, apart from one house. We dropped down Bishopton Lock. Noted the old hire base where there is a water point and bins. At one point we’d considered getting a winter mooring at Bancroft Basin for November. Staying on CRT water would have saved us a months Avon Navigation Licence, but Mick would have had to work his way through the four locks between here and the basin for water and bins. Not ideal to have to single-handedly get to the services.
Approaching the services
At Birmingham Road Lock we had gongoozlers watching as they had their breakfast both at the Premier Inn and at MacDonalds.
Gongoozling for breakfast
Next was Maidenhead Road Lock. I remembered this lock very well! The bottom gate has a meccano type contraption of a cranked lock beam. I seriously struggled with it when we were here before. Not much to put my feet against, the stonework potentially slippy. I waited until very little movement could be seen in the water below the lock, got hold of the very end of the arm with one hand and pulled using my body weight. Well, blow me over! It moved easily and steadily, no need to alter position to keep the gate moving. Maybe some work has been done to it so it’s balance is better.
Below a boat was coming up the next lock. I looked at how I would lower the paddle, I’d have to dip down and be within the framework, my knees didn’t fancy that, so I opted to leave the paddle up, it would be much easier to close once the gate was closed. I made sure I mentioned this to the crew.
A moving boat
Oliver’s Lock, the last of the day, has some very nice planting along side it. It’s a shame someone has also decided to add their tags to the off side wall and lock beam. We dropped down and were soon passing under the low bridge into Bancroft Basin. Ahead the RSC building.
Nice planting
Trip boats and ice cream boats were in the basin along with one other narrowboat, so we had plenty of moorings to choose from. We pulled in and did our best to tie up to the short pontoon. We’d made it before the storm hit, time for breakfast.
RSC straight ahead
About an hour later the wind started to build, some rain too. More ropes were required, the centre lines from the roof were just encouraging Oleanna to rock in the wind. Mick put out lines from the fender eyes on the gunnels, this improved things.
I put a shopping list together so that we could have a Saturday roast tomorrow, then headed out to do the shopping leaving Mick sorting out a laptop with a working hinge for me to take with me to Chippy. I visited a butchers and checked on a few restaurants, then compared prices between Sainsburys, Tesco and M&S the only options in this part of the town.
Sadly no-one was serving chilled medication today!
For the next month I will mostly be eating chicken, so I splashed out on a half leg of lamb. I also picked up a bramley to make a crumble, but omitted to weigh it before paying so I popped it back. A check on the river level on the way back, the Avon was in the green, hopefully it would stay that way for the morning.
The weather had been blustery here but not that wet. However up in Scarborough things were very VERY WET! There had been a cloud burst, flooded roads and houses. Where I’ve spent much of this year walking was under feet of water!
Normally this weekend our friends Dawn and Lee of Animated Objects do Moonlight On The Lake at Peasholm Park. You walk round the lake and wonder at all the beautiful lanterns they have been making over the last few months, a serious amount of work goes into the event. But safety wise it had to be cancelled, so just about as soon as they’d finished installing everything they were having to do the get out before anyone could get to see it. Such a sad outcome after so much work.
As it was still stormy we had some bolognaise sauce with jacket potatoes that were baked in the multi fuel stove, they had good crunchy skins.
25 locks, 2 miles, 1 short pontoon, 2 extra ropes, 2 tickets left, 2 expensive! 1 late breakfast, 1 leg of lamb, 1 bag carrots, 2 potatoes, more can wait, 1 blowy afternoon, 1 bored cat.
Our Sainsbury’s delivery arrived and Mick was up by the gates waiting to let the driver in. Shopping stowed. A new gas bottle was needed to bring our supplies up to winter levels, £54.58, ouch, that hurt! You can tell we’ve not been boating for a while. Yellow water emptied, fresh water tank topped up.
Look at size of that courgette
I then had a phone call from Social Services in North Yorkshire, Frank had given permission for them to talk to me about arrangements at the house. I talked her through our hoped for plan, the cleaner the main part, other small jobs and some added bonus jobs that hopefully the Frankness group in Scarborough would be able to achieve this week. With everything being co-ordinated through HQ here onboard Oleanna. She suggested a day for Frank to head home, I suggested a day earlier, this would mean he would be able to go to see the new Ayckbourn play before it closes on in Scarborough on Saturday night. The social worker agreed and went off to carry on making arrangements.
We were now ready. Oleanna reversed out from the pontoon, winded and turned right, upstream, and back out onto the river. Mick radioed ahead, would there be a Lockie on duty today, no answer came and soon an amber light came into view, self service time.
Newark Castle
I hopped off and went ahead to work the lock, key of power (before you ask Brian, yes, my phone number is on the floats!) in the pedestal, panel open the lady began her warning ‘Please keep clear of the lock gate area’, over and over again. We were soon up and on our way.
Key of Power in action
Currently we have three different routes in mind with the aim of getting close enough for me to commute to work on panto. Only one of them is currently open and it’s quite a long way round. Fingers crossed that stoppages open up and a more direct route can be followed. Our cruising plans all involve the Trent and Mersey, but once we reach Fradley we’ll need to commit to a route. I added in another variable to the equation, a possible visit to Urban Moorings to make a deposit of our deposits. Do they still accept passing boaters deposits? If they do it will mean our deposit capacity can be reset onboard and avoid having to make a visit to Scarborough in the next couple of months.
Town Lock
There were messages flying around on the Frankness Whatsapp group. Jobs being ticked off the list, a recently recruited member Chris was charged with drilling and motor jobs. It’s a good job we all worked at the theatre and each of us has our own skills we can draw on. Long conversations with Ben, he’d been to see Frank in the hospital and had been given a few more tasks. So much for a week off from work!
Grey skies
Soon we arrived at Hazelford Lock, the moorings empty, we pulled in to our regular spot, tied up, noted w3w location and Tilly was allowed out. The Lockie came to say hello, he’d been strimming and would soon follow with a leaf blower,How very inconsiderate of him! Tomorrow there’d be no Lock Keepers on the river.
