RAMMER RAMMER NING NONG

The forecast predicted a mild sunny Sunday (May 19^th) and we woke, early, to make the most of the spring day. We travelled at ‘tick-over’ speed to follow the canal for 12 miles and doing a 6 lock work-out to arrive, late afternoon, in Alrewas. The warm sunshine pressed the smile button and the canal was busy with a steady flow of boat life. It is great when boats pass at the lock, it gives a feel of synchronicity over the miles. Our first lock shallow Dallow Lock was busy with 3 boats waiting to go up and no-one coming down. So much for synchronicity! We were in the middle so were taking a slow approach on the helpful side. Matey, in front, was travelling solo and messing around tying his ropes adopting the relaxed single handed approach. The boat tied up behind us was a 20ft ‘Tupperware’ with two aboard. Between us we got the 1^st boat on the move. Matey thanked me and left saying “See you at the next Lock”. Maybe, maybe not I thought.

We let the ‘Tupperware’ pass us a bit further along the canal as they were travelling at a faster pace. When we arrived at the next lock, Matey and the Tupperwares had decided that their combined length could fit the lock together. They managed, just, and closed the gates and took their windlasses the shutters to wind them up and open the sluices. There was a bit of fender pashing but it worked for them and, at the same time, an efficient way to manage the water. And as chance would have it, there was a boat waiting to come down. Sharing the etiquette and effort, by all, makes enjoyable cruising on the canal.

 

The return journey, the following day was a different story but first a few words about our short break in Alrewas. We found a mooring in the Visitors moorings near the Alrewas Lock. It was late afternoon when arrived and there were people wandering along the towpath. It was lovely to see an extended family of possibly 4 generations picnicking on the towpath next to their boat. Della got a whiff of some good food smells but we managed to distract her with a walk in the opposite direction and the delight of freshly mown grass.

We did a circular walk that took us through the church yard and past partially eroded

Grave stones where the weather of at least 3 centuries has taken its toll.

There were daisies and dandelions in abundance and I suppressed the urge to make a daisy chain. I remember, as a child making daisy chains to wear in your hair or around your neck, wrist or even as a ring on your finger! I thought of it more as being a fairy princess than a flower child then. Our walk took us back to the Canal and we chatted with some fellow Mercia Marina Moorers who were off on their six month warmer weather (yeah right!) cruising trips. This time next year we should be on the move in The DolcieBlue.

Next day I woke to the sound of footsteps. It was a quick adjustment to remember we were moored beside the Towpath! Della was happy to step off the boat, on her own, and had a sniff and a pee while we stayed out of sight on AM. Well she thought we were out of sight but I was keeping a crafty eye on her as we are loathe to let her roam on her own. It is reassuring to know that she keeps our location in her radar!

Before we set off, I walked down to the local shops to get some meat, from the best Butcher we have found, and some chutney from a roadside stall. They also had some freshly picked rhubarb and I couldn’t resist that. I miss my rhubarb plant in NZ, it had the chunkiest stems and a great taste. I arrived back at AM and Chris had moved her a couple of boat lengths along to the water point. He was talking to a ‘local’ dog walker who was aghast that I had bought rhubarb as she had loads in her allotment.

“Do you like spinach?” was her next comment.

“Is the Pope Catholic?” I replied.

I rushed on to AM and put my purchases on the bench and took off with Delyse, her dog and Della to the Allotment. We walked through the church yard, and into the large section containing a few thriving Allotments and picked a healthy bag of spinach. No sign of slugs, snails or leaf hoppers that used to torment me on my spinach crop in Tauranga.

