Jump to content
  • entries
    120
  • comments
    105
  • views
    115,482

About this blog

a narrowboat in a white bikini

Entries in this blog

the idiots guide, part 2

The second in my series of how to service a hull.   step 8 take a couple of days off work while the weather is good. having taken some time off ive managed to make good progress on the hull and now all that is left to scrape and angle grind is the bow section, the stern section and around the swims as well as scrape the bottom.     step 9 Be cool with mental neighbours The power supply to the maintenance area of the marina where our boat is, is on a shared basis. however most of ou
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

the idiots guide to hull servicing

Ive searched the world wide web for information on what you are supposed to do with narrowboats when they need their bottom looking at.   i came up with a wealth of hit and miss information, so ive decided to do a "how to" of my own for the benefit of all those "new to steel boats" out there. ive got plenty of ideas on what to do if it was a plastic boat, its so simple i could do it with one arm behind my back.   steel hulls, especially ones that have been a bit neglected are entirely an
honey ryder

honey ryder

2

Steady away...

I discovered one of the very few advantages of being the UK's most expensive marina today.   Ive been looking around for somewhere to take our boat to get the bottom blacked since January. The bottom of our boat is suffering from 3 years of neglect and virtually no cruising, but gentle vegetation moored up constantly connected to shore power. The cleaning frenzy we had a couple of weeks ago revealed to us the fact that electrolosis ( for me, the equivalent of osmosis for a metal boat) is mu
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

hair today, gone tomorrow

After finishing work late on friday night I rode home in abysmal weather, three close calls with drivers that didn't see me, on the 3rd occasion I had to emergency stop to prevent some guy taking me out from a side junction. An emergency stop in cold wet weather is not the most enjoyable of excersises I can tell you.   I don't ever recall being so afraid while riding a motorbike. So it was with a very weary mind I trundled down the pontoon to the warm boat that awaited me. Upon arrival I saw
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

that's a quiet engine...

So, there I was in the morning, a bit tired, not exactly with it and turned on the tap in the bathroom to be greeted with splat splat put put splat... as air was escaping the system, thats odd I thought. So I went and used the kitchen sink instead and that was running fine. Strangely I thought the neighbour was running their engine, it was very very quiet, ive heard it before and its so quiet Im almost jealous.   After I came home from work that evening Im sitting in the bedroom getting out
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

stick me on a 40 wash and be done with it

A turbulent weekend just passed by in a blur, so im going to do a slo-mo action replay to see if I can see exactly where my time went. Saturday, I woke up to the sound of rain and pulled the duvet over my head to try and get 5 more minutes. A busy day lay ahead and I already had a grumpy boyfriend to contend with. He's pissed off that he hardly sees me during the week and he thought once he got me out of my shared flat and into the boat we would have more time to do stuff together. WRONG! I ha
honey ryder

honey ryder

2

them wa' days- shell suits and bad hair

When you move home you tend to find lots of photographs you forgot about, and this is one of them.   I was 15, this was my 2nd dinghy, I had a fibreglass rowing dinghy before this from the age of 10-13. I had moved up in the world with this Astral french rib with inflatable keel. Wooden floor boards were a luxury and behind me out of shot was the awesome yamaha 5hp powerhouse that was my pride and joy. it replaced the old seagull 4hp I had before it. it almost, very almost was powerfull enou
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

snow place like home

as a hardened work skiver I was most over joyed to see a nice layer of snow covering everything when I woke up on Thursday. I had already told my boss that if it snowed I was staying put, sod spending 3 hours each way on the train when it was possible to get all my work done if I worked till late on wednesday.     So I had a day to spend pottering about on the boat, the first one ever in fact. So far since ive co-owned this boat there hasnt been one day where i could just sit in front of
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

Sofa bed 0 - Reclining chair 1

I whipped out the sofa bed and replaced it with a chair, but now Im looking for something else to sit on, has anyone ever seen those moroccan floor cushion things that roll up into a chair or roll out flat to be a bed?   Ive looked everywhere for them and can I eck as like find any anywhere.
honey ryder

honey ryder

4

The cats outta the bag

quite literallly the cat, was out of his bag as I was on a mission this weekend to rehome my beloved ginger moggy, previously a rescued stray and then rehomed with my Grandad in Chesterfield, who recently passed away, leaving a cat in need of a new home. So Ginger ( aren't I creative when it comes to names!) did his best to foil me in my attempts to find him a better life with my boss in the south of england. I originally mentioned to Yann I was thinking of putting the cat on the boat, but bef
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

Gerrinside, save yerselves!