Thank you Jack
We had a late lunch, then I joined an HMRC Webinar to do with expenses whilst renting out property. I really know how to live! More jobs for Frank followed, questions were asked, the answers not firm enough, I’d need to be a detective again.
Wednesday, a very good day.
Hazelford Lock to Stoke Lock
Tilly was given an hours shore leave before we set off. However, the light at the lock had been on red all night and still was. We checked for CRT notices, nothing mentioned about a closure there. We got the boat ready to set off, then went up to have a look, would our key work on the panel even though the light was red?
Pressing buttons
There were a couple of CRT chaps there, the lock hut open. We chatted to one of them , it might be that the light had been left on by mistake, it might be that there was a problem that they hadn’t been able to see, they were here to do another job, but had called it in. If there was a problem they’d come and let us know, but we should keep an eye open should the light turn amber. We headed back some Frank detective work done to fill the time.
Hazelford Lock
After a while I popped my head out the front, Amber, we were good to go. I helped Mick untie Oleanna before heading up to the lock to set things in motion. With only one downstream paddle in operation it took forever to empty the lock.
This is what it’s all about!
What a glorious day, blue skies and on our favourite stretch of the river. More plans were coming together back in Scarborough, logistics of a theatre trip being put into action. Nurses on the ward were made aware of how important this show was to Frank and they were on board should Frank not be discharged in time, so an escape plan was put together for him.
Gunthorpe
As we approached Gunthorpe Lock I headed to the bow to be able to hop off, it’s far easier this way as the lock landing has strong currents from the weir. But then up at the lock someone waved at us, there was a group of volunteers doing gardening, some of them trained as Lockies, they penned us up.
Time for lunch, so we pulled in on the empty pontoon. The river is SO quiet!
I opted to walk on to Stoke Lock, there is one bend of the river you can miss out by following a bridleway and if I left Mick to push off by himself I might just be able to keep in front of Oleanna.
A much better day
The last time I was in the car park by the moorings I was climbing into an ambulance after loosing the tip of my little finger, today the sun made it feel better and I strode onwards through the trees, under the road bridge and headed upstream.
Is that Oleanna?
As the footpath rejoined the riverbank, I glanced over my shoulder, I could just make out Oleanna rounding the bend I’d missed out, what sort of pace was I achieving? What speed was Oleanna doing on the river? Gradually Oleanna gained on me, Mick cut back the revs, my 3.5 mph average was pretty good, but on the river Oleanna could do more.
A zoom in to confirm
I penned Oleanna up the lock, then Mick headed on to see if the low wall mooring was available. One narrowboat was moored in the lock cut, did they not know about the pontoon? Or were all the moorings full? Only one boat on the pontoon and the low wall was free. We pulled in, gave Tilly several hours shore leave. I showed her the trees at the top of the stairs which of course she was interested in, so I left her to it. However, I’d vanished out of sight, so she came back to the boat SHOUTING for me!
Into the woods
During the afternoon, Frank did his best to answer more questions, the Frankness group was busy, would anyone know one person who could save us six weeks of waiting? Possibly, a couple of emails were sent. CRT emails coming in were good. One saying that the South Stratford Canal would be reopening this week. This meant we’d be able to take a more direct route to panto. Fantastic! We just need to decide where to moor now.
The day had been good, well apart from an email I’d really hoped not to recieve about the print for panto. A proof came through for the portals, it wasn’t the correct size. The print wouldn’t match once the portals were put together? Did I have the original artwork? After painting them, my model pieces had become a little bit wonky. So I’d trimmed the height to be correct, but left the sides so there was space for someone with better knowledge to straighten things out. Add into the mix an extra 15cm all the way round to be able to fix the canvas onto existing flats (scenery), maybe this was what had gone wrong. Maybe not all the information had been passed on?
I learnt how to straighten up the legs, did a mockup, and was convinced I’d got the size of things correct. It would take more work tomorrow, but hopefully that would sort it all out. I sent the mock up to the print company, they passed it on. Fingers crossed.
18.4 miles, 4 locks, 2 moorings, 1 giant courgette, 4 boxes wine, 13kg gas, 1 ex carpenter/maintenance added to the team, 2 many messages, 1 panto email, 2 hours to find a new process, 2 and -2, 1 plan to be implemented, 1 back up plan just incase, 2 favourite moorings, 2 pairs of wonky legs straightened, 1 good day, 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.
Opposite Kiln Pontoon, Newark to Kiln Pontoon, Newark
Whilst having our morning cuppa in bed we could hear a boat across the way on the pontoon heading off. A peek out of the front blinds, it was the smaller of the narrowboats, we might just fit, but then we might not. We opted to stay in bed a while longer and see what happened.
A while later the narrowboat that had been moored in front was making to head off, well I could see the chap had a life jacket on and was about to untie his bow, time for us to get dressed and spring into action.
Such a pretty theatre
We pushed over and into the now large space, tied up and got on with the rest of the day. There was a brief chat with Heather from NB Bleasdale who is currently on her other boat in Ireland, as ever she suggested somewhere to visit nearby, Kelham Hall, I may have a walk over there in the coming days.
I spent sometime finding some foam mats for our lockers, thank you Ken for the suggestion. A purchase on Ebay which I should be able to pick up in a few days time from Argos here in Newark.
Fray Bentos originally came from Uruguay
Then it was time to finalise the artwork for panto ready to be sent to the printers. Have to admit I’ve been putting this off for a while, nervous as to whether I’ve got the artwork as good as I can and if it’s in the right format etc. Doing this kind of thing once a year isn’t really enough for it to have become second nature to me and when the order is around £5000 worth, it needs to be correct! Checking and double checking, I uploaded it all to WeTransfer and off it went, only for an out of office email to come back from the chap I’ve been dealing with. Argh! The link would expire before he’s back! I resent it to his colleague, then after a brief chat the order was placed. I can now forget about that part of the show.
