at first it was a novelty, after it was a good photo opportunity, then it was a good cruise and funny smashing noises, followed by a learning curve of how to steer (or not) in the ice, then it was fun smashing the ice to be able to open lock gates, after that it was an interesting talking point at work. Now Im bored of it.
Yes it was exciting to draw the curtains and see the ice formed on the INSIDE
yes it was fun smashing through ice with the boat
yes its lovely and cosy with the fire lit, but its been a bit cold in the mornings since Mr X has been stingy with the coal at night.
theres been some good photo opportunities, but since its highlighted how crap my ancient 4 year old camera is, it gonna cost me a few squids to buy a new camera to match up to my expectations. Its bloody expensive this icy snowy freezing parky weather.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/P1030101.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/P1030099.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/P1030102.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/P1030106.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/P1030112.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/P1030111.jpg[/img]
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Does it get cold in winter?
NO it bloody well doesnt.
what brick house have you ever lived in where its icy cold outside, theres an icy wind blowing and yet you are walking around in the buff inside, with the windows open sipping a cocktail and thinking of palm trees?
this narrowboat has to be the hottest place ive ever lived. mainly because Mr. X is nesh and likes it tropical. without him I probably wouldn't light the fire most of winter.
So now hes added an ecofan to make the bedroom hotter and to avoid me wearing pyjamas because he thinks they are passion killer.
its winter, i like snuggling up under my nice thick winter duvet, but now hes talking about putting the summer duvet back on! I say, put less wood in the stove and quit getting up so damned early for work, that's the real passion killer.
what brick house have you ever lived in where its icy cold outside, theres an icy wind blowing and yet you are walking around in the buff inside, with the windows open sipping a cocktail and thinking of palm trees?
this narrowboat has to be the hottest place ive ever lived. mainly because Mr. X is nesh and likes it tropical. without him I probably wouldn't light the fire most of winter.
So now hes added an ecofan to make the bedroom hotter and to avoid me wearing pyjamas because he thinks they are passion killer.
its winter, i like snuggling up under my nice thick winter duvet, but now hes talking about putting the summer duvet back on! I say, put less wood in the stove and quit getting up so damned early for work, that's the real passion killer.
Ice breaking
Ive never been on a boat capable of breaking ice before and had ice to actually break.
thats quite fun.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/PC120097.jpg[/img]
thats quite fun.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/PC120097.jpg[/img]
hot n cold and running in water
this is the third winter I have been living on Honey Ryder, it feels like more.
The first two winters we had hardly any condensation at all, but this time, we are running in it.
every window and unprotected cupboard. We have the fire lit every day, its dries out some of the windows but it comes straight back the moment the temperature drops below tropical.
last winter I made the mistake of filling a cupboard and closing the door, when I decided to tidy the cupboard and find something one day, I realised everything was covered in mould! this year we have moisture absorbing sachets in the cupboards and all seems to be staying dry.
so Ive clearly moved the water out of the cupboards and onto the windows.
Not sure why this can be, other than maybe we have a water leak. the water pump is giving me the warning signal that something is not perfect with an occasional brrrp. just a little one but I remember last time we had that kind of noise occurring without using the taps, it turned out to be a seeping kitchen tap pipe.
SO the search has begun to find the drip.
cue sarcastic comments about Mr. X
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
flashing by
As we get older life seems to speed up, it accelerates, and with each extra day that passes by the momentum gathers pace.
My work life is busier than ever and my home life is passing in a blur.
That is until we set off on another cruise.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne01copy.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne02.jpg[/img]
it all suddenly sloooooowwwwwssss riiiiggghtttt doooowwwwnnn, and I feel like Im in a slow motion replay.
Ive seen these canals before, ive been through these locks before, Ive done all this before and its all the same as before at the same speed.
Walking pace.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne03.jpg[/img]
So at the speed of walking pace I have relocated over the past few weeks from Rickmansworth, where I had grown rather fond of the trees I had to duck under on my way to the train station and the pretty mystery woman I saw on the train platform every day at the same time in the same place.
