gatekrash

Not any more, the MoD has banned it and now supply alcohol based 'fire dragon' cookers and fuel as the standard 'tommy cooker'. I'm using up the last of my stock of hexi (I had a crate in the store when they stopped us using it) as it makes brilliant firelighters.

We're a bit 'old fashioned' compared to modern boats, but we like it. The tongue and groove is solid cherry, so it wouldn't have been cheap when the original owners had it built. We use ours for this as well !

Yeah but there are cratch covers and cratch covers. There are some seriously fugly ones on some of the boats in our marina. We think ours works cos it's level with the roof, not raised up in the middle, so it nicely follows the line of the roof, unlike the ones that are six inches higher in the middle and look like someone just stuck it on as an afterthought. Personally speaking I agree and think pram covers are the work of satan. I wouldn't have one. Ever. But I totally understand why people do for the space. Their boat, they can do what works for them. And I agree about the stove, I've literally just fitted ours a few weeks ago, back of the saloon just forward of the galley so it heats the whole of the boat. It was the one thing missing then we bought the boat a few years ago (yes I know there's no flue fitted yet, am I ever regretting that with the last couple of days weather...)

This morning, 2023. Tibberton on the W&B. Frozen in overnight, about half an inch thick. That's stuffed the Mrs' plans for the Worcester Christmas market tomorrow 😀. Shame we're trapped at the bottom of the pub beer garden 🍺

We're probably similar to @robtheplod, semi-trad, down the rear steps to a fixed double, then a corridor on the stbd side past the bathroom to the galley, which is walk through with the walkway through the middle, then an open saloon space which is 14foot long. There's enough space for a fold down table attached to the gunnel towards the rear of the saloon which sits 4 if we have visitors, and then a couple of recliners right at the front of the space with a TV / laptop area in the corner. Cratch does for the porch / storing random rubbish. Used as a fuel store in winter and a conservatory with a very small folding table to sit at for 'special occasions' during the summer. That's on a 50 foot boat, so there's a bit of compromise with space such as the folding tables. In reality, the Mrs has too much stuff so the big folding table in the saloon doesn't ever get folded away as she doesn't keep it clear of her stuff. If I was changing something I'd probably remove it and swap it with one of those 'butterfly' type collapsible tables as it'd force her to be more tidy 😂

So they've turned up with a potential water rescue required based on the info they were given, boater on ledge and boat stuck. Before committing someone into the water they require the following resources just to put 1 person in : Bankside safety Upstream spotters (to identify any debris coming downstream that might injure the water rescue tech) Downstream spotter Downstream protection (deployed with throwlines in case rescue tech gets washed clear or needs to disconnect from his line) Water rescue tech to do the in water bit. Belayer (holding tech's shoreline tether) Then add an officer in charge to direct the rescue, and they're not allowed to be involved in anything practical. Then as he's stuck on a ledge, not in water when they arrive they require a rope rescue team. Minimum of 8 people, rope rescue tech, main line belayer, safety line belayer, edge safety, 2 additional line tenders for hauling, officer in charge and safety officer. Plus the 'crowd management' team because the dense general public will put themselves in stupid places to film the rescue on their phones. Sounds to me they were under resourced from a safety point of view. As someone on the pointy end of this stuff we get these comments about numbers all the time, but the general public really have no idea of what is required to do this sort of rescue. I'd love to stick one in fast water as a rescue tech and tell them to get on with it without any of the safety backup and see if they still thought the same way as they swept downstream with no way of being recovered....

Our next door neighbour feeds the birds excessively, she has multiple bird feeding stations and refills them 2 or 3 times a day. She also insists on throwing chunks of white bread down on the ground under the feeders. Unsurprisingly we have a rat problem in the area. Admittedly we back onto a farm, so it's sort of expected, but we have loads of them. I can usually shoot one or two a week as they transit our garden and if I've put the night vision on the rifle then later evenings are a free for all. I've shot several hanging from the bottom of the feeders, they climb up the trees to get to them then just dangle. I told her I was going to shoot the rats and she was quite happy about it ! She's also created a feral pigeon issue. Fortunately the guy up the road breeds racing pigeons and he traps the ferals because they pass diseases onto his birds. His record was 24 birds with stretched necks in a day. We spoke to the council environmental health about it but they told us there wasn't much they could do, they'd issue a 'desist' notice but didn't have the time or money to follow it up if she ignored it.

We've already emailed C&RT once about that and been told 'tough luck' (albeit in polite terms) ! Best bet is to hope the Severn goes back onto greens for a bit, but it's not looking good on the long range for the next week or so. One of the hire boats from the marina is stuck the wrong side of it so they've been having to run it out of Alvechurch for the last couple of weeks. Not sure what they're going to do if they can't get the boat back before march next year.

