Boat Safety Scheme test

Relativity had her boat safety examination today. We knew she was going to fail but we decided to go ahead anyway to see what needed doing. The things we were worried about (gas pipes) were all fine and Ian managed to rectify a couple of other minor things whilst the examiner was still here which just leaves a leaking diesel hose which we hope to replace tomorrow. Dad is going to catch the bus to High Wycombe to a company that will make hoses on the spot and see if they can replace it. Once that is done she can pass her exam and get her full Thames license. Yeee ha.

A swan for dinner

There we were, eating our dinner with the side hatch open and a swan stuck his head in to see if there was anything spare.

I heard my first cuckoo this morning too.

A mammoth journey

Well folks, I've had a chance to rest and reflect on the events of the last couple of weeks. It has been an amazing one both physically, emotionally and spiritually.

We have:

• covered 146.28 miles, 137 locks and 26 moveable bridges
• re-wired the engine and 12v circuits completely
• replaced almost all of the diesel fuel feed piping
  
• heavily modified the 240v circuits and installed a new inverter and battery charging system
• brought the gas piping up to the necessary standard
• removed 2 stoves and installed a new one
• moved all the batteries into the engine bay and out of one of the bedrooms
• constructed 2 pieces of Ikea furniture
• screwed the table back on to the wall a couple of times
• bandaged innumerable bumps, cuts, bruises, and burns
• so many things that I can't remember right now.
  

but I should point out that my dad has done an awful lot of the work whilst Relativity has been under way. We have managed not to drop a single spanner or screwdriver in to a canal however we did lose a length of gas pipe at one point.

During the journey we have been looking after my mum's dog whilst she was on holiday. He has run along the tow path almost all the way. As I type he is lying asleep under my feet. A well earned rest for a very fit dog!

Life is a journey. Our family and friends join us for various bits of life's journey and some of it we must travel on our own. The last couple of weeks have been just like that. There are times where I have stood on my own in the rain whilst steering Relativity through the canal network. There have been times where friends and family have come and stood by me in both wind, rain and sunshine. we have laughed and cried together (especially when things have broken) and we have struggled with, and overcome, all sorts of challenges. I have been immensely heartened by the love, care and interest shown by the loads of you who have been following this blog and especially by those who have been able to find the time to come and visit or even just phone or email encouragement. Those who have turned up with food parcels have been particularly welcome ;-)

One of the big changes in my life is the recovery of hospitality. I love having visitors and I hope that those who have come and visited have found the atmosphere on board Relativity to be a welcoming and friendly one.

So what happens next? Well, now that I'm back in Reading I need to get on with the business of finding paid employment, working out how to live alone, and working out how to be an effective father to my children whilst not living in the same home as them most of the time. This blog will now become a record of that journey rather than the physical journey of a boat.

She is, however, a wonderful boat and I'll still be posting pictures and stories of her progress and restoration.

This really is the end of the first chapter in my new life and the new life of Relativity. I hope that you will enjoy the following chapters and, in whatever way makes sense, play your part in the story.

Home at last

We're here! Finally, but also a day ahead of schedule. Ian and I are exhausted but happy and the weather is fantastic.

Our first guest has arrived already. No hanging about there then. Do come and visit soon.

A longer entry for today will be done tonight. For the moment I'm just enjoying the rest.

Reading at last

Just a quick post to say that we have arrived in Reading. We've just moored up next to Caversham Bridge to pick up our lunch guests.

More later.

Home today

Just a quick note to say that I expect to be arriving in Reading sometime between 3 & 4 this afternoon. Do come down to the river and say hi. Call to let me know you're coming and we'll plan a place to meet.

This picture was the Thames at about 9:30 last night. a 2 second exposure and everything is peaceful and calm. Wonderful.

The final stretch

Wow! What a day.

We set off in cold mist and finished off the Oxford Canal. The last bit is one of my least favourite stretches of canals. It is lined by bad tempered people who complain every time a boat goes past - ok, not all of them are bad tempered.

And then we got on to the Thames. The sun came out, the river opened up and it was wonderful. I love the Thames when she's like this, gently flowing, clear and lazy. This is the first moment of Relativity making waves on the Thames

We've made amazing progress and are in danger of getting to Reading tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon instead of Wednesday! We managed 26 miles, 12 locks and 6 swing bridges today.

