VOTING DAVENTRY CANAL

Walking around Daventry yesterday i noticed notices in many shop windows urging local residents to vote that very evening in the referendum on weather or not they favour a canal into Daventry.
Also driving around the town was a van advertising the event with the passenger leaning from the window urging people to vote.
Eight polling stations had been set up with no polling card required and only your name had to be on the electoral register.

Today searching the Internet i see it got thumbs down by a large majority.

I remember reading in one of the boat mags that a new road had been constructed near the proposed canal terminus site that allowed headroom for the canal to pass under it so it would appear the district council have made up their minds. I suppose like the Milton Keynes/Bedford project this again might mean my boating to a ripe old age to achieve a cruise into Daventry.

More info on the council plans for Daventry HERE.

CRUISING INTO SPRING

Spring is in the air and enough time has been spent sitting around feeling under the weather so
i left Fenny Stratford looking forward to a lock free cruise of 11 miles. The first site i wanted to
stop and look at although in the picture above there`s not much to see was where the proposed Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway was planned to leave the Grand Union. At 16 miles long and estimated costs of £160-200 million is not expected to open until 2025. I`ll be 77 yrs old and i wouldn`t mind betting the cost would have risen sharply.

With Spring comes the Lambs and as usual amongst my fellow Bloggers i`m the last to get the
pictures but no matter Blogging isn`t a competition i`m just telling it as i see it.

Over the Aqueduct at New Bradwell

and under Soloman`s Bridge at Cosgrove.

Stopped off at Yardley Gobion village just a short stroll from the canal to get milk and bread.

The Lambs like buses you don`t see one for ages then they`re everywhere.

Fenny Stratford = Bletchley Park

A couple of days at Fenny Stratford gave me a chance to visit Bletchley Park which was the hub of wartime code breaking and is only a 20minute walk from the canal.
I spent 4hrs wandering around the exhibits but still hadn`t seen all there was to see as some sections run by outside groups only operated at weekends but the beauty of the £8 admission was the free return anytime in the next 12 months.
So much to see and read most of which is better read by yourselves so follow the links and if you pass by pay a visit, i guarantee your being intrigued by what went on here during the war.

An Enigma machine

Perhaps the most famous code breaker was Alan Turin. This statue is made of thousands of pieces of Welsh slate.

Mock up of a `Bombe` machine.After the war Churchill had all the machines at Bletchley and other locations broken up.

The original red brick farmhouse had many additions after Sir Herbert Leon purchased
Bletchley Park in 1883

Just two of the added rooms inside the house.

The Colossus machine re-built by Bletchley Park curator Tony Sale.

Machines at Bletchley
Sir Herbet Leon
Churchill`s secret
Alan Turin scrapbook

FEELING BETTER Thanks

I don`t know exactly what germ, bug, or disease took over my normally healthy life but for sure it hit me for six.
It started on the 20th Feb, my usual free and easy lifestyle would have prevented me from quoting this date as the march of time and myself put up with each other neither one interfering with the others pace, this being a couple of days before the Birmingham show and all it appeared to be was a cold. Wrong diagnosis on my part as on my return from Brum things went downhill with.......loads of things but i`m better now so best not to dwell on it.
MANY MANY thanks to you all for your comments and e mails wishing me well, cheers all.

The boat and caravan show at the NEC boasted about 6 canal boats out of the advertised 250
boats on show but for me and i would think other boaters is the fact that the equipment, gadgets and gizmo`s are common amongst caravanners and campers with the majority of the displays being of interest to a wide audience.
So what did i buy other than the overpriced coffee and food you are screaming aloud, well to go with a £500k gin palace ( below) i thought a battery monitor system might be handy so a
NASA BM-1 was my choice and when i get 5 mins and when/if the cheque clears for the gin

palace i`ll fit it. Change of plan i`ve cancelled the cheque i love my narrow boat to much and
besides look at the bow wave i couldn`t handle life that fast.
Another purchase was some Rescue Tape that attracted my attention for among the many uses it has i liked the idea of having something to repair a water hose, although i do carry some spares it might be the one i haven`t got that goes or perhaps a quick repair to keep me boating until a re-placement hose can be obtained and fitted.

