Devon

We spent the weekend in Devon with my sister Judi and her partner Brian. They live on a farm near Honiton and have the benefit of views like this

It's taken far too long to find a panorama editing program to stitch these pictures together and the results are not outstanding.

Update:
The panorama above was created with Panorama Factory (the free version (v1.6 ca. 1999). The one below was created using Autostitch with better results, no ghosting or obvious joins and a lot less manual intervention to fix the inadequacies. Maybe that's just the difference 8 years makes.

Bulkheads fitted

Syncopation's internal bulkheads have been fitted and it has immediately become a lot easier to visualise how the internal spaces will feel.

Calorifier installed.


This blue cylinder will be hidden under the bed in the rear cabin. It is fed hot water from the engine cooling circuit and the diesel central heating boiler to provide hot water for showers and washing.
Looking forward from the same position into the bathroom:

Beyond the bathroom is the bunk room.




In the galley looking back towards the bunk room:

Ballasted

Syncopation has now been ballasted. Originally designed to carry 25 tons of cargo, narrowboats need to be ballasted these days. Even though Syncopation is twelve feet shorter at 60 feet and shallower draughted than a working boat would be a sofa and some kitchen cabinets still weigh a lot less than the potential cargo that could be carried in the space provided in the cabin. This is why there are a few tons of concrete blocks under the floor to ensure that she sits properly in the water.

Running Dog

Arrow is really quite hard to photograph in motion. Here's the best so far:

I cheated here. The picture you see is just a small portion of the middle of a much larger picture, cropped to make the subject central.

Not a Bomb Shelter

A picture from the building where I work:

Pipes and Wires

Work progesses on Syncopation. The water supply and heating plumbing has been installed and the electric cables for the interior 12v and 240v circuits have been hung in place.




Syncopation still seems quite large inside - probably due to the lack of interior fittings or bulkheads. I'm still working on a Photoshopped picture of the proposed exterior paint scheme.
In the meantime here's the current exterior view:

From the steerer's position:




And from across the cut:

Engine In

The Cocooned Beta Engine has now been fitted to Syncopation. Looks a bit like a fridge.

But inside there's a real Beta Marine engine with 5 kVA travelpower generator.


And the flexible coupling between gear box and prop shaft:


The exterior of the shell has received another coat of primer and a coat of undercoat to protect it until May when the coachpainting will be done.

LG in the Wash

I put my flash drive through the wash last week.

By accident of course. It was in my trouser pocket and went through a complete cycle in the washing machine. Luckily we use the lowest temperature setting, 30C but I am still impressed that it never missed a beat when I plugged it in after it had a day or so to dry out. All my data was still there.

Police at Lunch Time

At lunch time I found the road outside the office was blocked.
More than 22,000 police officers were marching to Parliament Square to protest about their pay. They weren't allowed to wear their uniforms so they all wore the same hat.

The Dog's.. Or Rather Lack Thereof

Arrow has been to the vet again for that operation. He was beginning to cock his leg while out and about and had recently developed a tendency to attempted intimacy with visitors' legs - particularly male visitors. We know it's a dominance thing as he never attempted it with me or other family members where the pecking order is prettty well established.

I've got the most tenuous link to canals here as I've seen a picture somewhere of the signwriting on a narrowboat called "The Dogs", with home mooring advertised as Bow Locks. I tried to find the picture again without luck but I did check to see if it's registered by looking in the searchable index on the most excellent Jim Shead's site and here it is:

THE DOGS Built by WELTONFIELD N/BTS LD - Length: 52 feet 6 inches (16.00 metres) Beam: 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 metres).Metal hull power of 30BHP. Registered with BW number 51035 as a Powered.

Update:

The most excellent Mr Denny has responded with a link to the picture I recalled.

Scavenging

A dog's got to eat everything that presents itself:

Roses and Castles

Our thoughts have turned to the final appearance of Syncopation. Initial thoughts are that the colourscheme will be redolent of the later Fellows Morton and Clayton livery (more later), with a light dusting of roses and castles inside, probably restricted to the interior of of the back doors and hatches. To this end I've been researching narrowboat decoration. Warrior Woman has made a post showing some of her roses and I've got copies of Tony Lewery's excellent books:
Flowers Afloat

Narrowboat Painting

and with Edward Paget-Tomlinson : Colours of the Cut

Final Drawings

I returned the final drawings for Syncopation to the fitters on Monday. The last few details were the detailed placement of furniture in the bedroom at the rear of the boat. Work will recommence in the next few days as winter maintenance on the Ownerships fleet is completed.

Puppet Sweat

Just watched a familiar Thunderbirds episode: Sun Probe. It's where the Tracy boys have to rescue a space probe that gets too near the sun.

The puppets spend about half the episode suffering the effects of the sun's heat and sweating copiously, something which is quite strange. It's our duty as parents to introduce the next generation to Gerry Anderson's excellent creations and we've just started showing then to our youngest.

All Quiet

Syncopation is still afloat. I checked yesterday to make sure. No progress, as expected. I now have the first draft of the final plan for the interior layout. The bedroom at the rear of the boat still needs some thought as to where cupboards are going to go. Work is expected to recommence at the beginning of January with the installation of the engine. There is a small amount (a pint at most) of water in the cabin bilge, from condensation on the houdini hatches. With three of them, condensation can be an issue. This is something we will have to bear in mind when we are using the boat and make sure there is plenty of ventilation.

He can Jump

I think Arrow must be near full size now. He's a little over six months old:

His training is also coming along. Cathy started on the remote control commands at training class today. He has to lie down at a distance. This is new for him as all rewards have been given to him by one of us so he's used to coming to us for his reward. Now he's learning to lie down on cammand at the other side of the room and has his reward thrown to him. He also jumps for treats:

Dog with a New Bed

Arrow has chewed up a double blanket he was given for a bed so we bought a new bed for him from the market:

And a new toy to distract him from chewing his bed.

This one has a hole in the middle where you can hide treats so that it's rewarding for the dog to play with. The only problem is that Arrow keeps losing it under the sofa.

Monmoth and Brecon

I'm here near Brecon on a school trip. Dominic and I are enjoying the fresh air and open spaces of mid-Wales at Woodlands outdoor education centre in Glasbury. On the program are hill walking, canoeing and caving. We went canoeing on the Monmouth and Brecon canal today. We were last here a couple of years ago for a holiday on the Mon and Brec with Castle narrowboats when we took our hired boat from Gilwern to Brecon and back. Sadly however the canal is closed to navigation (except canoes) for what may be a long time after the recent breach at Gilwern.

Potato Hound

Some people have dogs that do useful jobs like herd sheep or find truffles. Arrow digs up potatoes from the garden. We had a patch of potatoes that self-seeded from the remains of the compost heap. Last year we harvested them and this year there were enough left to grow another small crop. I'm not sure if potato digging is a useful activity for a young dog. He doesn't eat them but most emerge badly scarred with claw marks.

Here he is, resting after his labours.

Tidy

Syncopation's baseplate has now been cleaned and blacked inside, ready for ballasting. The lining has been oiled and given a coat of varnish to protect it during fit-out. Nothing significant is likely to happen for a couple of months as the boatyard are going to be busy with winter maintenance of the fleet of shared ownership boats based there.

Checking the stern tube.