Even more cladding

A chilly start to the day.

Yes….. That’s frost on the boats!  Oh….. It’s the moon… not the sun (pre-dawn photo).

Now these homes interested me.  Initially I thought the upper cladding was untreated iron or steel tiles.

The plaque above the door gives the date as 1876, however the lower floor brickwork looks quite modern.

After staring harder at the upper cladding we decided the tiles are probably made of clay.

The fact that the tiles on the corners of the house curve at 90 degrees initially made me doubt the “clay” theory and revert to metal tiles.  However Jan assures me it’s possible to produce right angle clay tiles.  And I know better than to argue. And of course she is right!

Corn Exchange

The shore power failed at 6:00pm last night.  Of course it was just after the last of the boatyard staff had departed for the day.  I checked all the shoreline connections in the dark using Jan’s penguin and none had fallen into the cut creating a short circuit.  As all the boats had lost power it was obvious the circuit breaker in the workshop will have probably overloaded and tripped.  Back at Ufton I discussed the situation with Jan.  The domestic batteries on the boat are somewhat old and tired (like me) so we decided to run the engine until 8:00pm to ensure they we fully topped up.  Then we’d turn off as many of the consumers as was safely possible.  This should leave sufficient power in the batteries for Jan to do the most critical thing that evening…… watch the latest episode of Midsomer Murders on TV.  Don’t you love it when a plan comes together!
With no heating in the boat last night we cuddled together under the thick white duvet like two large maggots!  This morning I volunteered Jan to get up and make us a nice hot cuppa.  This decision was a “no brainer”….. It’s perfectly logical that the person who sleeps nearest the toilet and galley should be the one to get out of bed first!  There would be a complaint if I tried to climb on top of her in bed.
As for the daylight activity…… All of our previous visits to Newbury have been on market day (Thursday) and as a result I hadn’t taken much notice of the imposing building surrounding the market.  The latest visit to Newbury wasn’t on market day and as a consequence the market square was emptier than usual.
I immediately noticed the Corn Exchange building (AD1861).  It’s an impressive looking structure.

As the name suggests, it was built with the purpose of marketing locally grown corn.  However with the decline of the local corn industry it was turned into a meeting hall before eventually becoming an arts centre.  It also contains a theatre.
Those of you who know your agricultural history will remember corn isn’t native to Europe.  Like potatoes; it’s native to America and were bought to Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries by European invaders explorers such as Columbus.  Interesting to think prior to Columbus there was no potatoes or rice in England.  The majority of the population would have been eating a diet that mostly consisted of grain gruel, a watered down version of porridge!  How tasty……  Aren’t the effects of international trade interesting.  The natives of South America gave us corn, potatoes and tomatoes.  We gave them smallpox, measles and syphilis.  
On the opposite corner of the market square is the old Town Hall.

This building dates from 1910.  Newbury Council has outgrown it moving to new premises close to the railway and bus stations.  I know they moved because I went to the new chambers to apply for my seniors bus pass.

Banks

It’s often said that banks and bankers never lose.  Today it was Jan’s turn to tackle two different banks.

With the first bank Jan needed to pay £130 being the outstanding balance on youngest son’s closed credit card account.  He’s left the UK two years previously and like a good citizen was attempting to pay any outstanding debits.  Jan explains this to the XXXXX Bank.  However they want even more money.  Not wanting to be unreasonable she gives them a choice.  They can either take the offered money as payment in full……. or she will just turn and walk away.  Youngest son isn’t returning to the UK and it’s not our debt!   XXXXX Bank decides to settle the debt at £130. 

Off to the second bank.  This one has charged her a £3.70 transaction fee on the previous monthly statement.  All the transactions on this account are via the internet and supposed to be free.  So Jan queries the charge.  The bank explains the charge was incurred because she transferred money into the account (this is correct… she transferred money from Oz!).  Then she transferred the money from this account to another account (which pays a higher interest rate) at the same Bank.  However, accordingly to the bank, the second transaction occurred before the first transaction had been completed.  So Jan queries how it is possible for her to transfer money not yet received to another account using their internet banking system.  They can’t explain, and agree to reimburse the £3.70.

