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About this blog

a narrowboat in a white bikini

Entries in this blog

putting flesh on the bones

As some of you may have been reading Bones blog http://mortimerbones.blogspot.com/ you might have read about Bones having hacked up a dead heron and is currently letting it decompose in a bucket so she can do something with the bones.. yeah, bones, geddit...   anyway, I have my own share of birds as part of my day job and I thought I would share an example of what I was doing this morning. I was basically adding flesh to some bones. Oh and de-veining too. I have ommitted a "couple" of thin
honey ryder

honey ryder

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Friday, I make that Tutu o'clock

So it's friday, it's september 7th and I'm still moored up at Cheshunt. Getting a bit bored of the scenery but the neighbours are nice.   As unexpected events unfold we start with this weekend with a trip into London for proms in the park. A friend toted the idea while we were on the train back from the Nottinghill carnival a couple of weeks ago. Then came the suggestion of dressing up in union jack outfits. Now, I and my friends do have a history of enjoying dressing up. It's not a kinky t
honey ryder

honey ryder

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lee ward and onward

Its been yonks since my last blog entry, shame on me. Ive been so busy enjoying myself and being on holiday I haven't had the time or mainly the inclination to go near the computer, log on and faff about.   but now Im back at work, let the faffing commence.   yes, now where was I? having had the car broken into at Tottenham Marshes we decided to shuffle up the Lee a bit and settled temporarily at Rammey marsh. The first night was wetter than an otters pocket, a saturday night huddled up in
honey ryder

honey ryder

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tea leaves

Why is it things always come in 3's?   whay cant they come in 1's?   let me explain myself. Back in April after easter I had my push bike stolen off the roof of our boat. Ok I was pissed off, I was annoyed. I was also kicking myself for forgetting to lock my bike and I kind of got my head around having something stolen because I should know better. that was strike one and I wish it stopped there   fast forward a couple of months and I come back to work on a monday morning to see a very om
honey ryder

honey ryder

1

peeky and perky

hands up all of you who like to walk around your own home in the buff. Au Naturel?   yes, me too. My neighbour discovered this fact yesterday, as I was having my breakfast in the kitchen standing out looking over the water I saw a feint silhouette of my neighbour opposite behind their net curtains ( on a boat? net curtains? I ask you...what are they trying to hide? maybe they walk around naked too?)   I'm not exactly the shy retiring type so I figured if they want to look then they can, a
honey ryder

honey ryder

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fabri-cadabra

I love sewing, I mean I really love it. There's something quite kinky about the sensation of fabric running through my fingers as it becomes joined together and takes a new form and function.   I've had some fabrics in a bag by the side of my bed for a few weeks now, they've been calling to me and begging me to put them to use. So at the weekend when the sun and rain blessed us in equal measures I got my grandmothers sewing machine out, and set to.   I also had a little visit to Dunelm w
honey ryder

honey ryder

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journey across Londinium

It was nearly two weeks ago we finally made our decision to scrap the idea of going down onto the river Wey, with all the threats of flooding we've had recently on the rivers we thought we would head over in the direction of the River Lee.   Friday night, we moored up at Tesco opposite the entrance to the paddington arm. Loaded up with a chuck and some vegetables for a sunday roast and early-ish on saturday we set off into waters previously un-chartered by the Honey Ryder crew.   Taking ho
honey ryder

honey ryder

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getting a man in....

