Squires

We've noticed a few locks on the Thames where the water from the weir creates a current as we approached. It may be because the river was still running fairly high just after Christmas as we are not regular Thames cruisers we have no previous trips for comparison.

On the L&L a few years back I had a couple of handfuls of maggots thrown at me for disturbing the fish. They came in very handy for when we moored up, I'd previously had no luck with bread as bait for my evening fishing after a day's cruising.

We are booked in to have the bottom epoxy coated at the same time as it's having some welding and a new paint job so I have no idea what it costs just to get the hull done. When we bought, we set a budget and we liked the boat except the paint was very old and worn. The cost of getting the paint redone on top of our offer was still in our budget so we went for it. The survey reported that some areas of blacking was probably donkeys years old and not still adhering to the steel so as the top was due to be blasted we negotiated top and bottom stripped whilst they had all sand blasting kit out.

We are currently slowly making our way up to Reading. We've so far had 5 days of no travel because that's what happens on the Thames this time of year. Listen to the advice of the lock keepers, even ask their opinion if you are unsure, we will get to the K&A, our friends know to expect us when we get there and they have an even longer wait than expected as we've already missed the starting date for 5 weeks work on one of the locks we need to go through. So we have a list of things to do and by the end of next week I've an oil and filter change to add to the list. That's the joy of being retired and travelling around in your floating home, you don't have to worry about where you'll be the next day or week. You are where you are so make the most of it, our dogs don't mind whose field it is they run around in.

There will always be problems and repairs with things like cars, motorhomes and boats. When your boat is also your home it does become more important to get it right. But sometimes getting it right doesn't always happen. We have had problems with our boat since purchasing it last October. Despite having a full survey, a recent engine service and a new BSS. We've had an electrical problem which took 3 days to work out from the bodge rewiring to get around a symptom of the problem and a further 1½ days to put it right, not including waiting for a spare part. 2 of the covers have to remain in place as the rain pisses down through them. Plus a list of other niggling problems that we have found but life is never as lovely and predictable as the movies. We get over these problems and reflect on the good days.

We travelled from the Oxford canal to Wey navigation for Christmas, now we're on the Thames again heading for Reading to get on the K&A so far we've only paid for 1 night's mooring at Cliveden, which was because we fancied spending a night on an island with no link to other land as we've 2 dogs that don't like water, so they had a night off their leads. NT own several little islands, eyeot or aits along there. NT members get discounts.

It's not just coal that can give off co, any combustible material has the potential to cause carbon monoxide poisoning. A fairly recent fatality was from campers who brought their barbecue into the tent when it started to rain.

We've just left the wey navigation. We couldn't get out for 2 days because of high water on the Thames but the Wey itself is lovely if you remember that it was never cut with straight sides like most other canals so mooring anywhere along the canal that isn't a specific mooring you will need a decent length gangplank, and a pole to get you off the mud when you move on. We spent a night moored by the Pelican, going in bow first we rode up on the silt long before we were anywhere near close to all the way in. Turning around and going in arse end first you can shift a lot of the silt with a few blasts of forward drive as you go in.

I recently had the weed hatch open twice in one week. First time was a length of wire that had also managed to gather in a ball of aquatic vegetation. The second was a mass of chicken wire with a couple of small pieces of wood, I'm guessing at one time it was a chicken or rabbit run. Both times I tried in vain to clear the mess from the comfort of towpath rather than putting my hands into the cold water. I am so glad for the weed hatch, even in the summer some canals feel rather chilly, in mid December on the shroppie the water was cold enough to numb my fingers after about 10 mins. Working by feel with a pair of cable cutters in one hand, not feeling what you're cutting is not good. So I found myself warming my hands back to life before completing the job. Any thoughts of doing away with the weed hatch needs careful consideration about your cruising especially if you cruise 12 months of the year.

The ships I was on were all steam turbine and the evaporation pots were also powered by steam. We had grills that the divers fitted if we were due to enter waters that were known to have exceptional amounts of debris, they were actually known as Karachi filters and the in-line filters were being emptied 2 or even 3 times a day when we visited Karachi. Good job they were paired so you could switch from one to the other for servicing

I'm no expert on this (and may other) subject, I did a Bush craft training weekend a few years ago with our foster lad and we were told that an evaporation - condensation setup is the most effective method of obtaining drinking water. The Navy has similar setup on its older ships, it is a very bulky piece of kit but to scale they are providing fresh water for the drinking, bathing, cooking etc for a few hundred people. Would a scaled down version work?

Slightly off subject. I was reading about the caison locks trialed on the Somerset coal canal. Crazy or what?

Due to work commitments and our geographical location, owning our own boat wasn't practical so we had to wait until I retired but that gave us time to pay off most of the mortgage so when we sold the house we had a massive budget. We bought our 58ft 6ins for less than £60k and have a nice fat cushion to keep us going if needed. As our day to day living cost are so much less than in our house the only money we've spent (since buying the boat, paying licence, insurance etc) has been from our joint income

This is Squires, having just had her bottom blacked last September. I've added a few scrapes since then, travelling from Swanley bridge marina down to New Haw in Surrey to be with friends for Christmas. Next trip down to Bristol to get the things we put in storage when we went to pick up Squires

Compared to some our boat is still fairly young ( built 1999) but the engine, a Lister HRW2 had a previous life as the engine in a RN workboat. Thankfully they converted it to electric start, but kept the hand crank available, just in case. As with all working engines if you look after them they will carry on for years.

Totally agree.We've just travelled down the Shroppie, and having 2 dogs that get stubborn over crossing the slightest gap they can see down I've had to make a longer wider gangplank for mooring out in the sticks. Some have likened it to a drawbridge but it keeps the dogs happy