The comprehensive scaffolding at the castle
I made a list of other jobs still outstanding and gradually worked my way through them. All done by mid afternoon, time to go for a walk and find something to eat tonight. As the temperature today was far lower than yesterday I opted to make use of the current Pie and Mash deal at M&S, £10 for two pies and three side dishes, more than enough for us.
Artists impression
Up at the castle I got chance to have a look at what is happening. With the aid of funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and the Government’s Local Regeneration Fund, the castle’s Romanesque Gatehouse is being reinstated, well, rebuilt! Lost rooms will be brought back to life. What I suspect is a visitors centre will be below. The artists impression of the finished tower includes a roof top area which will give a good view over the river.
New stonework everywhere
Whilst out I realised that I’d forgotten to order the paints for panto and I needed to check what undercoats I’d like the set builder to put on the set pieces before it gets to Chippy. This worked really well last year and cut down my hours, meaning I got to have a few evenings not working my socks off. All this was done and emailed off to the relevant people. I think that is now panto back in hand apart from answering questions from people, fingers crossed.
0 locks, 120ft reversed, 1 pontoon mooring, 1 whinging cat, 0 shore leave, 1 blog still not working, 47 emails about it in a day, 7 cleaned up scans sent to the printers, £500 worth of paint ordered, 2 pies, 1 creamed spinach, 1 carrot and swede, 1 lot of garlic potato wedges.
Monday. Last week we’d forgotten to come away from Oleanna with the correct dimensions of the diesel cap so that we could get the correctly sized version. A message was sent to Tom which also enquired as to when he thought Oleanna would be being launched. Correct dimensions were received, and news that all was going according to plan, the last of the painting was nearing completion, and Bertie was busy polishing. Tom would give us a call on Tuesday to chat about the plan for the rest of the week.
Ah! We really needed to know which day, as we didn’t want to miss out on hire vans this week, and we’d be needing to hire it from the day before the launch so that we’d be able to arrive before her bottom got wet. The answer came back, ‘Let’s go for a Thursday launch either way’. We did a quick plan in our heads regarding trips to Redhill, 1 for launch, back to Scarborough, 1 to move Tilly, return hire van. A Thursday launch would mean a longer hire, but more leeway should we need it.
I know what’s going on!
The van was booked straight away, a Sainsburys click and collect booked in Loughborough, then I did a happy dance!
Mick checked the diesel cap lock. The place we’d bought one from only does one size. We looked round for alternatives and think we’ve found something neater and of the correct size. However, the time of us having a handy address for it to be delivered to was running out. We’ll put that on the back burner and revisit soon. Anyone fancy the lockable cap we can’t use?
It needs to fit round here
Tuesday lunchtime we got a request from Tom for some D shackles so that the stern fender could be attached. Did we happen to have some with a gap of 17mm minimum? Maybe on the boat, but that would mean hunting through The Shed! No-one should be given that task apart from one of us!
Scarborough used to have two chandlers, both no longer sadly. We looked online, nowhere did 17mm, next size up was 20mm. No local shops had them, maybe if we had to order them then we should go for stainless steel. The hunt continued.
The bow fender went on. Plank and pole rest were located towards the bow. It used to be towards the stern, but we’d soon realised our mistake when centre lines got caught round boat hooks. Some more antislip was added to the roof and the stern doors were sanded and given a coat of yacht varnish for protection.
We were all very excited when Alex, Angie and Polly arrived to stay overnight for the press night of the new Ayckbourn. The barrier between the two houses was put back up for the night to keep woofer and Tilly apart, then we all put on our glad rags to head to see the show.
By Alan
The Trial of Romeo Oscar is Alan’s first ever courtroom drama, set in 2194 when humanity has been scattered across the universe. Androids are plentiful and seeking to be treated as equals. Romeo Oscar, a military android, is to be put on trial for murder, the first non-human to be tried in a court of law. There are a few laughs, lots to listen to, absorb and think about long after the show. We really enjoyed it along with catching up with people over a drink afterwards. If you happen to be near Bowness or Stoke the show will be touring in October.
Wednesday. A spark of inspiration, would Berriman and Chapman in Scarborough have some D shackles? It was worth a try. I walked down into town for a few bits and had a lengthy chat with the lady behind the hardware shop counter. I bought four of their largest shackles, but suspected they’d not be big enough. Back on line to check the location of S3i, a short detour on our route south and yes we could collect our order in the morning, job done.
Is that all we’re taking?!
The rest of the day was spent packing up the kitchen, work items and just about everything else other than clothes. Once the van arrived it was loaded for a swift getaway in the morning. Anna, our current lodger was surprised at how quickly things were now moving, well we’ve been ready for this move for well over a month now, we just had to repack items we’d unpacked.
Thursday morning. With several plastic bottles filled with water and sandwich supplies we climbed into the van and headed southwards. A turn-off near Doncaster had us arrive at S3i which is just across the way from Howarth Heating where we got our multifuel Bubble stove from when Oleanna was built. Did we need anything for the stove? It was too late to be thinking about a new riddling rod! Once our shiny shackles were picked up, we carried on heading south arriving at the paint shed at just gone 11am.
Shackles handed over, the stern fender could now be fixed on. Unfortunately the new one we’d bought was a few inches shorter than the old one and would not quite protect the rudder. Tom hunted round for an old stubby button, this was cleaned off and added to our new one, much better, thank you guys.
Our items that had been in storage in the shed were brought out and popped on the bed inside Oleanna. It was going to be interesting to see what we’d actually packed weeks ago! At least my walking boots were there! Two fat fenders were pulled out from the shower and hung on the starboard side, the chaps from the boatyard were coming to move her!
A trailer was brought, then a forklift with a long strop which was attached to Oleanna’s bow T stud. She’d been put on wheels all ready for the move. We were asked to stand behind the jolly barrier, the engines that Bertie has been painting. Then the forklift took the strain and Oleanna gradually inched her way out of the shed. Once her bow was well clear of the shutter doors the trailer was backed up to meet her. The frame was lowered to go underneath her, then backed up. She was raised a bit, making sure she’d still clear the shutter doors and pulled further out into the day light. The solar panels started to work. She was lowered onto blocks again and then the trailer reversed more, then she was lifted up off the wheels from the paint shed.
