Gazelle

I read about narrowboat Gazelle, on sale some weeks ago. I passed her today at Aynho. For the price being asked £118,000 she was in a state, externally at least.

Solo Again

I started late from Aynho Wharf and then had to queue for 1 1/2 hours at Somerton lock. I put Arrow's life jacket on him because he has a knack for falling in the canal, sometimes the locks. As Somerton is one of the deepest narrow locks on the system I felt it would be prudent. Even though I had to wait for so long to get into the lock there was plenty of help once there as there were at least four boat crews waiting their turn.

Somerton Deep Lock

3 miles, 5½ flg and 1 lock.

Moored at Somerton.

Solo to Aynho

Day 5 of the delivery cruise. I was by myself for this part of the cruise. Siobhan stayed at home to play a new game on the Wii. A three foot long area of paint below the gunwhales has been scraped down to the metal by the metal piling at the canal side where Syncopation was moored against the inside edge of a curve at Cropredy. More maintenance next week.
The weather was warm and sunny. Moored at Aymho Marina.


Total distance is 11 miles, 2½ flg and 8 locks.

Blogger's Boat Spotted

Here is Alnwick at Cropredy
 
Owned by Graham and Jane Oliver.

Delivery Cruise Day 4

We were rudely awakened by boats trying to pass us. During the early morning the first two boats to pass dislodged the pin from the front mooring. Luckily our mooring pins have a loop at the top and I'd passed the mooring rope through these and the pin was easy to retrieve from the water. After a prompt start at 08:00 we continued southwards. There is a long lock-free stretch from Napton top lock for the next 11 miles to Claydon locks and this took most of the morning to cover.

Dominic and Cathy jumped ship at the first lock, Varney's to go home and fetch Ewan's car seat. I carried on single handed to bridge 153 in Cropredy, site of the famous Bridge stores, spotting the narrowboat Alnwick just before mooring on the 14 day moorings at the south of Cropredy.

Moored at Cropredy.

Total distance is 13 miles, 6½ flg and 9 locks.

Delivery Cruise, Day 3

We got off to a late start after shuffling cars, passing through Braunston, taking on fuel at Braunston Boat Services (next to the Bottom Lock Chandlery). We made good time however, arriving next to the Engine Arm at Napton before the farmhouse cream teas closed. Ewan opted for a strawberry ice cream and was served with Napton Waterbuffalo ice cream. I would have liked to try some but he ate it all.

Thanks are also due to our friend Andy Ogden who accompanied us from Daventry to Napton, crewing ably.

Moored at Napton top lock.

Total distance is 9 miles, 3½ flg and 8 locks.

Up Whilton locks

The delivery cruise continues. Today we spent a leisurely afternoon going up the Whilton locks in the company of nb Selena Rose. Arrow was dressed in his new lifejacket. He has fallen in the canal at least daily whenever we are on the boat and occasionally ends up in locks so we bought him a lifejacket for when we cruise the Thames.

Total distance is 1 mile, 2½ flg and 5 locks.

Moored just below Buckby top lock.

Delivery Cruise

I started the delivery cruise in preparationfor this year's holiday (the journey to put the boat in the starting position for the start of the holiday) today. Syncopation is looking a little disreputable as the trees hanging over the mooring were cut down a couple of days ago leaving all the boats covered in chainsaw dust. This is a very coarse sawdust, made of flakes up to ten millimetres square. Some of it started to blow away in the light breezes we encountered but the majority of it has been glued to the roof by recent rains.

Total distance is 12 miles, ½ flg and 0 locks.

Moored at Whilton locks.

When 3/4 inch is not 3/4 inch

When I ordered the replacement hose fitting for the calorifier I measured the thread on the fitting to be replaced. I naively assumed that 3/4 inch measured across the thread meant it was 3/4 BSP thread. When the part arrived I found the existing fitting will nearly fit inside the new one which has an outside diameter of nearly an inch. Turns out 3/4 inch BSP thread refers to the internal diameter of the steel tube it was designed to be on the outside of. My fitting is actually a 1/2 inch BSP thread. I'll have to visit the chandlery in person tomorow to try to find a matching part.
If they don't have one in stock I'll have to decide whether to start the delivery cruise tomorrow with the calorifier disconnected or leave it another week and risk not making it to Oxford in time for the start of August.

