On the move

Sunday 8th June.

After Saturdays rain we were pleased to find Sunday morning dry and bright for our trip down from Kings Bromley marina to Fradley junction where the dry-dock is situated. Only 2.3 miles, and 3 locks to deal with so we were not in a hurry, although i was a bit apprehensive about Fradley Junction. The junction is where the Coventry canal meets the Trent and Mersey canal and is a notoriously busy area with boats coming and going not to mention the hordes of sightseers, (known as 'gongoozalers')  that congregate round the White Swan pub, (locally known as the 'mucky duck'). On nice sunny days the area can be heaving with boats, cars, motorcycles and pedestrians. (if  I'm honest i was concerned at how big an audience I'd have watching me cock it up trying to moor up right outside the Swan!).

First job on arriving at Bracken was to turn on the diesel and start the engine, so Graham was sent down the engine 'ole, blowlamp in hand whilst I had the difficult job of turning the ignition key! The engine fired up almost straight away no problem. (Amazing how that blast of hot air up the inlet manifold makes all the difference) 

After remembering to disconnect the shore line, we cast off mooring ropes and set off.

 The exit from the marina is quite narrow and halfway out I had to brake sharply to let another narrowboat pass, we then followed on down the canal towards the first lock which would be Wood End lock, a distance of about 1.25 miles.

Playing follow-my-leader.

Looking back, how peaceful is that!

Rhododendrons, camera dosn't really capture the colours.

Waiting for G & J to 'turn' the lock in our favour. They're waiting for the boat in front to exit the lock.

This stretch of canal is so pretty and the woodland so lush and green at this time of the year.

Arriving at Wood End lock we had to wait for the guy in front to go down first, then after making sure there wasn't a boat waiting to come up, Then G & J turned the lock in our favour.

(for the benefit of people who aren't familiar with the routine I'll explain. If you are familiar, feel free to fast forward).

The boat in front of us went into the full lock on our level. When he emptied the lock he dropped to the level of the canal the other side of the lock (called going 'down hill'). When he exited the lock, he closed the paddles and gates to keep the water in the lock so G & J could open the paddles on our level to refill the lock, so I could take Bracken into the lock. We then opened the paddles on the downhill side to empty the lock, so me and Bracken descended to the level of the next stretch of canal. (incidentally the stretch of canal between locks is known as a 'Pound')

 Then we closed the downhill paddles and gates and continued on our way.

That was Wood End lock, a very pretty  area and situated quite close to some extensive woodland.

A rare photo of the skipper, and Jaq looking as lovely as ever :)

We passed through two more locks on our way down to Fradley, no pics I'm afraid as it was getting quite busy with other boats coming up the locks and others just moored up not going anywhere. Some had moored quite close to the locks so it wasn't always easy to know who was waiting to go down the locks, and who was moored for the afternoon.

The closer we got to Fradley, the busier it became. At one point it was more like the M25 motorway but eventually we arrived at the junction. 

Tom, who runs the dry-dock  had told me to moor right outside the pub and he would come and find me, which he did, and we then moved the boat over to the moorings adjacent to the dry-dock. Thankfully i didn't 'cock up' the mooring as there were hundreds  loads of gongoozalers!

Swan on the left, Coventry canal off to the right immediately in front of me with the entrance to........

........the dry-dock where Bracken is going.

As it was 1pm by then, after mooring we decided to have lunch in the Swan, they have an excellent carvery and reasonably priced too. I asked for a child sized portion as my appetite has not yet got back to normal, but to be honest I couldn't see any difference in size, it was a huge meal and very tasty too.

After lunch we sat outside whilst Graham went back to the boat and emptied the fridge and turned the gas off before being rowed back in a small dingy by Matt, one of the guys from the dry-dock. (quicker than walking round.

"you WILL hold that rope in while I climb out wont you?"

"Oh yes very funny, now pull me back in!"

Before returning to G & J's, we popped down to the garden center at Fradley to say hi to Jenny, and then made our way back home, tired out and after some tv and nibbles we were all in bed before 11pm.

Preparations for drydocking.

