Slowly edging towards self sufficiency

A lovely vintage 1912 Singer 29K15 cobbler's treadle sewing machine has been added to the workshop. Another load of jobs that can be done without needing electricity ;o)

The 29K is capable of intricate stitches through leather, canvas and even 1/4" ply! 
The hand wheel can be used for more difficult jobs that need to be done in a more controlled way than is possible with the treadle.
I'm going to try to replace the workbench in the background with a treadle table that I can swap a wood lathe, grinders, sanders etc.

My old treadle jigsaw can be used for wood and some metals, now I 'd like to rig a treadle table that will take a wood lathe, grindstone and sander.

Posed? How dare you? I was using everything in my 'Bob the builder' toolbelt.

Top sheets all fitted, just need some boards under the edges to stop the water running down the bulkheads and the weighted poles on the bottoms of the greenhouse covers ((that allow them to be rolled up). We've got the bottom sheets, but the metalwork needs rust treatment and painting and the pine retainers will be replaced with recycled oak. My new sewing machine will come in handy, shaping Freyja's tugdeck cover to make a snug fit around the plank carrier.
We lifted the chicken coup out, so that I could work on the water side of Christina, I put my foot on the 'tugdeck' and it went straight through! So that will be another stack of wood and marine ply needed. Everything we fix reveals another shop of horrors.
Next we need new mattress pieces for the bed 'ole in Christina and new chimneys for both Freyja and Christina.

  

Oh dear, my mates up to no good

This was during a biker rally in the 70s, I'm afraid things sometimes got out of hand. Found this pic but don't remember any details. Hate to see this now ;o(

A wintery week of work

We spent last weekend  at the boats, Glenda returned on Sunday and I stayed for the week to try to get the new tarpaulins fitted and to close off the holes between the tarps.

A photo showing the top sheets fitted but the bow sheets are still the old rotten and leaking ones

The lake is frozen and snow covered, but it's cosy in both our boats ;o)

Freyja still had her old bow sheets and her white hold down strap has blown off and is hanging down. Behind her a gap can be seen in Christina's sheets, letting snow into the chicken coup section.

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It might be blizzard conditions but the wood burning ranges keep both boats cosy, nice to be able to work in the cosy workshop.

Unfortunately, the weather beat me to it, first it was days of ice and a little snow, then came the blizzard conditions. So for most of the week I did other jobs inside the boats.

On Christina :-

I put a new floor in the storeroom and re-arranged the storage bays.
Made new wooden filler boards which keep the top planks centralised and stop rain and snow from coming in between the sheets and the bulkhead.
Cut up the large tree trunk that we pulled out of a lock on our trip down, finally got to use my new chainsaw in anger! ;o)

On Freyja :-

Fixed the broken bulkhead
Removed the doors and made them fit properly so that they open and shut properly
Fitted a porthole mirror
Replaced the rotten bow tarpaulin

Nice to see Brian from NB Alton in Canal Boat

Brian, who with his wife Anne-Marie, runs the coal and supply boat Alton is featured in the latest edition of Canal Boat magazine.

Enjoying a brew with Brian, of Coalboat Alton, at the Blue Bell in Kidsgrove

I found more pics on my phone

While looking for something else on my phone, I found photos taken on our journey down, including some more nice pics of Joe R.I.P.

Joe takes the helm of Freyja soon after leaving Church Minshull, this was the only time he steered Freyja, preferring Christina the butty. On the right is Dave (aka Dinky) of bayphotos.co.uk

Joe found a soulmate in The Anchor in Hartshill, this dog, with matching whiskers, took a big shine to him!

Joe ponders the meaning of life while he waits for the lock to fill, Freyja waits patiently to hook back up.

Joe puts on his schoolteacher's hat for a group of Midlands schoolkids

Moody night time shot at Kings Lock, Middlewich after we learned the hard way that you can't make a tight turn at a junction when the pair are cross-strapped, luckily there were no gongoozerlers to witness the chaos!

'Dinky' Dave takes over while I rustled up a bit of brekkie.

Broken down again, raw water pump fell off, fuel blocked and caused the engine to shake and break the exhaust, Red Bull Boatyard kindly helped us to get going again.

An early, and misty morning start

The teachers could not believe their luck, wanting to show pupils how canalboats were used as transport, we turned up at the same time, with a pair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Broken down, again, and moored in the rough

Passing steam narrowboat 'Laplander'

Blwyddyn Newydd DDa! (Happy New Year)

We hope you all have a happy and safe 2013, let's hope that there will be a lot less flooding and harrowing stories of sunken boats.
Safe boating everyone.
Chop & Glenda x

I tried to get a photo from the other side of the lake but, as the lake was about 5 foot above normal, this was the best that I could get. Ours are the boats with the nice new shiny tarpaulins!

A sad start to 2013, waiting for the go ahead for Joe's funeral, Hoping his family have a much better 2013.                           Here is a lovely pic of Joe silhouetted on a lock at sunset.      R.I.P. mate

 

 

Nadolig LLawen! (Merry Xmas!)

Glenda and I had Xmas day on the boats and cooked our Xmas nosebag on Freyja, they are still floating very high, over 4 foot above normal.
Hope 2013 sees water levels getting back to normal.