After 6 months of a leaky Alde boiler, having wooden panels off since January to let the area dry out and only having hot water via the engine, we finally got a man in to do the job for us.   It's the first time we've paid anyone to do a job on the boat, but since it needed servicing and we don't know much about boilers and their burners, we decided getting an ex-spert to do the job might just be better than carbon monoxide poisoning.   another jobby jobbed then.   we can tick that one
honey ryder

honey ryder

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pain and pleasure... yin and yang

Im a firm believer in karma. Im also a believer in Newtons laws.   those of equal and opposite reactions occurring. For me this applies to everything in life. It isn't always apparent at the time but eventually it all pans out equally.   I had several moments of reflection at the weekend. The moment started in fact on Friday afternoon as I headed to a friends wedding. I don't like weddings, I don't know why, I just don't. Especially when they come slap bang in the middle of press day on a
honey ryder

honey ryder

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mystery solved

ive just been reading through a cruise report from Lady Muck, and I have discovered what happened to our boat a couple of weeks ago when we came back to our boat to find it had moved up the canal a few meters... apparently Lady Muck discovered a narrowboat adrift in the canal with a dinghy chained to it...with short ropes and no centreline... there's not many boats fit that description, especially i that location at that time in June...   SO the mystery is solved, somehow our boat came adri
honey ryder

honey ryder

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A good slap and a long list

We moved Honey Ryder southwards this weekend and arrived South of Cowley on the grand union, amazingly for once - still talking to each other. It seems our team work was "working" this weekend.   We had come from north of Harefield where the scenery is beautiful and we were surrounded by fields, wild life and natural parkland and the contrast now we are on the junction with the slough arm is quite a slap in our faces since we arrived. Its busy and we passed so many drunken boaters in the last
honey ryder

honey ryder

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on our Wey, Cruising with Honey Ryder

It's been decided, we are heading down to the Thames again to go and visit the river Wey for a few weeks.   A quick canal plan search shows that its around 50 miles from where we are at the moment and a couple of days solid cruising, so I think we will take our time over two or three weekends.   Tonight we shall commence with putting my dinghy on the roof and talk to our neighbour who was asking if we could give her a tow down the canal a bit. Initially I was a bit worried about towing som
honey ryder

honey ryder

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The adventures of a little blue fender

A couple of weeks ago we went away and left the boat safely cloistered in the bosom of Harefield Marina. I think of it like putting a dog in boarding kennels.   A boat savvy friend came to take her our for a weekend just before we returned from our travels and reported back saying, "it rained all the bloody time, the missus was miserable, the kiddy did nowt but watch dvds and I ended up doing all the driving and locking. Sorry about the broken glass and I heard a strange noise from the prop
honey ryder

honey ryder

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french flipper

Ive been away to france again recently and in between visiting family and friends and a bohemouth french wedding party I visited a splendid little island south of Brittany. Belle I'le   its got a few little harbours and it brought back my hunger to be on the sea again, to feel the salt air making my skin feel all tight and to feel the motion of the gentle swells as Im anchored up with plink plopping as the water slaps the bow. Oh how I miss this sensation.     Canals are lovely, calm ser
honey ryder

honey ryder

2

The red light zone

SO we've had a couple of weeks of rain, its been wetter than an otters pocket and all Ive heard is grumbles from people around me that they cant go outside to play.   Ha! well, what they need is a sewing machine, a nice dry and bright cratch area to sit in and a few yards of fancy fabric.   Yes, Ive been busy, beavering away at my latest boaty improvements. While Yann folded himself into two and painted out half of the engine room with a much cleaner looking grey Danboline I set up my works
honey ryder

honey ryder

1

EUREEKA!

There's been lots of singing and dancing. jumping up and down and rejoicing to the sound of the holy Beta marine, puffing the peace pipe of diesel and clinking glasses of bubbly french bevarage, to say thanks dad. what am I on about?   we only got our bloody alternator working after five months... that's what!   ok, so we only realised it wasn't working when we left our marina mooring a month or so ago, but we've been trying hard to solve the problem since then. I'm fairly mechanically mi
honey ryder

honey ryder

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feeling a bit tan-tastic

Ive got my new dinghy! hurray.   I arrived in Cornwall at 4.30pm (after first driving to stansted airport and then to croydon and then back to harefield) to collect my new dinghy. Its a smart little thing, called a Minipram, it was made in the 70's for the lady i bought it from. She gave me home made cake and chocolate chip biscuits and a drink of fruity squash. With the dinghy and launching trolley strapped to the roof of my car and my wallet £100 lighter i was on my way again. Now if only a
honey ryder