So back from the show and feeling better after a couple of weeks it was time to do a couple of very short days of cruising as i was becoming stir crazy in the same place.
Above NB Valerie in Leighton lock and the fields have flooded from the R. Ouzel.

The view from the middle lock at Soulbury 3 as i dropped down, perhaps the by wash was restricted and couldn`t handle my lock full of water but all returned to normal as i entered the lock in the picture.
Mixed breeding has produced this rather attractive Mallard.

RESTING

Just to let anyone who might be curious know i am resting up for a while trying to shake off some virus that has taken me over temporarily.

Can`t remember the last time i slept without waking in the early hours coughing my heart up even though i am sleeping in a almost upright position.

Be back soon, can`t keep us boaters down for long.

SHIPWRECKS TO FIND

Passing through Berkhamsted has in the past needed a BW key to un-lock the gate paddles owing to the local low life thinking that opening all the paddles and draining pounds - which in turn flooded towpaths lower down- was a great way to pass the time.
At one time, at least 2yrs ago, the lock gates were padlocked by BW each night around 8pm but


l guess to save paying overtime the boater operated locking devices were installed. A very useful system for boaters arriving at or travelling through Berko out of hours. The one pictured above is unique in that it is the only survivor as the use of flimsy chain and poor welding has meant the others have been ripped off only possible i might add when boaters have not locked them after use but merely left the padlock hanging loose. Hopefully BW will have listened to my phone call and replaced them as we don`t want to go back to the old 8pm time restrictions of chaining and padlocking the gates.


The locking device on the top gate ground paddles has at least been a success with no sign of damage to any of them.

A subject came up on Canal Forum about some abandoned work boats on the Marsworth flight and as i have passed through this flight many times i was intrigued as i had not seen them. The little fellow below appeared as i was looking and went off to have a look for me and seeing as he

returned to say he`d found them i thought it only fair he was pictured and given credit for his efforts.
After some difficulty finding an access point from the towpath i was rewarded with the pictures below. It seems they were pulled out on the Wendover Arm that runs close to the top half of Marsworth flight and slid down the embankment possibly in the 1970`s.






Anyone interested to have a look they are just before the cottage towpath side halfway down the flight although access here is not possible owing to water between them and the towpath so go back above the lock and fight your way through the bushes on higher ground.

Startops reservoir at Marsworth pictured below in Sept `09 was so low that i was able to walk

with 2 of the grandchildren all the way round along the beach as they called it. Below in Feb 2010 it was nice to see the water level much higher as this and the other reservoirs feed the canal especially the summit level. A note for fellow boaters a lot of tree cutting is taking place on the path between the reservoirs, chippings can be seen in the lower pic, so like me go gather.

So a nice mooring for a few days but my next move will be to a remote section of canal to cut all the logs i have.

Nb VALERIE is 4yrs OLD

I don`t think there has been an anniversary blog up to now and this 4yr one would have slipped by if i hadn`t been backing up some images to disc and come across the build pictures.

I suppose a few facts and figures would be appropriate such as miles travelled, locks etc. well sorry but i don`t record this sort of thing but it must be a lot or perhaps even more than that so shall we say loads. All i can say is every lock mile has been a pleasure even going over old ground seems to bring up something new even if only stopping at B on a previous A-C cruise.

Regrets, well being a solo boater does have it`s moments of solitude but the fabulous lady whose name adorns my home is sadly no longer here to share my retirement so my decision to sell up and cruise the canals was i honestly believe the right one based on a loved ones wish that life must go on.
So just the one regret as i certainly don`t miss owning a house and the memories of 20+ years i carry in my head. An honest and straight forward bloke is me so i`m not ashamed to say i`m sitting here with tears running down my face..........


