Pictures!

So being a rude blogger - forgot to post the picture of Nb Ten Bob Note - so here it is, with my apologies to Ernie, that it was taken but not published!!

A picture exchange means a couple of pictures that I would never be able to take...

Your view, just so you can recognise me coming the other way down the cut... All Oaks is a lovely spot - and is a beautiful backdrop to a cruise start. Here we are really fortunate to have such a lovely starting point.

Oh yes, and second picture, K2, yes she does go round in one go!!

Out and back...

Out Saturday at 0800hrs for the first ever flotilla cruise! A long day saw the fleet moored up in a fantastic spot just below the locks, and down the cut from a winding hole, perfect for me to turn and continue up the flight on Sunday.

No sooner had we turned out of the marina, than who should we pass than Ernie on NB Ten Bob Note (again for me!!) although Andy hadn't crossed paths before.

An uneventful, but beautiful run to Atherston, with us passing very few boats along the way.

With a Sunday roast on Saturday, and a fried breakfast on Sunday, I was geared up and ready to head for home, but forgot the reduced hour on daylight, so didn't quite make it back to the marina on Sunday night, so ended up a mile out, a fantastic spot, although hopeless for mooring as it has a concrete bank side that you can't stake to. I couldn't continue as my tunnel light didn't work, never mind, another job for John when I'm back in the marina!!

Beautiful Autumn days

I think they are my favourites!! when the sun is so weak and low that it casts a mist all day, and the stove in the back cabin keeps you warm and cosy whilst cruising along. Nothing on the canal at all, (well apart from NB Ten Bob Note, who I played ping pong with, passing or being passed by Ernie 3 times during the day!!) so blue skies, sunny weather and empty water - better by far than summer!!

Passed a fishing convention though - no not the human kind, 3 herons within 200 yards all on the same bank side, all very reluctant to fly off when I went past. Of course they could've stayed, I would even have slowed down for them!

Well the ol' donkey has been serviced, and he sounds good as well. Ingenious little brass tap allows you to pump out the engine sump, and the gearbox sump, just by swinging a lever across, so that was easy..

Here's two rare pictures one of blue skies, and the other of me - errr, actually my shadow! I thought it was a bit of fun seeing myself cruising along the hedgerow...

Too many Birds

Spent the weekend acting ferry (car ferry that is) I have a new pony. They take some looking after! and I can't even see her being harnessed up and saving the legs of my DM3 by hauling K2 down the canal!

All too unpredictable for me, my donkey kicks in every time, and answers to the call of the controls when I ask....

The canal still has too many of those black and white geese things. I hate them - apart from making a mess and squarking a lot, I can't see the point of them!! I for one will be glad when they all fly off for the winter... this pack ( can't think of them as a flock) only just got out when I went past... I'm sure they felt it was their right to stay in the water.

Tourism Traffic...

Thursday and Friday - best days of the year, weather wise, or so it felt! Hardly October as K2 made her way out glorious sunshine and blue skies!! Just one of those days that made you glad to be out on the water. And to add to it all, and back into the countryside again, there moored up was Nb Ten Bob Note. I've been following Ernie's blog even before I got K2, very envious of the wandering waterway life-style, so it was great to stop for a minute and say hi, and meet boat to boat.

As usual had no mobile network, but a great pub that Ivor and I ate well in, and was relatively empty, as we had a choice of moorings, before being joined by Tom and Jay on Friday.

All the way I held K2's tiller only for the locks - felt very strange having so many people desperate to steer... and greet all the other passing boats!

It was a great 2 days - passing too quickly, and now heading into a busy weekend....

Dry Bottom

Finally I can see steel again in the dry bilge! Not only did John fix the calorifier, finding a plastic push fit joint that hadn't push fitted, but he also pumped out the water that was sitting there.
John - previously of Bluewater boats, but now on his own as "all things boat" -
""Washing machines??"" I used to fix those....
"""Chain saws??""" I used to sharpen and mend those....
""""Electrics??"""" my speciality....
In fact anything other than carpentry.
Luckily John is a fantastic asset to us, and to use his vast skills of fixing "anything on the water". Cheers John - mines a pint of the landlords best ale please... (lol)

Where??

EST
Seemingly work could be available for me the world over - except the UK!! Following up on the old "friends and family" stuff, potential roles for me in Australia, Saudi Arabia, even Oman could be available. Can I get K2 to any of those? Someone took a Narrowboat across the channel - think the Bay of Biscay, or rounding the Horn could be tricky - not to mention the Southern Ocean!!
Still the job centre had some good roles - under Transport and Vehicle Management - "tractor driver" cool!! Ok so what about Finance and Leasing? - "bank cashier / administrator"
Hmmm - left to the job centre it could be a while before I get back to work!!
Oh - top job though... Under IT "data entry clerk"......

What day is it?

Trouble with being part of the great unemployed is that every day ends up looking like the one before it! So I know what day it is by the blog date at the top! It's the lack of brain power that kills me off, I need to be active and thinking, and at the moment the mind does somersaults as it has nothing concrete to concentrate on! At some point soon, I shall head off for something / anything to do just to get active again! There's only so many dog walks they want!
Don't get me wrong, I am well over the expected 3-5 things towards a new job a week that is expected - that happens before 0900 on a Monday morning!!
Well, to scratch some wicked rumours that have circulated that Ivor spent his 2 days reading magazines - here he is lock wheeling for me - well OK!!! Still it had lock gates and paddle...

Mini Cruise and future board.... ?

I love these autumn days of still water and sunshine! So K2, me and ex-colleague Ivor trundled off for a couple of days to "chew the cud" and discuss various opportunitues that could be ahead of us. It was great, and a number of "thoughts" came out the back of it.
Some of which included, on the water, activities, even more so, as he poured his way through the adverts in Waterways World!!

After the normal mooring greetings to fellow boaters in front of us, that lasted a good half an hour of chat and yarnings, and saw us popping back and forth between boats for a bit, Ivor concluded that he had spoken more to my overnight neighbours, than he had to his house neighbours - but that's the way isn't it?!!

The sun came up and lifted the dew, it was all too quick that we were back with another 2 inches of water in the dry bilge! Seems like it's not coming from the wasing machine, rather from one of the pipes under the engine room floor, connecting the calorifier up, that's a pain in the neck job... and I'm going to let someone else do it for me!

Statistics or Lies..

So - here's the selubrious offices of my new employer! The job centre (lol) where I have to go once a fortnight to tell them what I'm up to.

I am officially a statistic - a number on a screen, and they might even pay expenses towards interviews! Wonder if they will pay the fuel for my 3.0litre Car!!

Still after 2 hours in that place, discussing my new employment contract!! a nice cup of double expresso coffee on the canalside in the old Fellows Morton and Clayton warehouse made up for the effort!

Tomorrow K2 goes for a swim for a day or two....