We said our farewells, thanks for the spinach, and Della and I made haste back to AM to cast off and get underway before the inevitable rain arrived. The first lock was set for us and an arriving boat below the lock was a good start for the day. I could jump on AM’s roof before she clicked out of the lock. We had 4 more locks to do that day and there was no traffic around. The locks appeared to be set in our favour and my job was to raise the sluices, check for oncoming boats, open the gates and let AM out shutting the gates behind me. One of the locks did not have a direct view of oncoming traffic so I had to walk to where I could get a view. The stretch of canal I could see, at this particular lock, showed no boats in view. The Lock emptied and I let AM out. There is no quick way to close 2 gates, unless you jump off one closed gate to the other side. I did that on the really narrow double gated locks on the Llangollen Canal, but I did not feel confident on the Trent & Mersey Locks. So I have to walk 2 lengths of Lock to get to the ‘last’ gate and close it. I walk to board AM who is waiting for me on the other side of the now closed gates and we move out. Imagine our surprise when we saw a boat approaching us! Show’s you how long this process takes! The oncoming boat was NOT happy that I hadn’t left the Lock ready and he, the Ning Nong skipper moved his tiller into ram mode. Yes he aimed his boat to make a direct hit at us! I was speechless watching his intent and then my words came flooding out as he got into our air waves! Silly old git. I know boating is an unofficial contact sport but to be made an obvious target has no sense. I was miffed that he didn’t make himself known, I’m sure he has a blarey horn to suit his personality. I would have been happy to leave the gates open! In fact this is where C&RT, our Authority, could bring in some commonsense. If you can’t see enough distance ahead from a Lock, then leave the exit gates open. Enough ranting!

We spent the night at Shobnall Fields. It is a lovely space and Della has a good chase of he tennis ball there. We walked a mile or so into the streets of Burton-upon-Trent where Chris had recently discovered The Coopers Tavern http://www.joulesbrewery.co.uk/pubs/pub_details.php?id=6 .

What a cool pub, good ale and friendly people. It was a bit weird going to the Bar which was full of many different cask ales (my older brother would love this) and sedate tables with quiet blokes sitting at them. It was reminiscent, to me, of a blokes gathering on a street corner in a Portuguese Village where the Senors would meet and sit and watch life go by. We sat in the Snug, a Coronation Street moment, and made a wee nest on the bench seat for Della to curl up on. It is a tiring life for a dog being awake on navigation duties throughout the day and then having to walk the streets…….

The following morning we started to pull out to head to the shallow Dallow Lock and simultaneously a boat moored a short distance in front of us powered up and took off in the lead. It was obvious they wanted the lead position. Nothing we could do except know that the hand of human kindness was not going to be extended to them. We moved at slower than ‘tick’ speed and pulled over to the Lock moorings and let them get on with their business. Normally I am out there helping but they were making it obvious that they expected it by fart arsing around. And we were in no rush.

A couple of hours later we were at Willington and then back into the Marina. The wind picked up just as we motored in. It took about 5 attempts to be able to reverse into our home mooring.

 

The DolcieBlue is a little delayed in her readiness for delivery but we are aiming for her shell to be one that we can be proud to float in. All going well we are hoping she will be in our hands in a couple of weeks.

TRANSFORMER

The month of May has arrived and we have spent a week undercover at Shobnall Marina. Undercover means not in dry dock but floating moored out of rain’s reach with a lean-to roof over AM.

Before

The day before we went undercover, we arrived a few hundred metres away at Shobnall Fields, Burton-upon-Trent. We moored, on the 48hour Visitor Moorings, beside the late blooms of more than a thousand daffodils. It was a, without question, Spring day, - warm sun and happy people. The cruise from Willington was seamless. We left Mercia Marina on May 1^st, departed like we were off on a long summer cruise. I had toyed with the idea of going to Stenson Lock for a cuppa tea and ‘winding’ there, when at the same time the engine would be heating the hot water in the calorifier. Sensibly Chris turned Right, rather than Left at the Mercia entrance and we moored just metres away where there is an open space for Della to chase squirrels and we have connectivity with our phones. No hot water though! And we could lift our ‘Stern’ box onto dry ground so Chris could paint it. While we were there I was able to motivate myself to finish the paua mosaic window sill that I started nearly a year ago.

