My turn for a C5!

Unread post by **Huskyxantia** » 21 Aug 2022, 21:38

Ouch , its surprising the amount of safety aspects there is to boating, a cousin of mine lived on a canal boat for over ten years , he passed away a bit back was only 25 he'd be 50 now he loved the freedom

Unread post by **Hell Razor5543** » 31 Aug 2022, 19:45

Once I got my C5 back up and running I headed back to Ellesmere. Julian is only 50 years old, but it is unlikely he will get to see 51. Because of this Mum wants to do what she can to fill his every day with joy. I headed up within a couple of hours of getting the suspension working (with a few necessary items, such as replacement fire extinguishers, needed for the boat safety certification), arriving around 19:00. This meant that we could all have a few more days cruising. Katz (Julian's sister) was not there, as she had headed back home to New Zealand a couple of days earlier.

On Saturday, once various boating and medical tasks were completed, we started along the Llangollen Canal towards Whitchurch. So Julian could experience the joys of boating with the minimum of work I was again handling "Sapphire" (and continued to do so for the majority of the voyage). We stopped at a beautiful and peaceful spot for lunch (and a rest, as Mum was getting a bit tired), and then we carried on. There were no locks, but there were a few hydraulically operated lift bridges. Because one of Mums' friends had had their dog bitten by an Adder near to bridge 44 we agreed not to stop there (as Mum has both a cat and a dog, who get on well together). We ended up ending the day close to Whitchurch.

The following morning I found we were near a café that opened at 09:00. Mum does not do breakfast, so when Julian was up and around we went and had breakfast. On the wander back to the canal I picked a few nicely ripe blackberries and shared them with Julian. The grin was worth it. We sailed into Whitchurch, had a bit of a smooch around, headed up to Grindley Brook locks, had lunch at the canal side café, and then started the journey back to Ellesmere, stopping when Mum got tired.

On Monday it was agreed that, after we had had lunch, I would take "The Black Cat" the rest of the way to Ellesmere, which would allow Mum to have a rest so that she could do a few essential tasks once we had moored up. The Llangollen Canal is beautiful, so unfortunately a LOT of other (hire) boats were out; so many it felt more crowded than the M25! Some of the boaters were lacking in experience, which made things interesting. After lunch Julian headed off in "Sapphire", handling her as though she was 'The Grey Ghost' (I wonder who can find that out reference) and not a narrowboat. We gently followed in his wake, arriving at Ellesmere canal services to find that Julian had almost finished filling up the water tank. We proceeded to do the same, and Mum emptied the Elsan (which is a port-a-potty!), as did Julian. Once we were done we moved off the service point, and then Mum got on with her laundry (she also washed my boiler suit, which DEFINITELY needed it!). Julian had really enjoyed the trip, and told us that this was the first time in weeks that he had had a pain free day, which made Mum and I glad we had done this.

On Tuesday Julian was not in great shape, so Mum and I headed off to Oswestry to do the shopping (the plan had been for Julian to come as well, but he was not up to it). Once we got back I found why the 4G broadband on "Sapphire" was not working and dealt with it, and then sorted out the television (mainly by aiming the aerial in the right direction). The horn does not work (OK, it does, but not very loudly), so he will need to get a replacement unit that MUST be properly weatherproof. I headed for home around 14:00.

All of the photographs are my own work.

Unread post by **Hell Razor5543** » 05 Dec 2022, 18:40

I have got to get a windscreen chip sorted out, and I learned a useful trick. If the chip is 'black' it means that air has gone into the laminations. I was told to put some clear tape over the hole, as this will prevent water getting into the laminations. This is important, because as water freezes it expands, and this can crack the windscreen, leading to it needing to be replaced.

Unread post by **Dormouse** » 05 Dec 2022, 20:41

You used to get free sticky clear discs with some insurers welcome packs just for that very purpose. The less exposed the chip is, the sounder the repair can be.

Unread post by **Hell Razor5543** » 10 Jan 2023, 09:26

Well, she just passed her MoT, and is good for another year. YAY!

Unread post by **mickthemaverick** » 10 Jan 2023, 10:35

Well done that man!!