Friday 6th June,

Another horrible journey up from Kent, ok until the M1 just after junction 13 where the traffic got slower and slower till eventually everybody came to a standstill. Then the inevitable fire engines and police cars came whizzing up the hard shoulder so everybody switched the engines off, got out and wandered around stretching their legs. After about 45 mins there were signs of movement further up the road, and gradually the traffic got moving again.

About 2 miles further on I passed the scene of the accident. I kept my eyes firmly on the road ahead, (dont want to add to the accident statistics) but i was aware of a substantial amount of wreckage around an articulated lorry that seemed to have had the whole of one side 'peeled' open!

I got into Lichfield around 2.30 in the afternoon so the trip at that point had taken 4 hours, a quick stop at Morrisons to pick up some supplies and grab a bite to eat and then on to Kings Bromley marina.

Isn't it amazing how quickly cobwebs form! The spiders had had a field day with no-one to disturb them and there were loads of webs all over the outside of Bracken!

Gas on, fridge on, supplies stowed away. Windows opened, front doors opened to let the breeze blow through as it was quite stuffy, (Friday was quite a hot day).

I spent the evening at G & Jaqs, and ended up staying the night there too as Bro and I had some shopping to do Saturday.

Saturday 7th June

There was such a noisy storm in the early hours, thunder, lightning and rain!After catching up on a few household chores Graham and I drove over to the boat and discussed the intended jobs. One of the important jobs is to fit a bilge pump. What no bilge pump! I hear you cry?.... No, unfortunately, the previous owner had not thought it necessary to fit one. Anyway i now have the needed items so thats a job to do whilst Bracken is out of the water. (Graham had the unenviable task of baling out several gallons of rainwater a few weeks ago after some pretty heavy downpours!.... Bilge pump needed)!

Another intended job is to hinge the engine hatch cover so it can be raised and lowered more easily.

At present the cover is a large sheet of 4mm steel which measures just less than a square metre, and is therefore quite heavy and awkward to open and close being unattached on all 4 sides. You get some idea in the following picture.

So the plan is to hinge it along the back edge so that when its raised it will then lean against the stern rail under the tiller arm. Well that's the plan anyway.

(the boxes are not yet bolted in place, that's another job).

So off we trotted to the local DIY store to look at hinges and stainless bolts and nuts etc.. etc..

Whilst I'm catching up with this blog here's a couple of pictures of the new fuel filter and water separator assembly, I forgot to include them in the last posting.

Standard filter refill, easy to obtain spares.

The weather wasn't conducive to working outside, rain and more rain so we drove down to Fradley and had a look at where we're bringing the boat to tomorrow for drydocking. 

Whilst at Fradley we popped in to Kingfisher cafe and each had a bowl of beef and veg stew and very nice it was too!

Then, back to Grahams garage/workshop to make some alterations to the hinges and to cut some bolts to length ready for fitting hopefully this week.

A busy day and some maintenance.

Wednesday 21st May.

What a beautiful morning, after overnight rain there was lovely warm sunshine bathing the marina.

You can just see the stern of Bracken, second boat from left with red tiller arm.

Nice picnic area with tables and benches just out of camera shot on the left.

A while ago I turned off the diesel at the tank because I thought there was traces of diesel in the bilges, then I got ill and went home vowing to look at the problem next time.

Well, in my absence Graham has been down in the deepest darkest regions of the bilges and had a clean up!

He tried nipping up all the connections but still wetness appeared as soon as I turned the diesel on but I managed to locate the problem as coming from the top of the fuel filter assembly. Specifically it was where the injectors feed back into the top of the filter assembly through the large banjo fitting. Well even with new copper washers in place it wouldn't stop weeping, mainly due to the thread being stripped, therefore unable to tighten it down. So, a replacement fuel filter assembly is required. Still at least we know what the problem is. 

Looking at the state of the filter assembly and the way the pipe obscures the center bolt i'm wondering when the filter was last changed? Hmmm, we'll see when i remove it. 

Graham and Jaq came over late afternoon and we looked at positioning two storage boxes on the rear deck.

The idea being to provide storage for logs and coal and possibly tools and as the rear deck is quite large being a cruiser stern thats the best place for them.