Waiting for Bits

I'm waiting for parts for Syncopation. Two Sundays ago I started tackling a small leak on the Calorifier feed pipe (not the one that went last time) and found the same problem with the connector as I had on the other side. After nearly a week of faffing about I ordered the part from www.chandleryworld.co.uk and am still waiting for it to be delivered. It should arrive today. If all goes well I'll be able to fit it before Saturday in time for the start of the pre-holiday delivery cruise o Oxford.
I also decided to fix a very minor leak under the bathroom basin. Copper pipes and push fit plumbing don't go together well when the copper pipe has been cut square with something like a hacksaw in the factory. The bathroom tap hot pipe had damaged the pushfit pipe fitting o-ring and this developed a slow drip last Easter. I had to dismantle the cold feed as well to get to the hot feed and when I reassembled it after fixing the leak on the hot feed I found I have a leak on the cold feed. Now I have the parts to fix the cold feed (compression elbow fitting) and I'll fit that when I go to the boat to fit the calorifier feed pipe.

Aldershot

I was sent to Aldershot for two days by my employers. While there I found the statue of the Duke of Wellington that was removed from the top of the Wellington Arch near Hyde Park in 1883. The Duke lived in Apsley House on Hyde Park corner. The statue used to be on top of the arch in front of the house in Wellington Square. It was moved to Aldershot in 1885 and restored in 2004.

Roses Completed

Here are pictures of the finished results. The first two are of the inside of the two side hatches:

And the last picture is of the rear hatch doors:

Roses

I've been practising painting traditional roses for the boat. Here's the most recent practice piece.

I've just completed the panels on Syncopation and I'll post pictures later when I've taken some.

Happy Birthday Arrow

It's Arrow's second birthday today.

Crick

It's that time of the year again. We went to Crick for the boat show. It was hot, but bearable. The children enjoyed a trip in a Bell boat courtesy of Northamptonshire Scouts.
I went through all the marquees looking for a Smartgauge. Unsuccessfully. I also had a look at some canal art. I'm trying to get the shape of the petals on my roses right before committing to completing the roses on Syncopation.
I also found a nice slant on the traditional diamond pattern on an Ownerships narrowboat, King Arthur:

Lamp Shade

Another visit to the vet for the dog. The stitches have to stay in a bit longer. The cast has been removed from Arrow's paw but he now has to wear this lampshade to keep him from picking at the stitches.

A Visit To The Vet

Arrow went lame while we were out walking so I brought him home as soon as possible. In the dark there was a little blood visible on his paw. Half an hour later he was still bleeding on the bathroom floor so I called out the emergency vet and we went to meet her at the surgery. She kept him in overnight to repair his paw. He'd managed to cut open one of his pads - to the bone. Luckily he missed the tendons and major nerves. He came home from the vet with his paw in a cast and a course of antibiotics.

Home Again

We set off early (for us) as we wanted to be sure of arriving back in Blisworth with daylight to spare.

We stopped at Cosgrove for lunch:

and travelled in the company of a convoy of 12 boats from the Lionheart Boat Club of Great Linford whose membership are restricted to a maximum length of 38 feet as they moor pointing out into the canal in a layby. The great advantage is that they can fit four of their boats into a Grand Union broad lock at a time. Unlike the broad beam "Moose Drool" which completely filled the lock, going in the opposite direction.

We passed Castlethorpe Wharf from which we could just about see the windows of our first home at 3 South Street. At Stoke Bruerne we refuelled with ice cream at the Boat Inn before tackling the Blisworth tunnel. We met a novice steerer on a boat from Gayton Marina in the tunnel a short way from the north portal who stopped and it took a few minutes for them to straighten out enough to pass. We finally moored Syncopation at her home mooring again at about 5.30 PM.

Moored at Blisworth.

Total distance is 13 miles, 1¾ flg and 8 locks.

Back Through Milton Keynes

We passed back through Leighton Buzzard, picking up a replacement satellite cable connector from Homebase as well as essential supplies at Tesco and passing the Wyvern Shipping hire base.