As we walk away from the bank Jan spots a 1p coin on the pavement and quickly scoops down to collect it.  By now it would take a mortician more than a week to force the smile from her face.

She decides to buy us lunch.  Not at Subway!  They will never again see her foot through their door after their financial misdemeanour during last visit.  Subway now join Hungry Jack’s, a fast food chain in Australia, who short changed Jan a hamburger in 1992.   There’s a nice looking cafe in the shopping centre which we enter and peruse the menu.  Both of us decide to “splash out” on a hamburger and chips.  The chips are hot, crisp and delicious.  The salad is fresh and crunchy.  The buns are tasty.   The hamburger pattie is…….. well I managed to get a grip with my teeth and then by placing one paw on it I could rip a small piece off by vigorously shaking my head and growling.  Jan attempted to cut hers with a knife but it kept sliding around the plate.  Eventually she gives up and suggests we take the meat patties back to the boat where we might use them as side fenders.  After some reflecting, we agree it probably wouldn’t be possible to drill a hole in them!  Another eating establishment struck off our list! 

The next eating establishment is likely to be either the one that sells deep fried squirrel dipped in eleven secret herbs and spices, or that famous infamous Scottish restaurant.

Padworth House

I had written in an earlier post about the imposing local building I’d noticed whilst walking one of the public footpaths to Tadley.

I’ve now identified it is currently a co-educational school, primarily for overseas students with a mix of day and boarders.  The school website has photo’s of what look to be foreign students.  It also states the school was established in 1963 by an Oxford University Tutor with the aim of “bringing an informal tutorial atmosphere to school-level education”.

The Royal Berkshire History website has more information on the history of the house which dates back to the 13th century.  Although I would be surprised if the current buildings were that old! 

At one time it was owned by “the famous general, Matthew Chitty Darby” (never heard of him). And it was also rented at one stage by “Thomas Bushby Bacon, the son of the great Welsh ironmaster, Anthony Bacon” (never heard of him either!)

There’s not a much of Waiouru as we had planned.

Andy and I spent most of the afternoon preparing the CAD layout of Waiouru.  He asked me to physically measure the distances between porthole centres and the total length of Waiouru. 

To my surprise it appears our 58’6” boat is only 57’6”.  This has a potentially adverse affect on the location of the bathroom starboard porthole.  It may not be central in the toilet compartment.  The options are to leave the toilet the original size and offset the porthole; or make the toilet compartment larger and correspondingly reduce the size of the shower cubicle.  Additionally; our saloon is now 14ft rather than the planned 15ft.

I think we will be able to continue with Jan’s galley layout and we have also decided not to alter the dimensions of the bedroom.

Meanwhile Jan cooked recycled bread crust for dinner.  This involves saving approximately 3 weeks of home baked bread crusts.  These are soaked in canal water before being put through the secondary digestion process which converts them to meat.  It’s also very good for noise abatement.   The local duck population is in steady decline!   OK…. I’m jesting… Jan wouldn’t allow me to eat her ducks!   However a noisy flock of Canadian Geese flew over late this afternoon and settled on the lake adjacent to the lock…….. I wonder if they would like to undergo the bread crust process?  

PS.  I’ve noticed the volume of email spam I’m receiving has increased since I started regularly blogging.  I hadn’t realised we had won so many raffles or had so many Nigerian relatives.

The GMail spam filter is very effective and to date only one spam message has actually made it to our inbox.

Hurrah!

After seven weeks the Eberspacher is now working.  We’ve been fortunate with the weather, otherwise we may have been a frozen antipodal couple.  Originally it was a defective part; but despite the replacement of the component the Eberspacher refused to heat the radiators.

Today Nick (engineer) brought down the laptop and diagnostics software to plug into the heater.  However, before he got to that point he asked me whether the Eberspacher would actually start.  I confirmed it would… but it wouldn’t heat the system!  Nick immediately thought an airlock might be the problem as he could hear the pump running dry (my hearing these days is too poor).  Nick knew where the header tank was located and found it dry.  After adding three jugs of water and bleeding the system the Eberspacher is once again running correctly.