honey ryder

2

Dinghy love and driving without a licence

Ive just bought another boat, ok its only a little dinghy but im quite excited. The good old Fl'eabay rides again, and mines a little redish orangey thing coming in at just under 8' and weighing in at around 30kilos.   So its in the bantam weight category. The only slight snag is that I have to drive to cornwall to collect it. thatll be a 500 mile round trip! Im going to collect it in a couple of weeks, I havent told "the grumpy man" yet because i dont want to make him unnecessarily grumpy
honey ryder

honey ryder

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the best laid plans....

SO here we go, its t-minus "lets get the fek outta here" 5 minutes to freedom....   im up early, im fresh and clean and ready to go, the preparations have taken us 3 months, ok we're lazy buggers and it could have been done in a couple of weeks but hey c'mon this narrowboating.   -Bottom painted, check   -engine serviced,check   -boiler fixed... er, kindof but no... we still have a small leak,... it'll be rate.   -all tanks full with fuel and water,check   -are we wearing sunglass
honey ryder

honey ryder

4

When engine servicing goes bad

It was a comedy of errors at the weekend breaking every rule in my own rule book.   my motto: Always be prepared and always carry a spare. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. my partners motto: no fucking worries mate   DO: have a look around the engine, find all the numbers of consumables and order in advance so that all parts are ready for the service BEFORE you start.   Dont: poke your head in the engine compartment the day you want to do the service and quickly jot down any old number y
honey ryder

honey ryder

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Hell in a handbasket

What is happening to me? Am I in an alternative dimension or something?   I woke up this morning as I usually do on a wednesday by my bank text messaging me a summary of the weeks statement on my account... I spy an odd number and an unusually low bank account, whats this? I nip onto my internet banking only to find to my horror that someone is withdrawing money from my bank account, somewhere in Italy or Spain with a clone of my bank card.   So far around 700 euros... yes we arent talking
honey ryder

honey ryder

2

Lock stock and two secure doors

As our marina departure shuffles slowly closer we still have a few jobs to finish before we can actually really use all the boats facilities and a few security measures needed to be added.   Since we got the boat we havent been able to securely close the rear (main) doors when we are inside.   But NOT any more! this weekend there was drilling, a little bit of cursing and then a triumphant jumping up and down after bolting the doors closed for the first time. Theres one mother-dandy of a bo
honey ryder

honey ryder

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Hull servicing, FINISHED and the final countdown

At last, the anodes have been welded on and we are due back in the water on thursday. The Bottom is FINISHED!!!   To say i am fairly ecstatic would be an understatement.     Cleaning the tar dust and fragments from our faces has been part and parcel of the job and now I must be short of a few layers of skin, so im planning on letting it grow back before i need to go scrubbing it away again.   the total cost of this little adventure is listed below:   Boat lift out of the water : £
honey ryder

honey ryder

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we must be barking... Part 4

Thats the royal we, Mr X and myself have spent our 3rd and final weekend scraping and painting.   Step 56: don't fear the reaper The finale is in sight, the fanfare and the trumpets will play loudly sometime soon, but not just yet. The base plate was the object of our affections this weekend. With myself doing the "shit" bit at the back around the swim, prop and rudder yann got on with the scraping and cup-brushing with his angle grinder on the base plate.   we were well ahead of schedu
honey ryder

honey ryder

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Idiots guide - part 3

So, we've been out of the water for 12 days now, work has been hampered a bit with the freezing conditions.   we spent the second weekend out of the water finishing off the scraping and on Sunday we finally cracked open a tin of paint! Hurray. Step 11 Find a good supplier One of our neighbours told us about Uxbridge boat centre being a decent place to buy anything for the boat. A quick www.yell.co.uk search and Uxbridge was found, not far from us. I already called them mid week to find ou
honey ryder

honey ryder

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