Handrails: Day 2

A cooler and duller morning, perfect for painting, so I got on with it.  First I had to clean off a sort of sappy stuff that the nearby tree had deposited on the boat, then I got going with the undercoat.  On the advice of Phil Speight I’m using a black undercoat, which will apparently help the red appear redder — although he wouldn’t say it would stop it fading!  At least it means you can really see where you’ve been.

The trickiest bit is the inside of the handrails, because I found it had to be done by brush rather than roller.  I will do another coat tomorrow, as now it’s dry I can see it’s a bit thin in places.

The red on the bow flashes has faded too, so I thought I’d smarted them up.  This involved kneeling on the bow and hanging upside down to mask up the diamonds.  For the curved bits, I traced templates and cut them out of a cereal box.  They didn’t work as well as the masking tape so I had a bit of tidying up to do, but at least it was better than freehand.  I also took the top chains off the button fender to do the stem post.  Here’s the before and after.

I’ve also redone the red diamonds on the roof, and they look good too.  The thrill of taking off the masking tape is something else!

It has become increasingly sunny and warm this afternoon.  Some boats have left, so I pulled back a bit.  Mostly this was to get out from under the tree, but getting a little further away from the screaming toddlers on the boat in front was a bonus.

I’ve been invited out to my cousin Catherine’s this evening, so I’ll be walking back to the marina to get the car.

Handrails: Day 1

It was a beautiful sunny morning.  I’d been glad to see when I arrived yesterday that the previously rusty bits of the handrails were still black — even though the Fertan had been washed off if rather shorter order than would have been ideal.  First thing, I was outside making sure they were clean and dry, and putting on some primer over the treated sections.  I wanted to get it done before it got too warm.  Once that was done I started on the next job, to mask up round the bits I’ll be painting.  I have followed the advice of Neil from Herbie, and Used the same masking tape he recently recommended.

I’d bought two rolls, which was just as well, as one turned out to be not quite enough.  I did most of the job, but masking the cabin side isn’t really something you can do while balancing on the gunwales.  So after I’d made a dash to Tesco for some food, and then had lunch, I headed out of the marina.  As I approached Cosgrove Lock I could see a Wyvern boat with the pole deployed.  It seems there had been quite a lot of boat’s and confusion just before I got there.  In fact a boat I though was on the water point also said they’d been waiting for the lock.  Once down, I looked for a mooring; there had been plenty of space up in the village but down here there were loads of boats.  I enventually found a space big enough and slotted in.  Then I did the rest of the masking tape application.  The primer also got a light sand, ready for tomorrow.

While I’ve been here, loads of boats and people have been past.  A little while ago a big family group came along and admired the little ash bin on the well deck.  They then peered in the galley window, virtually nose up to the glass (and we’re talking adults here, not children); they got a bit of a shock when they reached the dinette window and found me looking back at them.

1 mile, 1 lock.

London, Berkhamsted, Portsmouth, Thrupp Wharf

A pretty long day this morning, beginning with an early start in London.  This was the view over East London when I got up.  The tube and a train took me to Amersham when Andy the photographer picked me up, and we went to Berkhamsted for a boat test.  Actually, the boat turned out to be above Cowroast.  Once that was done we drove back to Andy’s, and then (as he was going with his wife to their boat) he gave me a lift to Portsmouth.  A bit of public transport got me to Southsea to pick up my new glasses, then a walk a train and taxi got me home.  I wasn’t there long — just enough time to pack a few things and load the car to head up to Briar Rose, arriving at aroun 8pm.

Anasazi II on test

The October edition of Canal Boat is out, and includes my boat test of the Russ Hubble boat, Anasazi II.

There’s also a new contributor starting this month — Helen from Wand’ring Bark, who’s writing about crafty things to make from recycled materials.

August weekend: Day 3

We consider ourselves pretty lucky today, because the forecast was rain pretty much all day, and yet we hardly got wet at all.  There was some drizzle, but never very heavy and never for long.

Before we left, we washed the side of the boat, as the rain last evening and overnight had washed off the Fertan, but only as far as the cabin side.  It was a job to get it off, and not a hundred per cent successful.  It was just after quarter to nine when we set off, wishing Catherine and co a very happy holiday as we passed Rowington.  It was pretty blustery, and there weren’t many boats about.  Having come face to face with Mountbatten yesterday at Gayton Juntion, today we met it at the blind bridge hole just along from there.  We again weaved our way past.

Blisworth Tunnel was wet inside.  There was a moment at the start where I thought our headlight wasn’t working — I couldn’t see a thing, and the nav lights weren’t helping.  Adrian diagnosed that I’d turned on the bilge pump instead of the headlight.

When we got to the locks we saw Kathryn again.  A boat had just gone down, and were also ahead at the second one but said they’d wait for us after that.  From the third lock down there were loads of boats coming up, so there were several examples of synchronised boating.