I then took the opportunity to quiz Nick on the use of the Eberspacher.  He informed me it must only be run for 1-2 hours continuously and then rested.  His advice was to use it to warm the boat at the beginning of the day whilst the multi-fuel stove was starting up.  Apparently running the Eberspacher for any longer than 1-2 hours will result in it coking up and failing.  This surprised me, as I had assumed the longer and harder it ran, the less likely the unit to carbon up.  I suspect all of this is academic as we intend having a Hurricane heater fitted to Waiouru.  Having worked with the Canadians and seen some of their kit I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hurricane will run on water 24/7.

Morning Walk

Such a lovely morning a walk seemed appropriate.  It was a circular trail around the local wetlands.  We started by crossing Padworth Lock.

From the signage I believe this is a former gravel pit.  Being located between the canal and the River Kennett it would make an idea marina.

I’m rather fascinated by the cladding on this building.  The planks are made from longitudinally sawn logs

Even more interesting was the fact it’s been built over the stream.

I suspect it’s an old mill.  Further around there was a footbridge and weir across the river.

The last part of the walk was along a leaf strewn track with wetlands on either side.

A Perfect Day

It was a clear and mild day.  Somehow I managed to take this photo which just goes to proved you can either fluke it or purchasing an expensive camera really is worth it!

Our current home is current amongst that lot……. An idyllic scene!

On the opposite side of the canal is this interesting Tudor style building.

I managed to fit a 240v power point in the back cabin today.  Ufton only has two power points and they are co-located right in the bow.  This has resulted in all our electrical appliances been crammed into the bow.  There are a further two power points in the galley.  But they have been wired through a relay so they are only activated when the engine is running.  I can see the logic in all of this.  Ufton is a hireboat with a small domestic battery bank.  Too many power points would rapidly flatten the batteries.

However we are on shore power and this will not change whilst we are aboard.  I therefore wired another 240v socket into the rear cabin connecting it to the shore power via the MCB box.  This has enabled us to relocate the small freezer to the back cabin where there is more room.  It has also freed up space in the saloon.  I can finally recline my chair and use my footstool!

Sad News

After posting some important mail I called into the wharf workshop to find the fellows all very despondent.  Richard told me they had just been informed Dennis died on Tuesday.

He was a lovely fellow and had done a terrific job reinstating the steelwork on Waiouru.  It’s 95% complete and I was looking forward to seeing him next week.  During our last conversation he was bemoaning his inability to find a young person he could train to take over his business.  Dennis told me he’d even give the person his vehicle and equipment once they were trained as he wanted to retire (we’re a similar age).  However he also bemoaned the lack of interest and the extensive bureaucracy it would take to employ someone!

It just reinforces the old expressions “Life isn’t a dress rehearsal” and “You’re a long time dead!”  If you have a dream……… don’t wait too long – it may be too late!

RIP Dennis.  Every time we sit in the cratch or change a gas bottle I shall remember you!

Dizzy Day

Poor Jan has experienced her third consecutive day of vertigo and nausea. Too much indulging in festive alcohol.  There’s only a small bottle of cider on board and its hardly been touched so I don’t think sly grog is involved.  She can’t lie down to sleep because it results in the cabin starting to spin.  This has forced her to spend and uncomfortable night sleeping in her chair.  I’m finding it lonely in the bed and miss having her warm her cold feet on my back.  Unfortunately there isn’t much I can do except offer sympathy whilst she “rides it out”.  I have offered to make a big bowl of my famous wheatbix stew but surprisingly this was declined.  I’m washing all most of the dirty dishes and even cleaned attempted to clean the toilet.  Please get well soon darling!

The local weather forecast was for a cold, windy but dry morning followed by rain in the afternoon.  Having learned my lesson two days earlier; I walked the 5 miles to the Sainsburys at Calcot in the morning thereby avoiding the afternoon showers.  It was good to get some fresh air.  The only downside being the very muddy and slippery stretches of towpath.  Jan now has her weekly “fix” of woman’s magazines and I’ve topped up the fruit supply.  I even bought some cream because I know assumed Jan would love to bake some scones for lunch tomorrow.  By the time I made it back to Ufton I was rather cold.  However a hot shower soon solved that. 

