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.

some extra pics of work in progress

I've published a few pics of the 'bed' area, a work in progress.

As can be seen in the above picture, with the flaps down I have a wider berth than the original one.
In fact its only 2 ft 6 ins at the widest part. I've hinged the flaps so that when the bed is not in use i can fold the flaps up which leaves the walkway clear to the front steps out to the well deck. Also, having the Flaps up makes a handy bench or seat, and as can be seen in the picture below there is space for storage boxes beneath the bed base

Opposite the 'new' bed is the 'shed', well thats what it resembles at present. Above the shed is the upper bunk bed. This will be removed  (next project) and the resulting space will house a chest of drawers and a small wardrobe for hanging the smarter 'T' shirts and fleeces. that i tend to live in :)

Watch this space :)

A few days afloat

Saturday 11th January

Seizing the opportunity to get afloat for a few days before more 'pressing' things take up my time.
It was lovely to get back to the boat, get the fire lit and put my feet up and listen to the birdsong. My brother came round and we spent some time planning the project, that is to construct a new bed in the front cabin.
Saturday evening Jenny invited me to her place for dinner, delicious stirfried chicken and vegetables. Very nice too!
Slept ok Saturday night, toasty warm in the boat. On opening the hatch Sunday morning i was amazed to see everywhere white over with frost.

bad night Monday night, woke in early hours of Tuesday morning drenched in sweat, the inside of the boat was like an oven! I had to open the hatch to let the heat out, in fact i ended up leaving the hatch open all night. that'll teach me to make sure the vents on the fire are completely shut before going to bed!

Pushed ahead with the project during Tuesday  and by Wednesday i had a bed to sleep on at the cooler end of the boat.

Thursday and Friday was spent clearing up.
Many thanks to Jackie for bringing her dyson over on Thursday as i was almost knee deep in saw dust and wood chippings! She did a sterling job of hoovering all the way through the boat.
Friday i was shattered, and after Jenny and i had eaten Breakfast i had a 'chill out' day and rested my aching bones.
Jenny had invited me for dinner Friday eve, and my nephew Pete and fiancé Sam also came. We had a great meal, and lots of chatting.
Saturday was a finishing off day, some wood trims round the shelf, and re-sited the fire extinguisher
Sunday i have to go back to Sheppey. I have 3 hospital appointments this week before my treatment starts on the 27th so it may be a few weeks till i can get back to Bracken.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time afloat this week, the peace, the quiet, and the solitude. Also being able to spend time with family has been wonderful.

Happy New Year!!

Just a short post to wish everyone all the nicest wishes for 2014.
Whatever the year may bring may we continue to communicate and think well of each other for we are all friends and family.

Christmas week afloat

Sunday 22nd of December.

I drove up from Kent to the marina to spend a few days over Christmas on 'Bracken'.

I would have driven up before Sunday but i was waiting for a parcel to arrive- last of the Christmas presents.

I arrived around 4 pm as the light was fading, unloaded the car, and loaded up like a packhorse made my way down the pontoon to the rear deck of the boat. After unlocking the door and sliding the hatch back i proceeded to reverse myself down the steps into the saloon, and promptly tripped 'tip over apex' over the mop handle Graham and i had left propping in place a wooden batten whilst the glue set! I'd forgotten no one had been on board since my last visit to do the 240 volt system and therefore the place still looked like a 'work in progress'.

First job, clear the saloon and replace the seating boards and cushions, next job light the fire, then kettle on whilst bringing off the rear deck all the stuff I'd brought from the car.

Shortly after a cup of coffee, Graham phoned to say there was a roast dinner being prepared for me, so, never one to turn down a free dinner, i made my way over to Graham and Jackie's. We had a lovely evening of catching up and chat until around 9.30ish when i made my way back to the boat. Thankfully the fire was still alight so it was nice and warm inside and after a nightcap i made up the bed in the bottom bunk and turned in. 

Monday 23rd.

Not a good nights sleep...... the bottom bunk is just not big enough for me, some alterations are going to be necessary, But then i already knew that.

Monday was windy, very very windy. Its quite sheltered in the marina being surrounded by trees and also being moored between boats helps, but even so there was a definite rocking motion, not unpleasant but enough to remind you that you are afloat.

Fire stoked up, coffee and toast on the go, what a nice way to start the day. 

After a visit to the shower block and WC i turned my attention to the first project.

In the above picture behind the flue pipe is plain black.

In the picture below you can see there is now a reflective sheet of stainless steel.

Putting the stainless steel behind the flue pipe not only reflects the light but is also a handy mirror.

Also notice we now have a reading light and a phone charger plugged in, all mod cons eh?

Jenny popped in for chat but as it was blowing a gale she didnt stay long. It was very rough out, and not a day to be driving the country lanes round Fradley. I spent the remainder of the day clipping cables back and generaly tidying things away.

Tuesday  24th.

