My beautiful dawn chorus walk - Knighton woods

Alarm went off at 5am, dressed tea and toast made and off I went into the dark and quite cold  = frosty morning.  

It's quite unnerving to hear your own amplified sounds only competing with the pheasants who seem to be calling out 'I've made it through another night !" The screeching gate bolt and on one occasion an errant branch on my waxed cotton jacket made me literally jump as I thought something was in the hedge by me ! I got to the woods entrance just before 5.30am and it was still dark but the birds were starting their songs and how many varied and beautiful songs they were. 

With the help of an app on my phone during one 20 minute recording at the sun side of the woods, when it started to rise,  it recorded the following birds in a beautiful chorus all for me as I was the only human ears engaged with their songs...

Robin

Blackbird

Wren

Pheasant

Song Thrush

Wood Pigeon

Blackcap

Chiffchaff

Coal Tit

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Goldfinch

Goldcrest

Dove

Carrion Crow

Chaffinch

Mistle Thrush

Canada Goose

Tawny Owl

Woodpecker

There are a few small events in one's life that although quite insignificant will remain with you for a long time and this morning was such an event. I resolved to be out early at least once a week going forward. I'm normally a lazy sod and rise between 7.30 and 8.30am. When I retired I resolved to set an alarm on as few occasions as possible but I need to make some exceptions. 

I got the engine lubed and started to warm up while I washed up then we were away at 9am for a lovely cruise to our current mooring two bridges before the High Onn winding hole where we'll wind in the morning and get back to our mooring for just after lunch time tomorrow all being well. We've a family do in Matlock on Saturday so need to be at the mooring for the travel to that. 

Just had C&RT contractors strim about 50 yards either side of out boat on the downward side of the canal tow path to the hedge... I can't see a reason at all to do such a strange small section... either they think we will be impressed or they did it to annoy us  - I've no idea?

We did clock the tree down just before the winding hole in grub street. There were contractors there 'sorting it '  - it'll be interesting to see how much they have removed on our return tomorrow as its a tight winding hole so really needs all cleared out not the normal cut the bit in the channel and leave the rest of the tree in the cut approach....

So photos to make much of the above sensible 

5.15am frosty

A tale of two adventures today, my solo walk and then the cruise 

The tree down by the grub street winding hole 

Always seem to take this picture 

The saplings on the off side in Cowley narrows need removing rather than what the contractors have just wasted 45 mins on by our boat.

Our mooring for tonight, a bit of a siesta then off to find a post box to dispatch a letter.

I've moored here many times as its a good mini cruise terminus  - lots of happy memories of Leia here. 

Water pump replacement and a plan

It seems our three week cruise to Llangollen has been compressed to a ditch shuffle up and down the lovely Shroppie. It could be worse. 

Yesterday I stripped out the old water pump and was not happy how I'd done the plumbing so we hopped in the car over to Newport for food and bits... Screwfix and Waitrose type bits. 

We took lunch in a pub which was cheap and plentiful, I left Rachel tat charity shop shopping and took the two mile walk to Screwfix for plumbing parts and other bits....

Back on the boat I set to restoring the plumbing and building a small shelf for the expansion vessel to sit on so as not  to stress and joints. Rachel was cleaning the boat using the full Ecoflow thanks to this continuing lovely weather - we will miss it when its gone !

Rush hour on the cut ... our neighbour Mandy off to where we are moored today... she kindly vacated it for us !! 

I wasn't sure if the Accumulator was still working  - the bladder sometimes splits. Running the water system without it demonstrated it was still very much working. Just need to bring my battery tyre inflator from home so I can put it the right pressure... 

Work in progress - but stopped for parts and a pub meal 

My tat shop 

This is better  - still needs some tidying which I'll do when I lag it later. The shallow dish is a good idea as if you add a cheap water alarm it gives notice  of a failing pump. without putting water into the bilge 

Another cold but beautiful night 

Stove lit, they may be dusty buggers but they are effective and with our thermo cycling run of 32mm copper pipe to the bathroom silent heat transfer into all parts of the habitable boat 

I then did some fishing picking up some nice Bream and Roach and we ended the evening with what Rachel calls 'Picky bits'  - very nice.

This morning was a use it up type breakfast before we set off just before 12 to wind at bridge 48 and stop off for the night at Knighton Woods visitor moorings. I have a bucket list desire to get into the woods and sit and enjoy the dawn chorus. Fran and Rich Youtubers and inspirational eco boaters did exactly this in the same woods 2 years ago.... 

Worth a watch

The only way out of the mooring was a slow muddy reverse  - another reason to routinely move the boat to stop the silt bar forming. 

This is the level of canal maintenance now ! 

On the small cruise to the winding hole and back I met a boarder terrier flying down the tow path without any owner in sight. Luckily he stopped at a boat we'd just passed to have a go at their dog much to their rightful consternation. This gave me the chance to grab his collar and ring the number and was answered by a grateful owner from a place up near the winding hole we were headed so we agreed to walk him back home ! 

