Boat washing

Last night it started raining, gently at first with heavy rain forecast so I thought it was time to try the advanced Balmaha boat washing technique (see end of post).  I soaped the roof with very artistic swirls, then the sun came out and dried it all up instead of the rain washing it off.  The instructions for making it rain seemed to be missing from the post.

Tonight it was raining lightly again with more heavy showers forecast so guess what.  A repeat performance.  I guess I’m not up to the advanced Balmaha technique after all.  Perhaps they will give me a practical demonstration when I eventually meet them.

Tomorrow I think I’ll have a go at the No Problem boat washing technique (see August 13th Post) with a hosepipe and see if I can get the hang of that.

Today we spent 6 hours climbing the Wolverhampton 21 which should have only taken 4 hours.  There was a party of 6 or 7 boats going up ahead of us, not very quickly, and a single handed boater sandwiched in the middle of them.

Now moored near the top of the flight, aiming for Sherborne Wharf tomorrow to watch the Dragon Boat racing.

Posted on Friday, June 27, 2008 at 20:36
Comments (0) Category(s): BCN , No Problem

Rothersthorpe

Vic and Sue on No Problem, were heading down the Rothersthorpe flight of locks on the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union last Friday.  Pacing themselves for the seventeen or so locks to take them to the River Nene for the summer.

They’d hardly started when Vic came under the bridge to be faced by someone aiming a camera at him.  Vic watched Lucy hurtling down the towpath to greet me and he knew it wouldn’t be such hard work after all.

Part way down the flight I discovered this old lady sitting on the old lock beam at the side of the canal.

There was just time to admire their new headlight - with a big bulb Sue won’t mind the tunnels as it won’t go dark inside.

Following down the flight was Chas and Ann on Moore2Life and there was time to help them with a few locks too.

Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 20:32
Comments (1) Category(s): No Problem , Northampton Branch

Looking for Problems

I was running a training course for my other job today. Unusually for me I took the car.

When the course finished I could make a minor detour to drop in on Vic and Sue on No Problem.

Sue has a map link from her site so anyone can check where they are - or at least she usually does.

Today the link didn’t work so I had to guess where they were moored but I didn’t have to hunt for long before I found them.

Lucy greeted me with the whimpers and fuss she reserves for a long lost friend.  Meg watched for a moment, perhaps wondering why Lucy was making such a fuss of a stranger, then joined in anyway.

It was lovely to meet Meg for the first time and I was surprised how well trained she was already.

It was great to see Vic again too and he soon had the kettle and a mug of tea in hand.  But as for Sue - she was down in Portsmouth - the second time she’s been missing when I visited - tut tut.

Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 21:23
Comments (0) Category(s): No Problem , Staffs & Worcester

No Problem at Great Heywood Junction

We’re heading round the Four Counties Ring, going anticlockwise from Autherley Junction.  We’ve been heading east along the Staffs and Worcester and would normally turn left at Great Heywood Junction.

But we turned right.  Not a navigation error, but deliberate because we knew who was to the south of the junction.

There was No Problem, with a space for use to moor just behind them.  The eagerly awaited rendezvous with Sue, Vic and Lucy.

Sue and Vic knew we were coming but Lucy didn’t.  At first we were just another passing boat then, suddenly, we were recognised and she was charging along the towpath to give us the enormous welcome she reserves for her friends.

Time for a good gossip and a tour of each others boats and, of course, time to get the cameras out.  The curve of the canal made it difficult to photo both from the towpath but when the sun came out Andrew soon took the hint and set off with his telephoto lens to the bridge to get both boats fully into shot.

And it didn’t take Lucy long to get everyone trained into throwing sticks for her to fetch.  When Christine opened the side doors to see what was going on she was soon presented with a stick and joined in.

Now Christine has fed all six of us well and Sue, Christine and Susan are off Geocaching before it goes too dark.

Tomorrow we are expecting Kevin Blick and David Oakes from Canal Boat Magazine.  We’ve not featured in a magazine before so we’re not sure what it involves.  We’ll be able to tell you more after tomorrow.

The forecast is good so we hope there will be some good opportunities for photos somewhere near here.  Perhaps the junction or Tixall Wide will be a good spot for some photos.

Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 19:22
Comments (0) Category(s): No Problem , Trent & Mersey

His and Hers

The ultimate arrangement? His and Hers narrow boats.

Here are Sue and Vic from No Problem with their old and new narrow boats. Sue is steering their  new boat which they are moving onto, while Vic is steering their home for several happy years.

Their former home is up for sale and they are heading towards Braunston to sell the boat there - unless someone takes up this once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase the boat with the lovely happy past before they get there.

Sue and Vic had left Devizes and cruised to just short of the first locks at Wootton Rivers on Wednesday.  I travelled by train to join them for 2 days to help work through the locks to Hungerford.