We've entertained a couple of guests today, one stayed for lunch in Oxford (how civilised) and the other came for tea in Shillingford. I love the idea that Relativity is beginning to relax into her new life - hospitality - if you come to visit at a meal time, expect to be fed. Not necessarily very well, I'm still learning not to include tomato ketchup with everything ;-) but the kitchen is slowly becoming better stocked. We even have salt and pepper now!

A name on her bow

I've had a fabulous weekend away and came back to find that dad and more visitors had moved Relativity a few more miles towards home. We're now in Thrupp, just north of Oxford.

Also, in the post, arrived the wherewithal to put her name on her bow. It looks amazing in mirror finish chrome. The photos just don't do it justice. You'll have to come and see her for yourself.
Tomorrow Oxford and the Thames. Should be home by Wednesday afternoon. I am so excited.

Dad has made such progress on the various non-sexy things like gas lines and such that are necessary for the Boat Safety Scheme certificate. Thanks pops.

A short day

I knew today was going to be minimal miles and all we managed to do was from Somerton to Heyford Wharf - a grand total of 3.3 miles, 1 swing bridge and 2 locks!

I decided to try and have a bit of a sleep in after getting to bed at 5am (sorry dad, tried not to wake you) but woke at 7:30 and couldn't get back to sleep!

Anyway, I'm now away for the weekend having a very restful time at Emmaus House in Bristol so this will be the last blog entry until Sunday evening.

Real progress

Today we entertained another guest and all three boys so a significant party of crew (not a lot of help though)

The engine repairs worked perfectly and we've had no problems at all today. Phew.

This part of the Oxford canal actually goes through the Oxfordshire countryside and it is beautiful. We've seen lots of wildlife and rolling hills etc.

Banbury has a wonderful approach to the canal in the centre of town, they encourage boats to moor and there is quite a community unlike the Oracle in Reading where the canal is there to be seen but not interacted with and boats cannot moor which is a real shame.

We travelled through Somerton Deep Lock a few minutes ago which has a drop of 12 feet. You get a real feeling of it from this picture.
Tomorrow the boys and I are going to go and do "holiday" type things so there won't be any miles chugged.

Today we managed 16 miles, 13 locks and 14 swing bridges (although most of the swing bridges were open so didn't really take any time).

'Till Friday.

On the move again!

The boys and I pulled Relativity for half a mile which was incredibly tough. Oh for a good strong Shire horse. Then a lovely couple took pity on us and towed us to the boat yard a mile further down the canal. There the experts at "Taylor's of Fenny" (01295 770934) were able to fix the problem of £4 of parts which was massively less than we had feared.

I took the opportunity to do some shopping which is good because now we won't starve but we are a bit further behind schedule. I doubt we'll make Reading until the middle of next week now.

Not a great day

Well, the weather was lovely but the engine died three times and is
now completely dead. We think that the fuel injector pump has died. At
least tomorrow isn't a bank holiday so the boat yard that is a mile
and a half down the canal should be open. Pray that they have the
parts we need and an engineer that knows how to fit them!

We did manage to chug 10 miles and do 9 locks today whilst
entertaining more guests and two of my boys. We had a wonderfully
sociable time whist drifting helplessly across the canal and causing
all sorts of traffic chaos.

And finally, whilst I was riding to get the car so that I could drive
my guests back to their car, I got a puncture and had to walk for
miles. My broken toe hurts like mad now :-(

There may be more tomorrow if the batteries hold out but until we can
get the engine running we've no more power!

That's all for now.

Out into the countryside

Today was gentler. After a decent sleep with nothing but the owls for
company we headed out into the Warwickshire countryside. It makes such
a difference gliding past trees and fields instead of derelict
warehouses!

More visitors today who brought with them food treats - they can come
again ;-) The only down side of having guests is that we tend to cover
less ground when entertaining but that is a small price to pay for the
joy of watching small children ride their first lock - actually the
real fun comes from watching their parents' faces as they run down the
roof and almost forget to stop at the end. Falling in the Grand Union
Canal is not to be recommended judging by the number of dead fish,
birds and even sheep we've seen floating by.

Today we have covered 9 miles and 22 locks. In total we've done 58
miles and 83 locks. That's a about 45% of the total trip.

Tomorrow will be a very slow day as I have to drive to Reading and
pick up two of my sons who are coming to stay for the rest of the
week. I'm so looking forward to having them with us. The third will
arrive on Wednesday after he gets back from a few days at Spring
Harvest.

So much better weather

Today, as I said this morning, was going to be a bit of a marathon. We have completed almost 16 miles and 23 locks. The Hatton flight is a bit of a monster but we managed it in 3 hours and 40 minutes including stopping for soup part of the way down. Well, it was lunch time and we were hungry. Oh, and we were catching up on the people in front of us who had loads of help but were still horribly slow!

