New year, new beginning

After a week into the New Year I have just about caught up with myself and after the extended holiday, am now approximately back to normality.

A quiet winter mooring

The usual boat-side routine is clicking back into position slowly, though I tend to be sleeping longer in the mornings till it gets light. I am only following the rules of nature by generally staying awake during the daylight period, tending to experience early nights and later mornings. In the summer the rule is the same but the sleeping pattern changes. I enjoy going to bed about eleven at night and awaking for good at around four in the morning. During both seasons, the magnificent sunrises make it well worth the moment.

But having arrived in Warwick a month and a half later than I originally planned, Christmas seemed to be upon us almost immediately which was a bit unnerving and from which I have only just recovered.

I think Kate Boats are a bit stretched for staff, because their hire boat business is going so well this winter season. At this time for the last two years no boats have been able to go out at all, either because we have been iced in and/or lock gates have been taken out on either side of us at the Stockton flight to the east or the Hatton Flight to the west. This time things are entirely different for the company and though I applaud the situation for them, it does mean that the two jobs that I need doing rather desperately on board are very much put aside as a second priority.

Since I have been here, at the beginning of every working week, I have reminded the girls in the office that my jobs are of a high priority too, and each time they say: “Yes of course Mr. Hutchings. We’ll see to it.” And then promptly nothing happens for the rest of that week. I actually managed to get their engineer Rob, on one of the rare occasions that he comes here, to climb aboard to have a look at my leaking calorifier and to decide what needed to be done. He even managed to read the ticket on the side of the old cylinder for the details to order a new one, but I notice one hasn’t arrived yet, so I expect the whole idea has been put to one side again.

But as we still have another month and a half before I plan to cruise again, I am not too seriously anxious about the delay at this moment. I suspect that so long as I keep the pressure on, eventually the jobs will be done. Such is the nature of things on the waterway system and it’s no good whatsoever trying to change this philosophy. In any case, I know I am one of the keenest supporters of this set of values.

But here we are at the beginning of a new year. I have no idea what will happen but know for certain that it will be full of adventure and whatever happens I shall not be disappointed. The life will never get me down. In fact I am so glad that I have the opportunity to be part of this way of life. It brings me so close to Nature and other like minded people, who possess a similar viewpoint that makes the existence quite simply idyllic.

To the Rescue again

Well the Old Man’s been at it again! And for the last fortnight I’ve not seen hair nor hide of him.

He couldn’t care less about me.... And in my poorly state too!

Yes!  I’m....(sniff!) not well at all.

But somehow I manage to carry on you know.... Some of us have to!

Though my new engine is brilliant the engine room is an absolute mess. The deckhead is just bare steel and the tongue and groove sheathing that should have been put back before we left Stretton is just laying in an untidy pile on the deck for everybody to trip over. Most of it will need renewing anyway after the Skipper in his wisdom typically, just ripped it down without much thought or planning. There was some fibreglass insulation above the timber as well but this was playfully ripped to pieces by the neighbours’ two dogs at Stretton and strewn all over the yard so we need some more of that too.

But he was in such a tearing hurry to get back to Warwick before the winter weather broke that the job was all left unfinished.

Just before we left too, he discovered a leak in the calorifier. So ever since then we have had to turn the pumps off when they’re not being used in an effort to save the problem getting any worse, until we can have the job done here at Warwick.

So you can see I’m in a right state and he simply couldn’t care less. He skinned out at the earliest opportunity and off he went ashore to see his brother etc etc..... It was for Christmas you see.... Oh dear!

So I thought I had better extract his credentials from the mire yet again and write some long overdue blog for him before he loses what little readership he must now have left.

It’s dreadful and I wish the man had more savvy and guts. He’s always full of bright ideas but never carries any of them out. Always starts a job enthusiastically but then poof...... Very soon he’s away on yet another ghost train.

But I can’t do anything about it. I try to put good vibes into his head all the time but my telepathic powers are not that special you know.......

Well what do you EXPECT? I’m only a boat after all.....  And what more can he expect of me? ..... And it’s all after I’ve been so poorly too!

But I do my best.... Surely the whole world must see that I do my best! It’s a good job he’s got me.

Freedom at Last

‘Futurest’ and I are now at Warwick, having made the journey safely from Stretton Wharf to Kate Boats before any adverse weather conditions prevented it.

Suddenly after three months or so, it’s as if I’ve been released from gaol, so long have I been totally reliant on other people’s plans. The passage down was wonderful and the vibration of a large throbbing engine beneath my feet was magnificent. Wow! To be able to make my own plans and decisions again and under my own power is too heady for words.

Goodbye Stretton Wharf

However when I left Stretton Wharf on the Shropshire Union on Monday afternoon just over a week ago, heading for Warwick, I still had the anxiety of the winter weather, which had been good to us so far but couldn’t be relied upon surely for much longer. Originally I had decided to travel to Warwick via Stourport-on-Severn and the new Droitwich Canals in order to avoid the conurbation of Wolverhampton and Birmingham, even though it would have taken much longer.

The fisherman with his dinner in his mouth.