In the afternoon I checked the tarpaulins covering Waiouru and spent some time adding more canal information to my Google Earth file.  I’ve also been updating my Google Earth data on Calor gas suppliers located within walking distance of a canal.  Meanwhile Jan has been knitting me a second beanie from her surplus wool. 

Ufton Walk

Andy, the boatyard manager, recently told me all the local hire boats are named after locks on the Kennet & Avon.  So I wasn’t all that surprised when I noticed one of the local villages is named Ufton Nevet.  Looking for variety I decided to include in in my most recent walk.  I actually planned the route some days ago using the OS map service and posted how it was done on the blog.

Yesterday’s walk was to verify the footpaths actually existed and the route was accurate using the “breadcrumb” function on the Garmin gps. 

Of course with my luck I’d only be walking 10 minutes when a steady drizzling light rain settled in and lasted until I was 200 metres from home.  The walk was just over 14km and most of the footpaths were a sea of slippery mud.  Today it’s fine with a clear blue sky…. Got the ‘walk’ day completely wrong!

I took the expensive Canon DSLR with me but decided not to risk getting it wet by taking it out of my day pack.  These photo’s were taken using the 3.2MP camera on the Garmin gps and I’m rather surprised at the quality of the photo’s.   

Eventually I came upon these interesting buildings.  I particularly liked the narrow vertical windows in what I assume is a barn.

The footpath turned to the left, however I fortunately turned and looked back, only then noticing the other buildings.

That’s when I realised I’d reached Ufton Court Lodge, a Grade II listed building.  Wikipedia describes it as an Elizabethan manor house at Ufton Nervet in the English county of Berkshire. Today is it used by an educational charity.   Its history can be traced back to the Doomsday Book.

I was pretty much soaked by the time I made it back to the boat.  However I didn’t feel cold as I’d keep myself moving and there was little wind to chill the air.  A nice hot shower reinvigorated me in time for dinner.  

Different Canals

We were delighted when Margaret and Peter found time today to visit us whilst they were in the area.  They are the owners of nb Kelly-Louise and very kindly allowed Jan and me use of her as temporary accommodation during September & October whilst we attempted to sort out what was happening with Waiouru.  We had a wonderful time living aboard and learned so much about life on the cut.

They are only in the Reading area briefly before heading further afield.  I won’t write much more as Peter can tell his own story on their blog <here>.  However, I will say it involves two canals……

The Suez and Panama.

I almost forgot to take a photo (Note to myself…..got to think photo opportunity!). 

Margaret, Helen (Margaret’s sister) and Peter. 

We hope they enjoy their voyage and look forward to reading about it on their blog!

When unlimited is limited

Prior to leaving Australia I did some in-depth research into UK mobile phone coverage and plans.  We already owned a Samsung Galaxy S (SGS) which I’d purchased as a “parallel import” some months before leaving Australia.  Purchasing the phone as a parallel import meant the price was significantly lower; and the phone was “unlocked”.  Although the SGS is a “smartphone” I used it in Australia with my existing basic Vodafone SIM plan.  This didn’t include a data allowance for email. browsing and other web services!

After all the research into UK mobile phone providers I selected 3 as our preferred provider.  However I’d already established there might be “blackspots” on the inland waterways network so I brought our Australian mobile outback aerial with us.  Actually it wasn’t my original intention to use the aerial with the SGS but rather with an internet dongle we intended to purchase on arrival in the UK.

After discussing our requirements with the 3 Mobile shop in Stafford we opted for their SIM only pre-paid £10 p/m plan.  This gave us 100 minutes of talk, 1000 text and 1GB data.  At this time I hadn’t realised I could configure the SGS to act as a wireless router.

