Whey Hey it's May!

We got a new (to us) digital SLR camera off eBay the other day, and James shot a few images of our short trip up the Harborough Arm.

An excellent afternoon / evening's cruise.

Foxton church

Liz's halo is slipping

H

Water Tank

Ever since we bought Quo Vadis, we have drained off the water systems for the winter, as we rarely use her, and there is then no possibility of damage from freezing. Just as soon as the weather permits, we clean the cold water tank, treat any rusty spots with Vactan, then repaint it with potable blacking.
 
As you can imagine, painting something as large as the water tank (it takes up the whole of the bow of the boat) with sticky black goo is not a simple operation, so before embarking on the paint-out this morning, we carefully masked off her new paintwork and stood ready with large quantities of old rags, white spirit and masking tape.

I took first stint inside, washing out the tank with detergent, and drying it off. Next, Liz went in for the real work, thoroughly painting the tank with potable blacking down to about a foot from the bottom. That done, she came out for some fresh air, and I taped the brush to a broom handle, allowing us to use the bottom of the tank as a paint tray to finish painting the lower part of the tank.

It is very pleasing to note that with this routine, the tank requires less work each year, with just a few spots of rust showing through.
Next week, we can wash and fill the tank ready for this years cruising :o)

First off, my mate Bob and I are hoping to go out for a week in "minstrel" mode, just a week of playing guitars and singing, mostly in pub gardens if they'll have us ... we're calling it "Blokes on the Water".

Looking good in the sunshine .... nice shiny vents eh!

2014 Boating underway

At last we have been able to get out and about on Quo.
Saturday 8th we took her down to Foxton Locks, with the intention of cleaning out the water tank and treating any rusty bits before re-blacking. As usual though, once under way, all plans changed, and we merely moored-up, went to Bridge 61 for a coffee and a bite to eat, then just lounged on the boat and watched the rugby.

Very pleased to report that whatever Debdale Marina did to the prop to cure the ringing noise between 900 and 1150 revs has worked perfectly.
Quo can now cruise at 1100 revs at car-like noise levels ..... perfect.
Also, whilst she was out for painting, I pumped a load of grease into the lower rudder bearing, and as a result, the tiller is easier and no longer squeaks like a rusty gate.

On Sunday 9th, we cruised up to the Saddington reservoir feeder and reversed in so I could get some side-on photos of her new livery.
Because she now looks so smart, it seemed churlish not to polish her bass mushroom vents, for which I had bought some Liberon Brass and Copper Cleaner.
Previous attempts to polish the vents left me thinking I'd have to take them off and have them buffed, but the cleaner (and my

 elbows) did a great job, and I managed to make all 5 vents look very passable indeed.
I even managed to polish up the brass maker's plate, and the water tank filler AND the hatch runners.
We had a lovely picnic lunch, followed by a slow cruise back to the marina.

Once back in the marina, I managed to clean off and spot treat the few rusty bits in the water tank, which we can re-black next week hopefully.

Since purchasing Quo, we have had several small modifications made to her, such that I can now say that she is a joy to handle.
This may partly be down to my growing experience, but she seems to almost know where to go on her own, reversing into the feeder was a joy, as was reversing back onto our marina mooring .... can't wait to fill the water tank and get out and about on her properly.

Although Quo does not have the style of some narrowboats, she is a wonderfully practical boat, doing everything we ask of her very well, and especially with her new paint job, we lover her to bits :o).
We are very lucky!

'Ello John - Gotta New Mota

The last time we visited Quo, my poor old trusty Fiat Multipla refused to start.
We got her to my usual garage, and I thought I'd get them to give it an MOT while they were at it .... oops, it failed miserably, so I've just bought a new one (well it's new to me).
It's a Mazda 5 with a lovely petrol engine (I've only tolerated diesels for convenience)

Out with the old Fiat Multipla and in with the new Mazda 5

It's a 7 seater !!!!

Shiny boat, new car .... what is the world coming to :o)

Slippage

For the second time in just over a year, the canal embankment to the west of Debdale Marina has suffered an slip.

Liz, James and I walked up to take a look 

December 2012 Slippage

The earth moved for someone!

This year's slippage

Last year's repaired slippage in the foreground

They shifted a few tons last year, now there's a few more to move.

Liz has a picture of me taking a picture of ..........

Let there be Light!

My attempts to wire-up the brass wall lights that I bought 2 years ago seem to be faltering, so I've bought two of these 

 

They are 5 metres long and sticky-backed, meaning that I can stick them under the gunnels to provide mood lighting. 

One is just a warm white, the other (pictured) can do all the colours as shown on the handy remote control. Can't wait to see them in situ.

 

Winterised

A suitable digestion time after one of Liz's super roast dinner - pork with lots of crackling - we headed for Debdale to put Quo to bed for the winter.
The decks were wet, making life a bit difficult but we soon had the engine running and the heating on. Lizzie hoovered whilst I cleaned out the storage area under the front deck and made room for the left-over paint.

Left-over paint for when I scratch it.

I also extracted my spare water pump, which was soon in action assisting the normal pump in draining the water tank. This took a fair while, as the tank was nearly full, but we got there after about 40 minutes, and I'm pleased to say that there are only about half a dozen small rust marks, that we can easily treat with Vactan and re-black.
Next, I put antifreeze in the shower drain, pumped a little through the drain pump (Gulper) and finally, emptied the hot water tank (calorifier).
The only way I have found to do this, is by connecting the outlet from the on-board pump, to the inlet on my spare pump, opening all the hot taps, then turning on the pump. This sucks all the water from the tank and pumps it overboard in about five minutes.
From now until Spring, we just use bottled water aboard when we go for a short cruise and take the washing up home.
We wiped down the sink, hob and worktops, closed the curtains and finally killed the engine and the batteries ....... job done.
Our timing was perfect, the sun was just setting as we walked from the boat, pausing at the top of the ramp to look back. The boats looked beautiful, some with smoke coming from the chimneys, some with Christmas light ... all peaceful in the afterglow.
What a sunset struck us as we turned out of the marina and drove up to Gumley! 
My camera phone managed to capture only a passable glimpse of it.  
Closer to home, the car headlights framed a pair of very startled looking Woodcock sitting on the road. I had to brake hard, then shepherd them off the road to prevent their early demise.

Just outside the Marina.

At the top of Gumley looking south

At the top of Gumley looking south west.