Almyne 2011
Wed, 22 Jun 2011
What A Fine Bird 26 miles 17 locks 4 lift bridges
Well, here I am half way through the year and still in Oxford. At least I should be fit to travel in a week or so.
Got chatting to one of the BW staff and asked if I was entitled to see the data held by BW about me (data protection and all that). Said he didn't know, but thought I should be able to and to ask.
I contacted BW by email and, hey presto, within a few days I had a reply with a list of all the sightings of Almyne since December 2009 (when BW eventually changed the registration of Almyne from Geri
to me).
Just to amuse myself I wrote a program to analyse the results of the lottery and predict upcoming results. It looks promising but will need a little more data before it becomes effective, like another 2 or 3 million results, don't think I will be able to use it in my lifetime.
Fri, 1 Jul 2011
Pole Lathe 2½ miles 1 lock 2 lift bridges
That's it, I've had my last dentist appointment till November, so I'm off.
Cast off at just before four and stopped at Thrupp facilities just to check that there was no mail for me and to top up and empty out. Carried on just one lock and moored up on the river for the night, deep water and loads of room for D'fer
to go swimming.
Oh, I had the waste pipe from the galley sink moved from the salon back into the galley and had the old hole welded over. It seems that the old waste pipe had been weeping for a while, a long while by the look of the corrosion and rust on the inside, must remember to keep an eye on it.
Sat, 2 Jul 2011
Pole Lathe 14½ miles 9 locks 2 lift bridges
I was woken this morning by a boat going past me at about half past five, down the river. Now the river that way is not navigable so I knew that I was in for some fun. Within ten minutes they were desperately reversing back up the river, past me again, and back into the canal section where they moored up and prepared the lock.
Needless to say it was a hire boat, 'Inglesham' and it turned out that they had been partying all night and were still a little worse for wear.
Got them sorted through the lock and decided to continue my journey so was moving by half six.
Couldn't get in to Dashwood lock as there was so much debris behind the gate that it would not open fully, called out BW and they turned up and removed the twigs and logs and carrier bags and all that was causing the blockage. By the time they were finished there was quite a queue of boats waiting to go through.
Sun, 3 Jul 2011 10 miles 7 locks
Six hours of fairly uneventful cruising with nothing of note to talk about although the weather is being kind to me at the moment.
As I had to destroy part of the cladding on the wall in the salon to get at the old waste pipe I have been looking at it and have decided that I can remove all of it and redo that side of Almyne in tongue and groove cladding. It will entail removing all the tiles from that wall by the fire and trying to save enough to re tile by the fire when the cladding is finished. As there is no insulation it seems like a good idea to insulate at the same time. Did some calculations and I think I might be able to afford it in a week or so.
Mon, 4 Jul 2011
Lock 9 Napton Flight 14 miles 15 locks
Continued my journey to the Napton flight where I went in to lock 9, emptied the lock and realised that I was sitting on something and could not move. Filled the lock, re positioned Almyne and emptied the lock again. Still stuck. By this time there was a number of boats waiting to go in either direction and a couple of the crews tried flushing me through. This entails opening both paddles at the top of the lock to let a rush of water into the lock, lift the boat and propel it out.
Didn't work, in fact Almyne was so far out of the water that we could see her propeller. Filled the lock and I reversed out to the lock operation moorings. I think that I was sitting on the debris left after someone had hit the paddle gear, but BW tell me that it was all removed when they were originally alerted to the incident.
Rang BW and agreed with them that I would stay on the lock operation moorings till the morning when they would send a crew out to get me through. This settled all the other boats continued on their journeys.
Tue, 5 Jul 2011
Clouds 8 miles 2 locks
BW eventually turned up sometime after ten, by which time many many boats had been through the lock, one of the earlier ones scraping their bottom on something in the lock. Almyne does sit a little deeper in the water than most.
By the time BW arrived I think that there had been so much movement that whatever it was in the bottom of the lock that had been blocking me had been either worn down or battered out of the way, anyway, I went through with no trouble.
Topped up with water and replaced my fan belt which had broken sometime during today's journey. With an overcast sky I moored up on the Grand Union between Napton and Braunston , settled in for a read and was jolted alert by a boat going past at about twenty miles an hour! It was a speed boat and it left a tremendous wash, rocking me about like a cork in a bath tub. Kept my camera handy in case they came back later, but they didn't.
Wed, 6 Jul 2011
Hole 14 miles 3 locks
Set off to Rugby , where I intended to get some shopping and check out the cladding at a DIY store. Arrived just before one and checked the suspect bit of boat by the old waste pipe. It was weeping. Not Good. I gently scraped at it with my screwdriver and it went straight through the side about three quarters of an inch above the water line. Oh Dear!
