Been to the boat Yesterday

I went to the boat last night to change over photographs. It seems that we have a photo of the boat on the boat and a photo of the House in the house so I was instructed to change them over which I did. Going on the boat reminded me that I had not reported the alterations that took place before Christmas
The previous owner changed the original fit out by adding cheap vertical tongue and groove planking to some internal partitions and then painted it in a matt stain paint that I could never quite match. Earlier last year I experimented by taking off a small bit to reveal quite good mahogany faced ply under that, after a sand down and several coats of varnish, looked quite presentable. The rest of the partitions were done late last year with a few being clad as the old tongue & groove was the only thickness there was. It all looks better now. At least I think so.
You may also recall seeing the fresh water pump when it was repaired in the summer at Stourport well................ over the winter the plastic pipe connecting the pump to the copper piping feeding the rest of the boat was forced off by an ice build up, which ment all the shifting of furniture and panels again to fix it back on. Fortunately only a small amount of water was released onto the carpet.
I will have to spend a couple of days checking things out soon as the NCCC opening cruise is on 28th March and the Easter cruise shortly after.

Spelling

I have just been looking at the last few entries in last years blog and have found several (Probably not all) spelling mistakes. I have altered those I noticed. Reminder to self to use the spell checker each time I update

Awakening to 2010

As the days start to get longer it is time to poke the embers of last years blog in preparation for the new cruising season. One thing I promised to do was give the summary of last years cruising - we traveled 496 miles and negotiated 334 locks and one Lift ( the Anderton), twice. The canals travelled on were the Macclesfield,Upper Peak Forest,Trent & Mersey,Shroppshire Union including the Middlewich branch and the Wardle canal, the Staffs & Worcester and the Gloucester and Sharpness. We also traveled from Stourport to Gloucester on the River Severn in both directions and spent two days on the Bridgewater canal between Preston Brook and Sale. Oh one other thing, unfortunately a picture of the winning hat in the NCCC Easter Competition has been found and I have been persuaded(arm twisted behind back)to include it in the blog. So Here Goes ----