PARSONS PASSAGE

TUESDAY 7th APRIL 2009

I forgot to mention, but last Tuesday, Jacquie and I were just about to leave SKYY to join the Southam walk group, when into Wigrams cruised PARSONS PASSAGE. In the bow was Janet, Peter her husband was on the helm and Emma and Daniel, daughter & son, were sitting on the roof. Janet was a client and a friend along while back and she left a comment on the blog last month, to say that they were on their way from the Kennet and Avon Canal to Wigrams Turn, but had been delayed by a sunken boat.

We were looking forward to meeting up again and we joined them for a while until their taxi arrived to start them on their return journey to Dorset. Good timing, if they had arrived five minutes later we would have missed them totally. Yes I know that the observant will notice that the picture shows PARSON PASSAGE leaving the marina, but that is because that as soon as they arrived they had to go to Calcutt Marina for a pumpout as unfortunately there was no one at Wigrams to provide this essential service.

On Sunday 5th we drove to Kenilworth and for £6 concessionary ticket we wandered all over the old ruined castle. The castles most important time was during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st when she gave the property to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, whose Father had been beheaded at the Tower of London, but the then, Princess Elizabeth and Dudley had both been in the Tower at the same time and it is probable that it is then, that he became her favorite, although they never married, the rest is history.

The village immediately surrounding the castle is delightful, with white painted, thatched cottages huddled together complete with a sprinkling of pubs and a tea room where we lunched. The main high street of the town is by contrast very uninteresting. An enjoyable excursion and the castle entrance price is realistic compared to Warwick castle, where, I recall that the full adult price was £17. English Heritage certainly wins this comparison against Madame Tausauds

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN

MONDAY 6TH APRIL 2009

When I started this blog just over a year ago, I had only the scrappiest knowledge of how to make it interesting, apart from just writing what I might like to read in someone else’s blog, or, as my original intention was, to have a permanent log book to remind Jacquie and myself, when this adventure is over, where we had been and what we had done. I am amazed and delighted to get comments left on the blog, even if it’s just my sister-in-law, Penny, demanding “We want more blog”.

However, amazingly, the last two comments are both from America, Christzee, a fan of lighthouses and Jess from Boulder, Colorado, who admits to being landlocked, not arf!!!. Many thanks for your comments and good wishes and in Jess’s case, thank you for the offer to ride Highway 77 and to ski. Who knows?, but in the meantime, I wish you both health and happiness.

To hopefully make my blog a little more interesting I have just found out, how to list ‘Followers’ of my blog, Julia and Mark on N.B. POPPY, good wishes to you and I will start to follow your adventures. At the same time I discovered that I could list the couple of Boaters Blogs that I have been following from the beginning of our considering the possibility of life afloat. Dot and Derek on ‘GYPSY ROVER’ and Sue & Vic on ‘RETIREMENT NO PROBLEM’ I appreciate their blog style and maybe you will, if not already. They are both much more immediate, time wise in their blogging than I manage to be, maybe that’s because they are both continuous cruisers and don’t get as distracted as I do.

We will soon be casting off and then, hopefully the adventure proper will commence and there will be more than mastic, paint, varnish and bitumen to blog about, keep your fingers crossed.

JUST LIKE RIDING A BIKE

MONDAY 30TH MARCH 2009

My big BMW motorbike had been languishing in our garage in Surrey for over a year now and I decided that it was unlikely that I would have the opportunity of seriously riding it again. The decision was taken to travel down to Surrey early this morning, leaving at six am., buying a new battery from the local BMW bike garage and hopefully getting the beastie to start. The intention was to get the bike back up to the Midlands, get it MOT’d and sell it to a local, interested dealer.

Fortunately it did start, first jab of the starter button. I thought I might at least have to put some fresh fuel in the tank. I climbed into my rather musty bike trousers and jacket, wiped the mold out of my crash helmet and headed down to the petrol station to fill the tank with petrol and the soggy tyres with air. Jacquie followed me in the car to ensure that I still remembered how to ride it, but it is a bit like riding a bike isn’t it?

All topped up, Jacquie headed off to visit her sister in law, who is recovering from a hip replacement operation, whilst I enjoyed a perfect, 120 mile, ride back to our marina. Having had such an early start and an exhilarating ride, it was definitely time for a nap whilst I awaited Jacquie’s return.

CRUISING WITHOUT A BRUISING

SUNDAY 29TH MARCH 2009

The weather for the previous days had been wet and very windy and we just hunkered down and relaxed, but this morning was calm and blue. A table for lunch was booked at the nearby Bridge Pub and we set off to give Joy a little taster of cruising. It was lovely to be out on this balmy spring day and surprisingly there were very few boats out and about, the hire season not starting until Easter. The last time we came this way we collected a tyre around our propeller, but all went well this time and we returned to our pontoon with our fresh paint intact.

Joy’s response to her stay and trip was “I could get used to this”. It was definitely time to put her ashore and wave goodbye at the railway station before she decided to move on permanently.

AN ANIVERSARY

SATURDAY 28TH MARCH 2009

Today, one year ago was the day we vacated our home to move permanently on board. The year has flown, but it has certainly given us the time to enjoy time, whether it has been cruising the canals, driving around Europe and catching up with so many good friends and relatives or just spending time at the marina and living life, almost like normal land based folk. SKYY has now really become home to us and sometimes when I refer to the roof storage box, I say “I’m going to put it in the loft” and the engine room has becomes the cellar. I will soon be parking the boat up instead of mooring it.

THE JOY OF FRIENDS

FRIDAY 27TH MARCH 2009

A final tidy of SKYY before Jacquie headed off to Leamington Spa to collect long time friend, Joy from the railway station. Joy, like most other friends and family who have visited us, had no preconceptions of what our life afloat was like, but as soon as she had got used to the floor moving about when one of us moved about, she was amazed at the feeling of space and the tranquility and all the ‘mod-cons’.

THE BLACK BOTTOM

MONDAY 23RD TO THURSDAY 26TH MARCH 2009

The weather wasn’t as balmy as last week, but I was determined to black as much of the bottom of SKYY above the waterline as possible. Firstly I used a stiff broom to brush away as much as possible of the weed growth and muck, above and below the water line. With the water tank nearly empty, an empty gas bottle and no coal stored in the front lockers the bow was quite high and using a foam roller I was able to apply the bitumen right down to the waterline. Sometimes the roller touched the water, but it didn’t affect the application of the bitumen, any water picked up just beaded on the surface and dried up without leaving any marks.

I poled the boat from my pontoon over to an empty space on the opposite pontoon, allowing me to do both sides. After a new propane cylinder was installed, the water tank filled and three bags of coal loaded on, the new bitumen extended below the waterline and until we take the boat out onto the cut and through the first lock the shiny black hull will look very smart.

I also took the opportunity to repaint below the gunnels and the rubbing strakes and re-varnish the front cratch boards and now SKYY is almost ready to go, it only remains to get the ingrained paint off my hands, I really should wear latex gloves instead of using white spirit to get the paint off as it makes my hands so rough!!!