Walked to the boat yard about a mile further on to see if I could get booked in for a repair. They don't do repairs to boats there. Explained my situation and the guy there rang the Hillmorton office and got me booked in for the following morning, so, forget the shopping, about face and get back down to Hillmorton.
By the time I got to Hillmorton it was past closing time so moored up for the night, praying I would not sink before repairs could be affected.
Tue, 12 Jul 2011
Rugby Sunset 3 miles 2 locks
Well, they could not get me in straight away, so I have had to spend six days watching the hole in the side of Almyne and hoping that it would not get any bigger, not much sleep either.
Once in dry dock it took them no time at all to weld a patch over the suspect area and I was on my way in a matter of hours, with much relief and filled with confidence that I could now stay afloat indefinitely at the reasonable rate of only £140.
Back to Rugby to do my shopping and assess the situation regarding cladding in the salon.
Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20 miles 1 lock
Spent a few days in Rugby cladding and insulating the salon, stocking up on necessities and generally getting Almyne fit to travel again.
Eight hours travelling in two stints ending up at Sutton Stop where I moored up for the night and a well deserved rest.
Sat, 16 Jul 20115 miles 9 locks
Another long day ending up at Atherstone . Although I only travelled for just under four hours I kept stopping off to let the rain subside. Set off at eight and stopped at six ten with three long breaks on the way.
Sun, 17 Jul 20117 miles 2 locks
Another rainy day with frequent stops to avoid getting wet. Sometimes I stop off because it looks and feels like rain, and nothing happens and sometimes I have to pull over as the first few drops arrive. So far I have managed to stay fairly dry.
Mon, 18 Jul 2011
Sunset 12 miles 2 locks
Made it to Fradley today. Here I have arranged to meet up with Ellie
and she has agreed to help me clean out he fins on the engine. I know that it is a relatively straightforward job, but would prefer to do it with someone who has done it before.
While in Kidlington I got chatting to a guy from Cornwall on a boat called Drecly. He used to run a tool hire company and lots of his equipment ran on Listers like mine. He gave me loads of info about Listers which was most enlightening and during the course of the conversation I told him of my wish to clean the fins on the engine, but that I needed to get the gaskets for the exhaust. He agreed with me.
Two weeks later he passed by and slowed down, as we passed he gave me the gaskets I needed, hence I can now get the job done.
Ellie is tied up with work till Friday, so I'll hang around here till then to get the job done.
Sat, 23 Jul 20119 miles 3 locks
Engine cleaned, boat greasy! set off to Rugeley , which is a good place to shop at.
Before I got to Fradley I kept a log of the hours travelled and I have dipped the fuel tank a couple of times. I calculate that I get three miles per litre or I use three quarters of a litre per hour. I'll have to do the same exercise now that the engine has been cleaned to see if there is any difference. It definitely runs cooler.
Sun, 24 Jul 201114½ miles 9 locks
Another very long day, ending up in Penkridge , the one time capital of England.
Mon, 25 Jul 201118 miles 7 locks
Another very long day, this time finishing at Wheaton Aston, where I had a drink with Mark Jeaves.
Tue, 26 Jul 201112 miles
Topped up with diesel before I left this morning, 133 litres, it's about 12 pence per litre cheaper than anywhere else on the cut, so well worth while.
Bumped into Hazel and Mike this afternoon so stopped for a chat and caught up on some gossip.
Wed, 27 Jul 201110 miles 15 locks
Made it through Tyrley locks without incident and then on to Market Drayton where I did a little shopping. A very kind assistant showed me to the self service tills and I explained that I hate them and that I would rather not use them, but that if she wanted to get me through them then she could go ahead. My eleven items in the basket took her nearly fifteen minutes to process. The machine kept asking her for her supervisors code and then kept refusing to accept the transaction. It took her so long that she got quite apologetic and ended up giving me two vouchers for twenty five pence each as recompense for the time taken.
I still don't like the self service tills.
After Market Drayton I continued on through the five locks at Adderley and then the first five at Audlum before settling down for the evening.
Thu, 28 Jul 20119 miles 12 locks
Did the remaining ten locks at Audlum and the two at Hack Green (where there is a Secret Nuclear Bunker, but don't tell anyone), before getting to Nantwich where I moored up for the night.
Rang Rob
to find out where he was. He was at Middlewich, heading towards Hurleston, so I said that I would wait for him there.
Fri, 29 Jul 20112 miles
Got to Hurleston and when Rob arrived he decided that he would accompany me to Chester 'just for the crack' as that was where I was heading, so that is the plan for tomorrow.
Sat, 30 Jul 20111 mile 1 lock 8½ miles 4 locks
Heading in to Chester with GlueSniffer and crew in attendance. Double locks from here on so we can travel side by side.
Sun, 31 Jul 20115 miles 1 lock
Loaned Rob the Matrix Trilogy last night, mistake, he watched
all three of them, drinking beer and didn't come to till late this afternoon, hence not much travelling today.