I had a better nights sleep, i made up the double pull out in the saloon. It only takes a couple of minutes and its also at the warmer end of the boat :) I was woken a couple of times by the wind howling through the trees, obviously another rough day ahead.
Graham came over later in the morning and we set to removing the top bunk on the starboard (right) side of the bedroom area. This is the first step to altering the bedroom area in an effort to make it more useable, and is definitely a 'work in progress' area. What would have taken me hours to do, Graham soon had it sorted, his energy and enthusiasm amazes me :)

Christmas Day 2013

What a lovely morning, crisp and dry hardly any wind and some lovely warm sunshine.
I had the front and rear doors open on the boat and allowed the fresh air in.
Jenny came up for breakfast of bacon and sausage butties and coffee and we sat out in the small well deck at the front enjoying feeling the warm sunshine.

not good photo in bright sunshine.

Looking towards the stern the trees give some protection from the gales

After breakfast and a nice chat, Jenny left to have Christmas dinner with Peter and Sam (my nephew and fiance) and i made my way to G & J's for Christmas dinner, and what a veritable feast it was!!

Boxing Day

Woke up to thick frost everywhere.

After the cold shock of coming out of a nice warm saloon into minus 4deg of frost what better to do but go back into a nice warm saloon and make bacon butties!

Later Graham arrived and we set about starting the engine as it hadn't been started since we moored here at the end of November.

After some preheating with the blow lamp it fired up and once warmed up it ran quite sweetly. I left it running for a good half hour to put some charge into the batteries although i do now have a battery charger fitted to the 240 volt system just to keep them topped up.

My nephew Peter and his Fiancé Sam came to visit me and have a look round 'Bracken', good to welcome them aboard and hope to see them again soon, next time i must take your Photos you pair!

We made our way down to G&J's where we were meeting Jenny  for a bit of a family reunion and an evening of chilling and chatting.

On returning to the boat, alone that evening i sat in front of the stove sipping a nightcap and watching the flames flicker, tomorrow, Friday, i have to return home to Kent.

I have a hospital appointment on Sunday and need to get back to sort out transport etc.

Not sure when i'll get back to the boat but hopefuly not too far away.

240 volt system

Friday 6 th December.

I went to the boat today. My intention this weekend is to install a 240 volt system on the boat, which will then enable me to use power tools during the 'other' jobs that i have planned for Bracken. Also of course i will also be able to connect up things like a battery charger, phone charger, vacuum cleaner etc..
There is 240 volt available on the pontoon but so far I've been unable to use it.
Arriving at the boat after a 3 and a half hour drive up from Kent, i unpacked a few things i had brought with me, lit the fire and put the kettle on. As it was by then nearly 4 pm i was losing the daylight so no time to start work. Instead i pottered about checking all was well since my last visit when we brought Bracken up from Mercia marina.
 Graham had been over a couple of times and i was very pleased to see nice dry bilges, (area under the rear deck round the engine), obviously Graham's efforts with the grease gun and the mop had done the trick.
(Injecting grease in the stern tube stops water seeping past the propeller shaft and into the bilge area).
Toasty warm inside now i sat planning the following days work. Where to put the incoming socket, where to run the cabling to the consumer unit and then from the consumer unit  to the sockets, and where to put the sockets?
I stayed the night at Graham and Jackie s, well after a chicken and chips supper i didn't feel like driving back to the boat, and anyway the fire had probably gone out by now, and it was warm there, and i'd had a couple of scotches. :)

Saturday 7 th December.

After breakfast at the railway cafe G and i made our way to the boat. We decided the best place for the incoming socket was just left of the window on the rear bulkhead, so armed with his cordless drill G drilled through the 6mm steel bulkhead and the pine interior panelling, a hole large enough to take the Arctic cable that was going to bring the power into the boat and down to the consumer unit.
Meanwhile l was fixing the socket mounting boxes in place, one double socket in the saloon, two double sockets in the galley area, and one double socket in the bedroom, ready to receive the cabling.
Having threaded the Arctic (thick walled) cable through the bulkhead, G drilled and tapped the 4 holes to screw the exterior socket in place and l busied myself wiring the consumer unit which we had decided to fit under the 'L' shaped seat.

Having wired the consumer unit l then screwed it to the ply lining of the bulkhead. Its accessible but out of the way under the seat area.

You can see in the above picture, the blue cable on the right is arctic cable bringing power in and the grey cable on the left feeds to the domestic sockets through a 16 amp MCB (miniature circuit breaker)
The white cable at the bottom goes into the engine compartment through a 6 amp MCB to a socket, for things like battery charger etc.

Time for lunch  :)         Graham in the galley preparing a culinary delight.

Saturday evening, Me, Graham, and Jackie took a chinese takeaway over to Jenny's and had a lovely evening of nosh and chat and generaly caught up on family news.

Sunday 8 th December.
We finished connecting up the sockets, ran a wire through the bulkhead into the engine compartment for a single socket for things like battery charger, lead light etc, connected up the shoreline and tested all sockets worked and the main circuit breaker worked, no problem.
(Sorry i forgot to take pictures of the finished job, i'll try and remember to take some next time i'm up there.)
After all our work we went home to a lurvely Sunday roast and after a short doze i started the 3 and a half hour drive back to Kent as i had work booked for Monday.