And we're back!

Tuesday came. I'd completed all of my tasks. The new tumble drier had been delivered, installed and tested. (The old one had developed a dreadful squeal, which it made every time it was used. It was 19 years old, in which time it had been used for up to eight people's wet washing. Being that old, it wasn't worth repairing it - if it could be repaired! - and current models are far more efficient than that one. Strangely, it stopped squealing, totally, as soon as the new one was delivered!) Steve was back safely from his week of snowboarding in the French Alps, and Jess was happily exploring Iceland. We'd packed everything else we needed for life aboard Kantara. There was nothing to stop us. Off we went. The M1 did its best to delay us, but we cheated it, and came off just as the holdup had really kicked in, taking a quicker and more pleasant route to the marina.

(www.floreparishcouncil.co.uk)

We were welcomed by fine weather. Cold, yes; windy, of course. But the sky was blue and the sun shone brightly, encouraging NBs Adagio and Wreyland to compare solar panel output again on Twitter. Decent panels generate a fair amount of electricity on days like this. I was so glad it wasn't raining. There was a lot to carry from the car to the boat, and we set to work returning everything to its rightful place.

We promised ourselves that we'd not do this again. In future, we'll stay here through the winter, returning to the house just for a couple of weeks over the Christmas and New Year period. It's just too much hassle, the winterizing and de-winterizing (we had soaking wet problems again this year, replacing the water filter) and the ferrying of clothes, pots and pans and all of the other things of everyday life. We leave as much as we can on Kantara, of course, but we don't want to have two sets of clothes, two sets of kitchen utensils (Grace likes stuff which is really quite expensive, and we don't want to buy a second lot), two CD and DVD collections, two guitars, four sewing machines (we have two types) and so on. And anyway, we warm to the idea of being on the boat during the kind of winters we've had over the past five years. We're hardier now!

February 2012

I've been really glad of Twitter while we've been away. It's an excellent way to keep up with what's going on across the waterways, and what numerous friends and acquaintances are doing. The weather had been a major theme for all of the time we were away. The winds and the floods hit rivers and canals very badly. I'm still not really into Facebook. I have my Tweets copied automatically to it, which my FB friends seem to enjoy, and there's a lot of interest in our canal life amongst my ex-students and colleagues.

Some poor boater, I haven't discovered which boat it is yet, has suffered a burst holding tank, an incident which has made us glad that out only internal flooding problems have been watery ones!

Though nothing to do with our marina, I was saddened to read of the death of Pete, the skipper of NB Futurest, whose blog I've followed for years. He'd been cruising solo for 82 months. A memorial service was held at Tooley's Boat Yard in Banbury. Very fitting.

A friend of ours here had to be rushed to hospital for surgery to remove a stomach cancer just a few weeks ago. I'm glad to say he's up and about now, looking well after a successful operation, and itching to do some cruising. As we all are!

How good it is to be back. People here are so friendly; there's a real community feeling amongst us. A two-minute stroll out to the car to get something from the boot that is our shed, turns into a 20-minute chat with a moorer or three. Time is rarely an issue. It's brilliant.

2016, we're back!

I'm sure friends think we're mad...

In the guest blog post I did for the CRT website a while back, I talked about the need to have on board all of those things which would be part of your life wherever you were.

"But life on a boat, just like life on the land, is more than just essentials. There are those things you'd 'really like to take'. And that list keeps growing the more you think about it. Books, CDs, photo album, DVDs... Oh, the DVD player, laptop, footspa... And the clothes! Are 'boaty' clothes enough, or do you want to be able to smarten up for the odd outing?

And don't forget the stuff of 'ordinary' life. When the day's cruising's over, or when you're moored for a couple of days in some remote spot in torrential rain, what do you do? Sadly, I've met some very bored boaters, whose only enjoyment is in the travelling. In a house, you'd have hobbies, games and other pastimes, and these bits and bobs are needed on the boat, too. The guitar, the easel and paints, the sewing machine, Scrabble, playing cards. Shame about the piano, though!"

