The IW Helmsman's Course

Ray Cullis of Trent Boat Handling was due to retire last August, but circumstances prevented this, and we were fortunate enough to be his penultimate students on the IWHC course which he has been teaching for the past ten years.

We met Ray at Sawley Marina at 9:00 am Wednesday morning and spent the day with him on the River Trent, learning how to navigate safely and efficiently in the unique conditions and situations which rivers bring to boat users. He had both of us doing all sorts of manoeuvres, being aware of the wind and of water currents, and using them to our advantage, and rescuing a man overboard (actually a buoy). We also covered deployment and recovery of the anchor in rivers. The weather was excellent, the river beautiful, the instruction very useful and well delivered, and Ray's company a delight. With breaks for lunch, and morning and afternoon refreshments, we spent a long day on with Ray on Kantara - and even had homework to do as well! By the end of day one, we were very tired.

The weather forecast for Thursday was unequivocal - it was going to rain very hard all day long, with the possibility of thunderstorms. And it did rain hard on Wednesday night, but it wasn't looking too bad in the morning, and I assured Ray, when we met him at 8:30, that the rain wasn't going to happen. I was right! It was dry all the time we were on the water, warm and with outbreaks of sun.

The second of the course was spent on the Trent and Mersey Canal, and I did most of the driving of the boat. Grace did some locking - we swapped roles for a lot of the day

It was really good for both of us, but I'm sure I gained the most, since I don't have Grace's experience at the tiller. Again, we also learned knots, manoeuvres, rope-throwing techniques and the use of the wind and the water to help us steer the boat safely and accurately. During our breaks, Ray used a whiteboard to explain various concepts and techniques.

It was a great day, and ended with us being presented with a IWHC certificate each. I had not been certain of achieving it, though it went without saying that Grace would get hers. Time and money had been very well spent, and we go forward from here with all sorts of new things to put into practice, new habits to adopt. Grace had had her own skills endorsed by an expert, and some of them refined. I had been given a good deal more confidence and capability upon which I can now build further.

Day two ended with great fatigue - and rain! Thank you, Ray, for two really good days.

Today, we've stayed put on our mooring opposite Sawley Marina, shopping and catching up with emails and so on, but we've filled the water tank, replaced and empty gas bottle, and filled up with diesel, ready to set off tomorrow to continue our Leicester Ring trip. Week three starts tomorrow.

Cruising soon!

Incredible! A hot, dry, sunny Bank Holiday Weekend! Excellent weather for the Crick Boat Show, which we went to on Saturday. We walked again, this time without injury - last year I sprained my ankle very painfully right at the start of the return journey. As last year, we bought a number of bits and pieces, including various very special, tasty edibles. Mostly, we learned a lot about various equipment and technology, and looked into a number of mooring possibilities for the time when we decide to move from Yelvertoft and base ourselves on another canal.

We're going back to St Albans today for a couple of nights. The car needs service and MOT, and I want to have it done by our usual Marsh Motors, where all but our first car have been serviced. It's well worth the return journey.

We plan to set out on Saturday for Sawley Marina on the River Trent, where we will be doing our two-day Inland Waterways Helmsman's Certificate course. After that, we'll continue anticlockwise around the Leicester Ring, which we failed to complete last year. The whole trip could take us five or six weeks, and we're really looking forward to it.

A week of weather

The whole nation's just had a week of bad weather. For us, it's been lots of rain and some strong winds. We've even had to have the bubble stove alight for parts of some days. Today's not too bad, amazingly. It's been a week of doing jobs.

On the one day it was dry, I took the cratch cover off, laid it out on the ground and scrubbed off the dirt - dust, mud, green-tinged water stains and bird poo. There are several areas which need repair, and we're hoping to get that done next week.

The cover - clean - last year

Last year we discovered an area of floor under the carpet which was damp, and had been for some time. We dried it out over the winter while we weren't here, rolling the carpet back to allow the wood to air-dry. A few days ago while it was raining, we found water dripping off the pull-cord of one of the 240v wall lights. Clearly, rainwater was getting in somehow. The most likely place was one or more of the bolt-holes for securing the gangplank/bargepole rack onto the roof. Picking a dry moment, I took the rack off and found evidence of water ingress. I cleaned up around the bolt-holes, applied silicone sealant and screwed it all back together again. Fingers crossed!

When we had the new shower room built last year, we had the shower pump replaced, but the old one was still working, so I kept it. Yesterday, having bought a few bits and pieces for the job, I put it together to be used as a portable, general-purpose pump. Its first use was to get water out of the bilge  just outside the shower room where it has been slowly accumulating on and off ever since we bought the boat. Another case of rain leakage perhaps, possibly around windows, but we've not yet found the source.

Today, I've mopped up the water in the stern, propshaft bilge. Water's expected to drip here from the stern gland, and bilge pumps fitted as standard here are never able to pump out the last quarter inch or so. When it's all dry, I'll paint it with hull blacking, the better to rust-proof it.

I have to check the condition of the floor of the bow locker, too. I don't think there's any rust problem there, but the pair of gas canisters there sit on a piece of carpet (to cushion them from the steel floor, especially when they're being hauled out of the locker, or lowered in), and it's as well to check that it's dry and clean underneath. I'll take the carpet out, in fact, and replace it with some of the plastic tiles we bought for the foredeck last year, but which turned out to be totally unsuitable for that purpose.

We have a 16kg anchor for use on rivers, with 7 metres of heavy chain attached (another 7kg in weight). It needed around 60 foot of rope on the end of the chain, too, so we drove out to Tradline Rope and Fenders in Braunston and bought 17 metres of nylon anchor rope, to which he generously added a complimentary shackle to attach the rope to the chain. Casting this anchor and retrieving it after use will be part of our training for the IWHC certificate.

We still have a number of patches of undercoat around the hull, where topcoat has to be applied. We had hoped that we'd be able to do that this week, so now our hope is on next week. The week after that, we hope to be headed up to the junction with the River Trent, where our helmsman course will be.

I've just looked at the weather forecast for next week, although goodness knows why, since I've long since given up trusting them. If the weatherman's best guess turns out to be accurate, then we have some decent painting weather ahead, and a dry Crick Boat Show next Saturday!

Oh, I've entered one of last year's photos in a Canal Boat Magazine competition.

And we're back!

A day later than expected, but never mind. The journey from St Albans took over three hours longer that it should, with problems on the M1 bringing northbound traffic to an absolute standstill, but never mind - we're back.

Today, I booked a two-day helmsmanship course at Sawley Marina on the River Trent. This will be in the last week of June, and we'll make it part of our re-run of the Leicester Ring trip which we had to abort part-way through last year. This time, we'll be doing it anti-clockwise, arriving at Sawley after the first week.

The course involves one day on the river and the second on the canal, earning us the Inland Waterways Helmsman's Certificate, having demonstrated (hopefully) competence in handling the boat on both river and canal, and in a range of cruising situations. It will be an enjoyable couple of days, and we're looking forward to it. I expect we'll have a fair amount to learn, and we'll come out of it with increased proficiency and confidence.

I need to make sure our anchor has the required 5 metres of chain and 60 meters of rope, ready for use on the river.