Rain, fuel, and other ramblings.

We're moored in Doncaster at the moment...and have been for 2days. Decided to put the new alternator in again (for the 2nd time), because the first time I wired it in wrong. Glad to say it's now in and WORKING :) I ran the engine for 1,5hrs earlier, and it's made a difference. When we arrived, the moorings were mostly full, but I managed to get the bow against the moorings, with the rest of the boat stuck out at sea. Have to keep reminding myself not to jump out the back engine hatch or I'll be in the drink. The cat tried it. Close call:)

It rained all day today. Very peaceful though. Kids took off to the Frenchgate shopping mall down the road. They like the Apple store. Being a Sunday we visited a church, about a 30min walk away...my legs are still burning. It's become an interesting phenomena, visiting different churches as we travel...but a neccessary one. We arrived in one place, and our teenager visited a local youthgroup, who he discovered were leaving on a weekend camp..so we got a call to say he wanted to go with...and off he went. You have to be ready for almost anything living on a boat, with kids.

Fuel is the lates struggle. Cant find anyone selling the stuff....on the canals that is.....

On the water again.

Quick post. We left Sheffield and came down the Tinsley flight this morning. Made the lock keeper mad because I was 15mins late. We gave him a bag of chocolates to say sorry, but don't think it improved matters much. The real reason for being late was having to slow down for sooo many fisherman ;-)

We arrived at a BW moorings "somewhere" past Rotherham, and thought it was a boring spot, until I checked on Google maps and found an entire shopping complex just over the rail lines. Note to self.....use Google Maps more often...it's always a great feeling to zoom in and see the tops of 500 cars...lol.

More later.

5 day count down

This is it! 5 days preparation, a weekend at friends, and we leave next Monday....( must remember to book the Tinsley locks ). I cant wait. I dont mind the hardships of daily boat life, as long as I can keep moving. It's a strange thing that...as long as I'm moving, I feel a happier person..cant explain it...narrowboats are strangely solid at night...you wouldnt think we're floating on water right now...except perhaps the fact that one side of the bed is higher than the other ....since we filled up one of the extra water tanks higher than the other perhaps. This week will be one of preparation...check/buy gas, diesel, recharge batteries. Fix a leak in the shower nozzle. Build a better battery box cover. Re-organise the roof storage. Buy a small tv for the kids. Connect up the aerial..by running 20metres of cable along the boat roof somehow...not recommended...but simpler:) I gave the engine room a paint last week, and our back cabin walls a recoat yesterday...They were getting scratched. My youngest bought a pirates toothbrush today....so the boat life seems to have taken his fancy. Painted the shower base today...my last spray job started flaking. This latest attempt should last longer and a recoat will be simple anyway. Kids have been warned. 1 week left of PCs. Next week, they'll be back to life on a boat...not life on a boat connected to land :)

A month in a marina

Sorry for the lack of recent posts....but what do you say when you are tied up in a marina for a month...:) Yes we have elec hookup, shops, and the luxury of showers, toilets and more....but I'd prefer to be cruising...which we'll do as soon as our teenage son has finished his exams. 5 in all. 1 down, 2 next week, 2 the week after....I have to drive him to an external exam centre down in Dronfield, so we're moored in Sheffield at the moment....after having travelled up the Tinsley flight at the beginning of the month. Dave and Derrick are 2 helpful lock operators..with good memories. The last time I went down the flight was last October, after having bought the boat from CV Marine. We got to lock 12, got a jacket caught in the prop, engine overheated, and the clutch jammed. Had to call for help, and obviously left an impression :) I'd say we are much better boat handlers now, than a few months ago.

Sheffield is the end of the line when it comes to canals....a dead end...but a lovely city... I had arranged to park the car for April/May at the Sheffield casino...long term parking. (to use it to get son to exams.) In retrospect, it would be easier to catch a train to the exam centre, but you learn as you go. Where do I put the car for June, July, August....onwards,....I DONT KNOW....:) Time to start planning that!

Sprotbrough...CHARMING

We left Doncaster this morning...round 10, after emptying the toilet casette (just in case..as there is no emptying area anywhere on our map for the next few days). The emptying point at Doncaster is hidden, unless you know what the local moorers use...there is a sewer drain lid which has to be lifted (using 2 keys from a guy on one of the boats). I decided to break one of my barbecue tongs and make my own keys and make a note to use it in the future when we pass by. I actually wanted to chat to British Waterways about our pending stay up at Sheffield, but the BW office seemed boarded up in Doncaster...

Anyway, we left. 2hrs later the side of the river started showing signs of life...runners, walkers etc. We came out of the Sprotbrough lock, and found a BW visitor mooring.(48hrs) opposite the big hire boat, and icecream truck, and Sprotbroughs entire population who were sitting on the opposite bank. The suns been out and it's been a really great day. I took a walk (the long way there..) to the SPAR in the town, only to find a return route about a 10th the distance...:)

Batteries are my daily challenge. I have now completely gone bonkers, and changed the configuration..."to see" if it's more practical. I have one battery, connected to the freezer. I have one battery for the boats 12V systems (water pumps etc). I have 2 batteries connected to the inverter for leisure usage (tvs, laptops etc). The freezer battery is only charged when I physically use a battery charger. The battery for the boat 12V stuff, is connected to the solar panel only. The leisure batteries are connected to the alternator, and are recharged only by running the boat engine. The reason I've done it this way is to actually see if the solar panel has enough oomph to keep the boat stuff working...and to give the alternator less work to do to keep the leisure batteries powered up. So far I've been quite impressed with the solar panel. It has measured 13.6Volts on it's battery, so I decided to use a clamp cable to give it more work to do, by bridging whichever of the other batteries I felt needed help today. When I was cruising, I bridged the solar battery with the freezer battery. When the boat was stopped, I bridged the solar battery with the leisure batteries. Having the ability to channel the solar power around seems a much better way than having it fixed to an entire bank. My batteries are always heavily under load, so there is no hope to ever have them all fully charged for long...so my challenge is just keeping them all above 12.4V. :) Sorry for the technical blog today.....I've discovered that just connecting the entire bank all together with solar and inverters and freezers etc all as one...doesnt give me the recharging flexibility I need...at the moment...with half my batteries old ones...

Doncaster....my opinion has changed!

Never really had a high opinion of Doncaster....I dont know why....but this time I discovered that just down the street from the Visitor Moorings is a Tesco, a Frenchgate shopping centre, a high street, a lake, and a lot more. It just shows you...every town has a silver lining if you can find it :)

We've been allowed 72hours mooring here, so we'll be leaving in the morning, and heading on towards Sheffield...via a few stops. Our plan is to find a mooring where I can go fetch the car, and drive our eldest to his exams during the month of May, before leaving the area for more relaxed cruising...all the way retracing our steps....probably heading for Liverpool,Manchester, Birmingham and every canal in between...I could do with some Penine quietness...via Leeds and Skipton....ahhh choices choices :) It's nice mooring in a city, but 3 days is enough for me...I like to be on the move....if I've seen the same duck for 3 days, It's time to find another one :)))

Some pics from today :)

Cruised along the Aire&Calder stretch..near Whitley Village..beautiful stretch of river. The final pic shows some artwork I added to the side of the boat...which is called AreWeThereYet :)