AM had never lost the aroma of diesel even though the fuel tank was repaired last year. Chris lifted the floor over the ‘Bilge’ (i.e. where the engine is located) and noted that the area was covered in shallow water with a film of diesel floating over it. The motor hadn’t been started for some time as we have been static in the Marina, and the rain has been less than in former months. So here we are on the move, again, and the injectors are spitting diesel. The bilge had to be emptied and there were two possibilities for disposal and only one choice. Chris chose the clean way using a plastic hand pump thingy (I’m a bottle blonde, now, I don’t retain the words like I did when my colour was natural mousey brown) and he quickly filled a large bucket with the cocktail of water and diesel. As chance would have it he found the perfect receptacle for disposal, on his Della circuit the next day, in the Marina rubbish area. One Man’s junk is another Man’s treasure…..(kind of…).

It’s been lovely to be back on the Cut with different sounds, smells and smiles. After two nights close to Mercia we set off, early morning, at ‘tick’ speed to Burton. Breakfast was at Willington Sanitary Station because we could and we needed to make use of the facilities. It was a slow trip with Chris and Della at the helm, while I set to with necessary tasks to do on my laptop.

Just before entering the outer ‘burbs of Burton we go through our first lock shallow ‘Dallow’ lock. I call it shallow cos it’s not deep. We are now in Narrowboat area. Not fit for Widebeams, here, but 70 ft Narrowboats are accommodated. About 200m further along we get to grassy Shobnall Park. We see NB Global Spirit, from our Pier at Mercia, and moor just in front of her. Global Spirit (Maisie) has just begun her 5-6 month cruise. Della has suddenly come alive with the bounty of park life, and apart from her being drawn to anything human, she is overwhelmed with her memory of having the tennis ball thrown. She loves the chase and barely gives me a chance to step off AM before she is trying to bite my ankles and bark, yes BARK for the ball! We managed to run her off her feet that evening.

Next day, Shobnall Marina was our destination. Another 300 metres away so we thought we’d breakfast before we chugged along. As we started moving along, the rain started and persisted with force! The case of ‘If’ we had waited for breakfast we wouldn’t have got wet. I didn’t get wet but Chris did!! There is a sharp turn at the ‘Winding’ spot outside the Marina entrance which took us under a narrow towpath bridge. The Marina has prevented unauthorized entry by having a footbridge under the bridge that has to be raised by someone in the know! We stayed under the bridge and waited for a boat, on our booked undercover space to move. During the wait Chris was able to retrieve our boat-on-wheels, which he had parked down the road and round the corner, and park it at the Marina.

As soon as he arrived back at AM we were given the all clear to move to our mooring under cover! Sheer luxury and the sun was shining again. We got started straight away with getting plugged in to the electric and our sanding tools were shimming over the Port cabin side. (Port means Left, Port and Left have 4 letters!). A few hours later we had the first coat of satin Grey done. Chris, deftly, used the mini hand roller and I followed using a ‘dry’ paint brush in a rapid horizontal then vertical brush stroke manner. Writing it makes it sound easy but Chris had been slowly and surely working, over the last 10 weeks, towards prepping the sides to make this work stint go smoothly. The next day, the paint had dried, and we gave AM port-side, the second coat and turned her around to repeat the process on the starboard side. Shobnall Marina is compact compared to Mercia, and to turn around with minimal effort takes good planning and instruction. My job was to stay on shore and hold the Bow rope tight while Chris reversed the Stern out and I did a hand held pivot! Flat bottom boat smooth water glider!!

In the midst of painting, we had the Mechanic give AM a service. He did a great job and as a result we have a healthy sounding engine and the diesel smell is a distant memory. The contaminated receptacle was sent to the place where it should go.

Yesterday, our time was up at Shobnall and we left and returned to Shobnall Fields. We thought we might moor up for a few days, there, but the weather is inclement so we have returned to Mercia Marina.

Now Chris is finalising the completion of DolcieBlue and fingers crossed we will get the boat shell of our dreams. All I can say is watch this s    p    a     c     e!!!!!!!!!

SPRING ain't SPRUNG

 

Blue and Dolci sunbathing on our terrace in Portugal

We continue to live aboard Avalon Mist at Mercia Marina having been moored, continuously, here for the past 5 going on 6 months. The Marina was busy over the winter but now there are many available moorings as people move back on the ‘Cut’. I think after last year’s wettest drought, boaters are giving up on the thought of a Spring season coming anywhere close to Spring as we know it but are not letting that deter them cruising.