We had also purchased a £10 SIM for the usb dongle which gave is 3GB valid for 90 days.  I quickly discovered we were consuming the 3GB data allowance very quickly.  I also purchased a “Zoom” wireless router to which the dongle could be connected giving multiple user access to the dongle. Our boat problems meant our SGS talk allowance was being rapidly consumed.  As a consequence I updated the SGS plan to £15 p/m.  This gave us 300 minutes of talk, 3000 text and unlimited data.  Two weeks later I worked out how to configure the SGS as a wireless router and the Zoom + dongle were relegated to backup communications. 

We hardly know anyone in the UK and that our boat building situation has now stabilised so we are scarcely using any of our talk time.  I assume this will change once we’re living on the cut.  We’ve probably sent a maximum of 5 texts in the past six months.  However the 3 mobile unlimited data allocation does get a thrashing!

The SGS provides good wireless coverage in Ufton. I can place it in the bow of the boat and  wirelessly connect to it with the laptop and iPad from the stern.

Today I went back and updated my research into SIM only plans.  I discovered there were now other UK mobile providers with plans similar to ours.  Specifically; they also offer unlimited data.  But there is a tiny asterisk beside the “unlimited”.  Click on it and a pop-up window appears telling you it’s subject to “fair usage”.  It takes a considerable amount of “digging” on the network providers website before you find their definition of “fair usage”.  With T-Mobile it means 500MB of combined upload and download data p/m.  If you exceed this you’re blocked against any further data upload/download until the start of the next monthly cycle.

In my opinion 500MB is a pittance in today’s internet connected world.  I also find in this case the term “unlimited data” quite misleading.  Especially when the provider advertised other plans with 500MB or 1GB data allowances.  IMHO… in this situation, “unlimited” is very limited!

I’ve found 3 Mobile’s £15 p/m “All you can eat” data plan to be exactly that.  So we are going to stay with them! 

As for the other providers……….. You are NOT going to get my business whilst you maintain; what I consider to be; misleading and deceptive advertising!

Ordnance Survey “getamap”

I’ve discovered an even easier way of planning our country walks.  The Ordnance Survey (OS) website allows users to plan and export a route to a Garmin gps unit.  Note…. It’s free to register <info here>.

What I’ve started doing is use the OS website leisure maps <here> to plan our walks.  The advantage of the leisure maps is they show all the public footpaths.  I then save the planned walk.  It can then be exported from the OS website as either a kml (Google Earth format) or a gpx (Garmin gps) file.  Note: the OS program only allows the route to be exported to a Garmin gps unit.

Screen dump of the planned walk

Whilst we have a Garmin gps I prefer to look at the route in the Garmin Mapsource program before transferring it to the gps.  However Mapsource will not accept gpx files.  So I use the GPSBabel program to convert the gpx file to gdb format which can then be loaded into Mapsource.  (when the route gets transferred from Mapsource to the gps it gets converted back to gpx format). 

This is how the walk will appear in Mapsource and on our gps. I prefer to omit all the unnecessary map details (and my gps map is free)

If you don’t have a Garmin gps you could export the gpx file to your pc and then use GPSBabel to convert the route format from gpx or kml to your brand of gps.

Spoilt at Christmas

Our boys may be on the far side of the world but they still managed to spoil us at Christmas. 

Two separate packages arrived at the boatyard.  One son had obviously thought of our essential needs and purchased a hamper of “luxuries” for us to consume over the festive season.

Jan has been having fun sampling the various cheeses.  Meanwhile I wanted a “tipple” from the cider bottle.  There is plenty left!

The other son focussed on our need to communicate and amuse ourselves within the confines of a narrowboat.

Jan has taken to the iPad2 like a duck to water.  After installing Skype she was making calls back to Australia.  She has also started using it for web browsing and as an e-Reader.

As far as we are concerned the value of any gift is secondary to the thought behind it.  So we count ourselves particularly fortunate to have such thoughtful sons.

Newbury Again

The day was spent in Newbury.  First it was a visit to B&Q where I had intended to purchase some flexible conduit to use in Waiouru.  I want three separate runs for the external mobile phone aerial, the TV dome and the solar panels.  There are no firm plans for the dome and panels but I thought it would be prudent to install the conduit and '”draw cables” before the spray insulation was reapplied and the ceiling installed.  Well they had no conduit in stock!

