A tale of two locations

I  woke this morning after a very long sleep last night to snow at the cottage and a photos from our boaty neighbour Mandy off NB Don't Panic. I do feel a tad guilty but we needed to be home for a variety of reasons.

All is not lost  - I may have made noises about investigating the diesel heaters readily available on Amazon and elsewhere. Well after another  long day with a decent amount. of icy road miles I came back to one left outside from the committed Amazon drivers. This one is destined for the garage for polishing and fettling bikes in hopefully a warmer environment. If its proves practical then I have some plans for fitting one on the boat......

A new low for us

There was eerie sounds on Percy in the small hours....  not heard for many years. As the canal froze and nature locked Percy into her icy stronghold the smallest of movement on the boat creates a creak and a groan quite unique in the world of sounds. Steel and ice holding tight to each other and the movements seem to echo under the water.... I would what the fish think of it ? 

The photos tell the tale of our early morning ...

I've been putting the coal cage in overnight as that controls the burn and does not make the boat too hot. As you can see we woke to 16c in the boat and -7c outside the boat. The engine room that is unheated next to the bathroom was 3c. The three logs I have left will soon bring the boat up to 20c 

The canal has lost the battle with the cold and now frozen over hence the creaks groans and strange echos in the night 

The frames of the windows has ice on the inside 

It is a lovely winter wonderland outside but as you might imagine quite bitter.

Colin and Viv have got a roaring fire going, even with the smoke going straight up the wood smoke smells quite fragrant.

I can't recall being aboard in such low temps and its gratifying that Percy's systems ( touch wood) have been a match for the cold. I do recall a particularly cold spell when I was living aboard at Fradley - a boater was trying to beat the ice and failed

Part 2 even more power even less progress 

I did go out and help him reverse back to the junction up three locks. He got some abuse from other boaters as they don't like the ice being pushed against their boats as it removes the blacking as does cruising in ice of course. 

Running for home later as we have a decent amount of snow forecast  up our neck of the woods ( as well as here at Shebdon.) Percy will be drained down and locked up and left in peace until the next time. 

Maybe some walking along the Caldon in the snow ? 

Testing weather - which is fairing better

As forecast the weather is coming in  - the north westerly weather we are now getting at this time of the year is a test for heating systems. As I type this on Saturday afternoon it's gusting and bright but cold. The wind is now close to east by north east and is bitter. We've just been into Newport for a few supplies and lunch. It is a nice town always worth a visit, nicer in the summer when more options to eat and drink outside are sensible ! 

I've been keeping a watch on our temps at home for the guests. We are burning through some oil  - I think yesterday the Google nest tells me the boiler was running for 6 plus hours. That is to keep the cottage at 18-19c which is a comfortable temperature. The dog house is down to 10c but that is all electric heating and is being held there with the far infer red panel. Obviously not being used right now but it soon can be up to 19c. 

The boat heating has been on since we got on board. The 5kw iirc Morso Squirrel with its long run of 38mm copper pipe is a brilliantly engineered heating system. The boat is easier to heat and cheaper. We are chewing through the coal but the boat is a lovely place to be when its so cold - certainly much warmer than the cottage. However if we light one of the two stoves at the cottage it can easily compete. we have a 4kw multi fuel stove and a 8kw wood burner... the latter in the middle of the cottage and it can easily heat the whole place but it can consume copious amounts of wood ! 

So both are looking after themselves, obviously with the tech at the cottage its easier for that to be left. When we leave Percy tomorrow she'll slowly cool to 5c and hibernate for as long as we are away. It is not lost on me how capable the boat is to live on  - bigger issue and what kept us off last summer was the heat - but then again there are solutions to that with portable AC units that with the amount of solar would be a viable option. 

Back to this morning it was cooold outside, I had to venture out to get a shot of the moon setting and the sun rising. 

I must sort out a proper chimney for the boat. The double skinned one we have the inner skin does not seal the flue so we still get condensate onto the roof  - this simple rolled up sheet of aluminium( ?) seals perfectly so we get nothing onto the roof. 

A proper winter picture of our boat Percy 

Even colder tonight apparently, the coal cage will do its job again, keeping the boat warm but not too warm. I've a few logs left for heat tomorrow that soon expires something we need when leaving the boat. 

Right coffee is on .....grab a mug !

Going to need a bigger spanner !

Sitting here in a very warm boat contemplating a few hours in a very cold engine room  - the boat is 25c the engine room is 7c

Lovely day after a spattering of snow overnight. Just had a nice cup of tea with our long term boaty neighbour and friend Mandy off NB Don't Panic..... lots of catching up and chat around boat jobs toilets and batteries etc!

Came back and started to look at the job of the day which was to remove the exhaust manifold only to find the adjustable I thought would do the job isn't big enough. I need to review my photos from when we had the engine decoked a while back to see if there is a clue there of how it was done.... otherwise its a plan B job....

It is the large nut at the end of the exhaust manifold upper left ( pictures from when the engine was decoked in 2019)

At least I know we removed the manifold from that junction. It is a 90mm or 3 1//2 inch ring.... i've ordered some filter pliers that I hope will do it... in the mean time it'll get a regular application of penetrating oil. I'll be interested to see if one of the other cylinder outputs is more coked up that the others that might indicate a tweak to the respective injector pump to ensure they are both working as hard ... 