Our Mel Davis boat has the same design, watertight bilge on the well deck so it can't run back through the boat unless it overflows the top and through the cabin. We've got an auto bilge pump connected to the bow thruster battery, as the thruster is almost never used then that battery is always well charged, and if it does flatten it then it won't matter. However we never take more than a cupfull of water out of the bilge anyway . We've got a cratch fitted so the only water that ever gets in there is the stuff that blows around the side of the cratch if the wind is in the wrong direction. The auto pump has never to my knowledge turned itself on as it's never been deep enough, so I usually just sponge out any bilge water. So far this year I've had to sponge out the bilge once all year. It's generally really dry. If we didn't have the cratch then yes, it'd need bailing out a lot more regularly.

Severn isn't showing much sign of going beyond yellows either anytime soon either. ☹️

The update came today then... Likely to be shut for as long as 2 months. Just in time to run into the winter closure of Tardebigge for gate replacements, meaning the W&B will have been closed for nearly 5 months, although we might get a couple of weeks freedom before Christmas... And there I was thinking it was just you lot "up North" that got stuck 😀

And they just sent out an update. Still investigating, no further info for now.

Too much plastic on yours 😜

You just reminded me that the headlights on my old S2 Landy went pop a couple of weeks ago and I bodged the fuse holder with a panel pin which I found rolling around loose on the dash so I could get home on more than just sidelights. Now fixed today with a new fuse holder, which had mysteriously melted instead of blowing the fuse. Good old Lucas, prince of darkness 🔥

Today, 2023. Went out for a sail on the lumpy water boat to find PS Waverley has arrived in Plymouth overnight as a trial to see if they can fit on the Cattewater visitor pontoon prior to planning in trips from here next year. Good to see her on the move later too.

They're identical to the ones we use in the coastguard for creating holdfasts for lowering people over the cliff. First stake banged in at a 15 degree angle in line with where you want the strain, next stage banged in same angle about 2 foot behind it. Both stakes driven in to at least 3/4 of their length. Then run a strap from the top of the front stake (which is why they have the collar at the top) down to the foot of the rear stake and tighten. To prove how good that setup is we have tried to jerk them out using a landy and they go nowhere, even in crap ground. I've got a few on the boat and another pile in the garage, the coastguard tend to write them off once they've been driven through rock or stony ground - with enough work on the sledgehammer they will go through just about anything, but it bends the tips, which is when they get rid of them.

We've literally just done this 2 weeks ago. Spoke to someone that does this stuff for a living and he said get some decent primer from a tile shop, something like BAL all purpose, first coat on at 4 to 1 water to primer, wait half an hour, repeat at 2 to 1 dilution and then tile. We've done that and the tiles are stuck like the proverbial to a blanket. Originally we were going to prime in dilute PVA but he said on calcium silicate it runs the risk of peeling, and every tiling forum I checked also strongly advised not to use it, although I know many others haven't had a problem with PVA.

We've just bottled the first batch of home brew cider made from the windfalls off the allotment, about 20 pints so far. Going down again tomorrow to strip the rest of the trees before the wind his next week. Last year's brew we reckon was about 9% based on the hydrometer readings. We have to warn visitors not to drink more than a pint if they want to try it! Generally we end up with a really dry scrumpy, but being from the West country we're well used to drinking proper cider 😋

Why, have you been trapped somewhere not close to a decent pub ? 😀

Same at Droitwich. We're only missing on the months we've been out and about. Knew we were spotted last week near Selly Oak as the spotter waved at us and walked along next to us trying to catch the number as the plates are in the rear portholes. But he saw us again a few days later at Queen's Head below Tardebigge where we'd stopped for lunch. Nothing at all for the entire trip earlier in the year up the Shroppie, down to Llangollen and then Chester,, then back down the Shroppie, the S&W and Severn to Worcester, until we got up near Droitwich again when we were spotted above Hanbury. I reckon the West Mids checker is very active !

Not sure when you're planning on moving but the winter maintenance this year has closed the W&B at Tardebigge, the Droitwich at bridge 12 and the W&B at Offerton, effectively cutting Droitwich marina off from the network for 3 months from the beginning of January. Just one to plan in ! We're at the marina and really like it there. The facilities are good, the staff really friendly and we don't mind Tardebigge in the slightest. We can do the run from the marina to the top of the flight in an 8 hour day, or Stourport via the barge canal in about the same. Worcester is about 6-7 hours. Hanbury flight can get quite queued during busy periods which can take a while to get through, but we usually just make sure we start early or else move the boat either up to Astwood or down to Dunhampstead the evening before if we're needing to go somewhere on a schedule.

Very, very good beer and the pies 😋

Yesterday 2023, Kings Norton junction house, newly refurbished.

This morning, 2023, an uninvited guest just south of GU Bridge 69 at Black Boy !

I should have lowered the pound but forgot although I freely admit I left the fender hanger there on purpose so it could take the damage rather than the front corner 😀 We didn't have an issue with the paddles although a couple of the gates needed two of us to get them moving. Camp hill on the other hand had me both feet off the ground jumping on a couple of them and they still weren't shifting.