Update of Addendum blog.

For owners of "Hints and tips for life with your feet under water", there's a new addition to the Addendum blog.

"Update to Chapter 6 – Miscellany"

The link's at the back of the book, remember.

Frozen in!

It was time to run the Webasto heater. To ensure its continuing health, the system has to be run for at least an hour every month. I've said that before, yes? So we visited Kantara on Friday to do just that. The inside of the boat was only three degrees above freezing, but the small electric heater and the dehumidifier were doing their job, and not using silly amounts of electricity (the price of which, of course, has recently increased considerably). 

I said we visited "to do just that", but in fact we wanted to top up the diesel tank to the very top. This is so that there's no space for condensation to form, causing water to drip into the fuel and making an infestation of diesel bug more likely. We've had that once, and want very much to avoid it! This is what it eventually does to the boat's fuel filter.

There was ice on the marina pond, but it was very thin, and easily broken with a bamboo stick. So off we set for what would be Kantara's last trip of the year - just a few tens of metres to the service platform. It didn't happen. As Grace put the engine in gear to reverse out of the berth, it became obvious that the ice was far too thick for us to move. We'd made the mistake of testing the ice at the front of the boat where the water is sheltered a little from the frost. Just sixty feet away, our stern was firmly iced in.

Let's hope January will let us do the job. Have a Happy Christmas, and a very much better New Year!

Christmas 2016 on board Kantara.

Birds of a feather part II

Sad to say, this is my very best photo of a kingfisher by the canal. Unusually, it sat in full sight and watched us pass slowly by. More often, they go deep into the tree or bush to hide, or fly away to another such perch further ahead. They dart very fast and low over the water; a flash of amazing colours and great beauty. We've rarely seen more than one at a time.

When they're not hiding from humans, they're likely to be sitting on the lowest branches next to the water, from which they dive to catch fish or insects. They start breeding in their first year. Come mating and egg-laying time, they build a nest in a hollow in the bank of a canal or river.  They work together to dig out the burrow, choosing a vertical bank clear of vegetation, which provides a good degree of protection from predators.

Two or three broods are raised in quick succession. The first clutch of six or seven eggs is laid late in March or early April. Both adults incubate the eggs, and the chicks hatch about nineteen days later. Each chick can eat twelve or so small fish a day, and they're fed in rotation; once a chick is fed, it moves to the back of the nest to digest its meal, and the others move forward.

They're ready to leave the nest when they're about twenty-four days old. Once they leave, they're only fed for four days before the adults drive them out, away from their territory, and start the next brood.

Beautiful, aren't they? I've only just realised that they're related to the Australian kookaburra. Not so beautiful, but they laugh!

(Photos from Unsplash.com)

Birds of a feather

 We had an unusual visitor to our garden yesterday.

Okay, so the photo's not great, sorry. It's from someone's phone, and taken in a hurry. But believe me, it was a heron. It was very interested in our pond, and the newt and frog population might well be smaller today. It stayed there quite a while, and we were beginning to think that it didn't have enough space from which to take off, but it launched itself very quickly when Grace went down the garden to take a closer look.

It got me thinking about herons. Grey herons in particular. We've seen hundreds of them over the years.- maybe thousands, we've not been counting. They can be quite friendly, as is this one that appears to be resident at Berkhamsted Locks on the Grand Union Canal.

Usually, however, they're antisocial. They are waders, but they often stand at the edge of the canal, not in it, alone, hoping to see and spear a fish, and they fly away as soon as a boat approaches too closely. The silly creature hasn't worked out that if he were to fly away in the direction the boat has come from, he (or she) won't be bothered by it again. What he does, though, is to go on ahead of the boat, only to have his fishing disturbed again. And again and again and again. If  instead he wheels away over the trees and into a nearby field, he's on the lookout for small mammals and birds to supplement his fish diet.