Phew! anyway below is a short bit of video made of a few photos from the many taken over the last 4yrs, it lasts about 4mins but how can you put 4yrs of cruising through wonderful scenery, meeting new friends and visiting places some of which i`d never heard of. All i can suggest is look at the pictures and multiply them in your mind over and over again and your get some idea of life afloat.

Started moving slowly north but as i`ve mentioned the stoppages are restricting movement.

I`ll leave you with the video.

I`M STILL AROUND

Well pepes i thought i`d better dig around for something to blog as lack of cruising has depleted the blog material store. After all you really don`t want to know when i went shopping or how long i read a book or when i cleaned the windows, it`s just not my style.

Have been in my present location now for 8 days which even in winter time is un-usual for me. The fact is that since the freeze just before Christmas that threw all my plans overboard there has been no sense of urgency to move at a fast pace owing to stoppages ahead.

Initially i planned to get through all the stoppages but the thought of smashing through ice and stripping all the blacking that i applied late last year somehow didn`t appeal. So now i am taking my time as i won`t have a clear run till March 5th when Braunston maintenance is finished.

The big freeze thawed and enabled me to move a little but in the picture above taken about a week ago the ice was back if only for a couple of days.


So plenty of time on my hands to surf the net and in doing so i found a link from one of the canal forums to a satellite direction tool. It`s called Dishpointer and below is a page showing the satellite direction from a mooring i was on just below lock 66 at Hemel Hempstead.
As the site seems to have an American slant it might be an idea to add UK to the location in your search. Once you find your bit of canal you can click the exact mooring and the satellite line will re-position.

My 2yr contract with T Mobile for Internet access was coming to an end and as i was happy with the coverage on my cruise of the system i decided to re-new. The dongle - yes it has a techi name but dongle is what we all understand- has stood still in the technology advance of the last
2yrs so rather than just re-new the contract i up graded to a new "mobile broadband USB stick modem" there i`ve said it, once more donnnnnngle.
Above in the left corner weighing in at 3.6mbps the present title holder and contesting the right to interject with my Dell laptop and weighing in at a mighty 7.2 mbps is black stick.
After 5 mins of fast surfing i declared black stick the winner by a long way with points scored at every click of the mouse.
The original contract for 2yrs was at £20 per month with 2 £60 cheque refunds equating to £15 per month over the contracted period. Next week would have ended my commitment and if i had done nothing the £20 debit at my bank would have continued, sorry T Mobile but i`m keeping tabs on you. So a new contract of 18mths with a new dingle dongle of twice the speed and back to £15 p mth was not a hard decision to make.

Being stuck this far south has it`s bonuses in as far as the family are close by and a few visits to the grandchildren have been easy. One such trip was made this very morning when i went to
g`daughter Jordan play for Garston Ladies under 10 team. On a cold wintry day sipping cups of hot tea a small crowd watched them lose 6-0 to a team from Hitchin. Jordan even if you had won 6-0 i wouldn`t have been any prouder, well done all the girls.

I WANT SUNSHINE

A break in the weather gave me the chance to install my Solar panel but without Mr. Sun doing the brightness bit my batteries are getting little power at the moment. When i first installed it in the horizontal position with an absence of sun the control box was reading 0.27amps and the voltage from the panel wires read 13.38v so at least, i`m assured by other boaters, it works. All i need is sunshine to see the amp reading climb and it wasn`t long before i got my wish and with just a weak winter sunburst the amps hit first 3 then 4.
I don`t expect much this time of year but come the summer sun i can imagine a lot of power from the panel will result in less engine running.

Less diesel used will eventually pay for the panel but the green brigade will still complain of the Carbon Footprint left by it`s manufacture but to be honest my intention is to save diesel and wear on my engine. If i worried about Carbon footprint i wouldn`t have had a boat manufactured but that also applies to any purchase we make so where do we draw the line. Perhaps I/WE should be happy that the making of this panel will cut down on future pollution from my engine.

