Tag Archives: Whilton Marina Chandlery

It’s a DIY Kind of Day

15/06/2020UncategorizedMakita, Whilton Marina Cafe, Whilton Marina Chandleryadmin

Saturday 6 June 2020

It’s a DIY Kind of Day

It was cold outside. The wind continued to blow throughout the night and into the morning. Sun played on the inside roof of the boat creating patterns that moved. The sun was out for a short while but the wind brought in another batch of grey clouds. Our boat and the ones alongside swayed, moved and juddered in rhythm with the wind. The two-section floating workshop parted and joined, as though in some unheard country dance. The antenna atop the workshop swayed ominously and probably wasn’t doing our WiFi signal any good. The trees stoically continued to put up with it all.

Make It a Makita

We started the day deciding upon a multi-tool. We needed one to address the rust: on the prow, in the lockers, in the engine bay and a whole host of other areas we haven’t yet found. After careful consideration, we decided upon a Makita cordless unit – DTM50RM1J1 18v L-ion Kit.

As you may or may not know, I am not known for my DIY skills. If I hammer in a nail – it bends. When I put up a shelf – it falls down. Should I look at a screw – the head looses its thread. So, Mu started the preparation for painting the saloon of Silverdale. It will be all white and our things will provide the colour. I supplied tea and freshly ground coffee.

A break from the DIY (I was exhausted) saw us head over to the Café where we had chips outside – the first for a very long time. The winds and rain and sun continued. A tea break out on the stern, under the canopy saw us open it up to let the sun in, then close it down as a massive grey blanket of cloud rolled over, bringing thunder. It’s really great we have this whole other room: conservatory/greenhouse/tent/deck.

Back to the grind.

Have You Finished Yet?

Painting came along slowly. I didn’t say “have you finished yet?). Covering a sage green colour with brilliant white emulsion will do that. It takes time and coats. I washed half the solar panels so we should be able to pull in just a little more energy – a couple of rays worth. I need the brush to reach the other side of the panels but I haven’t plucked up the courage to walk down the gunwales yet (the last time I did, I fell in – see Tales From the Bilge – Episode 17)

It was probably raining again but the sun did come out and stayed out into the evening. When playing tangram, sorry making the bed, we discovered a leak! A small one. Rain water had gained ingress via the port side bedroom window and had ran along to the corner of the bed. The mattress was a little wet (not me). We were aware that some of the window seals needed attention from the survey. This was one of them. I’m hoping Sikaflex will do the job. A purchase just as soon as the Chandlery gets some in stock. I suspect there will be more DIY kinds of days to come

Here ends our first week aboard Silverdale.

rp – peace and narrowboats

The Dawn Chorus

06/06/2020Marina Life, Moving AboardSilverstone, Uffington White Horse, Whilton Marina Cafe, Whilton Marina Chandleryadmin

Monday 1 June 2020

The Dawn Chorus

The Dawn Chorus is loud. It is also very early. I don’t know the exact earliness (it obviously varies depending upon the Dawn). I didn’t (couldn’t) get my phone out to check the time but it was early. Too early. Early as in ‘I’ve just gone to bed, closed my eyes and here’s the Dawn Chorus’ early.

After getting up (after being awoken by the Dawn Chorus – not that I’m bitter) we went to the Chandlery. This is going to be a regular occurrence due to it being a small food shop as well. We were greeted by good news – the Whilton Marina Cafe, which is just next door will open for takeaways this coming Saturday – yay!

Today is my first workday – post retirement but not really. Working remotely, everything is working. It is a beautiful day once again. We have the louvre windows open to extract a breeze where we can (I love the louvre windows). In the background, the droning sound turns out to be Silverstone and not a bluebottle (Silverstone race track is not too far from here). Once you realise this, it’s quite comforting in a way).

We’ve Got Mail

A Birthday card from my team arrived. It had a narrowboat on it which was nice. A large Retirement card arrived also. It had a large (too large) picture of me on it, taken at Uffington White Horse last year. A smaller image of me on the back was taken at Dartmouth and Nb Silverdale pre-overplating adorns the inside. These were pulled from my Social Media feeds. I never thought they’d be put to such clever use – thank you Simon.