Herons nest in big trees, in groups called heronries. These are often habitual sites that are revisited year after year, and may involve dozens of nests, spanning multiple trees. The largest heronry in Britain is currently in Kent, where numbers of nests are between 150 and 200. In this case, birds of a feather most certainly do stick together. They start to nest quite early, and it’s not unusual to see them sitting on eggs in early February, but nesting activity peaks in late March. After the chicks are out of the nest and independent, the male a female adults part company. (There's very little to distinguish between their genders.)

Another waterways bird is the ever-popular kingfisher, but those are far less seen than the heron. I might just blog about these beauties another time.

A brief but worthwhile visit

Back at the boat the following day, our trusty engineer, Colin, replaced the defunct radiator, released the seized valve on another, flushed the the whole system, and filled it with the required antifreeze/water mix and turned on the Webasto. The result was impressive. The rooms heated very quickly, and the hot water, too. The Bubble stove still posed problems, so Colin's seeking advice, but the stove's far from essential, so we're not in a great hurry.

    We topped up our card for our land-line electricity supply at the mooring. Unsurprisingly, the price per kilowatt/hour has gone up alarmingly, as has the cost of diesel and gas We only use gas for cooking, and each 13 kilo bottle lasts for months. Diesel is for the engine, of course, but also for the Webasto heating system, and the Bubble, which won't be used a great deal, anyway.

    We wanted to fill the diesel tank before the winter really sets in. Cold weather can cause water in the air in the tank to condense into the fuel, and that increases the chances of diesel bug growing and infecting it. In time, it can block jets and filters in the engine, and the Webasto heater jets. Filling the fuel tank to the very top gives little space for condensation. There was, however, no way we were going to be able to get across to the services platform in the very strong wind. Well, we'd get across okay, but not back!

   Taking Kantara across to the service platform for diesel is usually very simple. Reverse out of our berth, engage forward gear, point the bow at the platform, pull up alongside and moor. Yesterday, however, the very strong wind made that impossible. Getting over to the fuel pump would have been easy. The wind would probably have aided our travel, but pulling away again would have been out of the question. Many are the times we've seen boats pinned there, sometimes for hours, because of an adverse wind. It's happened to us a couple of times.

    The wind put the kibosh on doing any of the other jobs we had in mind, too. I was nearly blown off the gunnel while I was brushing the top of the cratch cover. A thorough wash of the roof at least was much needed, but the wind stopped us. All we could do was the fire safety checks; testing fire and carbon monoxide alarms, and the pressure in the extinguishers. A good shake up every month stops the powder inside from caking.

    On Thursday, we winterised Kantara, and returned home to the noise and dust of bathroom installers. It would have been lovely to stay and do some cruising, but the wind hadn't abated, and the number of closures and restrictions reported every day suggests that travelling any distance from the marina might well be slow.

    Fingers crossed for next year, eh?

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Bathroom, boat and baby

Well, we're still here. In the house, that is. We've been back to Kantara a couple of times, doing the Webasto thing and generally checking that the boat's not missing us too much. 

"Stern bilge dry? Check! Dehumidifier working? Check! Batteries charged? Check! No mould? Er... Check! Cratch cover okay? Yup! Stern skirt, too? And... check!"

We're going back again the tomorrow, actually spending two nights aboard! This is to oversee the replacement of a sludged up radiator in the cabin, and the fixing of a seized valve on another rad. And, if we're lucky, the removal of an unwanted thermostat from our old Bubble stove.

We'll be leaving behind the bathroom installers, who will start the job today. We've been warned that the process of ripping out the old will be dreadfully noisy. We hope to be missing the worst of it!

Being back at the house has meant that we've been able to see grand-daughter Nina lots.

First, her first birthday...

Then looking after her for five hours on each of five days.

We were quite tired by the end of each day's fun, too!

After a long period of lack of inspiration, I've finally got back to working on my latest book. This one's nothing to do with boats, canals and rivers. This one is about teachers, based very much on my thirty-seven year experience of teaching. Working title, "Those who can". It may not get as far as publication, but I'm having fun writing it. We'll see.