She was pulled out of the shed, then manoeuvred around in front of the cooling towers, how many photos did I take? Just a few!!!
This was the best one!
As she came past the Hill another boat was being grit blasted, it would be backed into Oleanna’s space later in the day, just before it started to rain.
Then she was swung round and headed down to the slipway, where she was backed down the ramp. Tom and Bertie holding bow and stern ropes followed her down keeping hold of her. It took a couple of goes at getting her to be free from the trailer, but then she was floating, back in the water after 47 weeks and a day! She was pulled backwards and tied up on the mooring in front of the bar and marina office.
First job, those plastic bottles of water would be coming in handy as the water tank on Oleanna was empty and we wanted to sterilize it first. The hose was set filling the tank. Tom fitted the pramcover which gave us somewhere to eat our very late lunch.
Taps were tried, a trickle from the kitchen sink. Nothing from the bathroom sink! Maybe an airlock, Mick left the taps on for a while and the pressure improved. Tom wanted to check the gas was okay. The hob took a bit of persuading to ignite, two of the burners needed a bit of nozzle cleaning for them to work properly a bit of wire did the trick to clear it.
The fridge was turned on, the light worked , it made a noise, but it didn’t get cold. Bugger! Tom didn’t know anyone who could help, maybe someone in the pub later on would know something to assist us. The suggestion came back that turning it upside down for an hour might help, other suggestions from Canal World Forum were in favour of re-gasing it. Or would we simply have to buy a new one? We looked online, asked advice about chandlers. Since Midland Chandlers has gone online only, it’s much harder just to pick up a new fridge. Thankfully we’d not brought too much from the house that needed to stay chilled. Our pullout freezer can be used as a fridge, the temperature can be adjusted, so that would do for today.
A very late lunch
The bathroom tap now seemed to be working, but there was also a lovely stream of water flowing across the bathroom floor. After ten years of good service the tap must have had some water in it which froze despite the boat being fully winterised! New tap or ceramic cartridge required, but for now a tea towel wrapped round it will do. With the water tank now full and sterilizing it was left for an hour, then the water pump worked it’s socks off emptying the tank. Those plastic water bottles keeping us away from using the water in the tank for a while longer.
Next important job was to get the new curtains hung. I started in the bedroom, glad I’d labelled all the curtain rods, they went back up pretty easily. The curtains I’d made at least five years ago went up without a hitch. Next the main cabin curtains, made earlier this year with more tolerance in them than the old ones, this might be a good thing as our new windows are far thicker. Mick was called in to help with a troublesome endcap and screw, the endcap dropped and totally vanished. It was nowhere to be found! At least we’d be able to draw the curtains when it got dark, they might fall off the end of the pole on one side, but hey! It would do for the time being.
Bedding was found. Around the bed hoovered, items put into storage beneath the base, bed made up. Time to try and clear somewhere to sit down!
Sun setting on a long day
Items we’d cleared from all the lockers needed to be moved back to where they belonged, cupboards under the dinette hoovered out, floor hoovered again, dust jumping out from everywhere. Thank goodness we’d brought an evening meal with us, beef and beetroot curry which was consumed quite late on when we’d had more than enough of trying to stow things and clean up. A couple of glasses of wine whilst looking at potential fridges, then we collapsed into bed pretty exhausted.
There you go Ade, a breakfast for you!
Friday. We’d come without any breakfast. It had been planned that way, as there is the cafe just across the way, it would have been rude not to! So we both opted for a cooked breakfast sat in the morning sunshine overlooking the river and a rather nice shiny boat.
Some space starting to show itself at last!
Tom called round this morning to check if things were working as they should. Our sliding galley windows were extremely stiff. These are original windows and even though I’d cleaned them quite well before she came out of the water last year, she’d had a whole winter and spring for green growth to accumulate, add into that grit from the blasting. Tom set to work clearing them out and greasing them so they would move better.
We’d also had difficulty closing the stern doors last night, the rear hatch wasn’t clearing the doors as it should. This turned out to be the two PTFE blocks that normally glide on the runners were missing, thankfully they were sat on the Nicholsons shelf. Tom glued these back in place for us and we locked the hatch so the glue to set undisturbed.
Mick rang round chandlers, no-one had a fridge in stock. If they sell fridges then they have to be able to recycle old ones, so few chandlers stock them. One company was found in Oldbury, but they didn’t answer the phone and then when he tried to place an order it said that it would take 7 days for the fridge to be converted to 12/24 volt. No, we weren’t interested in buying a 240 volt one. Very kindly Tom offered to order one for us from Midland Chandlers using his account, it should arrive Monday or Tuesday, bingo, job done. We just needed to plug the gap left to keep Tilly from exploring behind cupboards, cooker and the floor, those clothes bags can be unpacked later!
Time to lock up and head back to Scarborough
More unpacking, stowing, moving things about, I did wonder if it would ever end! Items to be returned to the house were collected together and put in the van. Tom came and helped take the old fridge out then he single-handedly popped it in the back of the van for disposal in Scarborough.
The journey back to Scarborough was a touch slow, Friday late afternoon evening traffic. We opted for a supermarket curry and bottle of wine then headed home to see Tilly and give her the news that her floating home was as ready as it could be for her to move back on board.
0 locks, 0.1 miles on a trailer, 4.79 miles walked around the boat on Thursday, 3 on Friday, 1 van load, 2 many things to stow, 0 new items, just where has it all come from? 1 hire van, 8 shiny shackles for the price of 6, 1 forklift, 1 trailer, 1 new cat landing net needing glue, 1 dead fridge, 1 leaking tap, 1 stubborn cooker, 1 water tank filled, 1 bottle milton, 1 hour, 1 tank empty, 1 tank refilled, 1 wasp sting, 1 hour of PA duties, 1 support network set up, 1 shiny boat in front of 8 cooling towers, 2 cooked breakfasts, 1 with extra bacon instead of gf toast, 2 happy boaters, 2 long days.