An interesting thought, for us, is that by next winter, if not before, we will be living aboard DolcieBlue (DB) and she will be fit for a cold winter without having to buy electricity!!. We went to visit her a couple of days ago. Our road trip went very smoothly and we followed Sat Nav directions all the way with no thoughts that ‘She’ doesn’t know where we are or ‘She’ has got it wrong again. I used to be a great navigator and I could get us, by road, through France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands and Germany with little difficulty. We used to have a great road map book (Bartholomew’s) for Spain and Portugal. We could find our way whatever type of road. I first used Sat Nav on a road trip in California and I was hooked. Now the print on paper maps is too small for me to read without my reading glasses, I am   a Sat Nav fan.

Back to our steel boat in the workshop at Long Itchington. We had been expecting DB to be an ivory beige colour and the portholes and houdinis fitted but due to the painter being sick, DB was a gleaming structure in polished steel ‘sitting’ on the floor. I ran my hand along her body (sounds saucy) it was cold and dirty but smooth. We climbed the ladder to climb onto her cruiser stern and carefully stepped into the Wheel House avoiding the gaping hole on the stern floor where the engine will lie.

Awaiting the engine

It is a long view down the roof length of the boat and clutching an imaginary wheel in the Wheel House didn’t make the length look any shorter! I’m hoping the view on the ‘Cut’ will put the length into perspective. At this point I don’t see myself as the new Tiller / Wheel Queen!

View from Wheel House to Bow!

I left Chris and Gary talking important build stuff that involves ‘measure twice cut once’ and I stepped inside the cabin. It is exciting; it is huge and hard to imagine it all getting ship shape! Its colour, for now, remains black and light. That is the light shining in through the port holes, houdinis and side hatch openings. Sounds like the build up for a circus performance.

Empty

Chris & Gary

I walked do the Bow-end, taking care not to trip over the metal strips that are at floor height once the ballast is loaded. Oh I’m getting so nautical in my vocabulary these days. Our bedroom will be down the Bow-end and the ‘bow thruster’ will be placed in the ventilated steel cupboard in front of the head of our bed. We have a porthole above our bed and as well as a view we can see the location of the big water tank and handy storage that is the Bow. The Bow will not be a sitting area and not cratch covered. We figure that we will have enough outdoor space on the cruiser stern as well as the joy of  the Wheel House that can be kept covered when we are moored.

Looking to Stern

Even looking along the indoor length back to the Stern, the finished layout takes some imagination. A CAD drawing would be useful. Chris has done a floor plan and that is all we need but 2D would be good. I feel an IKEA visit fast approaching! A big job awaits and it will be exciting as Chris / we get underway. We’ve done big projects before. My mother notably said we build in an organic way.

Meanwhile we get prepared to receive DB as a Sail-away. I’ve phoned C&RT, (Canals & Rivers Trust) to confirm what paperwork we need to get done as DB will not be ready for a Safety Certificate but we need to register her. All good. They are used to this sort of thing and the paperwork from Colecraft  and boat insurance will be enough to get her registered. Wow the registration will be close to a grand for the year!

Back on the road from Colecraft. We do not need Sat Nav for this bit. We take the country (B) road route, it is a relaxing way to go back and we have found the pub to stop at in Silsden. It is called the Cock Inn and is of the olde worlde build. Thatched roof and lime washed, and indoors many of the crucial oak beams are ill positioned for anyone above tall hobbit height.

Then we Sat Nav it to a National Park area, south east of Burton-upon-Trent where Chris has discovered a comfortable dog friendly circular walk. Della is hop, skipping and running with the smells that attract her. She is always busy on her walks but has her ear tuned in to our commands which may mean a treat for her. There are friendly people walking their dogs, oh, and their children!

And back we went to AM. Chris has been busy undercoating AM in preparation for our undercover slot at Shobnall Marina in early May. We’ve booked a week to tart her up. We had booked for the first week in April but the weather was too cold to keep the paint brush thawed, let alone dry the paint. So the weather is slowly getting closer to warming up although I wouldn’t say we are in Spring. In fairness the drizzle is not falling as snow flurries. In fact, there has been very little rain, a lot of breezy cold wintry winds. If and when we see the sun there is warmth but the outdoor ‘air con’ effect is not right.

