Taking on Supplies

Uneventful and peaceful day. Purchased essentials, such as pork pies, coffee and muesli. Got back with a load of logs to discover that mister had steamed in on the King seat.


Rest of the weekend passed in a cosy blur of relaxing by the stove with books, coffee, and classic FM from radio (though i did get well fed up with their endlessly recycled adverts for Denture fixatives).

Steve turned up on Monday morning, and started ripping bits of the boat apart in preparation for the electrics installation. We beat a retreat for a week, so he can get busy without us cluttering up the space.

Noisiest Thing

You'd be surprised at how loud these little birds are.
Easily the noisiest thing on the river.

I thought they were Moorhens, but Sheena's book of birds authoritively states that they are Coots. Apologies.

Splosh

No, nobody fell in. It just chucked it down with rain all day. Went to investigate the local charity shop, and purchased some cutlery for the boat. Surprised to discover that it was made by IKEA. I've never been in one of their stores, ever. Yet they still managed to worm themselves into our lives, somehow. It was cheap. It's chunky. And it does the job.


Sorted.

Oh Sunny Day

The sun came out, and so did lots of people with brooms to scrub down their boats. Not seen the place that busy since we moved in. Presume the marina will be heaving with people in the Summer. Took the opportunity of walking over the railway bridge to Cockmarsh and let Sumo have a splash about in the shallower waters there. He took great delight in rolling about in innumerable dried cowpats, but thankfully, went in for a swim afterwards.

From the other side of the river, our scruffy waterline is clearly visible. We'll be glad when out of the water time comes around again, and we can touch up that brown flaky stuff.

Back on Boat

Threw open the bow doors and was greeted by this beautiful dawn. Considered myself very lucky to be witnessing this moment in time. Thanked the ancestors who'd enabled me to experience this level of peace and tranquility. Then the ducks and geese stopped their honking, and we all watched the sun rise.

Plan was to spend a few more days on the boat with Sumo, to see how he'd get on with his new boaty routine. Outside temperature dropped to -3 most nights, but inside, we were roasty and warm. Tucked up in bed, I was slightly suprised to notice ice on the inside of the windows. but we didn't feel cold. And the water (when it melted), ran out of the ventilation channels, rather than dripping down onto the floorboards.

The pontoon was a bit white and crunchy in the evenings, but because it hadn't rained, it wasn't dangerous and slippery. We did have one slightly scary moment when Sumo tugged me towards a prawn that a seagull had dropped, but otherwise he behaved himself very well. Until we got onto land, where he resumed the "tugging beast" routine again.

The hose and water tap froze, but we got by with bottled water (which i'd filled up during the day). There were a couple of days when the temperature didn't rise much, and the hose didn't unfreeze at all, but we managed fine. The ice crystals soon melted with the cabin temperature.

Power every hour

After serious thought, web trawling, conversations with Steve the mechanic, and careful deliberation on our future power requirements, we've decided to go with a Mastervolt inverter and charger combi (and also a bank of 4x135ah batteries to feed it). Most people who've fitted it on narrowboats say that it provides RELIABLE and trouble free operation. Which will make the routine of 'managing power' much easier for us. And our lives, simpler.

Proximity of Water

Sheena took this picture to remind herself that the water is very close to the window.

Thursday morning was beautiful. We were blessed with full on sunshine, and a warm daytime temperature. The water ripples cast reflections off of the cabin roof interior, and we were both very happy. Later, it heaved it down with rain again. But it was nice for us to experience what boating in the sunshine might feel like. Great.

In the evening, we enjoyed some good honest pub food at 'The Firefly'. I had the homemade steak and kidney pie (mash and two vegs). Sheena had the sausage and mash (with onions and peas). Waddled back to the boat, and chilled out to tunes with the stove on. Sumo did not attack the pub cat (and vice versa). Considered the evening a great success.

Friday, we had to pack up and travel back to Dorset for the weekend. So we also got to experience what hireboaters feel, when they've finished their holiday. Thankfully, we will be coming back.. the boat is our home.