Bank Holiday Monday, I had an early walk. Then having a car, Mick collected Frank and brought him round, getting him out of his house and so that we could help him fill in a form. A lot of concentration and a couple of mugs of tea were needed. More socks for the Felicity Edition of my sockathon were finished off and packed up ready to be posted.
Tuesday morning. We’d already decided that heading to Redhill today would be pretty pointless as not much would have changed since we’d been there last Thursday. Before we’d finished our cuppa in bed we got a message from Tom. He’s still be on holiday until the end of the week. Bertie was getting on with jobs, could we go down to meet with him on Friday? Yes. We extended the car hire by a couple of days.
A mirrored selfie
What to do with ourselves with a hire car at our disposal? Mick did a little look round on the National Trust website. Robin Hoods Bay, before they close the visitor centre? No, been there seen how they altered my Dad’s award-winning building for Marine Biology. Nunnington Hall? Might have been before, but it was a very long time ago if I had. We got ourselves sorted, found our NT cards and set off for a day out.
Nunnington Hall
Nunnington Hall sits north of York across the Howardian Hills. More a manor house than a big hall it still is quite grand. Originally a nunnery, hence the name, the oldest parts of the house date back to Tudor times. Successive owners have left their mark, a combination of re-purpose and renovation.
In the 1920’s Margaret Fife inherited the hall which was in quite a state. Walter Brierley was engaged to renovate the hall. As we walked round, reading the information panels, Walters name kept being mentioned. I wanted to ask a guide about this chap. Could he be the Brierley who had been senior partner of my fathers architectural practice in York during my Grandfathers days?
Small door knobs and fancy hinges
Numerous four poster beds, green painted walls, views into the gardens. Up to the top floor, here there were plans of the house when it was being renovated, dated 1921 and signed Brierley and Rutherford, 13 Lendal, York. No need to ask a guide anymore other than for any further information as this is where my Grandfather and Father worked. The drawing may have been drawn by my Grandfather, who knows. Cecil, my grandfather, took over as senior partner in 1926 a year after my Dad was born. In Dad’s time the practice was called Brierley, Leckenby, Keighley and Groom and was the oldest architectural practice in the country having been founded by John Carr. It still is, continuing under the name of Brierley and Groom.
A guide was asked about him, but she was far more interested in chatting about the Carlisle Collection, a collection of miniatures. Mostly 1:8 models of period rooms, everything made from the materials the 1:1 objects would have been made from. Some exquisite handiwork on show and interesting to me. But I would have like to know more about Brierley.
Now there’s an idea!
Up on the top floor is a gallery space. The exhibition was about Gina and how she fixed fairy tales. Her main solutions seemed to involve cake, a very good way of thinking. By now we were starting to feel hungry so headed to the cafe on the ground floor for lunch, a toasted sandwich and jacket potato. This was followed by a walk round the garden, orchards, iris gardens all very nicely kept by what seemed like a small army of volunteers. A good day out.
Packing paints to go in deep storage
Wednesday involved some PA duties for Frank, the start of a painting I’ve been planning for a while and some packing of work things hoping that we’d be able to take them to the boat.
Thursday, a message was sent to Tom hopefully now back from his holiday. We’d really like to be able to leave the dinette cushions on our next visit as they take up quite a lot of space in a car. He said that once he’d caught up with Bertie he would make it his first job to clean through the boat.
Coming down the Col de Wetwang, or is it Sledmere?
Friday morning we followed the course of that days Tour of Britain around Sledmere into Wetwang and further south where they would veer off towards Beverley. It was a slow drive and we arrived near to 1pm. The chaps were hard at work on Oleanna, a new neighbour sat alongside, a new shell with one spray of blacking (it most probably arrived like this from the shell builder).
A new neighbour, not even spray foamed
There were discussions as to the diesel cap lock. Unfortunately, Mick had bought one that had been in stock, but the pipe into our tank is a different diameter and we have four fixings not three. We’ll need to be in touch with the chap who makes them, we also noted that the original filler cap had been got by the grit blasting, we’ll want to replace that.
Tom had had a very good go inside Oleanna, all the spray foam off cuts removed, a good tidy and he’d obviously spent quite a bit of time hoovering and dusting things down. I wanted to make sure places I wanted to stow things were dust free so carried on where Tom had stopped, but delving deep into the recesses of Oleanna.
Once behind the freezer was clean, possibly the cleanest it’s been since brand new, I could stow my work boxes. A few items could return to the house like the angle poise which has a dodgy connection. I now have a ring light with a weighted base and magnifying lens which will serve two purposes and packs away smaller.
I worked from the galley towards the bow. Gosh how long had that bottle of water been sat in the fridge for?! Ten maybe eleven months! With no water in the tank all I could do was hoover and dust, washing things down will have to wait a little while. Under the back steps we now have a round inspection hatch, just the job.
Anti-slipped bow, locker lids and everything!
Access was from the stern today as the bow was being made ready for anti-slip paint. More than we had originally. I spotted that between the new T studs and cratch board there wasn’t an area for anti-slip, this was mentioned to Bertie and amended.
Roof rejigging
As I hoovered as many recesses I could get into, Mick and Tom were busy at the stern. They hooked up Oleanna so there was light inside. The engine was turned over but not for very long as we are inside. A service is arranged hopefully next week sometime. Then they got on with pulling new cables through from the electrics cupboard to outside for a new 5G antenna. We will be installing a new 5G router when back on board. Now Mick could see what state the batteries were in. The solar controller was looked at too, very little voltage was showing from the new panels but that is hardly surprising inside the shed. But at least there was some voltage showing, indicating that the panels are actually connected.
Nothing in the Secret Passageway!
The sofa was pulled out, the door that used to be in front of the washing machine removed to be taken to the house along with a big block of foam, no need to keep them here. Ah, but what will Tilly make of the secret passageway now? Will we need to put something in there to be the new secret?? Or should we leave it empty so she has no interest in squeezing herself through the tiny gap?