That’s enough weather report. On a parting note, I have a friend (well I have more than one) but this one was asking me if Narrowboats can be constructed from aluminum. I put this question to Gary the boatbuilder. I started with has he ever built a boat from aluminum and he said yes he has. I said oh really! He said that it was very expensive material, compared to steel, and not strong enough for the contact nature of cruising a Narrowboat. There you go Rob. Keep those planes flying, the skies are wider than the Canals!

THE ADVENT OF MV DOLCIEBLUE

This Blog is written in the memory of my Dad, Robert Shelley Abbott QSM  1930 – 2013

Here’s to you Dad. May your memory live as a treasure forever.

I am sat on A.M., next to Della and wearing my Dad’s beautiful warm cardigan and getting my thoughts around ‘DolcieBlue’. DB is to be our new mobile home as we live our foreseeable future as ‘water gypsies’. Chris is cooking up a tasty mushroom omelette and the mushroom smell is wafting. Yum, I’m starting to feel hungry……….

The birth of a flat bottom boat

Today we visited Colecraft Boat Builders where DB is under construction. She is getting closer to being in Chris’s hands for the ‘Fit-Out’. DB will leave Colecraft as a ‘sail away’ which means the engine will be operable and all the necessary steel work is done.

The DB ‘build’ started as a 10mm(d)steel plate to cover 68ft, the overall length of her hull. I had only imagined what that must look like, as I had missed her start. In the noisy workshop there was a new boat in the early days of its build so I took a photo. DB’s cabin walls are 8mm (d) and the roof is 6mm (d). {“Safe as houses” as the saying goes}

DolcieBue, alongside, had the whole workforce working on her. Outside was being sanded into a smooth surface ready for painting next week. The portholes were now obvious round holes (as you would expect) and the side hatches were hinged. Indoors, more sanding was being done. I had hoped to step aboard but there were sparks everywhere. I poked the camera through the porthole and took a shakey photo. Nothing inviting about that shot! The rudder is attached, the fuel tank in situ, and the Wheel House looking good.

Indoors

Early next week, DB will be painted with 3 coats of paint and moved to outdoors to the boat waiting yard where the fine tuning will be done with the engine. Then she will have her first ride on the back of a truck and a lift into the plonk via crane. Watch this space!

We will be living on AM until DB is fitted out. No pressure!! There are a few jobs to do on AM and I will endeavour to get them done with humour!!

We can’t stop talking about DB and are thrilled at how she looked today. AM has been a great starter to this lifestyle of freedom in a confined living space.  H

And so starts the story of DB. 

Did I mention the weather..........?

SQUASHED

The joys of life in the Marina were brought to a sudden end beginning with boat number one mooring Port side of us on the other side of the gangway. They are friendly people with a well behaved dog but they choose to have the main entrance onto their boat at the Bow. This means they walk past our boat every time they step off theirs. And when they get visitors there are lots of legs! I was coming to terms with the invasion when another blimmin’ Narrowboat cut the mid morning ice  to moor on the other side of us!!  This time the boat is brand new, so new it does not have a name. The ‘skipper’ appears to have no experience of boating and needed the New and Used brokerage to steer his new purchase to its mooring. My initial surprise at seeing a boat in motion on the ice actually became shock at it mooring alongside us. Talk about claustrophobia! Other boatees live with neighbour’s a stones throw, if that, away from them but the double whammy of being sandwiched within days has driven me mental.

We had to go for a walk for me to calm down, Chris was calm but I was fuming. After a 3 hour cool down period I went into the office to see what alternatives we had. There is an empty double berth for 2 but this, apparently, has been booked by a phantom Widebeam so not available for the taking. We have decided to take a mooring a couple of places ‘east’ of us and will be alongside a non residential Narrowboat with a gap Portside where our friends, WbTakeyTezey, are moored. It will be good to have a view of the water and a chance of checking out when the cleaners are at Shower Block Latrine!

