A couple of canals visited and a bigger boat

Another good month of getting out and about which started with a few days on the boat. 

The Anchor is our local when on the boat. Its a nice walk  - about half an hour down the canal. We like to make it a round walk so have recently been heading off into the local lanes  and on this occasion we took in Loynton Moss nature reserve. It is quite rural and remote where we moor Percy and this nature reserve accentuates that very much. A lovely place to take a picnic and enjoy the history of the place and the nature than now ownes it fully.

You can't get much more authentic than the Anchor - I only wish I could have taken my old dad here he would have loved it 

Our long term boaty friend and neighbour Mandy who did a fantastic job of painting her boat over the summer 

We are being told 2025 was the hottest on record, it certainly was the sunniest with lovley clear skies overnight 

A took a day out to go a watch the planes we'd rather not use come and go at Manchester airport  - a good ride to and from also.

3rd June I was fishing with my good friend Graham - Longford fishery, my favourite of the ones I fish now. Little were we to know what lay ahead for one of us  - don't take anything for granted ! 2026 should be a year for friends  ( and fishing ) 

More lovely evenings on the bike as we drew towards the summer solstice 

Rachels birthday came and went and we tried a few different things and places 

Crich is where her dad used to meet us and he sadly passed away on Rachels birthday so we tend to migrate there with the family on her birthday or close to 

We were cycling towards Mid June next to the old canal bed that used to run from Froghall ( Caldon canal for my non canal readers) to Uttoxeter. Its a nice cycle ride, wer have done it from the cottage before but this time we drove with the bikes to Oakamore. There is still a plan to re water this section but the Caldon canal society seems very distant in many things. 

The old Station at Alton. We rode to Denstone where there is a nice farm shop and cafe. I think you can stay in the old building here as it is an Air B&B

The 10th June Rachel was getting her long service award from the NHS - should have been 40 years but due to their HR policies and part time ( Children ) working it was 30 years... very proud day 

The next day I was grass cutting again  - I was at the moorings earlier this week and they looked very drab and wet compared to this day 

Seems I swapped bikes and went out again for chips at Matlock bath  - enjoying the dry warm roads 

15th June we swapped the Shroppie for the English channel and a much bigger boat. We were off for a week to meet friends at a Euro camp near Angers in the Loire Valley. A great week of sun good food good wine and good friends.... all on the bike.

Leaving Pompy - Rachel worked there for a few years when I lived on the boat 

France would have been an option to live in returement if not for Brexit  - now we (I)  visit once or twice a year. 

Even managed to visit the odd canal and watch the trip boat go through the automatic lock 

We hadn't realised when we booked Rachels two sisters were over there at the same time in their caravan and motorhome so we met up for the day and had a lovely meal just by the side of this chateau 

The lodges were air conditioned and they needed it  - it was beautifully warm - a real treat of a holiday.  We went on my Honda 750, great bike for this type of trip. I've fitted electronic cruise control for a trip to Britanny next year . The trip home we did in the day with a kip on the ferry - a long day, I'm ok with it but it was hard work for the pillion.  

Back to the blood bikes after France  - the M6 between Stoke and Birmingham doesn't compare to the empty motorways in France 

The classic 350 got its first service from me. The joy of these bikes is the enjoyment of self servicing 

Towards the end of the month we were at Peak Wildlife park one day with youngest son and grandson

The next day we were with the other grandkids 

On the way home we took a walk along the Cromford canal ( a canal is never far from our thinking ) This is the beautifully restored Aqueduct cottage done by the friends of the Cromford canal. Well worth a visit 

Another blood bike shift - this time an evening and overnight one 

A reminder of how hot it was this summer - 29c at 8.20pm. The ice block was inside my jacket to keep me cool on the shift 

Did we get to Percy in July ....? 