We passed through Milton Keynes again in the afternoon, a surprisingly attractive place from the canal and stopped in Stantonbury.

Moored Stantonbury Bridge no. 75.

Total distance is 19 miles, ¼ flg and 8 locks.

Turn-Around

We turned around and headed back north to our home moorings today. We left Berkhamstead in the morning, passing back trough the Tring summit level and back down the Marsworth flight (hello again nb Harnser). We stopped for lunch near Wilstone reservoir, one of the ones built at Marsworth to supply water for the canal. They are also very picturesque, with attractive walks on their margins. We ventured into the woods and found mud and a stream.

After we had emptied his wellingtons, showered him down and dressed him in dry clothes Ewan was fine.

Moored at Slapton.

Total distance is 11 miles, ½ flg and 23 locks.

Marsworth and the Tring Summit Level

Cathy left for the day to deliver some of her paintings to exhibitions at Stowe House (Buckingham Art for All) and the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. We were joined by our friends Brian and June and their daughter Hannah for the day.

We passed up the Marsworth flight to the Tring summit level and then began descending to Berkhamstead where we stopped for the night.

At the bottom of the Marsworth flight is the junction with the Aylesbury arm.
I walked this arm as part of a sponsored event when I was at school in Aylesbury in the late seventies.

At the top of the flight is Bulbourne junction where the Wendover arm branches off and wooden narrowboats are still built and repaired at Bates' boatyard.

At Cowroast we passed the working pair Owl and Hampton.

Moored at Berkhamstead.

Total distance is 9 miles, 7 flg and 21 locks.

Near Ivinghoe

We passed through Leighton Buzzard today with it's very usefully located canalside Tesco store. The nearby DIY store is great for hardware bits as well.

We passed this caravan and lots of wildfowl including several herons and a pair of mandarin ducks.

Moored near Ivinghoe

Total distance is 9 miles, 5½ flg and 8 locks

After Milton Keynes

Today was a day of aqueducts and surprisingly green route through Milton Keynes. We passed Thrupp Wharf near Castlethorpe where we lived just after we got married in 1989. I often imagined passing that spot in our own boat. Today was that day. Later we passed over the new Grafton Street aqueduct.



We picked up our friends the Stockers for a couple of hours in the afternoon, dropping them off at Fenny Stratford lock.



This raft appears to have been abandoned in the canal.


We arrived at Willowbridge marina in the nick of time to fill Syncopation's fuel tanks.

Moored Near Stoke Hammond.

Total distance is 17 miles, 7¼ flg and 3 locks

Yardley Gobion Again

We have returned to Yardley Gobion, the destination of our initial weekend cruise in Syncopation. This time we're out for a little longer and the boat has a few more battle scars. We started out just after 4PM and arrived near Yardley at about 8PM.

Moored near Yardley Wharf.
Total distance 6 miles, 2¾ flg and 7 locks and 1 tunnel.

Spring

I did some spring cleaning today. Upholstery mostly as we've recently acquired a Vax.

Spring has sprung in Blisworth. The blossom is out over Syncopation. There are still a lot of little jobs I'd like to get done but it seems unlikely any more will be before we go boating the week after next.

Syncopation Spotted

Hadar passed Syncopation at her mooring yesterday. See the picture of the cherry blossom.

Water at Gayton

Last weekend saw me washing the outside of Syncopation for the first time this year. There was a lot of decayed leaf and algae to scrub off the non-slip roof surface. I washed the sides down and everything looks shiny again. Today I took Syncopation up to Gayton junction to fill the fresh water tank and empty the toilet cassette. I even had enough time after I tied up at our mooring to polish one brass mushroom vent. As it had a solid accumulation of tarnish developed since last October it took nearly 30 minutes. At that rate I have a good two or three hours of polishing ahead of me to get all the exterior brasswork sparkling again!

The Last Flying Vulcan Needs You

The Vulcan to the Sky trust need your help. They restored Avro Vulcan XH558 to airworthiness and it's a remarkable thing to see this relic of the cold war in flight. But now they are running out of funds. You can pledge cas on their web site or sign the petition to ask the Government to step in to help assure the future of this unique aircraft.