Though of poor quality a unique shot for my camera

A policeman on point duty at Autherley Junction?

However it was getting so late in the year by the time I left that I decided to brave the shorter Birmingham route, come what may, and in the end I didn’t regret it. I laid on the power a little too, so for most of the time my average speed was well above two mph, which is much faster than my customary cruising speed.

Because of a reputation for antisocial behaviour, the City of Wolverhampton was one place in particular that I had been warned not to stay at overnight. But by the time I had negotiated the Wolverhampton 21 Flight completely during Tuesday, daylight was failing and it was obvious that I would have to moor there somewhere.

I passed the recognised visitor moorings but they were very open and accessible to anybody in the centre of the city and though it was off season the fact that they were totally empty of any boats, warned me that they weren’t that popular.

I pushed on and found the British Waterways’ Basin a little further ahead. There is enough room here for just one 57 foot boat to take on fresh water and notices around boldly pronounced ‘Mooring restricted to 1 hour’ and ‘No overnight mooring’. However there was nobody around and the yard was locked up making a very secure mooring indeed, accessible only from the water. Furthermore it was unlikely that any other boat would require water at this time of the day since it was now quite dark, so I decided to break the rules and stayed there  snugly overnight.

I left the following morning as it was growing light and, as it happened, just as the BW staff was coming to work. They looked at me perhaps a bit oddly but didn’t say anything; I didn’t give them much chance anyway as I had reversed out and was away like a flash.

Sunrise on the Birmingham Main Line at Wolverhampton

The run across Birmingham along Thomas Telford’s New Main Line was as uneventful as it was straight and we finished up in the heart of the city, mooring quite safely for the night right outside the great National Indoor Arena.

Without succumbing to the exotic pubs and restaurants along this line of the canal, I had another early night and passed through Broad Street Tunnel and the much changed Gas Street Basin the following morning as it was getting light. We pushed on through gusty conditions, past Cadbury's at Bourneville, towards Kings Norton Junction and the northern end of North Stratford Canal.

Entering the guillotine lock on the North Stratford Canal

At the end of the useable day we tied up at Lapworth Top Lock, not quite on the lock landing and it took me all of Friday to navigate through the twenty locks down to Kingswood Junction.

There was a sharp frost on Friday night and at first light the next morning with great difficulty I let go the mooring lines which were behaving like sticks. They wouldn’t coil up at all and looked a mess as I tried  to manouevre them so they would  safely stay on the roof.

It was still a calm morning as the Sun rose and the exposed stretches of the Grand Union Canal were covered with quite a thick layer of ice as we made our way towards the infamous Hatton Locks.

It was here at the top that Janis met us. She had travelled all the way from Newark on Trent and volunteered to help with the passage down through the locks. She worked solidly at the heavy locks herself and in four hours with her help we had passed all the way down. Then another hour brought us safely to Kate Boats, for which I was very grateful. ‘Futurest’ and I had done the forty eight miles in thirty two hours; a very good passage. The weather had remained fair too for which I was most thankful.

Janis manning the heavy Hatton Locks

The expressive urban landscape of Birmingham

Nearly There

We are still resting at Stretton Wharf and though with an engine room in complete turmoil, with floor boards up, wiring all over the place and an incomplete exhaust pipe sticking out dangerously at about head level, we have a Russell Newbery engine nearly fitted.

It has the luxury of an electric start, which is really spoiling me and by rigging up a jury exhaust pipe through the side hatch, we were able to jump start the engine and test it fully last Saturday.

So sweet was the sound of an engine aboard after three months of silence and in particular this eighteen horsepower ‘RN’.

After running for a while to make certain that the liquid cooling system was working satisfactorily, temptation overcame me and just as things were, I decided to take ‘Futurest’ out to test how she handled with the new propulsion. I decided to travel down to the turning point at Brewood and back again; to put her through her paces with manoeuvring and everything.

The weather, though overcast in typical November fashion, was fine and there was no breeze making cruising conditions ideal. It was a wonderful trip and such a pleasure to feel an engine throbbing again through the deck beneath my feet. However the sensation was so different from the old days with ‘JP2’.

The handling was so completely different that it was like being at the helm of another ship altogether. Though the Russell Newbery is three ‘horses’ less than the ‘JP2’, I was thrilled to feel how much more responsive and perky she was, with so much more ‘poke’. It made me realise just how worn out the old Lister had become without me realising.

We managed an estimated three miles per hour on only a quarter revs and she manoeuvred ahead and astern through the PRM gearbox effortlessly without having to add any further revs. It was wonderful. I am quite confident that she will handle all waterway conditions, tidal or otherwise with ease.

Just over an hour later we arrived back at Stretton Wharf feeling very pleased with ourselves. It had been a lovely outing on our own after such a long time.

There is still plenty to be done and lots of time consuming tidying up to be accomplished before we shall be ready to leave, but at least the end is in view I think.

Stranded but not stagnant at Stretton

Regular readers will no doubt wonder where I have disappeared to over the last fortnight or so, while these pages have remained silently blank.