I do believe, and by all means have your say, that as a live aboard boater my footprint is a lot less than when i lived in a house.
I use logs for the majority of my heating, no gas boiler heating a big house.
Minimal lighting needed on a boat with no lights left on all over the house.
No electrical appliances left on standby.
No car so making better use of public transport.
No regular decorating which includes new carpets and furniture.
Engine generates not only electricity & hot water but moves me around the country, does a car do all 3.
The list is probably bigger but all the above not only cuts my footprint but more important in these times of recession drastically reduces my cost of living while giving me a wonderful stress free life.

The solar panel is mounted on this turntable that was made for me (sorry bit of footprint) by my good friend Alan. The large circular part is actually a pulley wheel as used in lift shafts and it
enables the panel to be turned through 360 degrees to face the sun. The top part enables the panel to be angled and i have bolted and riveted the panel into this section and the whole unit is bolted down on the roof. I have fixed two legs to support the panel from the rear all being folded flat when travelling.

Something i`ve not noticed before is the Little Grebe.

Recently had an e mail from one of the g`children, yes that`s me in the picture. I remember over Christmas being shown a present, "just sit and look at this" Jordan told me. My image was captured and suitably or perhaps not decorated with glasses and head gear and if you look closely eye shadow & lipstick. I wouldn`t mind but it`s not my usual colour.

4 = H2o 4ed = 3 dom

Thaw = ice thawed = freedom

When ice is melted by increasing its temperature, the open cage structure starts collapsing due to partial break down of the hydrogen bonds. H₂O molecules start to come closer; also the water molecules separated from ice structure fill the vacant spaces in open-cage structure. This results into concentration of volume. Hence, the density of water starts increasing on heating above the melting point of ice and becomes maximum at 4°C.

On further rise in temperature, the kinetic energy of molecules increases and they once again start moving away from one another. This causes expansion, which is much more than the concentration caused by breaking of hydrogen bonds. Therefore, above 4°C the density of water once again starts decreasing. Thus, the maximum density of water is at 4°C.

There now you know what happened to all the ice that stopped all the boating the last few weeks. It`s no good just saying the ice has melted you need to know what is happening so i`ve delved into my scientific brain( the internet) and now you know.


So nice to be cruising after being iced in and even though the southern Gd. Union Canal has
become so familiar over the years today it all seemed like virgin territory. Under the fancy stone bridge the Earl of Essex insisted was built before he would allow the canal to pass through his land.


On through Lady Capels lock alongside the wharf entrance of the same name. Lady capels wharf came about because of coal duties imposed by the Corporation of London on coal shipped by sea and when the canal was born a clause in the act that was granted to the canal company prohibited coal being transported into London. The wharf was set up to off load coal for shipment by horse and cart untill later when coal was allowed into London upon payment of fee`s paid on tonnage.
I took this through the gate at Lady Capel lock because i was so happy to see NB Valerie with no ice imprisoning her. You can see how the gate paddle has been wound up allowing the water to empty from the lock in case any non boaters are interested. The white plate that covers the hole is plastic as opposed to the originals that were wood.



On through Hunton Bridge locks and the old beast has been there for.....donkeys years....sorry.


During the freeze i decided to replace the hot power hungry Halogen bulbs with LEDs and after
a lot of searching on the webbernet came across a fellow boater running a cottage type industry from her boat. When sourcing led bulbs you will find some that seem cheap but be wary these tend to be only rated at 12v and as we boaters know when running the engine to charge our batteries voltages above 12v can be running through the wiring. In fact i have just put a meter on one of my sockets and got a 14.6 reading that could cause these cheaper bulbs to fail. The ones i have purchased are rated at 10-30v so this problem is avoided.
The picture above shows my spotlight above the dinette that has 12 LEDs and below the ceiling lights have 9LEDs.
The site you need if interested is HERE ask for Sarah and say Les sent you. I`m not on any commission and only give this link because of the 1st class service i recieved.
The 1.8w and 2.4w power of these bulbs is far less than the 10w Halogens i replaced with just one section of 4 ceiling lights amounting to 7.2w against the original 40w of the Halogens so you can see a lot less demand on your batteries.