Glastonbury

We liked Glastonbury, we have a good bunch of friends who ride motorbikes and offer up the odd meet and so it was in May. A meet for fish and chips ad  a beer or two in Glastonbury. If I recall correctly the meet was a Friday evening so we rode down and stayed in an air b and b in the town We met up and had a lovely evening and did the same for breakfast near the travel lodge where a few were staying. We then said our goodbyes and went off to explore the Tor....

A lovely day with some great views and even better memories 

All on the bike. This time it was the two up touring bike of choice the Honda 750. 

We were also walking enjoying our wonderful cottage surroundings. One of the many peacocks that live at the wildlife sanctuary down the lane - technically our neighbour ! 

Rachel sings in a choir on Wednesday evening so I tend to have that time for exploring on the bike. I have to feed myself so fish and chips in Matlock bath is something I've been doing on a bike for nearly 50 years !! 

The weaver hills has some stunning views 

Not all play, the circular patio is in now so we moved the shed but I laid a decent base for it as I hope it'll live there for a while now 

We have a 'workshop' seen in other pictures. When we brought the cottage it was basically two rooms, one side bare brick as an office the other side bare brick as a laundry room/workshop. With an outside toilet. All very basic and rudimentary 

Over many months I've converted it using timbers taken from my sons house when we removed one of his stud walls, so its fully insulated plastered re wired and re heated. Also it now is double glazed, has patio doors to the home office/sun room. Has a fully plumbed in laundry room with washer and tumble dryer. Then it has a small workshop at the back of the laundry room where the house batteries and inverter live with solar on both elevations of the roof. Finally I bricked up the outside toilet and re fitted the loo with bi folding door so it now has its own internal loo. I tried to get a builder to do it but no luck so all done on my own apart from the plastering - I did all the boarding and the electrics that I also did were signed off with a certificate by a local electrician. It was formally opened and Rachel works in there for the NHS and the University . We call it the dog house, people who have a dog can stay there with their dog if they visit.

George Jnr came a visiting later in the month - like his grandad he loves fruit.

He's a very quite lad a watcher and a thinker 

Towards the end of the month we had a day at Butterley rail centre with the three other grandkids who are very much the opposite, very energetic and outgoing. It was a lovely day but tiring for old bones 

While we were playing my eldest was plying his trade as an exceptional tattooist  - quite extraordinary the level of detail in this art  

When we had free time we were still walking exploring and enjoying the Caldon canal in our valley.

Plus when the shifts were available I was riding the blood bikes to give a bit back.  This is the evening Haywood Hospital to Royal Stoke path labs run which an 8pm pick up and it part of the 7pm-11pm shift. 

So a busy but enjoyable May..... what did we do in June then ? 

Back to May for the start of the catch ups for my records

Poor blogging performance has been noted on here previously. I've a few days before the end of the year to catch up with my year, some boating some biking some family something of everything it seems but said many times it's my on line reminder of what I/we do.

So early May started with a blood bike shift on the lovely BMW R1250RT

I  was trying to get the yard done spoiler alert - all but the path got put in  - that's still under discussion between me and Rachel as she wants one style I want another  = nothing gets done 

On the 4th May my mum had her 90th birthday, a quiet affair in her care home but we met afterwards for a meal and one of my sisters brought a large tray of cakes ....

Percy or rather the mooring got a visit on the 8th May to give the grass a cut... if it is left too long the farmer has been known to strim it and that is always a messy job for the boat 

A passing boater asked if he could take a photo of the boat with the bike in it 

It was a sad time to let the red Himalayan go - it was at over 20,000 miles and I got a good deal on a later low mileage model. Only about 500 quid to swap so a no brainer - just having to deal with the tyre kickers and 'George" the fella who brought the bike who lived in Oxford I met him at Stoke station he was wearing an anorak and crocks. he was with me 4 hours - he liked to talk and he'd had an interesting life !  

The Green Himalayan was soon on duty - taking my punctured tyre and wheel of another bike to get fixed. I'd had the green on since late 2023... a slow swap over ! 