We moved gradually down the Grand Union, through London and paused at Camden. We had never stopped there before. It's a bit busy with trip boats, but dead handy for the shopping. So I shopped til my bank account almost dropped and then we moved on. My best friend was visiting from the north again, we have an uncanny habit of picking the same clothes to wear.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne05.jpg[/img]
Victoria park, a quick bike ride to Brick lane for a curry, followed by a brief waking in the middle of the night to hear Mr X chucking his guts up, the Lamb he had was possibly not really Lamb, but some other furry rodent type alternative to keep the cost of meals down during the credit crunch.
anyway, we then headed down to limehouse for a little visit there, and a nice bike ride out to the Dartford crossing and the barrier.
no, not this barrier, the other barrier
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne04.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne06.jpg[/img]
Limehouse is a nice spot to head out from for an afternoon or night out as the DLR is so close.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne07.jpg[/img]
This weekend we moved again up the River Lee, it took us eight hours which included a pub stop along the way and four trips down the weed/bag hatch,
We are now slowly making our way up the Lee again as I really like the river and although the boat is still for sale we imagine spending the winter on Honey Ryder before we find a buyer. The River Lee and Stort is a nice place to spend the winter I think.
So, nothing much to write home about, hence the lack of blog entries. No point boring the pants off y'all with small talk about the weather.
My work life is busier than ever and my home life is passing in a blur.
That is until we set off on another cruise.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne01copy.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne02.jpg[/img]
it all suddenly sloooooowwwwwssss riiiiggghtttt doooowwwwnnn, and I feel like Im in a slow motion replay.
Ive seen these canals before, ive been through these locks before, Ive done all this before and its all the same as before at the same speed.
Walking pace.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne03.jpg[/img]
So at the speed of walking pace I have relocated over the past few weeks from Rickmansworth, where I had grown rather fond of the trees I had to duck under on my way to the train station and the pretty mystery woman I saw on the train platform every day at the same time in the same place.
We moved gradually down the Grand Union, through London and paused at Camden. We had never stopped there before. It's a bit busy with trip boats, but dead handy for the shopping. So I shopped til my bank account almost dropped and then we moved on. My best friend was visiting from the north again, we have an uncanny habit of picking the same clothes to wear.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne05.jpg[/img]
Victoria park, a quick bike ride to Brick lane for a curry, followed by a brief waking in the middle of the night to hear Mr X chucking his guts up, the Lamb he had was possibly not really Lamb, but some other furry rodent type alternative to keep the cost of meals down during the credit crunch.
anyway, we then headed down to limehouse for a little visit there, and a nice bike ride out to the Dartford crossing and the barrier.
no, not this barrier, the other barrier
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne04.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne06.jpg[/img]
Limehouse is a nice spot to head out from for an afternoon or night out as the DLR is so close.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/jayne07.jpg[/img]
This weekend we moved again up the River Lee, it took us eight hours which included a pub stop along the way and four trips down the weed/bag hatch,
We are now slowly making our way up the Lee again as I really like the river and although the boat is still for sale we imagine spending the winter on Honey Ryder before we find a buyer. The River Lee and Stort is a nice place to spend the winter I think.
So, nothing much to write home about, hence the lack of blog entries. No point boring the pants off y'all with small talk about the weather.
Monday, August 25, 2008
A trip down the Thames
Its been years since I went down the thames, past parliament and under tower bridge, 12 years in fact.
So I was happy to help a friend who wanted an extra pair of hands due to a slightly incapacitated crew member. (the very same person who fell in the lock and is now nursing broken ribs and a snapped knee)
The cruise was lovely, turning left out of Brentford and heading to Limehouse. The tide was still on its way in, but being a neap was not very powerful. We punched the tide for a while before it turned and swept us a long at a decent 8mph pace. There was some nice swells from the other river craft, nothing went in through the front cratch though, thankfully for the broken crew member as she would have got a bit wet and those pots get a bit heavy when dunked in water.
The exciting part was the entry to Limehouse. this was the bit Ive been curious about. Ive never seen a narrowboat turn into the small inlet, Ive only heard stories.
