It was lovely until it wasn't

Woke up to a much different day but a cold boat, lots of lovely sunshine and no wind. I've been taking logs from home as they heat the boat quicker so I set to getting the fire going. Tea and other bits sorted then we decided to firm up what we'd tentatively agreed the night before a winding cruise up past Knighton woods.

I got the engine started to warm up for half an hour and pottered getting the cruising bits sorted. We failed to go out forwards ( a clue here) so had to reverse out of the mooring with little drama. No boats moving it seems and we cruised up past the Knighton factory. There is a tree down and whoever has done the clearing  - it surely cannot be CART as its left such a narrow channel up against a rocky tow path. The tree down is a small Silver Birch so could/should have been removed fully - hence my thinking maybe the paint dock guy has done it or a friendly boater. I called it in to CART - so I will find out. If it is a CART contractor they need calling back to do the job properly. 

If you know this bit of canal you will know of the obstructions on the tow path side - you can see the large rock sticking up. 

It was a lovely day to be cruising  - and we enjoyed being moving on Percy again. I gave the engine a decent run up the straight and pleased to report little carbon coming onto the roof. Rachel walked to the winding hole from the factory  - I did the return walk 

A near perfect wind helped by the wind from the North west and we were chugging back.

We saw two boats  - one ex working boat by another fallen tree only partially removed

We decided to go straight in to the mooring and all of a sudden the day wasn't lovely anymore. We got stuck solid. Half an hour on the engine on the pole on the ropes but we could not get in  - or out. It took Percy's Lister working as hard as it has for a while in reverse and me on the pole to finally get the back end into enough water to enable us to cruise past and reverse in . 

It made me feel old and despite my strength I was not able to shift the boat. We got her in and tied up and had a nice afternoon with a visit from Mandy and Scamp of NB Don't Panic for tea and chat. All too soon the time was pressing on and after half an hour of fishing we packed up the boat and came home - I have an exciting errand tomorrow !!

Since getting home I've reflected on the woes of going out and coming back the same way - both failures.... last time we had such trouble ( it's always an arse to get in and out due to the amount of silt ) last time a tyre had come off the mooring and that was the reason we struggled... I'm now thinking or rather hoping  the same might have happened as we had the same issue on the same line out and in .... the waders will get another airing next visit.

Strength is a critical factor in boating  - a lot can be done with technique and equipment but fundamentally the canals need a degree of strength. Today I was at my limit and thats not a good place to be and does not give a good feeling when reflecting on it. 

First turn of the key

Back on board for a few days  - it'll not be a weather related blog but it sure was interesting for the last couple of days. Sun rain, hail snow..... and impressive westerly winds that turned the canal into a sea 

But that's just canal life, you live with and in nature. Before it all got a bit lairey and in anticipation of the weather I got the exhaust stack vacuumed out and the manifold back on with new gaskets. One turn of the key and the lister donked into life. I pushed my luck by getting the Honda genny out for a cut of the grass and as expected that did fire first pull... it's a Honda. 

I might have mentioned our mooring fees went up a butt cheek clenching 20%  - I asked the farmer if there was a a chance of adding another water point as we were two hoses away from the nearest. Pleasingly they did but they managed to add it further away so when moored bow to the north my two hoses joined together were at their limits, and as the cassette one is getting old now I've been cutting bits out as leaks appear. I was resigned to sploshing out for a large reel type but noticed the buried pipe our neighbour had been using and one we used was now 'open and he was using the new tap nearer his tank. I spoke and he was happy for me to see if I could pull it back out of the ground to the middle point of out mooring  - he was happy for this as he said he'd not put it in as it was there when he came to the mooring. 

It was about 6 inches underground and the soil was soft so it pulled up easily and pretty much the middle of our mooring a join appeared. So a new cap was put on and it is now perfectly placed to fill the tank with one hose regardless of if we are pointing north or south, small benefits. 

We should wind Percy and may do later if for no other reason to cut through the silt bar that will have built up since we last moved her. It is still a cold north westerly wind and I'm sporting a chesty cough gifted to me by my middle grandson I expect. 

The clear night before two days of storms 

We got cabin fever yesterday so took a drive to empty the cassettes at Norbury and do a top up shop in Newport 

We've not been cold ! 

A weird day of confusing weather

I am loosing trust in the weather forecasts. I wish there was one that was somewhat reliable. Yesterdays weather forecast was quite dire, rain and cloud all day.... and cold. 

I decided late morning to put the fishing umbrella up and sit out wrapped up for a few hours. As soon as I did the rain stopped and there were some small bursts of sunshine. We decided to see if we could get a Sunday lunch somewhere with a fall back of a cafe in Whitchurch !! 

A moody start to the day with lots of heavy rain showers 

We phoned a few places some not answering some not taking walk in's so we headed off Whitchurch way. We stopped on spec at a place on the A41 called the Castle Inn. The 'roast' I had was catering pack beef but the veg and trimmings were all done well just let down by the meat - I should and will ask in future. 

Suitably full and £50 lighter in the wallet, a lesser amount than it could have been as we waited too long for someone to come for a desert and coffee order so we paid and left. Then into Whitchurch which we know is a lovely market town but on a Sunday afternoon was quite deserted, just a couple of pubs open... no shops or cafe. But the only place doing business was the Tesco's which tells a story about how such towns struggle I guess - but we all use supermarkets ! 

So we shopped and drove back for a quiet evening aboard.

We did feel a bit cheated as the weather in the afternoon was nothing like the forecast. The sun temping me with promises of warmer brighter days ahead. 

We've messed up in that we have deliveries today ( with heavy rain forecast at home )  and family staying at the cottage tomorrow so we will have to bolt shortly for home. The wind is up and it rained hard overnight but now blue skies ! We do like to talk about the weather.

Outside now looks nice but a strong south westerly is blowing - no boats have passed since Saturday afternoon which tells its story. 

Right I've a van to pack and a boat to lock up and leave again  - but I need to be back with the right tools to finish the exhaust de-coke. 

A bit of a double fail for now

Yesterday was a day of getting stuff done outside .... I'm sure most of us in the UK were out under the weak but full sun for a while.

My first semi fail was of my own making as I came to the boat to do a bit of an exhaust decoke'ing as we were getting carbon out of the exhaust and onto the boat roof. Got the manifold off but forgot the workshop vac and drill to use as a stack sweep and suck.... 

I can leave it as is and be back with said tools.

There was a lot of carbon on one cylinder compared to the other - I know they are not getting quite the same fuel as I use a temp reader on the exhaust manifold and one is lower than the other. The pumps are adjusted to balance by a bar with locknuts so that needs tweaking to give one cylinder less fuel and the other more fuel ?  I am presuming the 'clean cylinder is doing the work while the dirty cylinder is getting too much fuel hence the carbon build up ? I can double check this with the temp gauge when I have it back together. I appreciate thats a poor description !! 

Then while I had space and the dry weather I decided to have the two passenger seats out of the Peugeot as I'd see a guy fashion a front wheel chock system to get his bike into his van by removing the middle seat. No surprise he'd not answered many Q's on his Youtube vid around the actual process as the only way I could see it being done was to take a hacksaw to parts of the middle seat which i was not happy to do.... so for now .... no Classic motorbike in the van ( But a cub or AJS Imber might well fit !)

This morning weather as usual... 

Should I stay or should I go ....

... there you go a bit of a Clash earworm for you.

We will have been married 41 years tomorrow Valentines day. Last year we booked into a very nice hotel in Bosham for a long weekend, Rachel got White gold diamonds and rubies  - I got another motorbike! This year like so many we planned for an escape to the boat. You'd have had to be living underground to not be aware of the horrible weather we've been having recently. We have been monitoring the forecasts of more snow more rain and ice.... and dithering as to whether we should brave the boat. 

Up until lunchtime we were unsure, we have a lovely cottage all warm and cosy and those of you who've had boat will attest to just how cold they get when left to their own devices. By 12.30 we took the decision to go and the van was loaded and we were off. It was of course sleeting at this point and 4c... I have made a personal decision to not allow external factors to influence me any more and the weather is one of them  along with antisocial media that I have pretty much withdrawn from - so if you do not see me on Facebook or Instagram that's the reason. 

We arrived about 2.30pm and in a well practiced set of actions we were sitting with a tea reading books while the boat slowly warmed up from its 6c arrival temp - last checked it was 23c. I use logs now to get fast heat but its still quite stratified with the floor area still quite cold.... this will soon be address as the long fat hot copper pipes radiate the heat up and round on its circular heating and cooling journey. 

We have a rare cold but sunny day tomorrow to make the most of... not sure of it'll be jobs or a trip out somewhere ....

It certainly did feel like -6c when unloading the van 

Drab and wet while the boat warmed up 

The new stove is working well 

Gone 5pm and still a light sky... lovely even if it is btterly cold outside. 

