Towpath Townie

I’ve Blacked My Stove!

September20

Here’s our newly blacked stove… and Zoot, the Ship’s Pup stretched out trying to cool off.

The Stove Paint is very odd; it’s like ink. And it doesn’t ‘arf’ smoke for the first fire. As it’s so thin I ended up with black freckles up my arms and over my face

Comes off easily though so no biggie. I’m definitely all set now so Winter, do your best. Hope it snows! :w00t:

I think we’ve still got some clement weather to enjoy before the real Winter comes so I’m trying to persuade Lottie that we can fit in a long weekend cruise before we settle down until the Spring. Happy Boating :heart:

Get Shareaholic

posted under Ahoy there! | 2 Comments »

My Thing Fell Off!

September15

This morning was a chilly one…

Zoot, the new Ship’s Puppy, had been outside for his daily romp and when we came back on board he sat on the sofa shivering where his legs had gotten wet from the dew laden lawn. I thought ‘I know, I’ll light the stove’. This was the first lighting after the Summer and we both sat there mesmerised by the flames and the growing warmth.

“CLUNK” … a noise that made us both jump so I attempted to find the source of this loud metal noised interruption to our morning.

My thing had fallen off!

The blanking plate from the back of the stove that is. On closer inspection it seems that one of the lugs had sheered off.

There was quite a build up of soot which is odd as I’ve not long had the thing professionally cleaned… still, he wasn’t much cop when he did it and now I’m shown the annoying spoils of his inadequacies in the cold light of day.

Lunch time and I’m in the car to the Chandlers. £44.0 later I’m stocked up with stovey supplies to make good the bad upon my return home. The lugs were £3.40 each and the screws were £1.80 each – what a rip off!

And a fiddly fucking job it was too! And dirty!! It’s not on tight yet though, I’ll need to have another fiddle but I lost interest if I’m honest and I was getting frustrated. I had a brilliant idea of cementing the thing in only the cement I’d bought last year was now a glittering rock hard mass in the sealed pot. Back out to buy fresh supplies at the weekend to finish the job. I did however purchase a pot of stove paint as it’s in desperate need of sprucing up

So, since I moved on board almost two years ago, I’ve now spent in the region of £200 on replacement parts including door glass, grate, griddle pan, chimney and blanking plate. I think, as it’s probably as old as the boat (20 years) I’ll replace the whole thing next year. Plus I don’t know how well it’s been looked after in this time. After all, it’s a necessity and it’s also extremely important to have it ‘safe’.

Anyway, as long as it’s functional and safe for this Winter then it’s a job well done. Spring will find me mulling over the possibilities of a new purchase. Until then I shall enjoy the cold nights having stocked my woodshed with Joiners Nuts earlier in the year from Woof! Wood – I’m well ready. This is my 3rd delivery from this company and they’re brilliant! Less than a fiver for delivery by friendly drivers who plonk the palette where you need it. Cheaper than coal and it smells fantastic. Plus I don’t get dirty except when I have to clean the bugger out.

There we have it! Like I said, just about to embark on my 3rd Winter aboard so for those few that took the piss and publicly insulted me in the early days, you know who you are, I’m still here and still LOVING IT! Oh, and I’m growing my hair after 14 years :lol:

Get Shareaholic

posted under Ahoy there! | 2 Comments »

Bristol & Back!

July29

We weren’t going to set sail until the Saturday morning but by Friday evening we were chomping at the bit, untethered our pea-green boat, and set off into the sunset. We moored for the night by the Bridge at Sainsburys in Bradford on Avon to stock up on supplies and awoke the next morning bright and early to pass through our first lock of many.

We met Dao (Will) on the way through and said hello before we continued on our way to our first swing bridge at Bathampton (or was it Bathwick?).

We stopped for food at the George and moored soon after for the night.

We moored up just before the Lock Flight down to Bath and had a wander around Sydney Gardens. Really beautiful!

Unfortunately we managed to share locks with complete noobs on the way down. The guy driving the boat had no clue whatsoever and his crew were a little embarrassed but he wouldn’t let them drive. The 5 locks down were tedious and we were glad to lose them as we entered the River Avon.

Lottie relished in opening up the throttle and we hurriedly meandered along the River at a good pace. It was really beautiful and the weirs we were so scared of really weren’t that scary after all. The River was almost unspoilt of human intervention. The odd pub with limited mooring and a few hidden marinas. For the most part it was a glorious wilderness.

I think there were 6 locks to contend with. The ferocity of the water intake was daunting as I watched Lottie contend with the strong flow in. Many of the lock gates were extremely heavy too and I needed help with one of them.

A sharp right turn, with a small sign as opposed to the large ones we’d encountered earlier, just before the last largest weir where chains hung from the bridge (to grab in case you didn’t turn in time to hang on for dear life and watch your boat go over?), and we were on the feeder canal heading toward Netham Lock. The Lock Master was a lovely old guy who was more worried about me crossing the road back to the boat than being on the River as noobs.

The journey into Bristol Harbour was exhilarating. It was so BIG! Boats of all shapes and sizes took residence all around and some serious building work had taken place quite recently by the looks of it.

The Lock Keeper at Netham had already marked on a map our destination mooring spot – right by the Harbour Master’s office outside the Cottage Inn pub. As we hadn’t eaten all day (literally) we were famished.

However, our meal was almost ruined by possibly the most annoying human being in the whole world. He didn’t shut up once and his jokes wore thin. We scoffed our food and wearily boarded the boat and fell fast asleep.

The seagulls woke me early but instead of being annoying it was fantastic. I’d opened my cabin curtains before going to bed so I could see the wonderful sight as I woke up. It was heavenly.

We paid for two nights here and enjoyed the following day walking around Bristol and taking lunch at the Piano & Pitcher (or was it Pitcher and Piano?). Anyway, the food was good and the waiter better. Phwoar!

A cute little ferry boat took us across to the other side of the Harbour and returned us later that day, next to the SS Great Britain. What a ship!

Lottie was complaining of blisters on her heels (they were bad!) so I sent her into a shop to buy some cheap flip-flops – makes sense right? Out she comes, half an hour later, with a pair of bloody Pineapple Hi-Tops~! I was livid with rage and hoped they hurt for the rest of the day

Another night in the Harbour was blissful. And another early awakening found us winding the boat around without any furious manoeuvres due to the sheer size of water available to us. We were now heading back up the feeder canal toward Netham Lock.

The few pubs along the River Avon had very limited mooring. We just managed to get in at the Jolly Sailor where we had a meal before moving on to moor for the night farther down just before the Deep lock at Bath.

The weather had been good to us all week. Sometimes too hot so when the sun went behind clouds we were glad.

We met some American holidaymakers on the Bath Flight up and they were really enjoying it.

Back at the George we ate and slept again. It’s a great pub and a lovely spot.

Another couple of stops, one including the Hop Pole Inn, before we hit home made the week perfect. Mind you, Lottie and I had a bit of a spat about her not putting the Puppy first so I had to set her straight. We’re friends again now though :)

So, another successful cruise. Still get annoyed at the number of Widebeam boats on the relatively narrow K&A – move to a bigger waterway!

Click image below to then click through all my photos.