Dog in Harness

Arrow is a dog who loves to pull on a lead. He's like a small carthorse when he's got his lead on. That's why he now wears a Halti head collar whenever he is out with us. The collar stops all the pulling.

Girly Switch Back On

After some consultation with Vetus I have managed to fix Syncopation's bow-thruster. The problem began when I inadvertantly replaced the bow thruster battery back to front after removing it for charging. The main supply fuse blew when the bow thruster battery formed a short circuity with the main domestic battery bank. After correcting that problem I found the bow thruster control panel would not switch on. After I checked all the wiring and the supply fuse at the bow thruster end I was at a loss. After a quick call to Vetus and a post on the Canalworld forums I decided to check the supply panel fuse inside the bow thruster unit. I had found this fuse before but it looked like another socket for a cable connection. Today I replaced the fuse and everything works!

In the meantime, Mill Wharf Boats have replaced the main water supply pump filter housing under guarantee. The filter cover has cracked three times since we took delivery and leaked into the saloon. Hopefully a complete new filter housing will resolve this.

Time to Get the Haynes Manual Out

On Thursday Cathy started the Picasso up not realising the wipers were switched on and the blades were frozen to the windscreen. Both wiper arms were bent and the wiper blades were destroyed.


On the Picasso the wipers cross in the middle of the screen, passing wihtin about a centimeter of each other. They were impossible to bend back accurately and so one of the arms had to be removed so that the drivers side wiper could work unobstructed.

Our friendly local mechanic tried to order new wiper arms only to find that there are none available until after 24 Feb.

So we hit the internet looking for second-hand wiper arms and came up with a good deal from Cit-Ren. The parts arrived today (the day after they were ordered) and I will fit them this weekend with the help of my trusty Haynes manual.

Lunch Time in the Snow

Lots of snow here so I'm working from home as the transport infrastructure between here and Central London is somewhat unreliable. So in my lunch break I was able to play with the family. We built snow men, sledged down the slopes in the nearby fields on teatrays, had snowball fights and watched the dog running around.

Charging all the Time

I reconnected the warning lamp on the domestic alternator and now have a charge being supplied to the batteries whenever the engine is running. As expected, the Victron multiplus tends to run through a very short charging cycle as it now detects the voltage being supplied by the domestic alternator and assumes the batteries are at full charge. On balance it's probably the arrangement that is most likely to ensure the batteries are adequately charged because the 240 v supply to the Victron is only likely to be present for about 50% of the time the engine is running.

Party Flood

We threw a floating party for Siobhan's eighth birthday. We made our way up the cut from our mooring at Blisworth to the winding point at the top of Rothersthorpe locks turned there and went back to Blisworth. We stopped at Gayton Junction for a Pinata.



Here I am with the chinese dragon pinata suspended from the boat hook on the tow path. The greatest danger during the exercise is from young children swinging a stick. It is much worse if the child is wearing a blindfold - something we just had to try.

Alas, as we approached Blisworth again and after running three bowls of washing up water the cover on the freshwater pump cracked again, just like last summer. We're quite practised in the leaking pump drill now and the situation was under control in about 30 seconds. I think I'll be returning the whole pump under guarantee rather than just the cover this time.

Total distance is 3 miles, 6¼ flg and 0 locks.

Multiple Charging Circuits

I returned to the boat with a new fuse for the bow thruster circuit. Once connected I measured the voltage at the bow thruster with the Travelpower providing 240ac to the Victron Multiplus inverter/charger. All is well there. Further tests at the domestic battery bank revealed the domestic alternator was not supplying any current.Time for a bit more wire tracing. With the help of the Beta Marine engine manual I found the cable that normally connects the domestic alternator D+ terminal had been cut at the engine end. This meant that the alternator will not start supplying current until it reaches quite high revs.
Alternator fact: The alternator only needs a current to energise it at low revs. At high revs the weak magnetic field already present in the rotor will generate enough current to energise the alternator.
I think it was disconnected to avoid having the alternator and Victron compete to charge the batteries. I'm going to reconnect it because the domestic alternator is essential for recharging while cruising when the Travelpower is not running. The two charging systems will only compete in as much as the one with the lowest voltage output will shut down and leave the field clear for the other. I'd rather have the two systems running than none at all as we had when the Travelpower drive belt broke.