But before Hatton was Shrewley Tunnel. 396m of dark, wetness. Ian managed to get the tunnel light working a few minutes before we arrived and we didn't meet any hire boats coming the other way so we got through without any damage :-)

Also, during the less manic bits of the day we managed (ok, mainly Ian managed) to get the stove finally fitted and screwed to the floor so it can't fall over spilling hot coals everywhere. This evening we lit it for the first time. It is soooooooo nice to have warmth and flickering flames in the corner of the room.

As usual I'm having trouble uploading pictures to the blog in the evening but for some reason they've gone up to my Facebook album without any problem so have a look here and here if you can't wait until the morning.

Tomorrow we're heading for Napton-on-the-hill.

A decent night's sleep

Last night we moored next to the "Heron's Nest" pub just south of Knowle on the A4141 and entertained our first guests! The presence of the pub meant that we sat in front of the open fire in the pub and drank our drinks rather than shivering on Relativity ;-)

Out in the countryside with no traffic or loud music we slept very well. The weather was kinder as well without the high winds and rain of previous nights. We're hoping for some sunshine today.

The aim for today is to get to Warwick and Leamington Spa. This means going down the Hatton Lock Flight which is 21 locks in quick succession. We're not going to be covering many miles today!

Day 2 of the journey home

The rain was worse than yesterday. The cold was worse than yesterday.

But we made it through Birmingham and are now moored next to a nice pub just south of Knowle. Time for a couple of drinks in front of an open fire I think :-)

I forgot to say that yesterday we also had to change the fan belt. That means that the batteries are charging much better. Today's little setbacks included having to stop 3 times to untangle plastic bags and other detritus from the propeller and the rudder coming out of its skeg cup (don't ask me). Fortunately the rudder is easily fixed (if a little heavy) and wasn't a big problem. The plastic bags wrap around the prop and become very difficult to cope with because the make the steering all funny and the engine labours trying to push us forward whilst shredding plastic into little bits!

On the plus side we have the fridge working and lots of tidying up done so one can actually move around without falling over stuff! Oh, and somehow we've managed to eat three cooked meals on both days

For the incurable romantics amongst you who have travelled up the M6 and, whilst passing through Spaghetti Junction, thought "I wonder what this looks like from below?" here is your answer:
The totals for today were: 19 miles and 29 locks which gives makes total progress so far about 23%

Time for the pub.

'till tomorrow.

How far?

Ah yes, forgot to say...

Today we travelled a grand total of 15 miles and 9 locks.

It was this big

Somewhat tired

After chugging through some fabulous British bank holiday weather we've made it to Perry Bar which is exactly where I was aiming for on day one. We've had to contend with huge pieces of plastic wrapped around the prop which really don't help with things at all. It took me 45 minutes to get this thing untangled with my arms in freezing cold canal water up to my shoulders. I really couldn't feel my fingers by the time I'd finished!

A little while further on, whilst trying to leave a lock, I suddenly realised that Relativity would only go backwards! The gear change cable had broken so we had to pull over and make repairs. Another 90 minutes by the canal side and we now have a very fetching looking broom handle to change gear with. Try that by the side of the M4!

Off to bed now. Will add photos in the morning.

On our way!

Relativity and I have left the boat yard. We're on our way!

...

and it is raining - hard. I'm cold and wet. :-(

The satellite tracking is working. Click here: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0OrGPp5u03rC8gG30kqL5qF6reS4UDl8p
book mark it for easy reference.

More later

Finally ready to leave

Here's a picture of me actually doing some work just so you all realise that I'm not just swanning about taking photos of stuff ;-) The bit of wire I'm working on is very important because it controls the gadget that separates the engine starter battery from the domestic batteries that the engine is running properly and it can start charging all of them. If you don't do this you can end up flattening all the batteries and not being able to start the engine in the morning!
So yesterday took a lot longer than planned but everything is now ready and a couple of things that I wasn't sure how to finish got finished. The main one that would have taken ages was that Neil (one of the wonderful craftsmen at Norton Canes Boatbuilders) spent 4 hours cutting and welding a new stove pipe for the stove. It looks fabulous as you can see:
We also fitted the Button Fender on the bow so that we don't scratch the paintwork when bumping in to things like locks!
Judicious use of the kayak meant it didn't get lost at the bottom of the canal ;-)

At almost eleven last night we finished that most essential of things... the Ikea chest of drawers. For those of you who know me well, you'll understand what a big issue actually having somewhere I can put my clothes and know where they are is for me. Having lived out of a suitcase for 2 months it was wonderful this morning to open a drawer and get clean underwear out without having to delve under jeans and shirts too!
Today we really start chugging south.