That was written about four weeks ago. December is all gone and the Christmas decorations on AM were looking so last year that I was happy to take them down. We have settled into our new berth and are pleased 2013 has arrived. The final weeks of December, for us, are as follows.

December was memorably as wet and played into the year of the wettest drought. We did have a brief flash of the ‘Beast from the East’ which meant frozen surfaces and ice forming on the pond. Walking Della is a delight in the frosty conditions. She doesn’t seem bothered by the cold or the wet ground. She is getting used to wet and wearing her ‘raincoat’ if it is really necessary. Walking on frozen and frosty ground is the best for all of us as “A frosty ground gathers no mud” and walking along the towpath is what it is all about.

We commissioned the build of MV DolciBlue and we are excited. We visited Cole Craft, the Boat Builders, a couple of times in December, and we are gearing up for end January build start. I’m dreaming of taking the photo of flat sheets of steel before they are formed into the DolciBlue.

Christmas Day started with a Skype call with some of my lovely family in NZ. Skype is wonderful bringing families together from opposite ends of the world, even with my mobile (aka cell phone in NZ) ‘hotspot’ connection.

Christmas Day was an interesting experience. Chris was keen to do some volunteering and found The All Saints Church in Burton-upon-Trent was looking for volunteers to serve Xmas dinner to the Homeless and Family-less. Chris and I volunteered, and Chris ‘helpfully’ let the Co-ordinator know that I liked playing uke and singing so I agreed to sing with my uke an eclectic mix of Christmas carols/songs.

Della stayed with Heth and Dave from WbTakey-Tezey, while we were doing our Christmas service. We left Mercia Marina in our ‘boat –on-wheels’ and had to face the she-devil Sat Nav. Well we knew where we should be going but we succumbed to her instructions and she took us to somewhere remote which involved crossing a flooding road and being sprayed by an oncoming Range Rover. Sat Nav told us “You have arrived” and we told it what we thought of it and the Range Rover as well! We had a brief moment of panic and then with the help of the mobile phone we were able to find out how to get out of this mess! We found the Church and then drove back to Willington to pick up a Christmas Dinner guest. The Hall was busy with volunteers and guests who sat down to a huge 3 and more course Christmas meal. Dave and Heth were preparing a feast for us on Takey Tezey so we just served the others and then I ventured to my corner where I had a microphone set up. With the support of a couple of volunteers we started to sing carols. My uke sounded flat so we sang Acapela for a few songs. By the time Jingle Bells, the eighth song came around, the uke sounded like it was back in tune. I finished with “We wish you a Merry Christmas” and then we headed back to Marina-land and Della, and Christmas Dinner with our friends. A fun day with a feel good factor.

Two days later, we drove up to Buxton for a couple of nights. A brief land treat for us and a chance to catch up with a special friend who drove up from London. We went for a drive to Bugsworth Basin where we had taken AM, a couple of months before. Great to see a few boats moored up and tempting us with the dream to be continuous cruisers. One of the moored Narrow boats was called AWATEA meaning ‘Bright pathway’. The name was written over a map of New Zealand, an island drawn in the style of the game 'Battleships and Cruisers'. 

So here ends the year of 2012.

A couple of helping hints

1)  If you burn yourself, wrap the burn area with cling film / plastic wrap

2)  If you get a cold, menthol tissues are a must

And a on a final note, just cos you thought you filled the water tank a couple of days ago  in the dark doesn't mean it's full you fool. Yes, but, it's empty! I'm going to try brushing my teeth in flavoured water. I remember my grandparents saying they brushed their teeth using whiskey when travelling in the Continent in the 60's. The quality and not the lack of water was their concern.

         

Baaah

"Dancer" line up pointing to our bright lights

And so December progresses. 

The Marina is lighting up on land and water. It’s kinda nice to have coloured lights, some flashing, if you leave the boat after 1645hrs. A few boats have got a light show switched on and the numbers are increasing daily.  

