the Jolly Mutineer

Hello, just starting my first 'proper' project (the boat I'm on had a roof). Its a 72' 1890s butty boat, poor old girl picked up a clout just before I picked her up so was taking on water. Finances (filthy word), commitments (great movie) & unforeseen circumstances have kept her out of the drydock for the last 6 months. These months have taken a chance find via a friend from a hidden gem to a mill stone & back again. Keeping her off the bottom over winter was challenging to say the least (catch me at the bar & the 'least' will last a pint on a good day still). Ash from your wood fire makes killer 'sprinkle bung' which lasts days longer than coal ash etc ... But winter (& spring) behind us we got her into the drydock this week. And then when she finally sat on the piles we found near half a dozen fish living in the hull about 3" long, they looked too big for the hole that was welded up so they must have been there a fair while. Anyway when I came to take a pic of them the water had gone & so had they, guessing the dock rats had a pleasant entree that night. I digress ... http://img36.imageshack.us/i/fishhole001.jpg rivets ... never thought they'd be things that'd make me grin but it seems there comes to point in everyones life when they form an opinion on an inanimate object of which there is no logical reason for emotional investment rivets make me grin, there is no apology, & when they are bggrd & get grinded off & decent steel is welded in place ... I know I've sold the job short but I'd like to turn the butty into my main accom with room to have my daughter on board full time as soon as possible so ... if fake rivets get welded on later ... (I'll probably think that the money could have been spent better elsewhere). Conservation vs pragmatism (how many Piquods were there? Did Trigger only have one brush if he only replaced either the stave or the brush at any one time?) So there she is in the drydock. You'll probably notice the blummin great braces that have been welded across her so that she could be filled full of stuff eager to stretch her sides out long after the knees supporting them had rotted through. From pick up in November till now she has only been through a bare half dozen locks & I guess shes touched both sides of all of them on the way. So who ever put those braces in either didn't anticipate the amount of material that would be chucked in it or couldn't measure 6'10" with a stick of said length. front views middle bits looking at ballasting her out with cement & banging an 'A' frame roof over the main body with a view to mating it up to a trad boatman's cabin later. We all live in hope i suppose :-) Dave

Would 'these' sort of units be the ideal replacement for a four battery leasure bank?

happy boating

I suppose the only 'must have' for a liverboarder is a boat I've had to do without each of the basics at one time or another for a night or so, but have always had my own bed to sleep in that night. A positive flexible outlook & sense of humour seem to be fairly handy things to have afloat.

Do they hatch in 'waves' up the country i wonder? not seen any in mid cheshire yet

Of all of the 'kept' birds I think piggypies(yum) & doves have a nice life of it. Nice safe loft & they get to bomb about together in their little mobs. I've been known to make the odd bird table out of scrap wood (nowt more 'grand designs' than a foot of ply) to attract tweeters when I moor up somewhere for a bit. Nice to have them about without having to look after them. I wonder what the most unusual liveaboard nonhuman company is? I've often pondered on the idea of a two inch deep formicary on one of the four foot by two foot panels between windows but am concerned about maintaining a constant temp in winter while I'm away at the studio.

Sarf Ingerlahnd, (if memory serves correctly its on the opposite coast to Ambridge))

Do I regret living aboard & has the dream ended? Absolutely not Moved onto boarded out shell on midsummer's day & in the six months that followed have wood butchered, wired & plumbed the old dear to a fair degree of comfort That said, glad its midwinter solstice today & summers slowly coming back round again. Frozen in at the start of the month with the solstice weeks off gave a few 'blimey' grins whilst catching me breath cutting wood. But learning to adapt has given the occasional small sense of acheivement. Glad I've a cartridge to empty rather than looking at the same bucket of muck for two months.

On the subject of coal buckets & not too far off topic I hope : what do folks do with coal dust? my buckets gained about 2" in the bottom & I'm pretty sure chucking it on my fire would see it land in the dust pan time for me to make some 50/50 paper mache brickettes? or is it worth waiting till i've half a bucket to chuck it in the big bin?