It turned out that the people we were going down live live in the village in Kent where I spent much of my childhood, and where my father still lives.  We thoroughly enjoyed sharing the journey with them.

At the bottom we had lunch on the move, and got back to the marina at around 2.30.  The people on the first boat moored on the outside of the marina appeared on their rear deck to watch me battle the breeze to turn into the marina; then as I did my spin to reverse into our berth I could see their heads peering above the hedge.  I half expected them to hold up score cards.

We quickly packed up the boat, then I dropped Adrian at Milton Keynes station for a train to London, and I continued the drive home.

14 miles, 7 locks.  (30 miles, 14 locks)

August weekend: Day 2

We set off at just after 8am.  Conscious of the water shortages, we had been looking out for someone to share the locks with.  But all the others moored at the bottom were facing the other way, and there was no sign of anyone coming along the long straight. So we set off, only to find another boat a few locks ahead.

Even though we had to turn every lock, the flight up to Stoke Bruerne took the usual hour and a half. We saw Kathryn at the top lock, and Mike from The trip boat, Charlie.  Then it was through the tunnel.  There were two boats coming the other way, one very close, the other a long way off.  We eventually passed the second boat at the northern end of the modern middle section; at that speed, it must have taken them an hour and a half to go through.  We turned right at Gayton Juntion and carried on down to the winding hole above the top lock where we turned around.

We moored up opposite the marina.  I’d spotted Alchemy in the marina, and a little while later Mike and Christine were there, calling across the canal.  Mike came by a little later for a longer chat; it was good to meet them at last.  While we were moored, we rubbed down the other hand rail and applied Fertan to treat the rust.  But the real reason for being there was that Catherine, Nigel, Grace, and Matthew were starting their holiday on Rowington, their share boat today.  Before long they arrived and started to transfer everything from car to boat.  When they were ready to set off, we left with them behind us.

Gayton Junction was busy.  As I did the turn right, the disabled widebeam trip boat, Mountbatten, was coming along, and there were other boats behind.  It seemed pretty busy all the way along.  We carried on to a nice mooring we’ve never used before because it’s often full, just before Bridge 33.  I dropped Adrian off to help the others moor, while I comtinued to the winding hole at Furnace Wharf, to turn for the second time today.  With both boats moored up, we gathered on Rowington.  Nigel was in charge of the barbecue (in spite of the rain that came through), and we each provided stuff to eat.

After dinner we had several games of UNO Roboto, three of which were won by Grace.

It’s been a lovely evening.  We’ve enjoyed seeing Catherine and co on their boat, and spending time with them.  Tomorrow, they head off towards Buckby and beyond, while we head back.

11 miles, 7 locks.  (16 miles, 7 locks)

August weekend: Day 1

I was up early this morning as I’ve been on nights and went to bed very early last night.  I loaded the car and set off for the boat, arriving just after 9am.  Having unloaded the car, I started the first stage of the repainting of the handrails — rubbing them down and applying rust treatment.  Almost as soon as I started the rubbing down, it began to rain.  I wasn’t too bothered; it was fairly light and I was using wet and dry anyway, so water was a plus.  I managed to get the whole of one handrail rubbed down before it started raining really heavily.  A bit later I made use of the rain to help wash all the red paint dust off the cabin side.

Having been driven inside by the rain I found other jobs to do, and had lunch.  I needed to go into Milton Keynes to pick up Adrian at the station (he’s been in Cardiff for a couple of days, and was arriving via Birmingham).  Shortly before I was due to set off, not only had the rain stopped but the sun had come out.  I took the opportunity to put some Fertan on the handrail to tackle the rust.  Adrian’s train was delayed, so by the time we got back to the marina the Fertan had begun to work.  It had dries to a shiny finish, and all the little rust spots were turning black.  I’d forgotten to take a before photo, so I took one of the other side instead.  The difference is clear.

We set off straight away, turning left out of the marina towards Stoke Bruerne.  The farmers have been making the most of the recent dry weather to harvest, and the fields were full of bales of straw.  There were some big black clouds around though.

After less that half an hour I could see it raining up ahead.  As the Fertan instructions say that if it dries too much it should be dampened after a couple of hours, I wasn’t too worried.  However, for a while the rain was absolutely torrential — and I could see the Fertan being washed off.  It meant that after we moored up we had to wash it off the cabin side.  The rain didn’t last long, and even during the heaviest downpour there was always blue sky visible in at least one direction; we were just a bit unlucky to be underneath it. Soon the sun was out again, and as we approached the locks there was a very bright rainbow.

We carried on to the bottom of the locks at Stoke Bruerne.  The moorings were moderately busy, but we got a space at the end, closest to the locks.  We had chilli for dinner, which I’d made yesterday and brought with me.

5 miles, 0 locks.