Moving along; I took Jan around to look at bathroom taps.  No decisions were made there either!  We then walked the towpath into the town centre.  I keep forgetting to take photo’s so today I deliberately took this one of the town from the towpath using the mobile phone.  I think I’ll have to pin a photo reminder note on my shirt.

I just happened to notice the buildings sandwiched together with the clock tower in the background

Our first stop was WH Smith so Jan could purchase her weekly magazines and then we went to the Thursday farmers market.  Jan examined all the butcher’s wares before eventually deciding on the Gammon roast (again!).  She has worked out how to make it last four meals and as it’s something we’ve not seen (or eaten) prior to arriving in the UK we haven’t become tired of the novelty.

Next we went to the mall where I tried on work boots.  I’m looking for a pair to wear when working on Waiouru.  I don’t want to use my good tramping boots as they will quickly get knocked about.  Unfortunately I didn’t find any I liked so we moved to Jan’s favourite shop where I managed to procure four pairs of reading glasses at 99p each.  Jan did question whether pink frames were really me?  Hell; I’ll wear that pair on the boat when there are only the two of us.  I lose them fast enough for it to not matter!

The mem sahib then decided to treat us to lunch.  Cheapest spot is Subway where she has previously worked out the best (cheapest) option.  I parked myself at a vacant table whilst she scurried off to do the purchasing.  Five minutes later she was back with the lunch but scowling and grumbling.  Now she has bought the same order on two previous occasions so she knows the exact price (£8.46).  This time the till operator told her £15. “I don’t think so!” says my girl.  The operator then said “£10!”  So my girl asks “Have the prices gone up?”  The till operator ignores her so she pays up.  Hence the grumbling.  Anyway, I do things the old fashioned way and tote up the cost using my pen and the back of the receipt…. £8.46.   More scowling and grumbling.  Probably not helped by me suggesting she should have asked the operator “Are we playing pick a number?”  Subway Newbury just lost two customers!  I suspect in future we will either be eating deep fried rat dipped in 11 secret herbs and spices; or dining in one of those Scottish restaurant!

To cheer up mem sahib I agreed to purchase her a mink robe.  Of course no one else will see her wearing it as she has informed me she won’t wear much underneath it.  A good post Christmas bargain, discounted down to £12. 

The final stop was Sainsbury’s where we filled her new shopping trolley (an internet bargain at £14.99) with fruit and veg before walking to the railways station.  Obviously these days I’m more of a SNAG (sensitive new age guy) as I towed her new pink and black striped trolley all the way to the station.  We missed the train by three minutes so spent 57 minutes sitting on a steel plate in the wind waiting for the next service.

About sums up the day really!

Abject Failure

Our second day of geocaching and we didn’t find either cache.  The first clue was “the cattle crossing”.  Well we found the crossing without much difficulty, but could we find the geocache……. The hell we could!  I practically grovelled around in the mud underneath it whilst Jan picked over every stone and blade of grass. 

Who is this elderly man wearing a red jacket and reading a gps?

The second location was a footbridge across a small creek and the clue was “mid span don’t drop it!”  I lay on my stomach in the middle of the bridge and felt everywhere.  I even nervously poked my fingers into dark wet crevasses and the ends of hollow pipes before remembering there are no deadly Funnelweb or Redback spiders in the UK.  Another location we are going to need to search again a some future date.

On the way back to Ufton Jan noticed this scene.

Glass milk bottles….. and delivered to the door!  When was the last time we saw milk in a bottle… let alone delivered?  It would have been 1979 when living in Trentham, NZ.  Well that turned the clock back for us!

Cockpit Steelwork Complete

The last of the steelwork repairs has been completed with Dennis finishing the gas locker.

In less than a day surface rust has started to form on bare steel.  I’m not going to do anything about the rust as Waiouru will be grit blasted early in the New Year.