Bramble the scrapping escapee terrier 

Rachel approaching bridge 48

So far we have the Knighton woods visitor moorings to ourselves. Lilly the cat will enjoy the exploration later for sure. 

There are the woods - about 20 minutes walk in the morning 

Now tied up and I'll give the roof a wash after my food has gone down. The solar panel is very dirty and it looks like a ducks been roosting on the roof !  Maybe some before and after pictures later ..

Not sure yet about tomorrow, the wind is easterly still so still quite chilly and about 12-14mph and as we are now heading east into our faces hence the stop ( plus my desire to be up early in Knighton woods) It will be an  easier wind  tomorrow so we could wind in grub street and moor near the Anchor but its not open Thursdays or more likely cruise down to a nice mooring at High Onn and if the mood takes us walk back into Gnosall ... but me being up early means it might also be a nice early set off .... we will see 

Decent progress but at a standstill.

We were due on the boat a few weeks ago to do a spring trip up the Llangollen canal and it would have been a stunner in this locked in high pressure we are experiencing. But as a friend says when life gives you lemons ( or covid) make yourself a Tequila ! 

So we got to the boat on Friday  - here's a thing, neither of us can remember what we did on the Thursday... age I guess ! 

So a test for my memory was to recall may last week, as is normal it was a busy'ish week. 

Monday I visited my old mum in her care home with my youngest sister, she's pretty much bed bound now so I have not been sharing the pictures but we always take them for our record and to share with my other sisters. Monday evening I did a 7pm - 11pm blood bike shift, first one this year, last one I did was Christmas eve when I was brewing Noro virus for my Christmas day treat. 

I've owned two of these superb machines, BMW1250 RT my last one took me to Colditz and into the Czech Republic.

Tuesday it was a catch up over in the east with a good friend who I tour on bikes with, we have a tour to Normandy planned in July. 

Wednesday I was out walking with another friend  - it was the Cromford canal/ Black rocks walk 

Thursday was on my bike to see a bike I had ordered to check the colour was right.... and it was not so that got cancelled sadly... then home to give the cottage a good clean prior to the trip to the boat. Always nice to leave the boat tidy and clean then come home to a clean and tidy cottage .... my thing ! 

Friday I came to the boat to start the engine work.... last year I did the 500 hour service and checked the bottom end work I had done ( all good) but on reassembling the engine there was an annoying weep from the crank case door. So I had ordered another expensive gasket pack from stationary engine supplies as its the only way to get the crankcase door gasket. 

However on a previous visit I'd replaced the inverter and discovered the breaker had failed closed so I first replaced that with a proper mega fuse  (130 amp) for a 1kw inverter. the inverter can peak at 1500w so using the calculation...

Amps (A) = Watts (W) / Volts (V)

1500/12  = 125 amp fuse 

I was warned these are not the best.  

I set to stripping the back side of the engine to enable me to get to remove the crank case door to replace the gasket and clean the sump. Percy uses SAE30 oil which drops any carbon into the sump as it does not carry it to a filter as there is not one... its a 1929 design.

There was an annoying design issue that means the crankcase door cannot be moved out unless the lower cooling manifold pipes are removed and they are a tight fit to get out... this is all due to the cold start bypass pipe... basically a closed loop of cooling that does not allow coolant to the skin tank until the engine warms up to open a thermostat  - means the engine warms up quicker. However this is a run of 15mm copper with a check valve on it from the thermostat housing that gets in the way... This time I bit the bullet and made an alteration ... more on that later.

Any how Friday I got much of the engine bits off and the block drained down then went home for a deep bath as despite the engine room space its still a few hours in the same position = not good for an old blokes joints 

It's a slow but satisfying drain down... I did but parts to add in a drain point but ran out of time to fir it this time. 

Lower manifold off and crankcase door removed  - I've now cut the bypass return and put the check valve lower 

New gasket ready to go on after the engine big ends all checked and the crank case cleaned out. Used a bit of gasket seal this time. I've kept the old gasket as next time I'll make my own as I've the punches 

A bit of clever design I copied  - Tony Redshaw crimped on an olive to make the seal on the flexible hose  ( it needs flexible hoses as the engine is rigid mounted ) tighter, simple but effective 

Saturday we got to the boat early afternoon due to a lazy morning at the cottage. I was able to get a bit more done mainly pumping the old oil out and cleaning the sump. However I was held up as I needed some flexible heater hose which I ordered from Amazon to the shop in Woodseaves. My thinking being I cut out the rigid copper bypass that got in the way of the crank case door removal and replaced it with a run of nice heater hose clamped onto two copper 15mm pipe stubs with olives crimped on. This was done Monday as I had to collect the pipe Sunday evening.

Check vale moved down stub added with some ptfe and pipe compound for belt and braces. 

Back to Sunday as I could not finish the engine we went for a lovely walk over the back of the moorings via farm yards and lakes over to Knighton. Just short of 5 miles and it was lovely. 

Yesterday ( Monday 7th April) I replaced the impeller on the water pump before putting it back on. Ignore the vanes due to moving the pulley wheel no doubt. 