All of which is true. The biggest problem, Grace and I concluded today, is that most of those very same things have to return with you to your house if you choose, as we have now for five years, not to stay on the boat over winter.

We returned to Kantara today. We tried yesterday, but first the M1 was in gridlock, and we avoided it, then the A5 was, too (because of the M1 problem) and we'd already turned onto it. We did a U-turn after about 15 minutes, when it became obvious that we were doing the wrong thing. Today was very much better. The weather, however, was cold and very windy.

On the face of it, we didn't really have much to do. Most of the clothing we wanted to take back, we took on Friday. All of the perishable foodstuffs. My exercise bike. Computers. But when it came down to loading up the rest of the stuff, it just went mad! And I'm sure various friends and other boaters on the marina must have thought we are mad when they saw me making numerous trips to the car, carrying sundry bags, boxes and heavy things.

And these were just those things I meant in my CRT post... Guitar, sewing machine, exercise stepper and kettle bells, artist's painting materials (for canvas and for the boat cabin), the winter clothes and footwear, Grace's best pots and pans and cooking utensils (because the ones back in the house are not the best ones!), cameras, boxed games, plants. Stuff! We even had to bring the TV with us this time, because it's gone wrong and needs to be returned whence it came. Each year, the temptation to stay over winter gets stronger!

Phil and Jackie from Archenar were a bit peeved this morning when they found water had leaked through from their galley sink into the cupboard below. They thought it had probably dripped through where the drain leaves the sink - the plug-hole - which hadn't been tightened properly.

The same sort of thing recently happened to friends of ours, but their problem was in the shower base, and the leak had gone undetected for four years. The accumulated water over that time rose in the bilges until it reached the underside of the flooring, and then soaked into it. It seems that much of the floor will have to be ripped out and replaced, and the cleaning up job in the bilges will be quite considerable, too. It's a terrible shame. Phil and Jackie were lucky to see their leak when they did.

Now I have to get the stuff from the car into the house. And find room for it! We must be mad!

Preparing for winter

Winterizing's pretty much essential for us, since Kantara's going to be without us for a couple of months. And the job's simple enough, and doesn't take much time. However, despite our best efforts, we've had patches of mould appear over the past three winters - on blinds and in cupboards mainly - and we'd really like to avoid that this year. OK, so taking the blinds down and taking them back to the house is no big deal, but there's something very wrong in the feeling that the boat's going to be allowed to get as cold and damp as the air outside - leaving windows open is recommended, in order to maintain an air flow.

What many people do is have their built-in heating systems switch on automatically when the temperature falls below, say, 5 degrees Celsius. The systems are diesel-fuelled, and it's not an expensive solution. We don't have such a system. Our only option would be to have a thermostatic device plugged into a mains socket, and a bar heater or similar plugged into that.

But we've worked out that this could be very expensive over the period of two very cold months, and we reckon, too, that such low heat would do nothing to keep the air dry. And mould might well grow better in the slightly warmer, damp atmosphere. Not a solution.

However, I read what seems to be a really good idea in an online forum this morning. A dehumidifier. This can be set to reduce the humidity in the boat by set amounts (which is far smaller than the house which these devices are said to be able to deal with), and go to standby when the set level is achieved. It checks 30 minutes later to see if it's needed again. If it is, it reactivates, if not, it goes back to sleep. Obviously, we don't have the windows open when this is working.

The given energy consumption makes it far cheaper to run, and would pay for itself within a year; there are many times it could be used, even when we're on board - wash-day is the prime one.

The device we've just ordered is able to send its collected water through a hose into the sink - surprisingly, most of them don't have that feature - so we don't have to empty a tank two or three times a day! It's been highly commended by other boaters, and by Sailing Magazine, who voted it "Best Buy".

We'll be able to test it before we leave it alone to get on with the job. Fingers crossed!

After using the kettlebell Grace bought the other week, she decided that it's fine for some exercises, but too heavy - at least at the moment - for others, so we returned to the warehouse shop yesterday to but two more, one at 4kg and one at 6. If Grace doesn't get stronger and fitter now, there's something very wrong!