You may have noticed the timber on the deck.  I’ve scavenged around and found some ply and particle board offcuts to enclose the back of the cabin.

The intention is this will allow the interior to dry so I can waxol the baseplate and get some primer on the new toilet tank.  I’m also attempting to minimise the volume of water entering the engine compartment.  Once it’s dry inside the compartment I will be able to tackle the rust spots and give the area another coat of primer and a top coat (or two)!

First Geo-cache

A very mild day encouraged us to get out and enjoy some fresh air.  Obviously we weren’t the only people with that idea as the towpath and woods were full of families out enjoying the day.

When I first purchased the Garmin Oregon gps I noticed the geocache icon and wondered what it was.  A quick search on Google resolved that issue but I never made any serious attempt to find a geocache in Australia as they seemed few and far between.  Last night I went back to the geocaching website and to my surprise discovered there were numerous caches in our area.  After transferring some to the Garmin Jan and I set off to see if we could actually find a cache.

Our first effort was at the local park and I’d specifically selected it because I (correctly) thought it would be reasonably easy to find.

Our very first geocache

This one was nice and big.  Unfortunately water had been able to enter it and as a consequence the log book was “soggy”.  However I was able to enter our details and return it.  I’ll mention to problem of the water on the website. 

The second geocache was down by the salmon race. 

This was a micro geocache.  I’d never seen a micro geocache but assumed we would be looking for something very small.  I eventually found it, discovering it was about the same size as a 35mm film container (for those of you old enough to remember 35mm film).  Unfortunately I didn’t know how to open it and therefore left it rather than cause any damage. 

Our third geocache was much closer to the boat and adjacent to the towpath.  The size of the geocache wasn’t mentioned on the website but after some searching I eventually found this “easy” geocache.  The damned thing was the shape of a small rock!  Jan was able to pry the plastic cap off the bottom which enabled me to enter our details onto the tiny piece of paper inside. 

Well satisfied we returned to Ufton for lunch.  There are two further geocaches located within easy walking distance and I have the feeling we will be doing more of this geocaching!

Merry Christmas

A Merry Christmas to our blog readers!  For the first time in more years we care to remember we’re experiencing different Christmas weather.

Usually, it’s a cold buffet or a BBQ lunch accompanied by large quantities of chilled drinks; all consumed under a shady tree or inside with air conditioner running.

Ordinarily Jan would be finding locations in the lounge to strategically place the cards but being so far from family and having no address means few cards this year.  Sending cards overseas can be quite expensive so we aren’t that fussed if the volume of cards has significantly reduced.

Very recently Jan discovered how to send electronic cards to our extended family using e-cards from 123 Greetings. 

Next year we will realise our dream of completing Waiouru and then head off on our journey around the inlands waterways of England and Wales. 

In the meantime…….. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Tom & Jan

Screwfix and B&Q

I’ve made my first visit to Screwfix.  It’s something I have been eagerly anticipating after looking at their website.  I envisaged an experience similar to my trips to Homebase and B&Q.  I should mention for any Australian or New Zealand readers these business are similar to Bunnings, Mitre 10 or Placemakers.  I wanted to spend time walking the isles, sniffing the atmosphere and examining the goods on display.

Well my first problem was finding Screwfix.  After exiting the public transport I turned on my gps into which I’d carefully inserted Screwfix as a destination.  Whilst trying to navigate to the second screen the gps died…… Flat batteries!  <grrrrr…. my fault!>

Using my own inbuilt sense of direction I started walking and eventually came upon a medium size industrial style building with a small Screwfix sign.  I was slightly concerned about the size of the premises.  It simply didn’t look big enough!

My next shock was walking through the entrance.  No checkout counters and no isles to browse.  Instead there was a row of small booths containing a catalogue, pen and order form.  The practice is you select the items you want from the catalogue, write the stock number on the order form with the supplied pen and then take your order to the counter.  The order is entered into the computer and you pay the bill.  You then take the invoice and receipt to another counter and wait for your purchases to be collected by a staff member and delivered to the counter.