SWEDISH BOYS TOYS

Bet the blog title got the guys attention. Sorry lads no pin ups.

Just recently being iced in has given me so much time on my hands that i have been reading more boaters blogs than usual some for the first time and some that have remained un-read for a considerable time which along with my usual list of regulars has left me somewhat Blog eyed.

It`s a bit like RPI (repetitive strain injury) but with Blog eye after switching off the laptop and say your looking out the window one eye will see the trees whilst the other will see a blog page. Maybe i should sue the bloggers or the blog administrators..................get a life Les just stop reading so many.

Anyway what i`m trying to tell you is that reading all these blogs it came to my attention that many were reporting the temperature or lack of it outside the boat and the abundance of it inside as recorded on many different electronic gizmo`s and i thought it was about time i up-graded my temperature device.
Now my present system requires no batteries, is fully portable and has no restriction on min/max temperatures that it will record. Unlike modern day gadgets it has no digital readout but a voice, as in the sat-nav boxes, which uses phrases like "blimey it`s hot" or "it`s ffffffffffffff freezing" so you have no need of digital technology. All sounds very 21st century so why up-grade i hear you say........well this gadget is 62yrs old not called a Wii but a Me.

So with all this time to use up i wandered around town and came across a newly opened branch of Clas Ohlson a company that originated in a small Swedish village back in 1918. It`s an IKEA type shop but on a smaller scale with just 7 shops in the UK so far selling not flat pack furniture but all sorts of small items, click the link and have a look. Hardware, electrical, home and in the drop down box under leisure you`ll find boating.

One of my purchases pictured below cost £3.99 and i thought why not have a "boys toy" as a back up to my old`Me`.
So toys are for playing with and my first playful experiment was to test the surface temperature of my recently carpeted lower half of the boat. Ignore the readings in the picture for now because what i did was to use the outside probe that comes with about 2 metres of cable and placed it on the carpeted wall near the floor for half an hour and for the same time on the one remaining section of wood panelled wall 3" to the left at the same height. OK too much info but this is a scientific test and we must be precise. The reading on the original wood panel fell 2.5 degrees so the carpet has made a big difference, Big deal! Holy smoke! Wow! I didn`t need this gizmo to tell me, my 62yrs old `Me` temperature device emitted a new phrase as i sat at the dinette "that`s a lot better" it said.

Next up is just how hot is it in the boat and for this the device was placed 2` above the floor roughly a 1/3 of the internal height of the boat sort of groin level.....Whoops can i say groin? after all this is a live broadcast worldwide and you know what happened to Johnathan wossi Ross, no it`s fine so say my behind the scenes production team.

Now before this experiment started my original `Me` device told me i was warm and comfy sitting in a short sleeved shirt. In the picture the device reads 20.0C at 19.27 and looking at it now a day later it reads 19.3 so my question is should this device rule my life, do i rush off now and put on a sweater as the gizmo says the temp. is dropping. No, no, no i will decide my own comfort level this is just a toy.

Another thought on these temp. thingy`s where do you site it, halfway up the wall or as in my scientific test a 1/3rd up. I`ve just hung it up on the top of the curtain rail and in the last 5mins it has climbed to 25C and rising but i still feel the same with no desire to start a narrow boat nudist colony. Yep my minds made up, just numbers take my advice and do the `Me` test.

Above another of my purchases at the Clas Ohlson store was this 60LED work lamp complete with not only a mains charger but for us boating folk a 12v charge plug. With 5hrs life between charges it is far from a toy and in fact had it`s first use today when down in the engine hole checking the battery levels. Normally £9,99 i picked it up at a sale price of £6.99.


Above one of the windows glazed with the Storm guard film and as i said in the last blog it looks just like a normal window but without the condensation.