There is no doubt about the outside temperature. The question is can frozen ice get colder? Some mornings there is a deep white frost on the boats, pontoons, and grounds of the Marina. The road gets patches of ice which I am concentrating fully on when I am walking. Della doesn’t seem bothered by the cold temperatures and doesn’t avoid anything that looks cold underfoot. She loves the muddy walks and tolerates the lower leg wash, that is inevitable, when we get to AM. A very content and happy dog who spreads her affection to people she meets on her daily walks. Lovely.

As usual the week melts and we have been getting AM as watertight as possible. She’s not bad. Most boats have a degree of condensation. I do my Karcher workout daily and sometimes twice a day… but not always. We have tried secondary glazing, i.e. a cellophane sheet, and that seemed to have some effect but we still got water droplets forming inside the window. We realize heating and ventilation are of prime importance with a “live-aboard” and I will be really thankful if we can beat condensation. From our early days of talking toilet and water tanks with fellow moorers, conversations have progressed to heating and ‘how to beat’ condensation.

The View down Pier-Q-liar

And, on land, we have had a day out and driven to IKEA to check functional furnishings with storage solutions to line the walls of DolciBlue. IKEA is a great start to the day and we were early. We saw ourselves at the start of a short queue waiting for the ‘pre-store opening’ which in other words is breakfast at the IKEA Restaurant which opens at 930hrs. 930 arrived, and then 935 and no sign of the door opening until a bloke in the queue did a friendly knock at the door which alerted Security to open the door! The breakfast is a squashed 1/4 of omelette, bacon, sausage, baked beans, potato cake and half a tomato and priced at £1.50 including refillable tea / coffee /hot chocolate. I rate the self serve hot chocolate. Sadly, this visit, the hot chocolate machine was O.O.O. The coffee’s not bad actually.

The lights are on in and out AM

 

Breakfast over we entered the IKEA labyrinth and, first, in our tracks was the sofa section. The Sofa Assistant showed us a choice of two sofas that give us integral storage plus the potential to be a guest double bed. I was surprisingly surprised. I would agree to either. One is L-shaped and the other isn't! Moving along, with pamphlets in hand we passed Storage, desks and tables, chairs and lights. We didn't hang around. We know folding desks will be useful, and we have our glass dining table from NZ (if there is room). Soon we were in Kitchens. It was easy to identify what cupboards / benches would work in the new Galley. I really like the ‘kitchen’ on AM. It works well, we have ample space, and I would be happy to have a similar layout fitted. We will go for a full size pantry drawer / cupboard.  

After Kitchens we wound our way to Beds. We thought a bed that has accessible under bed storage would be ideal! Thinking about how we are going to position the bed on DolciBlue can present accessibility barriers. A bed is a mattress on a base. To use the Bed base as storage we either need to have under the bed pull out drawers with the bed positioned with access from the side or from the bed end. We needed to see if there was another possibility. (Our bed on AM has been converted to meet our needs. Initially the original bed base was covered to disguise the hollow base. Chris got out the saw and cut an opening on one side of the bed, so we could store our clothes and bags under the bed. That was last year. This year we have been using 2 units that have a series of sliding plastic bins, with our mattress positioned on a board on top. The mattress slides out and then is bolstered on the gunwale side with pillows. This gives us ample sleeping room and a place for Della.)  The helpful IKEA Bed Assistant, who had amazing false eyelashes, showed us a bed where the mattress base can be lifted so opening a bed base of storage room. Perfect. Now is it going to be memory foam or inner sprung mattress? The weight of the mattress will have importance. This will also mean we can have the bed positioned looking down the boat.

Finally we stopped at Bathrooms to look at wash hand basins. A brief stop and then we were at Market Hall. Market Hall begins at the junction of the Restaurant and the main entrance. I decided I had had my fill of IKEA and wanted to race over to BOOTS to buy some false eyelashes. Chris went on to IKEA’s Bargain Basement and we met back at the car.