So that's that job sacked off today.... the  next job was to add a security lock to the inside of the hatch so when we are board we can actually lock the hatch from being opened from the outside. Just finished that job, had to get the drill and taps out but my goodness it's cold, even working in the hatch its bitter. Back in the boat now for the rest of the day/evening.

The coal cage got put in earlier  - a great device for regulating the burn on a solid fuel stove. Not good for logs if you need a lot of heat fast but once the boat is up to temperature the coal cage works well. I'd still prefer a Refleks diesel stove  if i was living aboard full time, much more consistent and controlled heat. We've tons of space in the forecabin for a decent sized fuel tank for it. Maybe that ship had sailed with the direct Morso replacement for what we need its spot on. Still pondering a cheap air blown diesel heater, just the exhaust and the heat pipe run, again it could live and operate in the forecabin..... that has more legs as it would /could be a companions to the Morso .....Mmmmm 

A few early morning shots 

It's not a real volcano

I still dream of my old job a lot and last night was no different so a strange nights sleep. We spent the evening reviewing 2025 phots to realise we'd been on Percy more than we thought. We heard Market Drayton fireworks at the turn of the year then went to bed and I dreamt.

This morning 1st - we've been lazy with a brunch and then waiting for a gap in the weather for a walk. When we set out it was bitterly cold with a fierce  north westerly wind that is due to bring some sleet tonight. Rachel is working tomorrow from the boat - if I can get motivated I want to remove the exhaust manifold and clean the exhaust stack and manifold as we were getting annoying carbon bits on the roof last cruise. I also have a couple of other jobs to do.... we will see.

Our Shebdon walk 

You can see how late we left the walk as the sun was going down. 

Re the Wrekin pictures it is not a volcano obviously but it is made of very old 600-700 million years ago volcanic rock ( Lava and Ash) Its cone shape was made from later geological processes. 

Not the best start of the year for C&RT

 Just picked this up ( New Years Eve) from Staffordshire fire and rescue 

🚨 Please be aware we currently have crews in attendance at the Boat Inn, Cannock Road, Penkridge. The bridge over the canal has collapsed therefore, the road is currently closed for pedestrian and vehicular access at this time whilst we work with our partners at the Canals & River Trust.

Talk about punch drunk …. The canals are in such a sad state right now. We’ve been boating a long time and I can’t recall a time where there was so many incidents. Maybe I didn’t  hear of them back in the day? Let us hope this is a manageable and repairable incident and is being over exaggerated otherwise the four counties might be another casualty for cruising next year. 

Time warp back to the 1960's - On board at the turn of the year

This morning was a shock to the senses.... Rachel had set an alarm for 7.45am and we woke to a cold 7c boat. When I went out last night it was a lovely semi cloudy night, not cold. Overnight the wind and weather changed and we woke to a cold boat and a frosty outside. The title refers to the ice we had on the inside of the windows - the kitchen and one of the lounge windows we kept open for the fire to release a bit of heat as it was warm in the boat when we retired to bed. That was the norm when we lived in a terrace house as kids with one coal fire to heat the whole house.

The fire was soon lit and the benefit of logs is you get a hot fire quickly. I went out to get the genny to charge the Ecoflow and a few other bits  and realised it was still in the garage at home - I'd taken it home to service, which didn't get done. 

We had a lazy morning a tad spoilt by the arrival of a gang of fisher persons  - ok fishermen no women present who as ever were loud miserable looking and sweary.... and yes I count myself as a fisherman. 

We took ourselves for a walk via the lanes to the Anchor pub that was predictably closed so returned via the towpath to a nice warm boat. 

I set to watering up that was a comedy of hose fittings blowing off and splits in the hose - it gets shorter each watering up - I need to buy a good length and replace what we have as we need two to get to the taps here at Shebdon. 

After lunch I drove back to the cottage to collect the genny and pick up some fuel and supplies on the way... I took the nearly full cassette back and emptied it into the drains via the manhole  (person hole) we have in the garden.

Back at the boat the genny was filled with petrol and is now charging the Ecoflow and has topped up the batteries that went to float quite quickly once again proving the Smartgauge is anything but. I'd rip it out but it is useful to parallel  the leisures if the starter isn't strong enough in the cold to spin the 2 cylinder three litre engine over. Of course this could be done with some decent jump leads which I also have !! I think next battery change I will re do the electrics and remove the Smartbank altogether - its just a gauge I should not be looking at as I have the shunt that gives some info and I know resting battery voltages and state of charge as well as the amps in to indicate a charged battery bank. We also use the Ecoflow most evenings to not load the 2 x  AGM's so they have a ( too) easy life.

So we will see 2025 into 2026 later... A nice meal some fizzy stuff and a look back through the photos I like to take. It'll give us a sense of a full year  - we may ponder a few trips we have outlined for 2026 also nto 2026 then have a few easy days on Percy with the odd job to do. It is giving snow where we live from Monday so we may have to move the house sitters out or share the space for a few days as we will be back earlier.

For those regular 50+ people who read this  - thank you. I hope you have a good evening and a good start to 2026. One bit of advice, don't delay those plans and goals, non of us is guaranteed tomorrow, take care now.