At the time I was considering the sale of my house and the purchase of a boat I was constantly bombarded with negative advice.  Especially about one having to empty the cassette toilet on board.

I’d read and been force-fed information about cassettes, pump-out tanks and bio loos.

Having bought a boat that didn’t have a pump-out tank I was in a position to either have one installed or not have one installed being that I had the boat gutted.

I weighed up the pros and cons of all choices and settled for a cassette model.  A posh one at that, with a ceramic bowl and battery fed water flush no less.

Why did I choose this you might ask… well, I’ll tell you!

Pump-outs mean you have to pay each time you pump-out – about £15.  And the thought of all that poop, sitting for 3 months at a time under my floor, made me a little queasy.  Plus of course you have to move the boat at that time when a pump-out is required and you might not want to move or may not be near a pump out station.  There are less pump-out facilities where I am in comparison to free cassette emptying facilities.

However, 3 months between emptying is a long time compared to one week for a cassette (for one person) or twice week for two.  However, my cassette comes with wheels and an extending pull handle!

What about the actual ‘deposit’ I hear you say.  If you keep your nostrils closed, naturally using your adenoids (if you have them), is fine.  I’ve never yet, in 2½ years had an accident thanks to the anti-vacuum button.  It’s all done and dusted within 5 minutes that includes two full rinses.

I’ve even stopped buying ‘Blue’ or any such expensive chemical thing, as that really didn’t do anything at all and the poop’s still the same without it as it was with it.

However, I do have the luxury of two cassettes and they’re not cheap.  About £110 each.  But necessary and worth it in case you’re caught short.

So, in summarising, is emptying your own poop… well, err…  poop?  No, it’s easy, quick and nowhere near as awful as people make a point of saying it is.  Much like all the other negative nonsense that people are fed when asking publicly about living on a boat.

It was fantastic to venture out once more heightening my feelings of freedom. We also met some lovely boaters on our travels; holiday boaters who were having a brilliant time.

We sampled many eateries and public houses. Saw Hunger Games at the cinema (3/10) and both got our nails done.

We shared a wonderful meal at the Hope Pole Inn in Bath with some fellow boaters; two from New Zealand and one Photographer that kept Lottie interested throughout. He did an impromptu photoshoot of her and they talked about ‘the business’ giving her tips for when she becomes professional herself.

I tried, in vein, to convert them to the wonders of my favourite musical genre but alas, it fell primarily on deaf ears although one like the drumming in the funky 60′s stuff as he’s a drummer himself. Cheers Mark :)

I ate more this week than I’ve eaten in a month! Jeans still fit though :D

A 145 litre fuel stop – first one since last July.

Funny moment No.1 was using our pole to straighten the front end at Bath Boats to re-fuel where suddenly I was holding just a small baton. Haha, it was that rotten it snapped right off. We did laugh at that before joking about an Olympic relay before using pole No.2, filling up, and continuing our journey.

Funny moment No.2 was a slight verbal altercation with a boat full of holiday makers following two large wines and small lunch… they’d moored on the Lock Mooring on the River Lock having a fucking tea-party! Noobs! I politely explained that we had two 60 footers coming out of the lock and that they needed to move on. The dragged the boat 2 feet! I wont go into detail but you can imagine what followed :D

Not very funny moment No.1 was seeing the aftermath of a very young boy who rode his bike, and himself, into the cut near Dundas… welly-less and with a grown ups jumper for trousers he was happy to be pushed along on his bike by his Grandad. Don’t think he’ll be confident riding the towpath for a while. Hope he doesn’t become ill but littleuns are pretty resilient.

Best moments for me were the early mornings void of human interaction, a slow rising sun with a mug of Earl Gray and a menthol cigarette. How beautiful the mornings are in the middle of no-where with only the wildlife chirping freely around you.

A big thank you to my Daughter for being a fab helmsman; I love our time together cruising and am already looking forward to our next.

More photos can be seen >>> HERE < <<

Spring has sprung; how glorious it be.

I spent 3 hours in a reclined chair at the mouth of the marina today.  And for each hour that passed a glass of Pinot passed my lips, freeing my creativity.

The Towpath was like a pacing breeze that lulls with time.  Cyclists cycled, joggers huffed and puffed and walkers trotted by… the crowds swelled then lulled like a tireless tide.  Holiday and resident boaters alike passed me by saluting my presence as though they knew me.  Copious cigarettes and thoughts passed both my lips and quiet, private, contemplation.

Surely, living on or by water is by far the best opiate above any other.

Fluffy bumble bee’s buzzed about my feet; where have they been and are all the hives full of these fluffy cute things or are they just peppered amongst all the hives as a kind of talking point along with a troop of worker bees?

Sadly, there’s a dead duck on a neighbouring boat.  Lain flat on it’s back belly up.  It’s been there a few days now.  I’m not tall enough to remove it without clambering upon the roof and it’s not my place to do so.  But I took a photograph.

This has been by far the bestest weekend for months;  the Winter has finally departed and I do believe I’ve lit my last stove of the year.

I’ve retreated to my day cabin, sun-soaked, wined up and thought out.  It’s been glorious, calm and beautiful.

Happy days everyone :)

Well, he arrived and knew exactly what I needed – which of course he would, he’s a professional.  He also recommended a Galvanic Isolator which I’d never heard of before so ran a Google search and did some reading.  Now, my boat is 21 years old nearly and the hull was in superb condition.  However, as I’m not going to be buying another boat EVER I thought it was a good thing to protect my home for the foreseeable future with something that’s really quite small and cheap in comparison to having a hull re-plated.  It’s the small purple gizmo at the top of the photo.

My new 3-stage battery charger is the large gizmo and now my back cabin back wall looks like something from a cheap Starship Enterprise but more believable. :D

All work was carried out cleanly and on time – more-so it was extremely reasonable in respect of his hourly labour charge.  In fact, his hourly rate is more than 50% cheaper than Hilperton Marina’s!  I was also able to transfer funds directly to his nominated bank account rather than fart around with cash.

He’s on Facebook: M. S. Marine Services and can be called on 0771 148 7290.  I have no hesitation in recommending him and will certainly be using his services in the future if I should need them.

His Good Lady Nicky also serves the waterways as a floating Hair Salon!  The Floating Salon is certainly a unique experience.  I remember when Lottie and I were new to all this and it was during our Helmsman Course that we first encountered their boat.  they were stuck on silt by the bank and we helped them on their way.

So there we have it…  I’m all back to normal :D

It was B.

I took my annual trip to replace my gas bottle – how great is that where my gas lasts ONE YEAR!  Anyway, whilst as Spencers Boatyard I struck up a conversation with a group of men discussing a new coal called snow something and asked them for a recommendation for a boat electrician.  Within 10 minutes I was back in the car armed with my gas and a telephone number.

I called him and 15 minutes later he was on board (a very handsome young man too!).  He confirmed that the ‘battery charger’ I had was inappropriate (I knew that) and that the batteries were not recoverable due to insufficient/bad charging over the two years I’ve been on board.  Plus of course, I didn’t know how old these actual batteries were as they were insitu when I bought the boat.

So, next week sees me part with a considerable sum of moolah to replace the battery bank and for the installation of a proper 3 stage battery charger.

However, I’ve not had that much expense with my boat ownership.  Not like they talk about on Forums saying you’ll need a never-ending money supply to own one.  I’ve come to the conclusion that these reporters either don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about or that they simply OVER-exaggerate to be noticed.  Who knows – and who cares.

Hope everyone else in Boatyland is well.  No snow yet or iced waters.  Hope we get that soon; my favourite weather conditions as it’s so romantic!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE