BOATS AND CANALS

There is certainly an element of the public voting for their favourites about it but usually, by about half way, common sense prevails and we are left with good dancers only. At the moment we still have Jeremy Vine who freely admits he can't dance but the public love him. Indeed the judges love him to but mark him down as they should. At the very end (the last 3) it is down to who woos the public most and this is a combination of dancing skill and presentation.

We do love the show but our enthusiasm varies from year to year. One year we had a power cut at home on the night of the final. I said in a few hours we could be sitting in the dark sulking or one our boat which has fully charged batteries. Three hours later we were happily settled in the boat and I had rebuilt my disassembled central heating and we watched the final.

Cheers Graham

Up at the boat again. I did some DIY:-

1) Measured new side hatch and old rear doors for wooden panels
2) Fitted new bolts to the hatch so that it can't be slid open in the night - it was fine when padlocked but not whilst we were on board.
3) Isolated bathroom tape from the cold water supply so that we can have cold water on the boat in the winter. We can't fill the hot tank over the winter as it is in the engine bay but the cold system is totally inside the boat and can be easily drained when we leave the boat with one drain cock.The bathroom tap is too close to a bit of the hull so will freeze in cold weather.
4) Cleaned out a burner on the cooker which had an amazing amount of gunk in it. The cooker really needs a service.

We went to Birmingham on Saturday by train from Warwick Parkway. The German Market was on which was pretty impressive. We also visited the new library which is a pretty gob smacking piece of architecture.

Today Jo happened to be in the right place for a photo - I was emptying the loo!!



Cheers Graham

Sitting in the boat. It is windy and raining. Not the most pleasant weather in which to arrive. Apparently the canal has sprung a leak again. I blame the moles.

Off to daughter's tomorrow and, hopefully, Hillingdon the lock on Monday for a refuel and pump out.

Cheers Graham

I remember in the 60s when we used to blame the Russians for everything.

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Maurice

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Perhaps they are Russian moles.

MI5 seemed to have had a lot of them in the past.

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Laurie Booth
http://www.pamelasalem.net

Good one, Laurie

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Maurice

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A lot of what? Leaks or moles?

Cheers Graham

The Welsh branch of MI5 have leaks

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Laurie Booth
http://www.pamelasalem.net

That explains it, I am 7/16ths Welsh.

We are back home now, I managed to do a bit of DIY. I removed the shower pump and plumbing from the front bathroom. We took out the shower years ago but left a few bits behind. We are repainting that room so getting rid of unused bits is a good idea.

Cheers Graham

We've been on a quick trip to the boat again. Mostly to get the loos pumped out and top up with diesel.

Yesterday was blowing a gale so we stayed on the mooring but I did some DIY. The in the bathroom (as opposed to our en-suite loo - posh eh?) has been leaking from the fresh water system when it was flushed. The seal between something called the vacuum breaker and the loo was dodgy and showed signs of a bodged repair in the past, The clip on the bottom of the incoming pipe was also badly corroded. I replaced the whole assembly and all seems fine now.

I don't quite get what the vacuum breaker does. This is it.



I also fitted an extra lock on the rear door.

This morning we got off the mooring and headed down Calcutt top lock to the wharf for the pump out and fuel. When we filled up with fuel I discovered the lockable fuel cap had been damaged. Just the plastic trim on the top. The lock itself was intact and still locked. I think someone has had a go at stealing our diesel. Calcutt have suggested we join the police waterways watch scheme and tell them.

See https://www.warwickshire.police.uk/article/6565/Waterways-Watch

Unfortunately all we can say is that it has been damaged since May!

We have a small cassette loo for use on weekend stays when we don't want to bother getting either of the two pump outs pumped out! The tank requires cleaning every now and then to maintain that 'as new' smell instead of another sort of small. We used Thetfords one - you just lob in 300ml followed by 5 litres of water and load the thing in the back of the car and bring it home. Two hours of positive agitation ensures a loo tank clean enough to eat your dinner out of. Sorry can't end in a preposition, I meant out of which you can eat your dinner.

Cheers Graham

A comprehensive report. Hope whoever is looking for free fuel gets caught.

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Maurice

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I had 25ltr of diesel stolen from my ex moorings in Birmingham.

To quote Sherlock Holmes " I do know who did it, my problem is proving it"

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Laurie Booth
http://www.pamelasalem.net

We've been up to the boat again. A post Christmas trip to see Grandkids ... and Daughter! Mostly Grandkids though.

Now the days are getting longer boat DIY is becoming more urgent.

Licence renewal is in Feb as is BSS and the cooker has a fault. Time to run round screaming!

I also tried out the new wood for the doors and now have to fettle them a bit. I also emptied the cold water tank so my neighbour can get in there and sort out the rusty feed pipes.

I have bought a new pump to suck out engine oil as my old one broke beyond repair. I went to the Chandlers at Braunston bottom lock. The lady assistant Is very pleasant and can talk technical about boats. I find this trait very attractive!

Cheers Graham

It's all go again Graham to get things ready again.

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Maurice

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Foxshaw Gardens Online & Boats and Canals

The cooker is dead! It is too old, no spares! We are having a new one fitted. Calcutt are doing it for us. We are getting the cooker through them as well as they have a supply for their hire fleet and so undercut the chandlers by over £100. I've also had a look at the BSS dates and we can get the boat licences on the old BSS which takes the panic away a bit.

Cheers Graham