In fact I have been on board all the time and though I have sat on innumerable occasions to begin to write, nothing has been forthcoming. Though life has progressed, both ‘Futurest’ and I have sat here quietly, waiting for something to happen that never did and somehow nothing else seemed important enough to write about..... After the engine had been plonked aboard that was it. Both of us had a long patient wait till Paul the engineer returned from holiday.

The weather has been beautiful though throughout, for the time of the year and I have made the most of it by taking my bike out on most days, varying the ride a little but mostly finishing up in Brewood to buy provisions. There is a wonderful shop there which sells fresh farm produce where I buy all my fruit and veg. There are also two supermarket type shops, which though not large, are very adequate for my daily needs and a post office for incoming mail is attached to one of them. There is also a lovely café where in the mornings I enjoy enormously a large cup of real coffee. In the afternoon I substitute a pot of Earl Grey tea instead.... Delicious!

Last Tuesday just as our situation appeared to becoming dormant again and lethargy was settling in, Paul arrived at the yard and great progress has been made since then.

On this day the ‘RN’ was hauled ashore, while the engine bearers were cut to suit the position of the new flywheel. Then on Wednesday the engine was bolted down in position, while on Thursday the electrics were redesigned and connected. On Friday, since the engine is liquid cooled via a skin tank, the plumbing was all sorted.

All that needs to be done now is for the exhaust and silencer to be fitted, together with a redesign and fitting of the controls to the helm and the roof to be drilled and bolted into position. I cannot see it taking us too long, with our present impetus. But I’m not deluded in any way and I know we shall have to remain patient until everything is complete.

However I’ve been in touch with Molly at Kate Boats and she is still expecting us whenever we arrive for our winter mooring in Warwick. We just need the weather to continue being kind for a little longer and all will be well.

Bilge Diving

Over the last few days I am glad to announce that I have renewed the close professional relationship I seem to have always had with bilges large and small.

As an apprentice at sea I had to work hard physically and for most of this learning period I remember, I hardly ever saw the sea even though I was on long ocean voyages to the other side of the World. The reason for this was that for most of my time, except for brief periods of deep sleep (when I never saw the sea either!) I was swinging about like a berserk pendulum at the bottom of the ship with a baler, paint brush or scraper in my hand endeavouring to make some bilge or double bottom tank spanking new.

The fact that I was crouched and/or twisted in a very enclosed space at the bottom of the ship with just a narrow thickness of shell plating between me and thousands of fathoms of ocean below and though I was very conscious of the swishing noise through the steel plate just a few inches away, I wasn’t deterred for one moment.

I was always as happy as a pig in the muck that I was in!

I loved it because nobody bothered me there. My workplace was too inaccessible for the bosun or the mate to keep looking over my shoulder to check what I was doing. They left me very much to it and therefore I could dwell happily in my adolescent daydreams, whilst swinging and dipping the paintbrush, of meeting pretty girls in all the foreign ports of the world, who would be totally overcome with delight when faced with my irresistible charm. The toxic smell of the paint in the tank would help here, since it soon made me light headed and feel quite drunk on occasions.  

So you can imagine how my old life all came flooding back to me as I wielded my black greasy swab in ‘Futurest’s oily Engine Room Bilge last week and also again today as I contorted my frame under the cupboards of the Boatman’s Cabin through the bilge, whilst transferring solid ballast from the starboard side to the other, to take out the slight starboard list. The Russell Newbury Engine must be lighter than the old ‘JP2’ as I have found it necessary for comfort to correct the resultant very slight tilt of the ship to the right.

But what a beautiful day It has been today and difficult to remember that this time last year we had just been immersed in our first big freeze up. 

Stretton Stirrings

Yesterday it rained all day.

After weeks of dry and sunny weather the base of the dark grey cloud that covered the sky leaned heavily upon us and the day was dank, misty and wet. The rain itself was very light; not too certain whether it should behave like a liquid or remain just a heavy mist.

Either way it was very wet and, after a long period of inactivity, not the ideal day to choose for removing the tarpaulin covers from my open roof in order to put an engine inside. But that’s just what happened when John arrived in the morning with the Russell Newbury lashed firmly down on his trailer.

The large crane was in use in another part of the boat yard when the engine arrived but quite soon it was clanking and trundling in our direction with a definite look of eagerness on its face so we had to make the most of it.  The big hook easily lifted the engine and the springs of the trailer heaved an audible sigh of relief as the weight was removed. 

At the last possible moment as the load edged its way towards ‘Futurest’, I whipped the tarpaulin off the roof as if enthusiastically throwing back a duvet and the machinery was slowly and carefully lowered into place onto its twin bearers in the engine room.

Immediately ‘Futurest’ adjusted herself to the new load and the trim settled back to its old state, slightly by the stern and the severe starboard list that I had never quite been able to live with happily over the last weeks, was removed effortlessly. The hook was disengaged and duvet-like once more, the covers were quickly replaced over the hole. We had managed to keep much of the rain out.

The Russell Newbury, though not connected in any way yet, looks splendid in her new home and since yesterday afternoon, on a regular basis, I keep wandering along to the Engine Room to admire the latest member of the family. It really does look superb and when fully operational it will be wonderful to hear her and experience her in action.