The Sat Nav was turned on and she proceeded to direct us through down town Nottingham in the direction, most of the time, of our intended destination Newark-on-Trent. Sat Nav didn’t realize that there was a new roundabout onto the A1 and we ended up going a convoluted lesser road way. It involved the decision of should we drive over the swift running ford or not. We drove off in another direction and left ‘her’ to recalculate the route. Eventually we were deposited on the A1. Our plan was to view a block of 4 garages. We were late for our appointment with the agent and he telephoned just after we had got on the A1 to see if we were still going to view. I was able to let him know we were only 1.3 miles away and we blamed her on the Sat Nav, of course.

Funny thought, it took us 3 days by boat to get to Newark and it took us one hour by car!! I know which transport I prefer. 

We went back through the outskirts of Nottingham and went to visit Bill & Beryl who used to be our ‘neighbours’ 20 years ago in Portugal!! It was lovely to catch up and to share with them the rise of DolciBlue.

While we were doing this, snow arrived in England but didn’t appear where we were driving. News reports said snow in the East Midlands but then we must be in the Mid Midlands (I am going to call them the stuttering Midlands).

The other major highlight, this week, is I have booked my return flight to NZ. I am hoping for a bit of warm weather. The Travel Agent, who booked my flight, was so friendly and we had a laugh during the booking process. She needed to write down my address which I gave her over the phone. I took care to say Willington not Wellington. When I got her email with my address written on I had to email back the following to her “Woolington is actually commonly known in these parts as Willington!! Just cos I'm Kiwi doesn't mean everything is sheep related!!!!!!”

Kaimai View, Dec 2011,  from our old home in NZ

DolciBlue Dream Weavering

Della glides over frost

It’s wintertime. At least this season seems to be in shape of doing it properly. It is a warm feeling being able to dress in lots of clothes. Longjohns (that doesn’t sound girly but warmer than tights) and layers of clothes to trap the heat. Boots, a long woollen coat, scarf, hat and gloves. No wonder we need more space on the boat!

Our Pier Q...liar

We have been back at Mercia Marina for a month and have settled back. Warm greetings given from the familiar faces of long term moorers and Marina employees. And the daily meeting in passing with our dogs. The other day we went to the Quiz night with our neighbours Takey Tezey. We didn’t win but we didn’t lose. Chris and I got called up for a random quiz into how well you know your partner. It seems after 20 years we know each other very well in the public arena.

Throwing stones doesn't sink them.

We do go to our ‘lockup’ sometimes to try and reduce some of our Life’s Laundry. It seems strange to have freighted all our stuff over from NZ in order to make the decision of what to fill the ‘Sally’s’ bag with. Chris deals with this task in an unemotional way but I’m never a happy bunny on these days. We don’t have to give away everything, he reassures me. We have decided not to get a land base for the foreseeable future and we do need to downsize our material possessions. There is no pressure to offload personal treasures.

Over recent months we have become enthusiastic with living our next years as Water Gypsies and in order to follow that dream we have been searching for a boat that will meet our needs so we can live aboard comfortably. We need a longer boat, AM is 53 ft and an ideal starter boat. We have considered 70ft but have decided 68ft. About 80% of the waterways in England will take 70ft but we have heard that some of the Locks are leaky at the gate ends (not to mention the walls!!) so we need to consider our position in the Lock! We have talked Narrowboat or Widebeam and agreed Narrowboat.  A Widebeam, while having the feel of  a moving house on water with roomier space, does not have the navigable range on the Waterways that Narrowboats have. We have looked at a few Narrowboats, on brokerage, but nothing has jumped out and said “Buy me!” So we have been drifting from do we build to our specification or do we buy a pre-loved boat and modify it..

Similar to what we want

The swing has swung and the outcome is building our ‘DolciBlue’, a 68ft Dutch Barge style Narrowboat. We have commissioned Cole Craft to build her to sail away state. Cole Craft built AM and their boats are quality. Gary Cole appears passionate about his craft, no hard sell, and easy to discuss plans with. We are excited and the build slot is for the end Jan 2013. ‘DolciBlue’ is the name formed from our beloved dogs in Portugal who shared our dream when we lived in that country. It was always Blue & Dolci Doo (Bently Blue the Beastie Boy and Dolcima Dewdrop the Demon Dogette) and now Dolci will have premier position in the naming!! Writing about them makes me wash my face in tears. 

Blue & Dolci