It was great fun and lovely to be with these friends again.  Their dog, Lucy, was a little uncertain when she saw me in the distance on a folding bike, having not seen me on one before, but as soon as she recognised me I was given her special welcome.

 

Lucy often trots along the towpath alongside the narrow boat as they move along.  She was a little confused and not sure which boat to follow or to ride on.

We used the folding bike for lock wheeling - cycling along the towpath between locks.  This enabled one of us to close the gates and paddles at one lock, then ride to the next lock to have that ready for when the boats arrive.

Here’s Lucy running ahead of Sue, while looking backwards to make sure she’s following.


 

The weather was glorious providing the opportunity to photograph the boats breasted up as we tried different ways to move them between locks.

Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 at 18:29
Comments (1) Category(s): Kennet and Avon , No Problem

No Problem is up for sale

Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase a narrowboat with a great history. Regular readers of this blog will have seen many references to Sue, Vic and Lucy on No Problem. Well, now they are about to move onto a new boat and the first No Problem narrowboat is up for sale. Have a look at Sue’s Blog to see the happy adventures aboard the boat and, perhaps, follow the links to make a great purchase. Go on . . . the blog makes a good read . . .

Posted on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 13:48
Comments (0) Category(s): No Problem

Going up in the World

Another day in a busy week.  This time it was a trip to Devizes to help No Problem and Moore2Life ascending the Caen Hill flight.

It was the hottest day of the year so far with splendid sunshine.  Parking the car near the top I strolled down the flight to meet them at the bottom lock.

Gentle progress during the morning and we were at the top in less than 3 hours.

Sue, on No Problem, and Chas, on Moore2Life, steered the boats side by side from one lock to the next.  That avoids the problem of holding one boat at the side of the broad locks until the other arrives.

I left them moored safely at the top of the locks next to the swan which was sitting on the bank.  It was there when we arrived and it simply watched everything going on without bothering about anything.

Then I headed home to complete the packing.  Tomorrow we are heading back to Fenny Compton but, for the first time, not returning the same day.

We will start our maiden cruise on our boat, Waterway Routes.

Look out for us on the Southern Oxford Canal and say Hello if you see us.

Posted on Thursday, April 5, 2007 at 18:14
Comments (1) Category(s): No Problem

No Problem

After visiting our boat yesterday we went on to visit Sue, Vic and Lucy on No Problem 1.

They are have been working on No Problem 2 before swapping over to the new boat.

Now the boat is nearly finished it is in the paint shop at Devizes Marina where it has been taken down to bare metal and is being painted.

We ran Sue and Vic to the Marina to see how work had been progressing.

It looks excellent and the metalwork has been well constructed with extremely smooth sides.

They were painting the roof when we got there so we had the pleasure of a tour inside while they finished painting the roof - they couldn’t stop or there would have been a line in the paint.

Then there were the difficult decisions.  Would they like the mooring T-bollards picked out in the red.

What about the front?  What colour should that be?  What colour should this be?

It was just like our decisions in the morning and their answers were surprisingly similar to ours.

Now we know what colour Sue and Vic have chosen for No Problem 2 - it will be #$ErRoR£! - well you didn’t think we would reveal their secret, did you?

Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 15:33
Comments (1) Category(s): No Problem

No Problem at Caen Hill

A leisurely start today and off to Devizes to see the Caen Hill flight of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal.  Although I had seen many photos this was the first time I had seen the locks in person.

But moored at the top of the main flight of locks was the main reason for today’s visit - No Problem and Moore2Life.

Lucy, the wonderful dog from No Problem, came bounding along the towpath to see me like a long lost friend.  She seems to recognise me walking up the towpath, well before I arrive.

We worked the two boats down the main flight at a leisurely pace, stopping for coffee in one of the locks as there were no other boats around.

At the bottom of the flight we moored the boats and Sue provided soup and rolls for all of us.  Thank you Sue.

Posted on Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 19:23
Comments (1) Category(s): Kennet and Avon , No Problem

No Problem and Moore2Life at Aynho

After visiting our new boat in the morning we headed off to Banbury to see if we could find No Problem and Moore2Life.  We had rung Sue and left a message on her mobile to call us to say where they were.  While we were waiting for the return call we walked the length of the visitor moorings at Banbury to see if they were there.  Later on we discovered that we must have only just missed them. Guessing they were south of Banbury we also headed south and were just driving over a canal bridge when the phone rang.  Where are you? we asked Sue.  Just approaching bridge 177 said Sue - where are you?  Just driving over bridge 177 we said. No problem was quickly moored alongside the towpath, followed by moore2life and Sue produced tea and cake in record time.  It was lovely to see everyone again, and to see Lucy so happily following the boat on the towpath. Then we helped them through several locks and Vic was proudly showing off his ratchet windlass which was very useful on some of the stiffer paddles.  We left them at Aynho lock, heading for Somerton Deep lock, where they hoped to play the “Granny Buttons Game” with a photo like this.

Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006 at 17:00
Comments (0) Category(s): No Problem