No longer Tyler Wilson on the stern anti slip
Some of the grills under the mushroom vents had been put back on. The amount of dust on them needed to be hoovered. They are better but will need taking down for a thorough clean once we’re back on board. The dinette cushions could now be brought back on board, she was starting to look habitable again.
Cushions back onboard
We had a walk round outside with Tom. Marks from the painting will be polished out, hinges touched up, edges missed by the spray gun will be hand painted in. I asked for the wooden liners of the side hatch and back doors to be sanded back and varnished, the cratch and locker lids already done. I tried to peek inside the gas locker with it’s fresh coat of paint and band of filler over the hole into the bow thruster locker, but I wasn’t tall enough to peek inside and managed to anti-slip my hand in the process! Oh well, I’ve left my mark on her.
Cratch board varnished.
A realistic time scale for her going back in the water was discussed. The base plate still needs painting, Tom hoped to get a coat on parts of it today before leaving so that the blocks Oleanna sits on can be moved meaning the whole of the base plate will get painted. The plank and pole rest still needs attaching, other bits and bobs and the final snagging is to be done. Hopefully if the weather plays ball we should be back afloat sometime next week. We’ll confirm with Tom on Monday when we know what the weather is doing.
Sad git’s (yellow sticker) lunch
We came away feeling far better than last week, we’ve inched closer to her being ours again. First thing was to head to Trowell services on the M1 north for a comfort break and for a very late lunch, we’d not wanted to stop the momentum at the paint shed when we’d arrived today. Sad gits sandwiches from M&S and then we plotted a route across country to avoid delays on the M1.
Clearing my head
There is more packing to do in Scarborough, mostly things we’d packed a month ago that have now been unpacked! Maybe I’ll want to re-access the items of clothing packed to be put under the bed for winter. There is a press night we can attend for the new Ayckbourn at the SJT and we need to make sure everything is sorted for Frank. Some head space looking out to sea was required yesterday, that distant horizon is always worth a stop to look at. Then a gluten free challah loaf was made, it’s only the second time I’ve made one and I’ve been short of one ingredient for a while. It is so tasty.
A very tasty loaf!
Fingers and paws crossed that this next week will be the week!
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car extended, 3 days of PA duties, 2.5 ml, 2 drawings that Grandad Lecko may have drawn, 1 scarecrow, 1 boat inching towards the finish line, 2 sets of doors to go, 1 baseplate, 1 lock 2 skinny, 1 empty secret, 0 bananas anti-slipped, 2 many things to go outside still in cupboards, 1 hire car returned, 1 van planned but not booked, 1 skip required, 4 miles of the Cleveland Way walked.
No news from Redhill this week. The way Tom had written his message last Sunday suggested that he was unlikely to be about, maybe he and his family had headed off on holiday before the schools go back.
A birthday card for my cousin Ian
In Scarborough we planned to see Handbagged for a second time, sadly late afternoon I got the indications that I was in for a migraine! Luckily tickets hadn’t been booked and the evening was spent sitting quite still and taking pills.
Tuesday questions came through from the people who we are wanting to print cloths for panto, my brain wasn’t functioning too well, so I passed this on to the Production Manager to answer. I’m still not sure if she’s been in touch with them. I got confirmation through that my digs have been booked in Chippy, although with no contact details for my new host. Very sadly the host I stayed with last year, Rachel, passed away just before Christmas, so instead of being in the old bakehouse with the ghosts, I’ll be staying in a modern house with Spiderman keeping me safe whilst I sleep.
Tilly getting back into tree climbing ready for being back on the boat
A hire car was sorted for Wednesday afternoon, we opted to have it for a week with the hope that with three trips to Oleanna we’d be able to move everything back without too much problem. First job once we had wheels was to check on prescriptions for Frank and deliver any that had gone rogue. Then drop off the camp beds we’d borrowed when the house was extremely full of lodgers and ourselves.
Dinette cushions were loaded into the car followed by bags of possessions and then smart clothes for a party in the south.
The two and a half hour drive to Redhill turned into nearer three and a half due to the torrential rain and accidents on the M1. We ended up doing a detour and approaching Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station from the other side, the cooling towers suddenly looming out from the low cloud.
Redundant rollers now our neighboring boat has gone
At the paint shed the shutters were down. Bertie was chatting to someone about our neighbouring boat. A few last minute bits for him to do, then the roller door was raised ready for the boat to exit and be launched. Have to say our thoughts were, ‘why isn’t that us?!’ After all, we’d been in the shed a few more weeks than them!
We had a walk through Oleanna. Our plan had been to do a deeper clean in a couple of areas, dinette and under the bed so that we could offload and stow some of our stuff. The final hoover through the boat by the painters was still to come. We could have done it ourselves, but Oleanna wasn’t hooked up, we’d need power from elsewhere and now the tractor had arrived to pull the other boat out of the shed. I decided there was too much for us to clean to be able to leave the dinette cushions on the dinette, and after all why should we do a job we were paying someone else to do.
Cupboards were checked for space in the bedroom. I managed to stow a few bags of things and then the remaining bags were left on the bed, everything enclosed away from dust. The dinette cushions would now need bending to squeeze into the boot to allow us to have passengers tomorrow, but that job could wait.
Rain water on the gunnels from the leaking shed
I had a good look round Oleanna, making notes of a few places where things would need touching up. Nothing unexpected, a little bit of overspray on the cream, one or two places where the tape hasn’t stopped the paint from bleeding.
Stern locker lids now with a wood surround
The new locker lids are just as we’d wanted. They will now need a few coats of varnish to keep them waterproof. But now the surrounding paintwork will be far less likely to get marked when accessing the lockers. If marks now appear, it will be down to operator error and deserve a telling off!
Sat on a bench next to Oleanna were all the external fittings ready to go back on Oleanna. We added to it the new lockable diesel cap we’ve finally remembered to bring down. We’ve wanted one of these from before Oleanna was built, but it was one of those things Finesse didn’t do.