As you can see from the two pictures, the stern on Bracken is large and empty, ok if you're entertaining but otherwise pretty wasted space, so Graham, bless him, found a couple of matching boxes just the right size and height to be useful storage and about the right height for sitting on too.

Ever wished you'd picked up old rags and tools before taking pictures??

Notice the box under the window- another of Grahams finds off Ebay, just the right height not to obscure the window, and bolted to the deck for security.

After deciding on the best position for the boxes we drilled through the bottom of both boxes to mark the deck plates for drilling. Graham's going to take the boxes back to his place for painting. they've had a coat of etching primer and black primer, next he's going to top coat them. 

I really appreciate all the work he's done for me whilst i've been unwell, he's been an absolute diamond geezer!! And I bet he tells me off for saying that. Embarrassed or what !

Thursday 22nd May.

Im back home in Kent now, well with it being bank holiday weekend the traffic will probably be horrendous so l decided to come home before. Not a bad journey, just a few minutes short of 3 hours, l bet it's different tomorrow. 

I have a couple of appointments next week, so next visit to Bracken will be around 6/7 th of June to move her down to Fradley for the work to be done starting on the 9th.

Bye for now :) 

  

A quote and some visitors

Tuesday 20th May

Well the guys came to have a look at what needs doing. Pressure wash and blacking is pretty much what i expected, £9 per foot inc vat. The welding however is a bit more than I was anticipating. The job is made difficult because it involves welding over part of the diesel tank. Oh well the guy seems to know what needs to be done so Bracken is booked into drydock on the 9th of June.

On a lighter note, i had visitors this afternoon, my niece Jemma and her youngest son Archie came to see me with Jenny. Lovely to see them after so long, I last saw Archie when he was only a few weeks old and he's now toddling around and into everything.

Here again

Sunday 18th May.

Feeling stronger l decided to drive up to the boat for a few days. Well i need to finalize arrangments for the welding that needs doing, and whilst Bracken is out of the water the hull can be de-scaled and blacked.

Before buying Bracken l had the hull and steering gear surveyed, and the surveyer made a couple of recommendations ie some minor overplating round the stern, replace the cup bearing at the base of the rudder and fill with weld two worn areas where the rudder has contacted the hull. Also on the waterline there is some scale that needs removing before blacking the whole of the hull.

I have made arrangments for someone to come to the boat and quote me for the work, hopefully on Tuesday.

Monday 19th May.

A bit of shopping in Lichfield, just the bare essentials as i'm only here for a few days.

Jenny popped in to see me and we had a good 'catch up chat'

After Jenny had gone I tidied up a bit and then drove over to G & Jaq for the evening and ended up staying the night there. Well their spare bed is big and comfortable, and their shower is big and plentiful, as is also their loo!

One appreciates these things!  :)

sometimes things just don't go well.......

Shortly after writing my last post, in fact the day after my birthday on the 17th, i contracted a rather nasty tummy bug. After a few days of feeling unwell i ended up in Burton Hospital on a drip. I was discharged today and Jaq picked me up and took me back to her and Bro's house. I'm hoping to make my way home to Kent on Sunday, where i hope to continue my recovery from the cancer treatment.
I guess maybe i was a bit premature in thinking i was well enough to work on the boat.

afloat again

Thursday 10th April.

Sitting at home in Kent and going stir crazy, so i decided to drive up to the boat for a few days. Whilst not feeling 100%,  l am feeling better so what the hell, l thought, lets go for it!

Well i have to say it was one of the worst journeys i've done for a while. Advance warning signs said M25 closed junction 29 - 28 so after doing the Dartford crossing i thought i'd be able to re-join the M25 at junction 28 only to find that the closure extended past 28 and me and 1000 other drivers had had the same idea!! Result = gridlock on the roundabout trying to join the M25. I eventualy found an alternative route and joined the motorway further up, after which it was fairly clear M25 - M1 - M6 and M6 toll - Lichfield and on to Kings Bromley Marina. In all the journey took 5 hours whereas normaly it would be around 3 and a half hours. 

Before leaving Kent my good friend John gave me a hand to load the chest of drawers into the Polo along with numerous other items to take up to the boat.