New one fitted ... must order a new 'spare' 

I always carry a spare after my heaven and hell cruise back in 2018 when I relocated single handed Percy from Fradley to Shebdon and the engine overheated due to a worn impeller 

My 2018 relocation (overheating) cruise  

I finished the engine and ran it up to purge the air from the coolant system . Hopefully if it's me who does the next 500 hour clean out.  - must check that it might be 1000 hours ? The whole process will be easier. 

Then I checked the domestic water pump catch tray as it had some water in it last visit and yes we've a leaking domestic water pump. This one is 10 years old so can't really complain. I could gave got one from Amazon for £104 but I decided to give Norbury some business and paid £113 but I was able to drive down and collect it... it's my job for today. BOAT - Bring Out Another Thousand as they say 

We celebrated with a nice walk along the lanes to the Anchor (closed) then a walk back up the canal. 

I even managed some fishing  - a few skimmers and Roach before a meal and another clear star lit night.

For the record the oil was changed at 1183 hours 

This engine is looked after.... just checked and I did the engine oil in June 2023 at 1025 hours and again in May 2024 at 1054 hours. However I always maintain (excuse that ) an oil change it the best maintenance for any engine... my Bikes get regular oil and filter changes  - they take 1.6 litres the lister is about 9 litres !! 

 

Hopefully the picture below explains the change  - the black 20mm OD heater pipe replaced some fixed copper. The check valve at the bottom of the black pipe was adjacent to the lower engine block manifold making it impossible to get the crank case door off without removal of the said manifold.

Right, this stay is up to date just need to set to on the water pump now !! 

Two ends of a canal I'd love to see reopen

Not in my lifetime if ever sadly. The canal is the Cromford Canal. Within a week I'd visited both ends for different reasons. In fact over the last week we've walked The upper Peak Forest, The Caldon and the Cromford canals. Makes up for not being able to get to Percy when we had planned. 

Looking back at the pump station on the aqueduct 

Some renovation work by volunteers on the aqueduct cottage 

Lovely views 

Just under 8 miles post covid not too bad for me 

As in my last post I had passed covid onto Rachel so our mothers day plans were cast aside much to Rachels understandable frustration. So on the Saturday we went for a drive and parked at Buxworth basin and walked into Whaley Bridge. Our last visit was on Percy last year when we got to the basin in the dark ... Bollington to Buxworth on Saturday the 5th October.

Bollington to Buxworth

This is the stretch where we met a cruiser in the dark  - he had no lights !! 

The Sunday we visited Rachels mum's grave at a natural burial ground on the outskirts of Derby. I'd woke up with an idea about moving Percy to the great Northern Basin as they had mooring vacancies advertised on their web site.... our son lives in Heanor with 3 of our 4 grandkids. So we drove on for another socially distanced walk ( why we didn't hail Freespirit) It's an interesting gaggle of boats and facilities. But we agreed if we did move there Percy would get less cruising use than she does now. 

Going back a few days  - yes all over the place, we'd also had a walk down our canal to Cherry eye bridge for a little picnic to break the monotony of isolation! 

A much viewed view from my favourite bridge - Cherry eye 

Hopefully on Percy when this is published .... and I promise myself to try and get some boat memories at least up to date....

Pleasing but more questions need answers

This blog is a mess, so much I have not put on that I would have done so in the past. Can't even say it just boatey stuff as there are visits missing updates. Hey ho .... here is something by way of a catch up and an excuse!

First off I need to recognise the move onto the water by Adam and Adrian on NB Briar Rose. Its nice to see a blogger realise a dream of canal living. I always wanted to and remember the excitement and a bit or dread when I moved aboard in April 2014..... I can't believe ( I did it )  and that it will be 11 years ago later this month 

My living aboard announcement

Anyhow  - here is a link to their blog 

Briar Rose day 1

We were due on Percy up the Llangollen last week but this put paid to that. 5th consecutive virus since Christmas .....  

Went down with it while up in Scotland on my motorbike - maybe a blog to follow on that. Made that lovely trip a challenge but one that was achieved. Problem was in my return Rachel got it from me so our plans were messed up !

I used my first day free of virus to go over to Percy and get a sample of the hydraulic oil from her drive system as I wanted to know if it needed replacing. The internet gave me an oil testing company and for £50 plus they sent me a container and instructions. I was able to run the engine and circulate the hydraulic oil for half an hour before the sample was taken via syringe and pipe out of the reservoir. As the lab was near Burton on Trent I took it over on my bike for the testing.

Go the results today, they classified it as satisfactory with some technical data I need to dig into. I'd like to get it topped up a bit but unsure of the grade and make etc... I've reached out to Tony and Paul Redshaw in case they are able to offer advice....

I've also ordered a complete gasket kit from Stationary engine supplies as the crankcase door has an annoying oil weep I need to address. It means draining down the block and removing the alternator water pump and starter to get the door off. I will drain and wipe out the sump which is a 500 hour service item but as I did it last year and we can't have done more than 100 hours on the engine since it's premature but such simple jobs (relatively) with nice fresh SAE30 oil afterwards can only be good for the engine. I'll check the impeller at the same time..... maybe pics to follow.