Things that Go Pop

After two weeks of battery-pampering I returned the batteries to Syncopation. There were five to refit: four domestic and one bow-thruster. I put the bow-thruster back in first and then got to work trimming the side of the battery box to make replacing the domestic batteries easier. Twenty minutes later I had all the batteries in and began connecting them. I connected the cable from the bow thruster battery to the first in the domestic bank and was surprised by a fat spark. When I touched the terminal with the cable again there was a bigger spark and the nearby fuse blew. Oops! A quick check revealed I had put the bow thruster back in back to front, so the 175 Amp fuse protecting the bt battery charging cable blew when I completed the circuit.

When everything was connected I started the engine and checked the battery voltage and found as I suspected that the domestic alternator was supplying no charge. I switched on the Travelpower and fired up the Victron Multiplus and found a healthy charge going into the batteries.

A check of the instrument panel revealed no red light on starting the engine for the domestic alternator so I traced the cable from the back of the panel. The loose cable looked suspicious and proved to be the connection from the alternator to the charge light - so no charge. It was easy to fix - just plug it in - and the domestic alternator was still not charging. Further investigation required I think.

Batteries

I brought the four domestic batteries home from Syncopation at the weekend. On our last voyage the batteries were flattened when we lost the Travelpower and then tried to bake a cake in the electric oven. I've run the engine for only a few hours since then and have been concerned about the batteries' state of charge.
I discovered that it's rather difficult to remove the batteries from thebox
they are housed in because it was installed before the frame that supports the engine room floor. To make life easier I think I'll have to make a door in the side of the box that I can remove the batteries through. It will need to be strong enough to stop the batteries falling out as well. I suspect I also need a new charger at home because the one I have takes more than 24 hours to charge a 110 Ah battery. At this rate it will take most of the week to charge all these batteries.

Travelpower Fixed

I spent most of today at the boat. I went to Syncopation with two drive belts (one spare). I had to remove the domestic alternator belt to get the new belt on the Travelpower alternator. While I was in there I retensioned the engine alternator belt also. Once it was all back together again I took her for a spin up to Gayton marina and back to put some charge into the batteries.

While I was beavering away in the engine 'ole I was passed by to coal boats in the space of 30 minutes. First was Jubilee going north, then it was Bletchley, going south.

Fish 4 Parts

The quest for a new Travelpower drive belt has come to a close at last with the internet supplier Fish4Parts coming up with the right part. After trying numerous on-line suppliers and three different chandlers unsuccessfully I hit upon Fish 4 Parts. When I couldn't find a 6PK1280 poly-vee belt on their web site I rang their contact number and their sales staff have found what I need. I just have to wait for it to arrive now.

Unfortunately we completely flattened Syncopation's domestic battery bank on the way home on Saturday and I'm not convinced the domestic alternator is supplying a charge so they batteries will stay flat until I can fit the new Travelpower belt and charge the batteries that way.

Return to Blisworth

The night on the shore power at Wilton marina left our batteries fully charged while allowing us to cook. We had to be careful not to exceed the maximum 16 amps available at the supply so only one ring on the hob was available at a time.
We travelled back to Blisworth this afternoon having shuffled the cars again. We arrived at about 3:30 PM and made it home to our cold house at 5:30 PM after unloading and tidying up the boat.

Total distance is 11 miles, 7½ flg and 0 locks.

Day Trip to Wales

I've been driving the car for the best part of seven hours today. I drove to Aberdovey to collect Dominic from the first UK Tourettes Camp, arranged by Tourettes Action. This event was inspired by the US version, made known in this country by the ITV documentary in 2006. In the meantime Cathy brought Syncopation down the Buckby flight to Wilton Marina single handed. We are spending the night on a mooring in the marina - with shore power. Our batteries are nicely charged now.

Wilton Marina chandlery are the third in two days to match the power transmission belt that broke yesterday. Looks like it will have to wait until we get home and I can visit a motor factors.

