Narrowboat Alacrity

Against my better judgement (I was so stiff I couldn’t make it up the hill to the Plough) we took a slow walk along the towpath to the Mill House which as you have seen in a previous post I was rather scathing about, BUT!!! they must have listened………….. The service was much improved despite the ongoing problems with the cold water supply because of the CryptoSpyridium found in the water supplied by Anglia Water.

The food order arrived in a very reasonable time and on Hot!!! plates no problems with the quality and taste.

Just one gripe the draught Bass was off again but on talking to the manager I found that he has to boil up eight gallons of water to clean the pipes, so fair comment with the ongoing water problems, I would prefer to have a decent pint than a poor one from unclean pipes.

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Having had an easy drive up and luckily found a parking place ( as it was the Braunston Historic Boat Rally) Jo and I moved the tools and bits needed to start the flooring over to Alacrity. It still took three trips even with the trolley.

As posted before we had decided to fit a fully floating solid oak floor as this will allow the wood to expand and contract in the varying temperatures and humidity levels found on a narrowboat. So having sorted out the original floor removing the gripper rod and staples and added many more screws to hold it down we laid a thin foam plastic underlay, this is to allow the new floor to move and acts as cushion.

The oak tongue and grove planks are supplied in in varying lengths from 300 mm to 1200 mm so you have to be a bit good at jigsaws to get away without much wastage and to get a decent random effect. Once we had glued and layed the first two rows work went on a pace helped by the use of a pair of ratchet clamps, ( Screwfix £4.99 cheaper than B&Q £12.99) these really pull the boards together far better than just tapping them with a soft faced hammer.

Even with only half the boards laid the effect was stunning. So with my back and knees complaining we decided to stop and give the glue chance to set………ok  ok  a weak excuse but I needed a beer.

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I paid a visit to Enfield Timber today and managed to source some Southern Yellow Pine for Alacrity’s window linings.

The staff at Enfield Timber there are so helpful, nothing is too much trouble. They machined up the exact sizes I needed and gave me advice on the best way of preparing the timber for varnishing.

I was supprised that I would need seventy feet of timber to complete the linings but thats nine windows worth.

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We started on Alacrity’s saloon refit today, with the removal of the water damaged window linings, its lucky for us just the linings are damaged and need replacement, this was mainly because the boatfitters had used steel nails and these had rusted causing the staining, the steelwork and battens were in perfect condition.

Removal of the old dinette went on apace with Jo wielding the cordless drill to great effect removing even the most chewed up screws with little effort.

We were again lucky that the boat fitters had not glued the support battens to the sapele cabin lining so only leaving us with a few holes to make good before varnishing.

It makes a great difference with the old dinette out, so much space…………

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After an exhausting day spring cleaning Alacrity we decided to eat out, we hadn’t visited The Mill House Inn at Braunston for a while so decided to eat there.

It was a warm evening so we walked along the towpath the canal was still busy with many boats passing.

 There was a sign propped up at the entrance to the Mill House “Chef required apply within” we should have stopped there…………. It was quiet inside as it was just six o’clock only about twenty people in, mmmmmmm my favorite beers were on draught, Bass and Abbot…… we ordered a glass of wine for Jo and a pint of Bass for me the barmaid dissappeared to open some wine she came back five minutes later….. “The Bass is off”… no apology….ok i’ll have a pint of Abbot……………………….

We found a table and looked at the menu (which had changed a lot) and decided on a pasta dish with chicken, duly ordered we waited…..It took about twenty minutes for the food to arrive ………………The plates were stone cold and the food luke warm………yes I know I should have sent it back then, but having waited I was hungry, I must say the pasta tasted great but a little heat would have helped. We told the waitress but no apology was forthcoming.

Jo decided she wanted desert so we ordered a chocolate fudge cake with Icecream and a Pineapple upsidedown sponge with custard ………very tasty but again on cold plates……..

It will be a long time before we visit there again!!!!!!!

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We only decided to visit Alacrity first thing on Saturday, the weekend looked promising weather wise and the back pain Jo had been suffering from all week was on the mend and she felt well enough for the drive up.

It had only been three weeks since our last visit and already the spiders had decided to move back to their old haunts and breed………………thus a mass spider cull was in order we tried the humane method of chasing them out of the windows but as one was persuaded to leave two more would scamper in on the other side .

Afters general spring clean Alacrity was pronounced habitable. next was a shopping trip to Tesco in Daventry to stock up on staples as some of the tinned food was showing a sell by date of 2004. and the cleaning materials had taken a serious hit.

Fortified by the thought of a coffee in Tesco before shopping we set off only to find the store had totally removed the coffee shop in favour of a larger customer services area……………oh bum…………

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I  noticed this morning when doing my usual scan of incoming links (people who have linked their posts to my blog) that the Blog Meister Andrew Denny of Granny Buttons had mentioned in his post “How to start your own website or Blog” that I had learned the self taught hard way.