What A Fine Bird 26 miles 17 locks 4 lift bridges
Well, here I am half way through the year and still in Oxford. At least I should be fit to travel in a week or so.
Got chatting to one of the BW staff and asked if I was entitled to see the data held by BW about me (data protection and all that). Said he didn't know, but thought I should be able to and to ask.
I contacted BW by email and, hey presto, within a few days I had a reply with a list of all the sightings of Almyne since December 2009 (when BW eventually changed the registration of Almyne from Geri
to me).
Just to amuse myself I wrote a program to analyse the results of the lottery and predict upcoming results. It looks promising but will need a little more data before it becomes effective, like another 2 or 3 million results, don't think I will be able to use it in my lifetime.
Fri, 1 Jul 2011
Pole Lathe 2½ miles 1 lock 2 lift bridges
That's it, I've had my last dentist appointment till November, so I'm off.
Cast off at just before four and stopped at Thrupp facilities just to check that there was no mail for me and to top up and empty out. Carried on just one lock and moored up on the river for the night, deep water and loads of room for D'fer
to go swimming.
Oh, I had the waste pipe from the galley sink moved from the salon back into the galley and had the old hole welded over. It seems that the old waste pipe had been weeping for a while, a long while by the look of the corrosion and rust on the inside, must remember to keep an eye on it.
Sat, 2 Jul 2011
Pole Lathe 14½ miles 9 locks 2 lift bridges
I was woken this morning by a boat going past me at about half past five, down the river. Now the river that way is not navigable so I knew that I was in for some fun. Within ten minutes they were desperately reversing back up the river, past me again, and back into the canal section where they moored up and prepared the lock.
Needless to say it was a hire boat, 'Inglesham' and it turned out that they had been partying all night and were still a little worse for wear.
Got them sorted through the lock and decided to continue my journey so was moving by half six.
Couldn't get in to Dashwood lock as there was so much debris behind the gate that it would not open fully, called out BW and they turned up and removed the twigs and logs and carrier bags and all that was causing the blockage. By the time they were finished there was quite a queue of boats waiting to go through.
Sun, 3 Jul 2011 10 miles 7 locks
Six hours of fairly uneventful cruising with nothing of note to talk about although the weather is being kind to me at the moment.
As I had to destroy part of the cladding on the wall in the salon to get at the old waste pipe I have been looking at it and have decided that I can remove all of it and redo that side of Almyne in tongue and groove cladding. It will entail removing all the tiles from that wall by the fire and trying to save enough to re tile by the fire when the cladding is finished. As there is no insulation it seems like a good idea to insulate at the same time. Did some calculations and I think I might be able to afford it in a week or so.
Mon, 4 Jul 2011
Lock 9 Napton Flight 14 miles 15 locks
Continued my journey to the Napton flight where I went in to lock 9, emptied the lock and realised that I was sitting on something and could not move. Filled the lock, re positioned Almyne and emptied the lock again. Still stuck. By this time there was a number of boats waiting to go in either direction and a couple of the crews tried flushing me through. This entails opening both paddles at the top of the lock to let a rush of water into the lock, lift the boat and propel it out.
Didn't work, in fact Almyne was so far out of the water that we could see her propeller. Filled the lock and I reversed out to the lock operation moorings. I think that I was sitting on the debris left after someone had hit the paddle gear, but BW tell me that it was all removed when they were originally alerted to the incident.
Rang BW and agreed with them that I would stay on the lock operation moorings till the morning when they would send a crew out to get me through. This settled all the other boats continued on their journeys.
Tue, 5 Jul 2011
Clouds 8 miles 2 locks
BW eventually turned up sometime after ten, by which time many many boats had been through the lock, one of the earlier ones scraping their bottom on something in the lock. Almyne does sit a little deeper in the water than most.
By the time BW arrived I think that there had been so much movement that whatever it was in the bottom of the lock that had been blocking me had been either worn down or battered out of the way, anyway, I went through with no trouble.
Topped up with water and replaced my fan belt which had broken sometime during today's journey. With an overcast sky I moored up on the Grand Union between Napton and Braunston , settled in for a read and was jolted alert by a boat going past at about twenty miles an hour! It was a speed boat and it left a tremendous wash, rocking me about like a cork in a bath tub. Kept my camera handy in case they came back later, but they didn't.
Wed, 6 Jul 2011
Hole 14 miles 3 locks
Set off to Rugby , where I intended to get some shopping and check out the cladding at a DIY store. Arrived just before one and checked the suspect bit of boat by the old waste pipe. It was weeping. Not Good. I gently scraped at it with my screwdriver and it went straight through the side about three quarters of an inch above the water line. Oh Dear!
Walked to the boat yard about a mile further on to see if I could get booked in for a repair. They don't do repairs to boats there. Explained my situation and the guy there rang the Hillmorton office and got me booked in for the following morning, so, forget the shopping, about face and get back down to Hillmorton.