In the evening after Graham had finished his dinner he and Jaq came over to the boat and we shoe-horned the chest of drawers into the space left for it when graham built the wardrobe...... it fitted- just!

On Friday i fitted the new water pump in a slightly more accessable position than where Graham removed it from, which was right at the back of the sink unit cupboard.

Now its just inside the cupboard, easy to reach, and easy access to the filter/strainer.

As with most jobs nothing is straight forward, the compresion fitting on the bottom of the accumulator developed a steady drip so out it came to anoint the joint with some boss white purloined from Brother. That did the trick and hey presto pump and taps back in service.

Saturday i started painting the inside of the new wardrobe area and what we call the 'pidgeon holes' (storage areas), Graham came over in the afternoon and took over the painting and we also fitted a few little trim strips to neaten the edges. Its looking good now, bro did an excellent job of construction.

Now i just need to get some wood stain to blend it in to the original woodwork. So i guess its off to the shops i go.

A little fresh air before my visitors go home.

Sunday 9th March.
G & J arrived from their hotel around 10 am closely followed by Margaret who had come to visit too.

I did a hurried breakfast for the 3 of them.........and sat and watched and drooled as they polished it all off. Its a bugger when you can only take liquid food thro a peg tube, and you watch lovely bacon, eggs, sausage, mushrooms etc etc being eagerly devoured! :) never mind, my day will come.

We sat about chatting for a while then bro suggested a wander up the beach for some fresh air. Well i don't do 'wandering' so i drove us all up the shingle bank and then waited in the car whilst they went for a stroll. It was certainly a gorgeous day with only a gentle breeze to ruffle the incoming tide.

Looking East.
That group of people have a BBQ on the go, more nice smells to torture me!

Looking North.

The intrepid trio return.

a short visit to form some plans

Its been a while since my last blog. My treatment is ongoing- leaving me exhausted, sore, and generaly 'not well', but there are a great many people going thro far worse so enough said about me.
Graham and Jackie have driven down to see me for this weekend. Great to see them as always and its given me a much needed lift, so much so i've decided to update this blog.................


I drove up to the boat on Friday 14th February after my radio session. Not a bad journey but it certainly left me pretty exhausted. I stayed at G and J's friday night, then on Saturday Bro and i went to the boat to do some measuring up. During our time there i discovered a water leak from the fresh water pump so Graham had the hands and knees job of removing the pump for inspection. The leak seemed to be from the join in the pump body casing so we left it off ready to replace.
Sister Jenny came up G&J's in the evening for a nosh and a natter and some quality family time.
I returned home to Kent on Sunday, not looking forward to another week of chemo and radio.

Bro says he will make a start on the wardrobe frame over the next couple of weeks and as these pictures show he certainly has done. He's a top bro!

Bro making some progress

As can be seen we've kept the corner shelves to the left of the front doors and added a'lid'

The space between the frame and the shelves will be wardrobe with a shelf  halfway down and hanging space above.

What was one of the main support beams for the top bunk-------

----------gets topped off as a shelf.-----

-----Whilst to the left of the frame, the marked out area shows where there will be a chest of drawers/dressing table which at the moment is living in my bedroom in Kent. i'll take it up at some point in the future.

Thats it for now folks :)

work in progress

Chatting with brother on the phone and by text it seems My Bro has been busy aboard Bracken in my absence. Apparently the top bunk above the 'shed' area is no more, its gorrn, defunct, deceased!

Before.

And there it was gone.

So I'm thinking i need to get up there and decide what the next step should be. I'm not sure whether to do away with the shelving to the left of the steps, or whether to incorporate them into a hanging space.Where the black box is on the floor will be a small chest of drawers/dressing table instead. 

(actually, the black box is my coal box so could probably go out on well deck).
Well today is Tuesday so I'm thinking maybe I could drive up to the boat after Friday's radio treatment, that'll give me Saturday and Sunday morning to form some ideas for bro to work on. He's a dynamo of energy and enthusiasm bless him, and gets stuck into a job till he's seen it thro.
Oh well, i'll see how i feel later in the week.