Particularly stories about the northern wall being a bit of an unintended buffer for a lot of boats.
So the captain/skipper/owner was handed the tiller well before we needed to turn and I just stood on the back, gripping the roof and watching with delight and some small amounts of concern as we turned, started wallowing around in the turbulence, the flow took as sideways as planned but not quite enough so a bit of adjustment ( reversing) to avoid the eddy in the entrance and some large amounts of welly again and she just turned in time to avoid the notorious wall and enter the lock nicely.
except a tupperware boat had bombed up ahead of us thinking they were beating us to the lock... not a good move when you think about it. they were waiting in the lock... for a 60ft metal torpeado everso slightly going fast and everso slightly crab wise.
I know if it had been my tupperware boat I would have said, "no after you sir" let the metal boat go in first then popped myself in when I was sure it was well secured inside the lock.
So with me not knowing the boat and its foibles, getting out of the cratch, climbing over the broken crew member and trying to get the front rope in time to grab the lock sliding cable was a bit of a failure. I got out alright but not before the boat had slewed across the lock and was threatening to crush said tupperware.
not the best of manouvers on my behalf but the lock keeper threw me a wee line to pull mine up with and we were sorted.
Those limehouse lockies are nice chaps.
The fun continued when trying to leave the lock the engine wouldnt start, due to a blocked fuel filter from all the turbulence on the way down.
So my final parting gesture before leaving them to go to work, was man hauling the boat out of the lock to tie up in the basin.
It seems that part of the canal system is intent on seeing me bow haul narrowboats nearly every time I visit it!
So, what a cracking cruise, great fun but Im not in a hurry to do the same with my own boat. I quite like the idea of taking my time through london on the canals. Narrowboats, choppy water and narrow lock entrances are only for those braver than me I think.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/IMG00067.jpg[/img]
So I was happy to help a friend who wanted an extra pair of hands due to a slightly incapacitated crew member. (the very same person who fell in the lock and is now nursing broken ribs and a snapped knee)
The cruise was lovely, turning left out of Brentford and heading to Limehouse. The tide was still on its way in, but being a neap was not very powerful. We punched the tide for a while before it turned and swept us a long at a decent 8mph pace. There was some nice swells from the other river craft, nothing went in through the front cratch though, thankfully for the broken crew member as she would have got a bit wet and those pots get a bit heavy when dunked in water.
The exciting part was the entry to Limehouse. this was the bit Ive been curious about. Ive never seen a narrowboat turn into the small inlet, Ive only heard stories.
Particularly stories about the northern wall being a bit of an unintended buffer for a lot of boats.
So the captain/skipper/owner was handed the tiller well before we needed to turn and I just stood on the back, gripping the roof and watching with delight and some small amounts of concern as we turned, started wallowing around in the turbulence, the flow took as sideways as planned but not quite enough so a bit of adjustment ( reversing) to avoid the eddy in the entrance and some large amounts of welly again and she just turned in time to avoid the notorious wall and enter the lock nicely.
except a tupperware boat had bombed up ahead of us thinking they were beating us to the lock... not a good move when you think about it. they were waiting in the lock... for a 60ft metal torpeado everso slightly going fast and everso slightly crab wise.
I know if it had been my tupperware boat I would have said, "no after you sir" let the metal boat go in first then popped myself in when I was sure it was well secured inside the lock.
So with me not knowing the boat and its foibles, getting out of the cratch, climbing over the broken crew member and trying to get the front rope in time to grab the lock sliding cable was a bit of a failure. I got out alright but not before the boat had slewed across the lock and was threatening to crush said tupperware.
not the best of manouvers on my behalf but the lock keeper threw me a wee line to pull mine up with and we were sorted.
Those limehouse lockies are nice chaps.
The fun continued when trying to leave the lock the engine wouldnt start, due to a blocked fuel filter from all the turbulence on the way down.
So my final parting gesture before leaving them to go to work, was man hauling the boat out of the lock to tie up in the basin.
It seems that part of the canal system is intent on seeing me bow haul narrowboats nearly every time I visit it!