I guess it cuts down on shoplifting !  However I felt deprived of my anticipated pleasure in browsing the isles.  I’m also somewhat disconcerted by not being able to “handle the merchandise” before deciding to purchase! 

By again following my sense of direction I found the canal and B&Q.  This was more the “fix” I’d been looking for.  Walking the isles; examining washing hoists, telescopic poles, bathroom fittings and electrical components.  So soothing………… <sigh>.  I now have a couple of ideas which may yet germinate into something useful.

A very pleasant surprise!

After completing the blackwater tank Dennis moved on to the gas locker in the cockpit.  The locker had been designed to take 6kg calor gas bottles.  We’d been advised 6kg was a better size and weight to manage on the boat.  It seemed a very sensible suggestion until we discovered there was only £3 difference in the refill price between 6 and 13kg.  Suddenly our future gas bill had doubled.

I had asked if it would be possible to modify the existing gas locker to take a 13kg bottle and was informed it wasn’t practical.  We had therefore resigned ourselves to the increase in the cost of gas.  The inspection of the gas locker also revealed it wasn’t compliant with the gas regulations.  Whilst it had a gas drain in the base of the locker it also had side opening doors.  The regulations require the bottle be secured in a vessel sealed to the height of the gas bottle regulator.

The solution was to remove the doors and replace them with a panel.  The top would then be cut out of the locker to allow access for bottle replacement.

Well it didn’t quite work out that way.  Dennis did some serious thinking during the night and modified a suggestion of mine.

One of the original front locker doors has been recycled as a hatch door.  The really good news is there is sufficient height in the original locker to allow a 13kg bottle to be inserted through the hatch.  Even better; there is sufficient room for three bottles.  I estimate being able to use 13kg bottles is likely to save us approximately £1500 over the next five years.  Dennis is welding the new front panel on the locker as I write this post.  He has already welded in the gas bottle securing chains and the structural “lip” around the new hatch. 

More on the Blackwater Tank

Dennis had carefully thought through the fabrication of the tank and made up six 300mm lengths of angle iron to act as internal columns.  These have been spaced as a grid inside the tank.  Rather than having the lid of the tank as one section of steel plate Dennis has made it out of two sections.  This gave him room to reach under the larger section and weld the angle iron columns to the top and bottom of the tank.  Then the second part of the lid was tack welded into place.

The heat from the welding the bottom edge the side plates to the baseplate had distorted the top edge so Dennis and I used levers and a hydraulic jack to straighten each edge.  Whilst I held the lever he tack welded the top plate to the side.

We now have three sockets at the stern, starboard side.

The far socket is the for the pumpout pipe.  The middle is the rinse connection and the closest is for the breather pipe and carbon filter.

At the diagonally opposite corner is the inlet socket.

There is an internal pipe running from the rinse socket to the inlet socket corner (see red line in the following photo).  The idea is the rinse water will flush the base of the tank.

2”x1” box steel has been welded across the top of the tank to act as floor joists.

All of this has only been tack welded whilst Dennis makes sure everything is aligned.  Only then will all the joins be welded.  The socket for the tank gauge and inspection hatch will be constructed later.

Down and Dirty

A very productive day!  The weather was mild and dry which enabled the boatyard staff to get some blacking onto the two boats scheduled to go back into the water tomorrow.  There was a suggestion of rain in the air so I decided to lend them a hand.  It was also an opportunity for me to see how it was done.

Dennis arrived with all the steel for the blackwater tank and we promptly transferred it all into the back cabin.  He has already tacked and plumbed the sides.  The rinse and suction pipes have also been fabricated.

Looking down on three walls for the blackwater tank viewed from the cockpit

Another view of the tank walls from inside the boat.

I made a temporary cover for the engine hole along with a temporary cover for the back doors and hatch in a further effort to ensure the interior dries out.  Finally I made the bracket for the external mobile phone aerial using some left over steel.

Meanwhile Jan waited for Mr Tesco to deliver our Christmas supplies.  Another very big order!  I think we must now have about 30 litres of milk and 25kg of flour.  The freezer is already full of meat and fish so we shouldn’t run short of food during the next fortnight.