NB Alnwick

It has been a while since I posted on here and several members have emailed to ask what we are now doing. Long standing members will remember that I was once a moderator on this forum and a fairly prolific contributor. Back in 2007 we chose our mooring in Cropredy because it was equidistant from our respective ageing parents. Between 2016 and 2018, we lost both sets of parents and their respective illnesses and the immense task of making their final arrangements kept us occupied. The day after Jane's mother died, Jane was diagnosed with Cancer at the junction of her stomach and oesophagus. After nine months of Chemotherapy, the decision was made to try and remove the tumour - we were told that the chances of success were probably less than 50% because the tumour had grown through the stomach wall and had attached to Jane's liver and pancreas. The procedure took place on 25th August 2018 and the surgical team at the Churchill hospital in Oxford did a brilliant job. Thankfully, the tumour was completely removed but this also required the removal of Jane's stomach and some serious re-plumbing of her internal pipework. After a long period of recovery, Jane is now doing very well and is back at work as a medical receptionist. The long term outlook is now much better but it has been a very stressful time. Many of you will know that Alnwick is now moored at the Old Coal Wharf at Cropredy. We still live aboard but due to the circumstances discussed above, it is a very long time since we fired up the Kelvin K3 - which, for the avoidance of doubt, is an ideal engine for a heavy narrow boat - this opinion was expressed clearly to Alnwick's builder by none other than George Bergius, the designer of the engine and the son of the Kelvin company's founder. Back in 2012, we bought a derelict cottage in the village - just 50 yards from our mooring - and after years of planning, during the next six months builders will be on site to restore the cottage and make it suitable for occupation. However, we do not have any plans to sell Alnwick (unless the cottage renovation costs far more than expected) and we hope to resume our plans to the canal system as soon as the work on the cottage is complete. In the meantime we are still here and if any of our old friends find themselves tied-up at Cropredy, please come an say hello!

We had the same problem last year and it turned out to be a faulty thermocouple/flame-cut-off device - once this was replaced it was better than new. I am not saying that Alan has the same problem but it may be an avenue worth exploring . . . Edited to add: About £40 here

Boating is probably more dangerous than drinking - I have fallen in three times without the benefit of any alcohol.

There used to be a shop near the top of Railway Terrace in Rugby whose speciality was supplying paint to various inland boat companies and professional sign-writers. The 'coach paint' that they supplied was made by a firm called J T Keep and the range included a variety of oil based primers, fillers, wood treatment and undercoats. Back in 1975/6 I used their coach paint to brush paint the bodywork of my racing Morgan (Royal Victor Green) and I am sure that I recall Willow Wren having an account there at that time. The shop also sold the whole range J. H. Ratcliffe & Co products. The Keep's range of colours has been re-created by Craftmaster so that would be the best bet if anyone wants to re-create the colours used before 1976.

I believe there is also a legal requirement for the flexible hose and any other gas fittings or appliances to be installed by someone who is Gas Safe qualified. This is why, in the past, we have avoided taking on such tasks on a DIY basis - my qualifications enable me to manufacture or dispose of gas equipment but I am not qualified to connect, disconnect or re-connect them.

Our was well rattled on the way back from Braunston - bumping through eighteen locks should have done it even I f the three cylinder Kelvin failed to rattle it sufficiently. Sadly it is still not working properly on gas! We are currently running it on 240 V AC . . .

There is probably a cure for that these days . . .

Well we have managed to get back to our home mooring at Cropredy but it must rank as our slowest decent from Claydon Top Lock ever! The water at Cropredy is so low that we need the plank out to reach our landing stage. Can anyone suggest a private dredging company - seriously, we need to get our mooring dredged!

There are long delays at Claydon Locks today! CRT staff are in attendance to regulate the flow! Apparently there Is insufficient water in the pound above Broadmoor Lock.

We also need to do this - it is at least five years since we replaced our flexible hose/regulator. Having said that, this unlikely to be the current issue because the fridge is also noticeably less efficient when connected to a 240 V AC supply. I admire Alan’s perseverance with his three way fridges and they are definitely very economical to run and exceptionally quiet but, not for the first time, the difficulty of sourcing a competent service engineer, has made us consider changing to a conventional modern 240 V AC fridge which will probably be no more expensive to run than a television.

Ours is room sealed and I may not be able to get a tube down the flue - but I will try that. The fridge worked fine until we switched it off while we went for a fortnight's holiday in the Isle of Man. Since then it will not ignite - or rather the ignition light keeps flashing - so something isn't right.

Five years ago, after an extensive search, we found Malcolm Rock, a local Dometic service engineer who serviced our three way fridge. Malcolm has now retired and we wondered if anyone knows of an engineer or competent person who might service our fridge. Alternatively, is there anyone local to Cropredy with knowledge of these fridges who might be able to help me to do it myself?

Still sleeping soundly - and the list of things to do just gets longer - that is what boat ownership is all about . . .

On the 18 May we were probably on top of a mountain in the Isle of Man - the beauty of a big old engine is in its ability to turn a decent sized prop nice and slow so as not to disturb the water and everything that is in it . . .

We bought it, installed it and have been sleeping soundly ever since . . .