Just a bit of fun this blog and i can assure all my timid readers no gizmo was harmed during testing.

INTO 2010

A happy new year to you all and if the cold and icy conditions are getting you down don`t despair the day`s are getting longer and summer is on the way. I always look on the Christmas break as being the summit level of winter and once it`s passed the view of spring and warmer weather can be seen from this high point in the not so far distance.

Well all good plans go wrong and this year wrong they went big time. After my trip to Paris the plan was to cruise north up the Gd. Union to Cow roast near Tring so as to be not only close to all the family but to also be in a better position to get through the stoppages at Stoke Bruerne and Braunston after Christmas.

It all went wrong a week before Christmas when the snow first fell but this didn`t put me off i decided to push on but after doing a few locks that were snowed in and walking across slippery lock gates i decided life was to precious and moored up for the holiday. After the snow came the frozen canal and more snow so i am now resigned to not getting past Braunston until the work there finishes on March 5th if BW finish on time.


The section i was moored remained slightly iced up owing to the River Gade flowing in but above the lock the ice had taken a strong hold. in the picture above i had come up in the lock to get water and left the boat in the lock and managed to stretch my hose to the water point that can just be seen on the far left of the snowy towpath. It was then just a case of going back down in the lock and reversing to my mooring. So i have water, coal, wood and diesel also local shops nearby and the town centre 25mins walk so let it do it`s worse i will survive.


Next month will mark 4yrs of being afloat and i can tell you this spell of cold weather is the worst i have had. Now inside a boat the whole of the living space is about 18" below the waterline and below knee level is usually where the cold will first be felt but over all the past winters this has not been a problem for me until now and the plunging temperatures have made the below knee
area uncomfortable. My solution was to add insulation to this area in the form of carpet with the top half of the walls left as oak panels, two days on and the difference is very noticeable.

Before the carpet solution having the fire belting out as much heat as possible led to an increase in condensation on the windows and so i decided to try a double glazing film that had been mentioned on a canal Internet forum and also by my friends Dot/Derek on NB Gypsy Rover.
The result was amazing with no more wet windows to constantly wipe and the cost of 2 packs a modest £8.30. All you do is apply double sided tape around the frame, cut the film to size and apply to the tape and apply gentle heat from a hairdryer all over and the film tightens making all the ripples disappear. Tried to take a picture but the film was so clear it didn`t properly show so you just get a pic of the pack.

So a couple of jobs have helped pass the time and the weather forcast that usually i`m not bothered about indicates rising daytime tempratures towards the w`end so perhaps a move might soon be possible.

TIME FOR A BREAK

Have a lovely Christmas and thanks for reading my blog.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FOLKS

THINGS TO DO BEFORE IT`S TO LATE

Well i`ve talked about it for long enough so being moored at Paddington was the ideal time to make my first trip on Eurostar to Paris.

So into the booking hall at St Pancras International and faced with several choices i chose the
package that gave me breakfast on the way out and dinner on the return trip, no expense spared this was a one off that would reduce my list of things to do before i die. Morbid, sad, spooky call it what you want but remember we`ve all got life but for sure it`s not forever.

The ticket came out of the machine at 7.16 and i was on board as the train departed at 7.27 with the aid of a personal escort to the head of passport control and the metal detector/bag search right to my own table seat in less than 11mins.

Took this pic on the way back as no time on the way out.

Gare Du Nord station.

This must be what Boris has planned for London.

One of the many trip boats on the R. Seine

Bridge decoration

Eiffel Tower had heavily armed police on patrol.

Arc de Triomphe

Looking from the Trocadero with Christmas stalls and ice skating stretching down to the Seine with the tower on the other side.

More Christmas stalls along both sides of the Champs Elysees. I consumed several cups of hot wine as i walked around to keep out the bitterly cold weather.

These vents must have been ventilation shafts from the Metro as many people gathered to take advantage of the warm air coming up.