After work, mu and I went for a walk around the marina. The Buckby Flight Bottom Lock is literally just off the marina basin. Nb Darth Wader was just coming down through 🙂

The evening meal was partaken out of baking tins as our plates were still in the lock-up. We could have walked over there but it was hot and the route is very dusty, due to its crushed hardcore nature. Think of it like going to Glastonbury Festival (a sunny one, not a wet one) but without the music or the Cider bar or the village. We rolled up the stern cover to let in a breeze and a view of the marina – tranquil waters. A duck sat quietly on the end of the pontoon we were moored to. It had found an idyllic spot.

Ah well, here’s until the next Dawn Chorus.

rp – peace and narrowboats

Day 1 in the Long, Pointy Metal House

04/06/2020Marina Life, Moving Aboard, Nb Silverdaleelectrics, switches, Whilton Marina Chandlery, Whilton-Chrisadmin

Saturday 30 May 2020

Day 1 in the Long, Pointy Metal House

I heard ducks in half sleep and awoke to a vibrant day. It promised to be just as wonderful as yesterday. It was cool and pleasant, thus far. We had mugs of tea (yes, we had the wherewithall to achieve this). Mu pottered, arranging and re-arranging or I should say squirrelling stuff away. She has it down to a an art form. It wasn’t the works of art I was hoping for but useful – nevertheless.

Time Stands Still at The Iron Hill

Cleaning was the order of the day and would be for multiple days. We were obviously adjusting to non-house living. It involves a change in mindset, from instant everything to instant nothing. It is a challenging but rewarding transition to make. Canal time is a thing. It is mooted as: an appearance of time passing slowly, slower than experienced in a town, say. Here on Nb Silverdale time stands still! The clock’s battery had run out . It’s second hand, stuck in place flicked like the clock had a nervous tick. Time is forever a quarter to twelve.

Cleaning continued briefly and then we made our way to the chandlery. Whilton Marina Chandlery is a cornucopia of narrowboating miscellany but most importantly, it sold Thatcher’s Gold! We purchased a cap for the top of the boat’s stove exit. We will eventually get a chimney (the old one died and had been resigned to the scrap heap) but the cap would stop the rain getting in and ruining the Squirrel’s beautiful newness. However, we were not expecting rain, nor lighting the stove anytime soon. We also purchased some Thatcher’s as it would have been rude not to.

murpworks - The Tales of Silverdale - Day 1 in the Long, Pointy Metal House - Toilet Fluid image

It was now sweltering. We also purchased some WMC Non-toxic Toilet Fluid. We had bought both the cap and fluid last time we were here with MIRRLESS in 2018. We had lost the cap early on in our journey as I veered into overhanging foliage. Cap number one is at the bottom of the Grand Union Canal somewhere. When the fluid ran out, we could never find anything as nice to replace it. As we plan to stay here a while, we should be able to enjoy both for longer.

The day was hot. The electrics were still not working (no amount of switch flipping had worked). Chris: a Whilton Marina employee was on duty over the weekend (although the Marina was officially closed Saturday & Sunday). We had met Chris last time we were up and had chatted. Having discussed our woes of no water and no lights, he offered to take a look. This would be after seeing someone out of the canal, via the diesel pump, to set off for London and blacking a boat. This was a tall order as the afternoon was moving on.

Meanwhile, the heat continued to rise, the sink continued to stink and the lights continued to not work.

The people for London left, the boat for blacking got blacked and Chris, true to his work came by. At the stern of the boat (the technical end) he assessed what we had. He decided to start the engine: an Isuzu Marine block. He turned the key in the ignition. It started! This was good news. We had an engine! It also meant at least the Starter battery was working. After head scratching (he scratched his head, I scratched mine. After all, we were socially distancing and it would have been inappropriate to scratch each others) it was decided to flip the fuse box switches. Each switch was in a green state and we flipped them to – white! Not red as expected. We tried this first with the Horn fuse – but nothing. We tried one more – the Lights fuse. They worked! We tried the Water Pump fuse, the water flowed like a river. The Water Pump kicked in. We tried the Tunnel Lights (there were two), one worked and one didn’t. It didn’t matter Everything was working. The new fridge and freezer purred into life once the switches were thrown.

Life had gone from Bronze Age to Post-Solar System Travel in a few flicks of switches – life was good. We rejoiced. Our choice of narrowboat had been vindicated. Thanks Chris.

