New View

Steve sorted out the battery bank, and popped the engine back in. The mooring under the crane was needed for other boats, so we were moved by tug up to the last space at the end. Which is a fortuitous 60ft long.


Away from the hustle and bustle of the Marina/Restuarant, and with no other liveaboard boaters around, it's beautifully peaceful up here. We're making the most out of every single minute afloat.

Sheffield

We all took the 'Virgin Cross Country' train up to Sheffield. Via Oxford, so we wouldn't have to change at Birmingham. Pete the guard (sorry, train manager) made everybody's life as miserable as he possibly could. We arrived quite stressed out. Even though some kind gentleman who was travelling up from Derby gave Sumo a sausage. Went for an early evening stroll to unwind, and a nice bloke called Clark tried to sell us some beers.


We enjoyed a fine lunch with Martin and Richard in the sunshine. I had the calimari, Sheena abstained, and the guys had pizza. In the afternoon, we soundchecked and had a practise run.

The inaugural MFRA gig went really well. Richard H. Kirk delivered a great DJ set. Nobody got bored or walked out during the screening. And the audience applauded very loudly at the end. Afterwards, we all got incredibly drunk at the novotel bar, and I laughed so much it made my skull hurt.


Pete, the fascist guard wasn't on our return train. So we had a much more relaxing journey on the way home. Played 'spot the canal/boat' and the time went pretty quickly.

Raybans

Somebody left a free pair of sunglasses on the cruiser stern. Presume it was the same person who tapped on the roof at 2am, causing Sumo to give them 7 woofs. (bark protectively).


The marina was heaving with people again, so we walked up the hill across the river. I found a rope swing, and had good fun swinging about for 5 minutes. Before Sumo decided he'd attach himself to the rope, and dangle bodily from the knot. Game Over.

A few flings of chuckie ring later, and we finally attained the summit. He behaved really well. No running off out of sight, and no rolling in miscellaneous poo.

On the way back, he had a good old dunk in the river, and now he's knackered. Convivial early evening chit-chat and birdsong fills the air.

Hot Dogs

Another beautifully sunny aeroplane free day.

The bounty pub was full. The river was full. The marina was full. Everybody was out buffing up their boats, and showing off their 100K landrovers. Saw about a dozen narrowboats go downstream, but none came back up. And somebody fell in from a dinghy while messing about.


Tried to investigate the shower pump, but was only able to ascertain that it pops 15 amp fuses as soon as it's turned on. My not-so-professional opinion is that it's knackered. Oh well, at least we can get to it for disassembly now.


Sumo was hot, so I took him for a splash about up near the swans, and the marsh that has dried out. Mr 'dissapointing ice' was there. But everyone else had stopped for tea & pimms by then, so it was remarkably peaceful after the mad boat parade of earlier on in the day.


No flights to/from the UK until Monday.
More sunny weather is forecast.
Wehey!

Sound of Silence

You tied it up like the Titanic!

Peter liked my no-nonsense style of mooring.
But they favour a quick release method here..


Enjoyed another beautifully sunny day. Made all the more so, because all flights are grounded in the UK, and there are no contrails cluttering up the sky. Can't remember when I last heard no noise from planes. At all. Probably won't ever hear or see it ever again. Truly remarkable.

Painted the well deck in the morning. And went for a nice bimble across the river in the afternoon. The only low spot was when Sumo decided he'd eat and roll in every piece of poo he found. Took chuckie ring, but he wasn't interested. Even a dunk in the river didn't shift it, so had to use the Dry foam shampoo. He's now asleep and snoring on the couch.

I had pork spare ribs and beans for tea, accompanied by charlotte potatoes drizzled with chives and butter. Oh, and the Atlantis 42's finally started it's journey up to Scotland on the back of a bigass truck. Didn't take any pictures, because it wasn't that exciting. Just another monument to an overly rich man's ego. At least the Big Baloo gets his daylight back now.

Sunny Spring Day

Another beautiful day, with full on sunshine.

Job 1 - Disassembled the Thermostat housing. New gaskets are being made in Reading. Ordered two sets, in case the job ever needs doing again.


Job 2 - Removed bow storage lockers and rusty gunk from underneath. Wirebrushed, rust-killed and undercoated with red oxide.


Job 3 - Drilled 3 small holes in Pumpout rinse valve. This is to let the fresh air in, and allow nasty whiffs to escape, without stinking out the boat.


It was too hot for Sumo to be out in the day, so I took him for a nice splash in the river, after everybody else had gone home.

Thermostat

This was leaking. With the kind help of other boaters, I now know that it's our engine's thermostat housing. They also told me how to get it off, and how to fix the leaks. If the big brass bit is welded onto the engine body, it's (allegedly) quite a simple task to redo the joint again. If it's not, then all that needs doing is to replace a couple of gaskets, and make sure the top screws are torqued correctly when tightened up. Then I can slap some more red paint on it. job done.

Looked more serious than it actually was.