A boat moored at the water point with such a neat and tidy roof (these are the things we boaters notice !) I went and congratulated them. It transpired the couple were just finishing a three month stint on the waterways. They had found a long-term rental but had not been overly enamoured with the boat so have decided instead to buy one. It transpired they are Canadian, but he had been born in the UK. Every year they return here to go on a narrowboat. For a dozen years they have part shared a narrowboat but it never felt quite their own as they couldn’t leave any belongings on it. Now retired, they plan on spending more time here and are full of enthusiasm for their new venture – narrowboating really does get under your skin!
On our other side was a boat that is usually moored at Calcutt Marina, where we spent the winter. The couple bought their boat second hand last year and at present can only use it at weekends because of work commitments, but I was fascinated to see that she had a loom and sat weaving on her cruiser stern. Showing me how easy it is to do (after the initial set up which sounded pretty complicated to me!) I was quite inspired to go and buy one for myself. No more tennis elbow from tensely holding my knitting needles. A great use of odds and ends of wool and in no time at all you can produce scarves, cushion covers etc. I told her I needed to get to grips with my interlocker first, which I have aboard to encourage my creative side. I might go and watch some looming YouTube videos though!
Talking creativity, today seemed as good a day as any to complete my ‘prayer boat’ banner. 24th May – my priestly dad would have been 102 today! An auspicious day too for son G and Mi as their first baby arrived – a miniature labradoodle. Visions of Pluto, our friends not so minature labraD, dance in my mind. I love that dog but you have to have eyes in the back of your head if you don’t want your shoes chewed and your food eaten. Everything has to be out of his reach! It will be like ‘Little and Large’ if ever Pluto and Brucie get together – two extremes of the same breed!
April showers have definitely crept into May which meant Martin (M J Craft) had to set up a tarpaulin before he could set to work on changing our batteries and inverter. A relatively simple procedure, or so he thought until he started looking at what was already in place. I did start getting nervous when parts of the boat had to be removed to actually get to the original wiring (upside – we now have an inspection hatch!) but eventually, numerous cups of tea later for all of us, the new system was up and running. Not sure I fully understand it but R listened attentively so I hope if anything goes amiss he can figure it out! Battery systems and boats it transpires, are really complicated! I want to prevent the new batteries going flat ahead of time, unlike the previous set – I don’t think they have worked properly since we got the boat so no wonder the fridge has never worked efficiently. Amazing I haven’t given us a dose of food poisoning. Although not so surprising when I think of my mother’s fridge and what we ate from it – I think her legacy to me may be a cast iron stomach! So, I need to understand how the battery system functions but it is taxing my brain. Apparently there’s a really good Facebook group to join which is dedicated to 12v battery usage. The only downside is that everyone with a little bit of knowledge gives different advice!
The delight of the day was when I realised the freezer compartment was super cold, I could run the vacuum cleaner and charge all our electrical gadgets! An early night, with the screen at the foot of our bed watching a movie – bliss! It was a great film by the way on Prime video – ‘I can only imagine’. The true story behind the song and how it came to be written. All about redemption and forgiveness and how the transforming power of Jesus’s love changed Bart’s father from “a monster to a loving dad” in the last months of his life. Good thing we were awake late because we had an unexpected phonecall from Martin suggesting we turn off the invertor overnight. He had been ruminating on his wiring and decided he wants to double check it before we set off tomorrow. I don’t know whether to be worried there’s something seriously amiss or grateful that he is so conscientious and thorough (hopefully the latter). Thinking about it, the day abruptly ended as everything had taken much longer than anticipated so I imagine he arrived home realising there were further checks needed to ensure all is in good working order. This itinerant way of life means if a hiccough occurs you could be far from the original mechanic who helped you so it’s better to try and ensure the job is properly completed in the first instance.
NarrowboatTLC 