Chilli, rice and Cider on the stern, under the canopy – our first meal. Afterwards, we went for a walk around the Marina, up over the bridge that spans the mouth into it. The sun started to fall, it was a little cooler now. It had been a successful first day in marina life.

rp – peace and narrowboats

Moving Aboard Silverdale

03/06/2020Moving Aboard, Nb Silverdaleelectrics, Lord of the Rings, Whilton Marina, Whilton Marina Chandleryadmin

Friday 29 May 2020

Moving Aboard Silverdale

We got up early to face the packing of the car in readiness for moving. It took a long time. A VW Golf is not that well known in moving circles, it’s not the ‘go to’ vehicle. It strained and groaned at the extra weight after being used to its minimal aesthetic. With the task eventually completed, we set off approximately on time, as planned. However, we had to fill up with petrol and then stop off at the Chemist. We finally got off and drove slowly so as not to shift the load. The route was familiar and Guns and Roses accompanied us as we made our way to Northamptonshire.

#marinalife

murpworks - The Tales of Silverdale - Moving Aboard Silverdale - Whilton Marina image

We arrived at 15:00 and met Harvey of Whilton Marina by the socially distanced window. “How different from when we were here doing this last time”. We had been here in 2018 at approximately the very same time purchasing Nb MIRRLESS.

Paying for Nb Silverdale was simple (too simple). Just like that we owned a narrowboat again! It was a beautiful baking hot day. We were told Silverdale sat at a pontoon by the workshop and was ready for handover.

Whilton Marina via Harvey had purchased a flexible, food-grade water hose, on our behalf as the Chandlery only opened until Midday due to Covid-19 restrictions being in place. We would have had to go through the weekend without a way of filling the water tank. They kindly refused payment for it! A nice boat warming present but it wasn’t the only one.

Unbeknown to me, my team from work had arranged for a hamper of delights to be delivered – a Birthday/moving aboard present 🙂

Piping Aboard

I felt we should have been piped aboard but it doesn’t work like that. We drove down the drive by the marina and pulled up just outside Silverdale. Down metal steps to the marina-side, and onto the pontoon, The windows were open, the doors were open and a faint breeze blew through from stern to prow. We stepped onto Nb Silverdale – home. Our Nb Silverdale. Stepping down through the open doors, the new Morso Squirrel multi-fuel stove, replete with fire bricks gleamed black in the corner, by the entrance.

We shunted bag after bag from car to boat, the VW sighed and relaxed. It was still hot and continued to be so into the late evening and eventually, our things were aboard. So far, so good.

murpworks - The Tales of Silverdale - Moving Aboard Silverdale - a loaded Silverdale image

It became apparent , very quickly how clueless I was regarding the dark art of boat electronics. However, before I enter into the murky world of bespoke narrowboat electricals, I feel I have to mention the sink. I believe it is in part allied to the electrical as will become apparent. To cut to the chase: it was blocked. No problem, we were prepared. We had a plunger and to hand. Big mistake!

That Certainly Doesn’t Smell Like Teen Spirit!

The plunger brought up foul-smelling ichor, as though from the depths of Davy Jones’ Locker (straining the metaphor as it’s a canal and not the sea but you get my meaning). Now this would have been fine, had the plunging released the blockage, to be flushed away by flowing water. There was no flowing water. This was due to the sink being connected to a Whale Gulper (don’t ask) and said Whale Gulper requiring electricity to run. What we were now left with was the whole boat smelling as if something had died aboard it. Quite some time ago.

The 240 volt hookup was working – we could plug anything we liked in: vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, Laptop, curling tongues, juicer, grill… You name it, we could plug it in. However, the lighting and the water pump runs on 12 volt and that wasn’t working. I flipped switches and flipped them back again, I really did. Nothing happened. The Dodo had more life.

Our new, gleaming 12 volt fridge and 12 volt freezer we had purchased and had the marina install on our behalf, cooled nothing. They weren’t on. They were 12 volt. I flipped the switches but nothing.

If you need someone to flip switches, I’m your man.

After the Cool Hand Luke locker-like stifling heat of the sun, its descent, as evening came was welcome. However this bought a new challenge: the lack of light. We started to bumble around like moles with no whiskers but our trusty torch saved the day. We had used this on our previous boat: MIRRLESS and it had never failed to illuminate our way.

murpworks - The Tales of Silverdale - Moving Aboard Silverdale - Silverdale Setting Sun image

And So To Bed

The bed. Ah, the bed. The mattress we were to discover, although extremely comfortable, resembled an 8-piece Tangram puzzle, with multiple solutions. All of which didn’t just quite fit correctly.

It was very quiet and peaceful. Lights at the marina provided a subtle illumination. I managed to snatch a few paragraphs of Lord of the Rings via torchlight before the day had faded into sleep.

rp – peace and narrowboats