My Classic 350 Royal Enfield was getting the early summer evening rides in the dry... a lovely bike to ride look at and own. Here at Millers dale  

When you get some height  - up near Flash village the highest village in the mainland UK 

On the middle weekend of May we were celebrating my son and his sons birthdays. Here is Benjamin who hadn't eaten any cake !! 

....and his sister Lyra our Granddaughter 

Birthday boy George, names after my dad 

The party was at my youngest village pub in Chinley so we stayed in a lodge in Longnor or just outside as one of Rachels sisters took her caravan up there so we had a lovely walk to the Cheshire Cheese the next day for Sunday Lunch 

Their caravan is the Braidbar of caravans !

Lovely walking countryside 

I like Longnor  - a possible place to live in the future if we want more village life 

That got us to the middle'ish of May....

Solar powered boat

We like Barton Turns Marina. Maybe not the best marina to live in as it carries the A38 noise but the Red Carpet Cinema is a treat location for us - the film and a meal deal is our treat. We even took Percy there back in 2015 from Fradley - took us three days to go to the cinema and back !! 

Time lapse to the cinema

This time we went from the cottage so it was just 50 minutes. A bit of a pre Christmas treat to see the Choral, a nice gentle British film, well worth the watch.

As we were leaving we took a stroll and met a visiting boater who'd just arrived and managed to lock himself out of the pontoon - rookie error. We got chatting as you do and he was keen to tell us he'd only got the boat recently  but removed the engine put  iirc 10 solar panels on the roof and added in a motor off a forklift at 72 volts with standard lead acid batteries to run it. 

He told me he can cruise 4 or 5 hours on a charge. He had a generator on board for dark days he said but didn't elaborate on the capacity of said generator. An interesting concept and one I'm sure a few boaters may consider as battery tech increases and cost per kw drops with lithium getting ever more available. 

Percy would be a good contender for this as she has a motor driven pump to the hydraulic prop motor. But she's a heavy long boat ..... and she suits a trad engine amidships. Just needs the exhaust manifold off for a clean and while off the exhaust stack a sweep.

Volts and their inter relationship - A question

Ok, a small variation to the learning theme here.... I have learnt something but I need you clever people's input to cement the learning further .... here goes. 

On our boat we have a 12v system. Not counting or talking about the starter battery but the leisure batteries. 2 iirc 180 amp AGM batteries. total 360 amp hours but only in reality 180 as they should never be taken below 50% state of charge, my ref for that says about 12.06v  = 50% ( resting check - no load) - that much we all know  - They are about 18 months in to their expected 4-5 year service life. 

My learning today is that the Aferiy P210 'solar battery' one of the packs that comes with 2kw/h of lithium, charger MTTP controller and inverter all in one is a decent price but critically they have a 12v 25 amp anderson port output - I've asked and they say its regulated to 13.8 volts. That's me all educated and pleased to be so..... 

The Q is I want to add this 13.8v to my boat to the fuse panel in parallel with the lead acids (at their max fully charged rate of 12.8v.) My understanding is the 13.8 v from the lithium will service the loads with a very small dribble back to the lead acids. So if you like a bit like the 'hybrid' system many use as a permanent  install but on Percy it would be use only no charge, as the Aferiy would have duty back at home when we are not on the boat a real bonus duel use for out type of boat/cottage living   - we'd charge separately ( different topic).

I've tried this with my Ecoflow but that 12v output is regulated to IRC 12.8 and also 10 amps  - the water pump and bath pump can get close to that and have tripped it before. Also it is via the cigarette type socket that are not idea as they work loose  -  so not as useful and under load seems to drop voltage so not good for the fridge. 

So I am hoping the 13.8 from an Aferiy would work without issue if connected in parallel with the boats existing 12v system? 

Any advice ?

Stealing my solar panel

As I get ever older I try to keep mind and body as fit as I can... as anyone north of 60 will attest it's easier to loose capability than gain it and when lost it's even harder to recover.