By the time I got to Hillmorton it was past closing time so moored up for the night, praying I would not sink before repairs could be affected.
Tue, 12 Jul 2011
Rugby Sunset 3 miles 2 locks
Well, they could not get me in straight away, so I have had to spend six days watching the hole in the side of Almyne and hoping that it would not get any bigger, not much sleep either.
Once in dry dock it took them no time at all to weld a patch over the suspect area and I was on my way in a matter of hours, with much relief and filled with confidence that I could now stay afloat indefinitely at the reasonable rate of only £140.
Back to Rugby to do my shopping and assess the situation regarding cladding in the salon.
Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20 miles 1 lock
Spent a few days in Rugby cladding and insulating the salon, stocking up on necessities and generally getting Almyne fit to travel again.
Eight hours travelling in two stints ending up at Sutton Stop where I moored up for the night and a well deserved rest.
Sat, 16 Jul 20115 miles 9 locks
Another long day ending up at Atherstone . Although I only travelled for just under four hours I kept stopping off to let the rain subside. Set off at eight and stopped at six ten with three long breaks on the way.
Sun, 17 Jul 20117 miles 2 locks
Another rainy day with frequent stops to avoid getting wet. Sometimes I stop off because it looks and feels like rain, and nothing happens and sometimes I have to pull over as the first few drops arrive. So far I have managed to stay fairly dry.
Mon, 18 Jul 2011
Sunset 12 miles 2 locks
Made it to Fradley today. Here I have arranged to meet up with Ellie
and she has agreed to help me clean out he fins on the engine. I know that it is a relatively straightforward job, but would prefer to do it with someone who has done it before.
While in Kidlington I got chatting to a guy from Cornwall on a boat called Drecly. He used to run a tool hire company and lots of his equipment ran on Listers like mine. He gave me loads of info about Listers which was most enlightening and during the course of the conversation I told him of my wish to clean the fins on the engine, but that I needed to get the gaskets for the exhaust. He agreed with me.
Two weeks later he passed by and slowed down, as we passed he gave me the gaskets I needed, hence I can now get the job done.
Ellie is tied up with work till Friday, so I'll hang around here till then to get the job done.
Sat, 23 Jul 20119 miles 3 locks
Engine cleaned, boat greasy! set off to Rugeley , which is a good place to shop at.
Before I got to Fradley I kept a log of the hours travelled and I have dipped the fuel tank a couple of times. I calculate that I get three miles per litre or I use three quarters of a litre per hour. I'll have to do the same exercise now that the engine has been cleaned to see if there is any difference. It definitely runs cooler.
Sun, 24 Jul 201114½ miles 9 locks
Another very long day, ending up in Penkridge , the one time capital of England.
Mon, 25 Jul 201118 miles 7 locks
Another very long day, this time finishing at Wheaton Aston, where I had a drink with Mark Jeaves.
Tue, 26 Jul 201112 miles
Topped up with diesel before I left this morning, 133 litres, it's about 12 pence per litre cheaper than anywhere else on the cut, so well worth while.
Bumped into Hazel and Mike this afternoon so stopped for a chat and caught up on some gossip.
Wed, 27 Jul 201110 miles 15 locks
Made it through Tyrley locks without incident and then on to Market Drayton where I did a little shopping. A very kind assistant showed me to the self service tills and I explained that I hate them and that I would rather not use them, but that if she wanted to get me through them then she could go ahead. My eleven items in the basket took her nearly fifteen minutes to process. The machine kept asking her for her supervisors code and then kept refusing to accept the transaction. It took her so long that she got quite apologetic and ended up giving me two vouchers for twenty five pence each as recompense for the time taken.
I still don't like the self service tills.
After Market Drayton I continued on through the five locks at Adderley and then the first five at Audlum before settling down for the evening.
Thu, 28 Jul 20119 miles 12 locks
Did the remaining ten locks at Audlum and the two at Hack Green (where there is a Secret Nuclear Bunker, but don't tell anyone), before getting to Nantwich where I moored up for the night.
Rang Rob
to find out where he was. He was at Middlewich, heading towards Hurleston, so I said that I would wait for him there.Fri, 29 Jul 20112 miles
Got to Hurleston and when Rob
arrived he decided that he would accompany me to Chester 'just for the crack' as that was where I was heading, so that is the plan for tomorrow.Sat, 30 Jul 20111 mile 1 lock 8½ miles 4 locks
Heading in to Chester with GlueSniffer and crew in attendance. Double locks from here on so we can travel side by side.
Sun, 31 Jul 20115 miles 1 lock
Loaned Rob
the Matrix Trilogy last night, mistake, he watched
all three of them, drinking beer and didn't come to till late this afternoon, hence not much travelling today.© Chris Giles 2021
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