So, what a cracking cruise, great fun but Im not in a hurry to do the same with my own boat. I quite like the idea of taking my time through london on the canals. Narrowboats, choppy water and narrow lock entrances are only for those braver than me I think.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p213/jaynetoyne/IMG00067.jpg[/img]
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
lucky escape
this is anecdotal and I dont have eyewitness levels of accuracy about this next entry but stick with it...
It was Sunday, I was expecting some friends on a boat who I met last year on the river Lee, they are a lovely couple and perhaps the only real boaty friends Ive made apart from the french yaching couple I met in Limehouse basin over the winter.
Anyway, this couple, I shall call them Mr n Ms Axe. They are heading up to a dry dock somewhere past Watford, so planned to meet up with me as I am just over at Rickmansworth at the moment.
Sunday I sent a text to see if they were on schedule and did they want anything from Tesco...
no reply. thats alright though, thats often the way, people are outside, locking, chatting etc, not listening for a phone.
later in the day I was wondering where they might be when I got a phone call from Ms Axe.
"the Plan isnt going exactly to plan... "
I said, "oh yeah thats narrowboating for you, where have you got to?"
"well, I fell in..."
"No shit! you fell in, well hows that stopped proceedings?" sounding bolshy and about to poke fun.
"I fell in a lock at the flight"
suddenly genuinely concerned"Holy shit, what the hell happened?"
" I was ahead of the boat, preparing the next lock and as I crossed the top gate i looked down and my foot went down a gap in the rails where the paddles go...."
gasp....then silence...
"then I got sucked under and went through the channel with the water flow..."
at this point I had to sit down and asked "what you mean you went through where the paddles open?"
"yes, and somehow, I dont know how, but Im still alive, My knee was dislocated and I think I chipped a bone but apart from that Im alright. maybe you could call and let him know Im alright, XXXXX XXXX etc"
After I managed to remove my heart from my mouth I gave him a call and he was as shaken as anything, but had had to leave at the hospital once he knew she wasn't in a life threatening way so that he could move the boat to a safer place.
Now I can't wait to see them both again to give them a hug and tell them how glad I am to have them as friends, it's moments like this that reminds me, you never know when your time is up, one small slip, one lapse of concentration, and its curtains.
I never knew anyone who fell in like that and survived.
It was Sunday, I was expecting some friends on a boat who I met last year on the river Lee, they are a lovely couple and perhaps the only real boaty friends Ive made apart from the french yaching couple I met in Limehouse basin over the winter.
Anyway, this couple, I shall call them Mr n Ms Axe. They are heading up to a dry dock somewhere past Watford, so planned to meet up with me as I am just over at Rickmansworth at the moment.
Sunday I sent a text to see if they were on schedule and did they want anything from Tesco...
no reply. thats alright though, thats often the way, people are outside, locking, chatting etc, not listening for a phone.
later in the day I was wondering where they might be when I got a phone call from Ms Axe.
"the Plan isnt going exactly to plan... "
I said, "oh yeah thats narrowboating for you, where have you got to?"
"well, I fell in..."
"No shit! you fell in, well hows that stopped proceedings?" sounding bolshy and about to poke fun.
"I fell in a lock at the flight"
suddenly genuinely concerned"Holy shit, what the hell happened?"
" I was ahead of the boat, preparing the next lock and as I crossed the top gate i looked down and my foot went down a gap in the rails where the paddles go...."
gasp....then silence...
"then I got sucked under and went through the channel with the water flow..."
at this point I had to sit down and asked "what you mean you went through where the paddles open?"
"yes, and somehow, I dont know how, but Im still alive, My knee was dislocated and I think I chipped a bone but apart from that Im alright. maybe you could call
After I managed to remove my heart from my mouth I gave him a call and he was as shaken as anything, but had had to leave
Now I can't wait to see them both again to give them a hug and tell them how glad I am to have them as friends, it's moments like this that reminds me, you never know when your time is up, one small slip, one lapse of concentration, and its curtains.
I never knew anyone who fell in like that and survived.
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