Well that was a opening sentence for sure.. and how does it relate to solar panels? At the cottage I have installed east/west solar panels and house batteries. That along with the EV have saved us close to £2,000 a year plus a lot less fossil fuel burning in the process.   Using the knowledge from doing the same on Waterlily then Percy. 

The other week when it was wet and cold so no motorbike riding or DIY - I got to thinking of a project that would/could add more solar to the cottage  and engage my mind and body - specifically in this case to the gable end wall of the garage. Now those that know will tell you 35 degrees pitch is the optimum  angle for UK all year round solar panels. But the gable end wall has no pitch.... enter my challenge to add some sort of actuator to lift and drop a panel to the right angle each day. 

Research and Amazon saw me spend a enjoyable. ( for me) couple of days learning about passive twin relay wifi switches and actuators that saw me deliver a tidy little system that extends the panel to 35 degrees at sun rise and drops it back flat at sunset. If the wind it above 30mph it will not extend, if during the daylight period the wind gets over 30 mph it will retract.... 

It powers a portable battery that runs tube heaters fans and battery chargers for the bikes in the garage. 

So how does this relate to my boat solar panels? On Waterlily many years ago ( 15 or more I will check)  I added our first foray into sun harvesting. A 135w solar panel. This got transferred to Percy when we sold and brought the respective boats. It was more of a top up for the batteries... with the smart MTTP controller a good way to keep the lead acid batteries in best condition and also charged for the bilge pump.

I think  - need to check again earlier this year or late last year I swapped that 135w panel for a 380w panel. I also have a 370w panel ground mounted that I use to charge the Ecoflow battery when we take that. Its a Solar battery that basically acts as a hook up .. can be charged in an hour off the genny or in 3 hours off the ground mounted solar panel, then in the evening we use it to run the boat - all very similar to the cottage but on a smaller scale. 

I've never liked the look of a fixed panel on the roof of the boat. The boat roof needs some work next spring which will enable me to put on a flexible panel which should be less obtrusive and also work to protect the roof after the work (painting). 

I have another gable end  - a unobstructed south facing end of workshop that I intend putting the similar system on as the garage - above, but rather than buy another solar panel yesterday I went in the van and swapped the large 380 with the little 135 panel for the remainder of the winter and spring until I can fit a flexible panel....

Swinging the large panels off the boat and into the van was a good amount of exercise. I swapped over the taxi magnets that hold the panels. All done and Percy looked fine after being left another month. I want to get back to get the back stove finally fitted after my success with the front stove but that'll have to be before or into the New Year. 

Off with the big un and back on with the little one 

The small panel does look 'less' and more appropriate - the flexible panel will go across the boat where the paint changes colour - hopefully 

The low sun was on its way to its pre 4pm setting time  - roll on the winter solstice ! 

Right, just got to replicate the automatic system on the workshop gable end now !! 

Update on my insurance

Thank you all for the comments with information on who you are insured with. I got my Compare boat insurance renewal today and it was £310 up from £261 last year. I had a quote from Haven Knox Johnston for £278 so we have gone with them. They made no reference for surveys but we had an out of water survey  - all good in September 2022 in case they needed it. 

It was refreshing to cancel with Compare Boat insurance. They are in my experience a very poor organisation to deal with. I tried as said before to amend my policy to reflect the change of mooring and each time they said they needed to refer it to the underwriters but never got back to me. I followed up with the same answer. Today when I cancelled they asked why, I said cheaper quote and poor service, the person who was very monotone just said sorry to hear that ! 

No follow up 'survey' either to find out why I am not renewing shows a company that does not care for its customers or their image and progress in the market. Of course insurance is very much a two pronged product, the way they react to claims is more important than how they welcome you and deal with you in policy cover of course. 

So 4 years boat safety done, insured, gas safe, new stove, blacked last year, polished at last visit  - just need to use her a bit more !!