All week I've posted no photos in this blog because although I'm taking pictures I forgot to bring a cable to connect camera to computer and I've got no card reader. When we get back home I'll download the pictures and add them to the blog.

Total distance is 3 miles, 1¼ flg and 7 locks.

Moored at Wilton Marina.

Generator Woes

We returned to Braunston today with the intention of pushing on until we reached the bottom of the Buckby flight on the Grand Union. Just past the Admiral Nelson pub on the Braunston flight of locks and there were ominous noises from the engine 'ole. Flappy noises like a broken drive belt. 30 minutes dismantling revealed the drive belt for the Travelpower generator had started to shred and was down to about 60% of its normal width.
I cut the belt and took it to Braunston chandlers at the bottom lock but they didn't have the right one in stock. We are going to complete our week away without the Travelpower. We'll have to be very careful cooking - the inverter can run the oven by itself and with the engine running the domestic alternator can supply the power required so we won't flatten the batteries but we can't use the hob at the same time.

Near Napton junction we passed Moore 2 Life again.

Total distance is 9 miles, 4 flg and 6 locks.

Moored at Welton Wharf.

Windmill and the Pill Boxes

I set off up the hill with Arrow to the excellent Napton post office and stores to post some letters and packages for Cathy and buy some milk and bread.

We made our way up to the Old Engine Arm to turn at lunch time then made our way back to yesterday's mooring at Napton.

All the way around Napton you can see the windmill:

Also prominent are the WWII pill boxes by the canal side, part of the strategic defences against invasion in 1941:

On the way back I spotted nb Skyy, moored near the butty Betelgeuse, another picture here. The men from Canal and River Services were busy between locks 9 and 10 dredging the pound and remaking the towpath.

Total distance is 3 miles, 3 flg and 14 locks.

Napton in the Snow

We set off late from Braunston after finding they had no coal at Midland chandlers. It started snowing around an hour after we set off and continued until we stopped as the light failed at Napton. Siobhan started making a small snowman on the towpath.

The coal was running low and we found Midland chandlers at Braunston Turn don't stock it. Fortunately we encountered the coal boat Gosty Hill just after Napton Junction and bought a bag of smokeless fuel from them. We passed nb Moore 2 Life just after the junction.

Total distance is 6 miles, 7¾ flg and 0 locks.

Moored at bridge 112, Napton.

Single Handed to Braunston

Cathy took Dominic to his Tourettes Camp at Aberdovy Outward Bound centre. This left me with the other two children and Syncopation all to myself. We made our way up the remainder of the locks in the Buckby flight in the company of another narrowboat whose name I can't recall. Just in time to empty both cassettes from the toilet and fill up the fresh water tank. We passed the moored BW piling flats and workboats

at Norton junction

and turned west, passing through the Braunston tunnel, down the Braunston locks in the company of nb Pilipala. I dropped in to the chandlery at the bottom lock for paint to touch up the scratches on Syncopation's side and a pole to replace the pole that was stolen sometime in the last few weeks.

Total distance is 4 miles, 6¼ flg and 8 locks.

Moored at Braunston.

Long Buckby Wharf

After spending the night at Blisworth we've stopped short of Braunston as we ran out of daylight. We were aiming to be in Braunston this evening but had to tie up because we wasted too much time buying diesel at Whilton Marina (79 p per litre) and shuffling cars early on. We left one car at Braunston and the other at Bugbrooke wharf where we met Cathy.

At Long Buckby locks we met a lady walking along the towpath with a barn owl. The lady cares for injured owls. This one was too badly injured to be returned to the wild and is now kept as a pet.

Total distance is 12 miles, 7 flg and 5 locks

I had to cycle to Braunston to pick up the car, collect the other car from Bugbrooke wharf and take it back to Long Buckby Wharf. We then took the whole family back to Long Buckby for dinner at the Wharf pub. Finally we returned to the boat at Long Buckby in both cars.

At Gayton Junction

I took Syncopation up to Gayton Junction to top up her water tank. While filling up, the Maisibert passed by:

Then back top the moorings at Blisworth until next week.