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 10 Jan 2023, 10:43

That's brilliant news James

Unread post by **Hell Razor5543** » 10 Mar 2023, 08:32

Some of you may have noticed that I have been a bit 'quiet' lately (by my standards (YAY! I hear a few of you cry! Philistines!)). This is because I am in the Ellesmere area, visiting Mum and Julian. It was always intended that, once Julian had had a bit of medical treatment, we would start off their summer cruising. Summer Cruising?!? I though the saying went that "March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb". Well, the lion has headed south (complaining about the snow, wind and cold) while the polar bears have arrived. There were hints that the weather was going to be 'interesting' the day before we left, but we ignored them, and now it makes for 'unusual' boating.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 10 Mar 2023, 08:34

Was wondering where you were James!

Great photos

Unread post by **Huskyxantia** » 11 Mar 2023, 09:38

Hi James, stunning photos there , got that wood burner going ?

Unread post by **Hell Razor5543** » 11 Mar 2023, 16:30

Isn't it incredible the difference 6 hours and 3 miles can make (that is the difference between the last photo of my previous post and the first photo of this post)! The weather warmed up enough for us to set off (yesterday it got so bad that Mum (who was helming her narrowboat) got badly chilled and confused, which then could have become dangerous), and we pootled off down the Llangollen Canal. Because Julian has severe problems with one leg I am handling Sapphire for him. We were keeping an eye open for a couple of narrowboats, as one of the occupants was a lady who helps Julian by cleaning Sapphire. When Julian spotted her (in one of the two other narrowboats shown in on of my photographs) we pulled in and moored up for the night. Julian has (among lots of nice things on Sapphire) a solid fuel heating stove. While they do throw out a good level of warmth, and the image of a gently flickering fire is lovely, they also make a LOT of mess, hence why we moored up next to Sue. Mum does NOT have such a stove, as she has learnt from experience (Julian has only had Sapphire for a year or so, and so has plenty to learn), so she has a diesel oven that does sterling service both in cooking and keeping the boat reasonably warm (she also has a calorifier under her bunk, driven from the engine, to provide her with hot water and, incidentally, a nice warm bed for the night). This morning we set off again, and got to the outskirts of Whitchurch, where we pulled in to go shopping at Aldi (and also so Mum could watch the horse racing; she does so love watching the gee gees!). It started to drizzle, se we decided not to move on any further today, but tomorrow we intend to go to Grindley Brook, where there are useful services available (watering point, rubbish point, and so on).

I am certain Bridge 39 was a former railway bridge, because of the width and the embankment on either side (which is level as far as the eye can see). In case anybody is wondering, all of the bridges on navigable waterways are numbered, so if a boater needs to report something (boat in trouble, tree fallen into the water, etc.) they can let the Canal and River Trust know where it is more clearly (so saying "between 38 and 39 on the Llangollen Canal" narrows it down far better than "Between Whitchurch and the Prees Arm"), so that they can come out and resolve the issue.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 11 Mar 2023, 17:14

Superb

More great photos James!

Stickyfinger · Unread post by **Stickyfinger** » 18 Mar 2023, 08:36

Just watch out for those German ones sneaking up on you !

Unread post by **Hell Razor5543** » 19 Mar 2023, 18:55

I got back home on Saturday evening (prior commitments), but here are some more photographs from 'The Great Coddiwomble' (as Mum calls it on her Facebook blog). As Julians' leg is causing him mobility issues (and pain; he is on oral morphine (as well as a few other 'drugs') to manage that) I was handling Sapphire. We ended up in Wrenbury, which is a lovely little village on the outskirts of Nantwich. There we met Heidi Manning and her narrowboat 'The Rum Wench'. Heidi is a YouTube blogger, and if you wanted to learn about life on the waterways you could do a lot worse than watching her channel, as she covers pretty much everything canal related (and not just the good things). She is an interesting character, with an unusual sense of humour. She interviewed Mum and myself (probably learning that I talk a lot), so we might be in her next blog.

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheNarrowboatPirate

David is another YouTube blogger, and he also posts up a lot of useful information. Here are his two posts from aboard The Rum Wench;

All of the photos are my own work.