Remember that Matthew Stibbe is an expert. If you want advice from someone at the self-taught-the hard-way end of things, you might ask John of NB Alacrity. He seems to have taken this same route to getting his blog going including buying the book, so would be a useful second opinion. 

Yes I bought the book, its a good guide but if you use “Wordpress” as your blogging platform their support on the web is second to none, if you are more of a try it and see person who learns hands on like me give it a go.

I found that if you are contemplating your own blog or website the first thing to do is find a domain name.

What you have to remember that it will be the first thing people will see and what seems a good idea at the time may not seem so good in 5 years so “choose wisely” (as the knight said to Indiana Jones).

For us Boaters try looking up nbyourboatname replacing the yourboatname with the name of your boat with no spaces as in nbalacrity you will probably find it available for use.

As Matthew Stibbe suggests use 123 reg to check that your intended name is not in use. Don’t do what I did and register the name and buy a hosting package then find the package doesn’t cover what you want. I tried using the free blog registration from Wordpress.org but found it to limiting in the themes you could use, so I went independent.

I chose  VARiHOST to host my blog on the basic package  they are so helpful and will sort you out in no time, just read what other people say about them. VARiHOST will register and manage your domain name and provide space for your blog and give you your own email addresses for £3.99 a month (no I don’t get anything for this plug I just believe that they offer best value for money).

If you go the independent route you can customise your blog how you want and have total control of what you see on your blog, yes it’s hard work getting it how you want it and yes you may want to throw your PC into the cut but blogging is addictive, fun and all yours, gripe if you want, your blog is your voice on the web……………………………………………………….

If you want any help or advice on starting your own boating blog use the contact page, I will try and help if I can..

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Having had Alacrity for 19 years now Jo and I have decided to refit the saloon.

The saloon has a fixed “L” shape dinette which converts to a double bed since there are just the two of us and the dinette isn’t that comfortable. We were thinking of stripping it out in favour of free standing furniture. I was also thinking along the lines of a real wood floor with rugs.

We have been looking at The Ikea “Poang” armchairs with footstools,  we first saw them in a cottage we rented in York, and after a day doing touristy things they were great to relax in. Ikea give them a 25 Year Guarantee and they are a flat pack item so no worries about getting them in (embarrassing moment with the new fridge and door saga necessitating removal of door frame and some skin).

We would also need a table possibly a folding one or one that hinges out from the side. anyone got any ideas?

As to the floor I’m torn between a fully real wood floor or one with an engineered core and a 5mm real wood veneer given the changes in humidity and temperature I’m not sure which, more research needed.

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Please sign the petition below to try and Stop the Environment Agency selling off the Thames Lock Keepers Cottages.    Deadline to sign up by: 15 July 2008

Petition (click Here)

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After reading the responses of Andrew Denny of Granny Buttons fame to the  ”20 Questions” feature in Canal Boat Magazine this month.

And

The suggestion from Sarah of nb Warrior in her post on 6th May

“I swore that I would answer the self same questions here, and would like to suggest that other boat bloggers do likewise“.

I decided to chip in my 10 pennerth.

The 20 Questions and Answers:-

1. What’s your favourite canal? The Grand Union and the Kennet and Avon
2. And your least-favourite? I haven’t found one yet

3. Who would be your ideal cruising companion? My wife Jo, she puts up with my “Victor Meldrew Moments” and forgives me most things.
4. What was the last book you read? Narrow Dog to Indian River by Terry Darlington.
5. What’s your favourite time of day on the waterways? Just after dawn in summer.
6. What irritates you most on the waterways? People who don’t slow down when passing moored boats, Impatient and rude boaters.
7. When would you most like to have lived? The early 1960s Music with lyrics you can understand, the new found freedom and the canals were still carrying freight.
8. When did you last fall in? I haven’t yet. But Jo has.
9. What did you want to be at 12? A scientist. I was always blowing up things including the chemistry lab windows.
10. If I didn’t have narrowboating I’d … ? Have missed out on one of the most pleasurable things in life.
11. Narrowboaters are … ? Probably the most diverse species on earth.
12. After a day’s cruising I most look forward to … A quiet mooring with a great view, a warm evening, a pint of real ale, good company and a tasty meal.
13. The waterways need … ? A government with the balls to support the treasure that’s our canal system.
14. If you met the Waterways Minister on the towpath, what would you say to him? Just because DEFRA screws up don’t penalise British Waterways support them.
15. Windows or portholes? Windows.
16. Pumpout or cassette? Pump out; I can’t stand seeing other peoples “Floaters”. (I was brought up camping with the original elsan oildrum with a seat).
17. Canals or rivers? Canals, rivers tend to have high banks so you don’t see much.
18. Where will you be when you are 70? Still boating I hope. If global warming continues there should be more than enough water.
19. What do you think is your greatest achievement in life? To have achieved what I have now and still be sane.
20. What would your superpower be? To be able to remain calm and rational in ant situation despite provocation and to be able to steer Alacrity in reverse.

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