There’s quite a list of jobs
A sheet of paper had Tom’s list of jobs on it. It’s quite a long list. Some won’t take long, others will. My guestimate means she won’t be ready to go back in the water just after the bank holiday as had been suggested, but we’d already known that. There was a suggestion that some items were on order, replacing fittings so Oleanna would look smarter.
We had lunch at the cafe. Sadly the cafe is closing sometime in September, the lady who runs it is heading off to do new things. I wonder if anyone else will take it over, or will that be the end of a very handy cafe riverside?
Unloading the car in the shelter of the paint shed
Back at the paint shed we managed a brief chat with Bertie. He thought the jobs list will take them a couple of days to complete. Nothing would happen over the weekend or Friday as he is an organiser for the vintage vehicle rally over the weekend. Hopefully people will still come despite the rain! The other boat was back in the water but a bilge pump was required to help keep up with the amount of rain, so we left Bertie to it.
A soggy view of Loughborough Basin
Back in the car we drove to Loughborough Travelodge for the night. Our room overlooked the basin and a building site where it looks like a tall building will be going up. The pontoons were surrounded by pennywort and there wasn’t a boat in sight.
I headed off for a walk to Queen’s Park. The museum closed for the day, but I had chance to admire the lovely little tower at the library, try to make out the bandstand underneath all the hanging baskets. I chatted to the birds in the aviary and listened to the bells chiming in the Carillion and bell tower. Loughborough was the home to the foundry which made the Great Paul, E-flat bourdon bell that hangs in St Pauls.
I wiggled my way round streets, found a few restaurants we might visit and checked out menus. Thankfully, the rain had now passed and I didn’t get wet.
The Sock Man of Loughborough
We chose to eat at a Turkish Restaurant, Antalya Kitchen. A huge basket of bread arrived which Mick filled himself up on, followed by lamb and chicken kebabs with rice and salad. All very nice and we didn’t really mind that they didn’t have an alcohol licence as we’d got a bottle back at the hotel. We were offered a complimentary Turkish tea, but they didn’t do decaff, so we turned it down. I asked if we could call in in the morning then we’d try it. Shortly before we left, the chap turned up with a container of tea for us to make it at home.
Back at the hotel just in time before the thunder and lightening started. We compared notes with Brian on NB Harnser who was moored in Coventry, the storm arriving with us around about an hour after they’d had the deluge.
Very nice food, we’ll come back
Friday morning we headed into M&S food hall to find things for breakfast and then set off to drive south. The satnav wanted us to do one route, but Mick had had his eyes on another. This meant skirting round Coventry, having deluges of rain hit us as we arrived in the Cotswolds, sitting in a LONG line of traffic at Stow on the Wold with people heading to Feastival a festival involving Michelin starred chefs!
A rendezvous at a B&B to pick up Andrew and Jac in the torrential rain, not helped by having to rearrange the car for them to have seats to sit on, then we drove the mile to my cousins house where there was to be an 80th birthday lunch for Ian.
The birthday boy Ian
We were here a few years ago for the Royal International Air Tatoo as their garden is half a mile away from the runway at Fairford. That day we couldn’t hear anything said as planes soared over head. This year there hasn’t been an airshow due to the base being used for bombing missions in Iran, the runway was too full of B52 bombers. Thankfully they have all left, but during the day we did have a few occasions of planes taking off and stopping the conversation.
Wonderful food, well it was a Leckenby do!
It’s been around 42 years since I’ve seen Jo, my cousins son, he has shot since he was 3 years old, up to around 7ft! He was a very good bbq chef, cooking some wonderful lamb cutlets and gorgeous steaks. Salads came out of our ears as did meringues and strawberries followed by cheese as a birthday cake. A very good afternoon with family and their friends. We were grilled about boating by one of Ian’s friends who has recently had a narrowboating holiday and he now wants to do more, we suggested share boats if he didn’t want to buy his own.
Cheers!
As guests left, family hunkered down with a few more carafes of wine in the marquee chatting away until almost 10pm. We dropped the London Leckenbys back at their B&B and then headed to Faringdon for that night’s Travelodge. This one had a cafe, bar and the room was actually cool, but it also came with boy racers in the car park!
Breakfast consumed, no gf bread so I made up for it with hash browns from the buffet. Then we called in at Waitrose for a sandwich for lunch. Course was set for Scarborough. We considered stopping to look at the vintage vehicles at Redhill, but as we approached it was peeing it down again, so we opted for a pit stop a little further along the M1.
Alex is always welcome
Now we wonder when our next visit to Redhill should be. Tuesday or Wednesday? An early phone call on Tuesday is needed to see if it’s worth a trip or not. Here’s hoping the leaks in the paint shed don’t delay the anti-slip from going onto the gunnels.
Landing access returned
Today, Sunday, we’ve waved goodbye to Alex, Angie and Polly their woofer, Handbagged is now moving to Theatre Clwyd for a couple of weeks. The barrier separating the two houses has been removed now Polly has headed home and Tilly has reclaimed the other side of the house. We’ve moved living rooms freeing up space for our other lodger who has been happy to share one side of the house with us, Anna now has more space than she knows what to do with. We’ve arranged to meet up with her in the kitchen later today.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car for a week, 1 filthy boat, 1 boot full of cushions, 1 brother and sister-in-law squashed in there too, 2 days or 1 week? 0 neighbour, 2 Travelodges, 80th birthday, 4 cats, 3 woofers, 2 horses, 2 goats, 21 people, 2 much to eat and drink, 1 marquee held down by human weight, B1’s, 1 year since proposal, 4 hash browns, 1 spoonful of egg, 2 wet for cars, 5 now down to 3, 1 cat free to roam, 1 boat’s tentative smile returned.
After Tom’s plan last week, we’ve heard very little this week, infact nothing. School holidays now delay progress on Oleanna’s repaint.
A new feline landing net
We plan on making a visit early next week, so we can see if things are where they should be and get a more accurate estimate of Oleanna going back in the water.