The bathroom fitters have started ripping out the old tiles and so on. The noise is awful! I'm off to plug some good music into my ears!

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Happy Kantara Day!

PS Those who have purchased "Hints and tips for life with your feet under water" please go to the Addendum Blog (link at the end of the book) to see my latest update Update to Chapter 2 – Software.

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Today is Kantara Day for us. Eleven years ago today, September 2nd, Grace and I took possession of Narrowboat Kantara, and sailed her out of ABNB's tiny marina to her new home in the one at Yelvertoft. Then began our wonderful life with our feet under water. I blogged the next day.

Now we REALLY start!

We could actually have hoped for a colder day yesterday, the day Kantara was handed over to us. We allowed two hours for a one and a quarter hour journey, and it took three hours, a large chunk of which was spent sitting in a jam on the road from hell - the M1 - in very hot weather. So we arrived late at Crick, to meet Bob, the last owner of Kantara, a lovely man who had lived with his wife full-time in the boat until poor health had forced them to sell. He clearly loves Kantara, and his greatest wish now for her was that someone else would love her as much, and be as happy in her as he had been. We think that describes us well.

Bob spent a good deal of time with us, explaining all sorts of details, and making sure that we had all the information we needed to get the best out of Kantara. After he left, having given us his contact details and assured us that we were to feel free to get in touch with him if we needed any help, we drove to Yelvertoft Marina, left the car there, and walked back to ABNB in Crick to collect Kantara and sail her back to the mooring we had booked at Yelvertoft. It was a good feeling, knowing that she was now actually ours.

Then began the process of unloading the car, and getting things into the boat, listing the things we had overlooked and would need to pick up from home the next time we return. Time flew, and we realised we had not eaten since we munched a sandwich on the M1, so we had to stop to prepare and eat a meal, and drink a bottle of wine Bob had so kindly left for us (along with some port and a bottle of a fiery spirit we had never seen before), before falling into bed, exhausted.

And here we are, 10:20 on Saturday evening, sitting in the moorers' lounge in the marina - the best place to connect to the wi-fi - a lot closer to being ready to cruise a bit. We are in no special hurry. We want to be as comfortable as possible when we start to cruise, and not be irritated by some detail we have overlooked. The biggest challenge at the moment is getting our 3G router and antenna set up properly, so that both of us can get the best possible Internet connection for our laptop computers. I tried this evening before we ate, but I think I was just too tired, and I had to give up. But there's time to do that - I don't go back to school on Monday!

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We went back to see Kantara yesterday. Not for long. The new central heating system has to be run for at least an hour every month. We could have opted to have a remote control device installed so that we could do that from here in the house, but the boat sits in an area where neither phone nor broadband signals are entirely dependable, and we would never be able to guarantee that we had actually turned the heating on or off again. No problem. It's not a huge journey from here to there, and it's always good to look in on the boat from time to time. And some of the time we'll already be with her.

September 2nd is rather like a birthday or wedding anniversary. It marks the start of something very special, and we feel very privileged to have had those eleven years of taking our boaty home around the country. And we've not stopped yet, but at the moment we're about to have a new bathroom fitted in our house. After that, the shower room - if we're not completely broke!

You know where we'd rather be, right?

On the other hand...

... I'm going to continue with this blog. It's not as if we've stopped cruising altogether. We will be going back to Kantara from time to time, and I'll have lots to write about. So, on with the blog!  

We came back from the boat on Saturday 8th August. There's a lot to be done here. A six-bedroom house with a large loft and gardens demands rather more attention than a 59 foot narrowboat with three pots of flowers. Needless to say, we had to go back to her yesterday, to collect various items we'd forgotten/not even thought of when we left.

There's a lot of things that need to be done here (while we're waiting for Colin to complete the central heating job he started in Kantara months ago, and to find someone to service the fridge). The major issues here in the house are the need for a new bathroom to be fitted, and the shower unit to be repaired. We're waiting for a plumber/bathroom and shower fitter to get back to us to arrange a visit. And gardening; don't forget the gardening. And then, the whole business of decluttering the house, an issue which will drive us insane until we deal with it, and drive us insane while we do it!