I was sitting at work yesterday, again doing my best not to do too much because Im a lazy sod. anyway, i saw the met office forecast of -4 for the night time and then thought about the boat having no heating or frost protection.   We headed over to the boat after work ( around 11pm) for an unscheduled stop over to add a frostat heater. it was quite chilly inside but with the fire lit, the central heating turned up to stun and a fan heater in the bedroom we were warm and toasty in about 30 mi
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

lesson learnt: what kind of world is this?

mooring fees and marinas are a touchy subject under the Honey Ryder roof at the moment,   I know ive expressed my dislike of our current mooring situation before but it really is something that eats me up inside because first of all, I feel like we've been treated like mugs and secondly the place we are forced to stay at, is for me at least, is like living in a warehouse environment. impersonal and without feeling, its all business and money and absolutely no personality or basic human kindne
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

lessons learnt: what the neighbours think

So after my unexpected brush with complete stupidity out in the kayak earlier in the day I was sitting in the warmth and comfort of the boat reflecting on my actions.   What struck me was that in all the time I was out playing on the water and potentially causing a major 999 television drama re-enactment, my neighbour was STILL polishing his mushroom vents with brasso. The neighbour on the otherside was also busily cleaning and polishing and between the two boats I felt like I was witnessing
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

lessons learnt: when canoing goes wrong

This week, when canoing goes wrong... what the neighbours think... and what kind of world is this we find ourselves in?   first of all, let me just say, what a superb weekend it just was. Beautiful weather, blue sky and all round shits n giggles despite my grief for losing my grandad just a few days ago. Im not one for moping around depressed no matter how bad a situation may seem so this weekend we decided we had had enough fannying around fiddling with the boat, it was time to go and pla
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

Marching on an empty stomach

It was a turbulent day yesterday for both body and mind.   The wind was pretty magnificent in its force and I watched with interest from my 10th floor office window. The view I have is of the A23 running south towards Brighton and there was a couple of huge cranes swaying to and fro on the nearby building site. I watched the guys in the yellow jackets and hard hats trying to get some work done as I was so busy trying to do the opposite. My thoughts fleetingly going back to the boat and wonde
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

cookin' on gas! Sausage n' Mash

At last! After two fairly busy days of gas pipe cutting and faffing we finally got our gas system gas tight thanks to our new bubble tester.   After 6 trips to the chandlery for this and that and a small piece of 1/2 inch pipe I finally cooked our first meal on the boats cooker ( not the camping gas or log burning stove). Not exactly a culinary masterpiece, but sausage and mash was a tasty first hot meal for sure.   now I need to call the man again for the boat safety and hopefully, finger
honey ryder

honey ryder

3

a touch of wind

it all seemed like a great idea at the time, finish work as early as possible and head off to the baot for a night.   The plan was set, we cooked a large reheatable chilli con carne the night before in my flat and syncronised watches. My partner Yann, headed off to work and the plan was to meet again at the boat at night.   So, Im working on deadline at my office and I dont quite manage to leave work as early as planned but 6.30pm isnt particularly late by my standards. Next I saddled up
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

wetter than an otters pocket

A fine weekend for cruising if you are a fish.   This weekend we took the boat away from the sales pontoon to move it to its temporary berth in penton hook marina First we headed off through the massive marina for a top up on diesel and while we braved the sudden downpour we watched the police storm the place, apparently in search of someone or something.   As we waited around on the diesel pontoon for the fiasco to finish, the chap from the marina came talked to us as he filled our tank.
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

boat safety

So, another day another dollar so they say... In the case of our boat its more accurate to say, its trying its best to bleed us dry, it surely is female!   This time after rectifying all the problems highlighted in a boat safety check we eagerly awaited a call today to hear if it passed or not.   NO, is the answer and to be honest I wasn't entirely suprised. A very small gas leak, on the new hob we fitted. I was sure it wouldn't be completely gas tight because the way it was installed wit
honey ryder

honey ryder

0

Its 57' long and 6'10" wide, its HONEY RYDER

It was a summer of discontentment. so a plan was formed. ----= As I was being wheeled down the creamy walled hospital corridor into the operating theatre, the large cuddly nurse at my side was asking all the kinds of questions possible to calm a slightly agitated, perfectly healthy patient. Attempting but not succeeding too well at the "hairdressers distraction technique" she didn't quite manage to take my mind off the me the fact I was wearing a backless gown, paper knickers and someone wo
honey ryder

honey ryder

4
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.