TAKING IT EASY

Spent the w`end in Braunston and then took a cruise back to Calcutt locks as the chandlery there had a sump pump that i wanted to install in the engine bay. At the moment i use a hand held pump with the tube going down the dipstick tube into the sump to drain the engine oil the pump i have now purchased along with the pipe and fittings acquired along the way will enable the pump to be permanently fixed in the engine bay and connected directly to the sump plug. This will enable easier draining of the oil and also ensuring as much as possible is removed.
So after a couple of days returned to Braunston as the large chandlery there had a 1 day 20% off sale so it was a good time to buy a few bits and bobs.
So all in all just lazing about not to much movement but then that`s the life of the waterways do as much as you want when you want.
Pictured below is NB Whitefield 70` long and not your usual style of narrowboat. The front
cratch electrically lifts and folds flat on the roof. The traditional tiller steering has been replaced by a panel that has 4 joysticks that control the hydraulic drive to rudder, prop and bow/stern thrusters. Also at the rear is a small screen relaying pictures from the 3 cameras at the bow. It was recently featured in the waterways press and i can tell you the inside is very luxurious with leather sofa and dinette seats. All windows are double glazed and tinted and the boat contains 5 TVs including a waterproofed one in the shower. So if you`ve got around £250,000............

Morris dancers suddenly turned up at the pub in Braunston and it turned out they were on a
week long holiday on 3 hire boats giving impromptu performances at pubs along the canal.

The wet weather of late has not enabled finishing the roof painting but below you can see I have managed to get one coat on top of the sanded area, just needs a dry spell to get 2 more coats on.
Filled up with water recently, in fact it needs doing about every 10/14 days but this time after 2/3 days it was almost empty. Panic! if i haven`t used it where has it gone, so the search began for a leak within the boat of every pipe and tap but no sign of a leak. Next i isolated the tank to check it was not leaking, it wasn`t. Now i`m baffled because the pump was coming on so the water was being used somewhere and then it occurred to me the only way other than by a leaking pipe or normal sink/shower use that water could leave the tank was the pressure relief valve on the hot water tank. Removal of the overflow pipe that discharges out of the boat revealed it full of water so a new prv valve was fitted and once again my water supply lasts a reasonable time. After stripping the old valve i found the rubber valve seat to be perished.