We don't have that problem on Kantara!

Post Script

Yes, I know I said that the last post would be the last post, but I couldn't resist the urge to plug my books just one last time. It'll be the last chance I get.

You remember the books, don't you? I know several of you have read and enjoyed them. That's good to know, but I'd like to persuade all of you now to visit Amazon, take a look at the books, look inside them and read the first 10% of each one (did you know you can do that with Kindle books?), then realise how cheap they are, what a bargain, and buy at least one of them.

Kindle books can be read on Kindle Readers, (surprise, surprise), and on any of your devices with the free Kindle app from your app store.

Simply visit my little Kindle book shop HERE, and... enjoy! And thanks if you do buy one.

The end of an era

Eleven years ago, Grace and I started a life with our feet under water on NB Kantara. Until late 2020, Covid restrictions, we spent most of each year cruising the canals and rivers of England, returning to our house for just two or three winter months. We loved every minute of it, and consider it a great privilege to have been to so many places, travelled through so much beautiful countryside, met so many other boaters, and to have Yelvertoft Marina as our home mooring.

As from yesterday, we've turned things around. We've moved back into our house, and we'll be returning to Kantara from time to time to enjoy watery breaks. This decision's nothing to do with our age or health. It's a lot to do with the need to do some major works on the house, and to be involved with our grand-daughter, Nina, as she grows up.

Needless to say, we'll miss Kantara. A lot. She's a lovely boat, and we've been very happy and comfortable in her, but we have to be pragmatic with regard to the house, and being involved with Nina is a must.

This is the end of an era, and my last blog post. I hope you've all enjoyed the blog. It will remain for Grace and me a fabulous body of reminders of the past eleven years. Here's an extract from one of my first posts.

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The adventure starts here

Okay, this isn't the Sail the Seven Seas adventure, the Cross Africa on a Camel adventure, or even the Pub Crawl Across Europe adventure, but it is the fulfilment of a dream Grace and I have had for many years, and, since we're not going to embark upon any of the previously-mentioned ones, this is our adventure. I'm leaving behind me 37 very enjoyable years as a teacher, while Grace has spent most of that time being home-maker, mum and carer, alongside an assortment of diverse jobs, both full and part time, mostly involving designing things. We both need a break, and to live a dream. Kantara is that break, that dream.

Having just put down a deposit on Kantara, a 59' 1" (was that 1" accident or design, one has to ask) semi-trad narrowboat, we have to wait until the beginning of September before we can sail her away to a nearby marina, where we will work to make her ours, before embarking upon a life on the cut. We intend to be on Kantara for nine or ten months of the year, returning home over the winter months. For how many years? We have no idea!

We love her already. There are a few little things that need to be done to lose the stamp of previous owners and make ours there instead, but they really are minor. We already have a list of friends and family who want to spend time with us on the boat, and we're looking forward to introducing them to this way of life.

We hope that you enjoy following us on our adventure, and that this blog will be both interesting and entertaining. If it is not that, then at least it will be a record for us for future years.

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And those future years start now. Thanks for following.

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Stuff the fridge and batteries!

After what seemed like a long time, our new cratch cover has been fitted, and it looks great. It's very neatly crafted, with some features that the previous cover had lacked. We'd been a bit concerned about the colour - the only real choice available in a world where there's a shortage of blue dye - but it's fine. There was one problem with it, though.

It rained the next day; not hard, but hard enough to penetrate the new cover, dripping puddles over the well-deck. I got onto the company straight away, and the reply came back, 

"Sorry you was not informed. It is completely normal for the cover to leak at the start . They are just like the old style canvas tents . They need a sealing-in process .  You need to allow around 5 good heavy downpours with the cover drying out between the downpours.  Each time the leaking will get less until it stops . The covers are made using a thread that swells in the pin hole.  No treatment is needed on your new cover. Please allow it time to seal itself. Many thanks.

Thread that swells in the pin holes! Clever!

We now have a fridge issue. It's having to work too hard and too long to keep the food at the right temperature. Particularly during periods of  unusually high temperatures. This is putting too much of a strain on the battery bank, and we're having to run the battery charger for several hours each day. On many days, the solar panels on the roof haven't been seeing enough sunlight to be very useful. There's a company in Nottingham who would send out an engineer to service the fridge, but we're just outside the area they serve. We could take Kantara to Nottingham, and we'd love to do that, but we'd rather not. It would take us eight or nine days to get there, and we'd be anxious about our food and the batteries, which might take a hammering overnight despite being charged by the engine during the day. The company might come out to us here in the marina at an additional cost. We're waiting for their reply to my cries for help.

Naturally enough, we're very frustrated by the repeated delays of the past several months. Even the paint touch-up jobs have had to be postponed several times because of the heat of the sun, or the rain. We needed relief from the stress. On Wednesday, Grace's birthday, the weather was just right for us to pay a visit to nearby Lamport Hall and gardens.

We noticed there, as we have at the marina, huge crowds of swallows busily catching insects in the air or over the water. On the marina, the flocks must number around a hundred. They share the water; half of them do their amazing flying and diving act while the others watch from a nearby tree or boat. Then they swap over. It's a wonder to behold.

And then we said, "Stuff the fridge and batteries, we're going cruising!"

So we did. The weather was right for it, we were right for it, so we went. Nothing exciting. Just nine miles, as it happened. Three and a half hours to the Welford Junction. Our main purpose was to test the fridge and batteries. Would the batteries, charged by the engine throughout the journey and fed by the solar panels while we were moored, withstand the demands of the sick fridge? The answer was "Just about barely", but it wasn't looking good for cruising any further. We went back to the marina the next morning.

Now we were waiting for a reply from the company we want to service the boiler. We're still waiting for Colin, too, to remove the thermostat from the Bubble stove, fit a new radiator, and free a seized radiator valve. "Impatient" doesn't express how we/re feeling now.

Oh, and there are closures all around the canal system because of low water levels. Will we ever get to do a proper cruise again?

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Heatwave in a steel tube

We've experienced very hot weather several times over our years on the boat, but of course the temperatures expected this weekend are way higher than ever before. Like many people, we were a little anxious about how we might keep cool in this metal tube that we live in. Outside, the steel hull and cabin become untouchable even in normal conditions.

Come the first day, Monday, it wasn't too bad for us. A spray gun full of water proved to be very useful for wetting our faces, necks, chests... whatever was hot!  And there was a good breeze across the marina pond, so having every window and door open allowed that breeze to move through the boat and lower the temperature. It got even better when we remembered that the whole of the top of each window is easily and completely removable. The thermometers still registered over 36℃, however. Eating chocolate biscuits was really quite amusing! Cooking dinner was right out of the question; it's just as well we love a good salad.

We're rather anxious about our fridge, ten years old and pumping all day and much if not all of the night to keep the food cold. How long can it keep that up for?

A number of boats on the marina took to the cut in the hope of finding somewhere to moor where they could shelter from the sun. I guess those of us who stayed didn't see the point in trying. There'll be a lot of boats out there vying for the best spots.

This morning, after a good night's sleep under just a sheet, we're rejoicing in the stiff breeze across the pond again. The nearby wind turbine is flying round. Let's hope it stays that way! I'm wondering how the local birds are dealing with the heat. The swans seem to be managing. It must be advantageous having so much of their bodies under water.

The day continued just as Monday. Temperatures were a couple of degrees higher, but today it wasn't just a breeze that moved the air in the boat. It was quite a wind! A hot wind, it has to be said, but it was pleasant.

Forecasts say it will get cooler overnight, and it'll be back to the way it was last week. I wonder how the others got on - those who went out to avoid the heat. We're glad we stayed here in the marina.

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