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.

We just lost a member of our crew ;o(

While in Berlin I received a text with the terrible news that Joe, our human horse, had been found dead under the ice near his boat, on the Grand Union Canal near Crick.
To say I'm gutted is an understatement, I just can't believe that we've lost such a lovely bloke, the only crumb of comfort is that he died doing what he loved most, it involved a pub, beer, a bicycle, his boat and a canal.

Here's a selection of (copyright) photos from the journey down from Church Minshull near Crewe to the river Nene near Wellingborough, courtesy of Dave at http://www.bayphotos.co.uk

Our Butty man, Joe

A lovely bloke that kindly helped us move the pair south

Joe enjoyed the quietness on the butty and spent his time doing word puzzles

It took some clever gymnastics to pass Joe his breakfast and coffee on the fly

A great moody shot of Joe

Who are you looking at?

After too many locks time for a lunchtime pint

For some reason, Joe had it in his head that I was deliberately dragging him through bushes and trees!

Had to spray him for greenfly

A great sense of humour

Joe was never happier than when he was sat behind a nice pint of real ale

He empty again, I suppose I'd better get to the bar!

He tirelessly hauled the Christina the butty through 100 locks

Add caption

He used a boat hook to snag the rope from under the bridge

Rare to see him not helping, at his own speed with the least effort, he just leaned on the rope and waited until the butty realised it was time to move!

No headband? No problem! Just use 2 zip ties, then spend all evening explaining why you've got a bright red line across your forehead!

He's flown away from us like the winter geese

He was a lovely guy who will be sorely missed 

The tide is high but I'm holding on....

I went to work on our pair on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was, sort of, expecting a lot of water, I was amazed at how much of the stuff there was! I had to walk the plank to get to the pontoons.

Had to 'walk the plank' to get to the pontoon, not a good idea to drink too much before returning in the dark!

Note how high the post is at the end of the pontoon (taken before the flood)

On Tuesday the pontoons almost floated off the posts!

A panoramic photo of the flooded Blackthorn marina on the river Nene