Another test of our resolve to keep the boat

I dare not do the calculations ( but I will) of what it costs to keep a cottage and a boat. I'll then consider the costs of just the boat and continuously cruising having sold the cottage .... I doubt I'll share but I know it'll be an eye opener. 

So today I got back from visiting my old ma in her care home to open a letter from the farmer who we pay to bob around on the off side and tie up to his land  - it really is a nice mooring I should be more grateful.

From April the mooring fees are going up 20% 

I let that sit there before I carried on typing to test my resolve in maintaining boat ownership. 

So its well over £2,000 to moor Percy now, still a chunk of change cheaper than a marina. I understand C&RT have increased their share of the mooring and the farmer has bigger water bills to pay - we do get water close to the boat. Not focussed on the farmer but it really does feel like everyone has a hand in your pocket  - how those still working deal with it god only knows.... it is stretching our incomes for sure. 

But critically money is a tradable commodity for adventure and therefore memories. I'd rather remember that sunset, that person I met, that moment of calm alone on the back ticking over through a cutting, the sense of achievement after completing a lock flight all those things smash the memory of how much money I have/had in the bank into the long grass. 

If money affords the adventure use the money that can be for holidays bikes boats vans any adventure ....

I have been to Percy, Tuesday 3rd I took some coal as we'd burn through all we had on board over the New Year. Checked her over, all seemed well. The moorings were very wet, no surprise there. I had a lovely hour chatting with our boaty neighbour about her lithium install and other boat and not boat related stuff 

I also called by Stenson lock after a visit to my mum on the following day. The lock cafe is basic but it right on the lock side so you can watch the boats going through  - three used the lock while I was there.

As nice as this section of the Trent and Mersey is it is blighted at this time of the year (and other times) by the river crossing at Alrewas and Shardlow. I have been reading with sympathy Irene's FreeSpirit posts about being stuck in Alrewas and Shardlow on the way back to their Erewash mooring.

Another visit to my mum today and I came back via the lanes with a stop at Mercia Marina. They are in the latter stages of a promenade build  - it dwarfs the marina at the end it is being built. It amazes me the development that has been allowed here from when it was a small trout lake - I have a pre marina photo somewhere I took when I visited at the time they were talking of building a marina there. I guess if I lived in Willington or Findern I'd rather have the marina development than housing that seems to be everywhere now.

The amount of rain we've had is not good for the canal infrastructure..... so much water to destabilise land as seen at Whitchurch. The lanes home today could have floated Percy on some of them. 

As to Percy, use it or loose it is the simple approach we are going to take. 

Riddle me this ?

Never a nice thing to be shelling out large chunks of money. January is our boat license renewal month. I will have detailed in other posts the cost of having a boat on the UK canals. 

Boat licence 

Mooring fees

Insurance 

Maintenance 

Having just paid out for this years licence I took a look back at the last few years of licence costs and the increases Canal and Rivers trust have applied 

So we are £1,352,72p lighted in pocket from today. Have a look at those % increases and the corresponding RPI ( on which my pension is calculated). The principal is more painful than the amounts. 

In my life I manage the income and expenditure as one is finite each year so the other has to match ideally be a bit lower or our savings get reduced. Not rocket science. But like our successive governments they  just don't seem able to balance the books..... but why should they worry as unlike me they have a  legal right to extract more money when they want to and what route to objection have we got... well two really I guess, both are the same but for different reasons - don't pay?

Don't pay as we have sold the boat 

Don't pay and join the club of many others in society who put the load on the mugs who do pay to try and keep some degree of progress and normality? 

I came very close today to joining the above lot..... I wonder what C&RT would have done ? Offered me a payment plan? Reduced my contribution ?  Removed my boat ? Given me a cuddle and told me it would all be ok ? 

Could I have legitimately challenged them over my non payment as a protest at their incompetency? I am one of those limited few who see the canals as a transport infrastructure for boats. I watched a fishing video recently and the match was on a canal and the bloke was moaning about boats while advising to mix soil into the ground bait... the dredging costs were not far from my mind as I marvelled at his fixed negative point of view on canal boats. I wondered what his fishing clubs section rental fee increase was this year? Or the cost of a paddle board license, the cost to walk the tow path, the cost to cycle the towpath, the cost for famers to remove water from the canal. You might be getting the picture  - the boaters pay !

Ultimately I have a choice  - sell and shut up. I love the canals and they have been an integral part of my life for many years so for now I'll try and keep calm and carry on.