In other news, we’ve managed to finally watch all episodes of the latest series of Narrow Escapes. We quite enjoyed the first series, plodded on with the second and the third, well … As we suspected, about this time last year, we managed to get in shot! The sections with Kate who makes fused glass sculptures and windows, whilst they are on their home mooring there is Oleanna in the background, waiting for our assisted passage through some locks on the Chesterfield Canal. Have to say theglass for me was the most interesting part of the latest series.
Practicing for her return to cat walking on the gunnels
We watch the numerous daily notices appearing in our inbox from CRT. Mostly stoppages due to low water, a few trees down, lock restrictions and sadly a failed culvert at Swanley on the Llangollen Canal which will take some fixing, thankfully it’s not as big as the Whitchurch breach.
Party in our local park with jousting, snakes and karate!
When we are back onboard, where should we go? Or try to go? We know where we wanted to head, plus where we’d like to be for panto, but will we be able to get there?! If we continue to have hot dry summers, will the boating calendar switch? Winter moorings become summer moorings, winter stoppages for maintenance become jobs to be organised for the summer months before water levels make things tricksy. Spring and Autumn cruising chosen over the summer months.
Trying to keep Tilly’s mind off our latest house guest
Do we abandon plans to head south? Loiter with intent to head south? Do more maintenance jobs onboard, move Oleanna closer to Scarborough? All things we need to think about. On a boat you can never have a definite plan, having some alternatives up your sleeve has been a good plan in the past, now even more so.
Woofer possessions!
So life goes on in Scarborough. I go for walks watching the huge holes being dug on the beach, the donkey rides, the tides come and go along with the tourists. Mick attended the 50 over cricket match this week at North Marine Road when Yorkshire won. Rehearsals have started for the next new Alan Ayckbourn play and Handbagged continues it’s run at the theatre.
Evolution of part of panto
This week Tilly and Polly have both coped incredibly well sharing the house. Polly is a woofer belonging to Alex who is staying with us (playing the older Margaret Thatcher in Handbagged). A barrier on the first floor landing along with keeping the kitchen doors closed has kept noses from being out of joint or twitching too much. Polly will return for a few days next week, here’s hoping that goes just as well, that’s if we’re still here.
We will be.
Alterations for panto have continued and one day this last week myself and Gemma the Production Manager managed to get us closer to the budget. One set piece has now had a new model made for it and next week I’ll rescan the technical drawings. If anyone knows of a life size, narrow Santa Sledge or a cement mixer going cheap please let me know.
Today Mick and I have enjoyed being able to go to the Filey Food Festival for the first time. It is held four times a year and has a LOT of food stalls, sadly only one I can definitely eat from. Today lunch was a samosa and sausage roll for Mick, a gf sausage roll followed by a vanilla slice for me, The slice wasn’t quite as good as a glutenous one, but a nice reminder of one of my favourite things. We also came away with four cheeses, these will have to be rationed and two very large onion bhajis which smell amazing.
Hopefully there will be more to update on next week. Fingers, toes and paws crossed.
Us enjoying the festival
0 locks, 0 miles, 0 photos of Oleanna, 4th carousel design, 3ft not 4ft a hard concept, £4k less, 1 feline 1 canine living in harmonyish, 1 more veg box, 1 replacement landing net, 1 food festival, 2 chilled medications, 1 cobble landing full of memories.
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?
An update at the end of a week when the weather showed potential but then turned out to not be on our side!
Oleanna was moved out from her resting place of the last eight months on Tuesday. Yes this is now the longest we’ve been on dry land in twelve years. She was moved round to the hill ready for blasting on the next dry day. Her baseplate was blasted and then she was lowered ready for the cabin and hull to be done. Friday was ear marked as a possible day.
Blue skies in Scarborough
Friday came, Mick headed to watch Yorkshire play cricket and I headed to London for my white card model meeting for panto. Both of us had lovely dry days. Sadly a raft of showers were forecast to cross over Nottingham, Redhill Marina actually, so the blast was postponed till after the weekend.
Blue skies, with clouds in London
Whilst on my train heading south I had a phone call from Tom, our boat painter. He was removing all the fixtures and fittings before the blast could take place. They leave windows in to avoid ingress of the grit, but nav lights, aerials, cratch and pram, plank and pole rack amongst other things, all get removed. He was having severe difficulty in removing the cratch A frame. He could reach inside the gas locker and feel that there were three bolts, but none of these had nuts on them. Did I know anything that might help as they didn’t want to force the A frame and end up breaking it.
I recollected a conversation with Ricky at Finesse, when he told me that the cratch was there to stay, we’d never get it off! Handy when you want to repaint your boat. It appears to have been glued on so well that it will end up staying in situ. The blaster has been advised to give it a wide berth, then Tom will strip the paint right up to it by hand, protecting the woodwork. Oleanna will be given coats of rust-inhibiting paint and Tom will make the join between wood and paint work water tight.
Photos and measurements have been taken for a new hole in the gas locker, so that it actually vents to the outside. This will happen once Oleanna is stripped and moved into the paint shed. Tom said to expect to be inundated with photos early next week. I’m so hoping it’s very early next week as I’ve lots of work to do on Panto and could do with uncrossing my fingers!
The cricket it going well, Yorkshire achieving lots of runs. It’s nice for Mick to be able to make good use of his Scarborough Cricket Club life membership for once.
My model meeting went well, a few notes which I expected, indeed even asked for. A new draft of the script now needs reading to check through in case I don’t know about something that’s been added or removed. Then I can get on with adding colour to the model and finalising the drawings. I just need to find someone in Scarborough with an A3 scanner as the printers and architects I used to use have both closed now.
Tom Tom, please get on with it, they keep taking me to the VETS!!!!
I hope to post again , once Oleanna is stripped and ready to paint. So tata for now.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 stripped bottom, 1 stubborn A frame, 2 boaters wondering if they’ll ever get their sea legs back, 1 cat whisperer beaten, 1 more notch in my tail! 1 design meeting at the National, 1 thumbs up, 3rd WC alteration, 1 more mention for Duncan, 1.5 pairs of socks knitted, 3 days of cricket in a row.