'till tomorrow....

A big step forward

Just a quick note to say that the engine started first time!

Yay!

Almost ready to leave.

Windy nights

After a very windy night that has seen two other boats loose their moorings and drift across the canal we woke to bright sunshine - ok, I was awake for 2 hours in the night and so feel very much like going back to bed but never mind.

Here is a nice little picture of reflections in the paint. I still can't stop stroking it.We're still securely moored so no embarrassing walk of shame for us!

I've posted a few more photos of yesterday's activities here so you can take a look.

More in the morning. Orange mobile internet is so much happier at this time of day!

Pain and rain

So, after a restful night on board we got on with the electrics - ok, we had a nice cooked breakfast first just to get in the mood.

We found several places where cables had not been connected properly and were in danger of burning through! How there hasn't been a fire on this boat I have no idea.

We've now moved all of the batteries out of the back bedroom (insane place for them to be) and put them into the engine hold where there is lots of space to lay them out safely. Most of the cabling is re-done, we just need to connect up the starter motor for the engine and the battery isolation switch (you really wanted to know all the detail didn't you?)

The best bit of today happened in the last half hour which was that we were finally brave enough to turn on the inverter - this is a huge piece of electronics that turns 12v DC from a car battery into 240v AC to run interesting things like computers and fridges. There were no alarming bangs and very little smoke so I think we're ok :-)

Most of my electronics is done with piddling little cables and a few milliamps. Today we've been joining cables as thick as my thumb carrying 200 amps. No fine tipped soldering iron here. This is electronics with a blow torch!

In the middle of the day I left dad to it and went to Ikea to buy a chest of drawers. After 2 months of living out of a suitcase I need somewhere to put my smalls. After that it was a quick trip up the M6 to pick up the new toilet. Soon we can poo in comfort :-)

So, to finish, a final couple of things: First, there are no pictures in this post because Orange won't let me upload pictures at the moment. I'll try again in the morning. The net seems to work better in the mornings so perhaps I'll update the blog in the morning from now on. The second thing is the plan for tomorrow... Well, we need to get the wiring finished. It has taken longer than we'd hoped but we're not too far behind schedule. Then we hope that Graham and the guys will help us weld the new flue onto the new stove so that we can have heat. Graham fashioned a wonderful hearth for it out of a big bit of scrap steel that he had propping up the side of his workshop. Such a kind chap.

Why "pain and rain"? Because Ian kept banging his head on a bit of metal in the engine bay until I pointed out that I could lift it out of the way - doh - and, it being April, we kept getting drenched with showers. Not a lot of fun when you're trying to do wiring!

Night all,

S.

First sight of the new paint

Here it is! The first picture of Relativity's new paint. Doesn't she look fabulous?

Ian and I are working on things pretty much as planned. An unexpected bonus was being offered cash for the two old stoves that I really didn't like or want (one was diesel burning heater with a back boiler that wasn't plumbed in to anything and so was likely to break). So we used the fork lift truck at the boat yard to lift them off.

Tomorrow we get the electricity sorted out - my batteries are almost flat so this'll be it for tonight!

S.

The great trip south

So, here is the plan and the invitation...

On Monday and Tuesday my dad and I will be working on the electricity supply and the new toilet whilst in the boat yard at Norton Canes.

On Wednesday we will set off south. From Wednesday until Easter Monday you are all welcome to come and crew for a day (or more, we can sleep 6 comfortably if you bring a sleeping bag).

From Easter Monday to Thursday the 16th my boys are staying with me for some serious father and sons time :-) guests are still welcome but things will be significantly more crowded and chaotic. Only come if you can cope ;-)

From Friday the 17th until finally arriving in Reading it will be just a skeleton crew so guest crew are more than welcome.

Call or email me for exact location details. I'll have the satellite tracking on line by Wednesday and I'll post a link here and on Facebook.

Please do come and join in the journey, even if only for a few hours. Don't leave it until I get back to Reading, things will get crowded ;-)

S.

Great news

Well folks, I've just had a phone call from Graham at Norton Canes. They'll have finished the painting by Friday night which means that it can harden over the weekend and I can move on to Relativity on Monday morning.

This is fabulous news. I am so excited.