Settled In

So Naughty-Cal is settled quite nicely into her temporary mooring.

A Change

Well they say that a change is as good as a rest so this weekend we are going to check out the theory. We are swapping moorings for the weekend with a good friend who moors in Brayford Pool in the centre of Lincoln.

He wants to take his father to the chinese restaurant opposite our mooring so we jumped at the chance to lend him our mooring in return for a couple of nights on his mooring on the Lincoln Boat Club pontoons.

Now there is method to this as we were recently offered a mooring on the boat club pontoons which is significantly cheaper than our current mooring at Burton Waters just a couple of miles up river, well canal. So this will give us the chance to check out the moorings, how we like mooring in the centre of town and whether the change of moorings would actually work for us.

So this weekend will be a bit of a change for us. We dont actually intend to go anywhere and plan to spend the whole weekend in Lincoln which will be a pleasant change for us and a nice break for Naughty-Cal after last weekends blast down the Humber.

Hull 2014 - Part 2

 The morning after the night before.

 Naughty-Cal moored in Railway Dock

 The usual visitor moorings had been full last night!

 Looking out to the Humber.

 The Deep on the banks of the Rivers Hull and Humber.

 The flag aloft.

 Looking out across the river.

 Hull Marina Lock entrance with the waiting pontoon in the outer basin.

 Princess Quay.

 Lovely buildings.

 Magnificent Hull City architecture.

 More grand buildings.

 Heading back upstream and under the Humber Bridge.

Steady cruise back home.

Hull 2014 - Part 1

 Setting Off

 Steady Cruise

 Time to go.

 Catch me if you can.

 Cruising past Keadby wind farm

 Cruising in formation.

Waiting for the tide.

You've Been Framed

It would seem we were photographed heading into Hull Marina on Saturday.

Home Again

So we are back on the Fossdyke once more heading for home after a great weekend in Hull.

Now we have a quiet day to ourselves as we have tomorrow off work as well. So here we are moored in Saxilby.

An Evening Cruise

Last night we enjoyed a lovely evening cruise along the Fossdyke to Torksey Lock.

The cut moorings were busy so we stayed above the lock. This morning we locked through at 8.45am and are now swinging on the hook at Trent End waiting for the tide to Hull.

We set out with five boats but sadly one has turned back due to overheating problems.

Plans Afoot

I know its only the end of August and we still have the bank holiday and another weeks holiday in October to think about, but we are starting to make tentative plans towards Naughty-Cal's next lift out in January.

This year we had Naughty-Cal out of the water for much longer than usual. In previous years we have had her ashore for just a couple of weeks, this year we had her out for a couple of months. We actually enjoyed having her out for longer as we could take our time over the jobs we had to do, and being the beginning of the year we didn't miss out on much cruising either. The extra time ashore didn't even cost us more money. It turns out that the weekly charge for storage ashore is pretty much the same as the monthly charge ashore!

This time we wont have the laborious task of scraping off all of the old antifoul paint. We did that last time so we should be left with a smooth finish so will be able to just paint straight over whats there, well thats the theory anyway.

Hopefully as in previous years we should have a straight forward time ashore. Its time to do a major service on the stern drive, which will include changing the bellows, oil seals, anodes, flushing through the oil, changing the props and painting the drive. We also know that some bushes need changing and we have some wear on the shaft which either wants replacing or fixing. We will have a look how bad it is and make that decision once its out of the water.

As we know roughly when we will be pulling her out of the water we can start to gather together all of the relevant materials and parts prior to her coming out so that we will be fully prepared, or as prepared as we can be, for when she finally does come ashore.

It seems like it has been a long hard season already for Naughty-Cal despite our later than usual start to the cruising season. She has been far and wide this year and that is set to continue for a couple of months more yet. 2014 promises to have been our busiest year afloat to date and our most adventurous. With plans for next years cruising already in the making we need to make sure that Naughty-Cal is going to be ready for action in 2015 so we need to put in a bit of hard works as well.

Under Attack

Our house is under attack from a super sized squadron of spiders.

Now I'm rubbish with normal size spiders but these are all together in a league of their own.

A Chill in the Air

There has been a definate chill in the air for the last couple of mornings so with this in mind I have dug out the fleece blanket we usually keep on Naughty-Cal during the winter and given it a nice, long, hot wash ready to put back on the boat on Friday evening. 

Hopefully its just a small hiccup and we will see more of the summer weather we were promised, where is the heat wave we were supposed to be getting?

For this coming weekend at least we are resigned to the fact it isnt going to be overly warm so we are taking the blanket, plenty of warm jumpers and with the diesel tank full and the Webasto in full working order we shall be lovely and warm whatever the weather throws at us.

Mind you we dont intend to spend that long on the boat. We are not going to Hull to drink on the boat!! 

A Windy Weekend

Its been somewhat squally over the weekend but none the less we have enjoyed a brilliant weekend.

On Saturday we were joined by Liam's Auntie and Uncle who made their first visit to Naughty-Cal. It was a little breezy but nothing to unduly worry about and after settling in we set sail to show them the delights of Lincoln City centre before heading back along the Fossdyke to Saxilby where we enjoyed a spot of lunch on board and a few beers and glasses of wine. All too soon it was time to head back to the marina. As we knew it would be very windy on Sunday we called in at the service pontoon on the way back in and filled up with diesel ready for next weekends bank holiday cruise.

Yesterday we never intended to go anywhere. It was far too windy to contemplate taking the boat out safely. We kept waking but dozing back off again so by the time we did eventually drag ourselves out of bed it was just gone ten o clock, almost unheard of for us!

We enjoyed a relaxing morning with a few cups of coffee and some fresh apple juice, before finally getting around to making brunch at midday. We had some nice bread and a selection of continental meats and cheeses left over from yesterdays lunch so I cobbled together some toasted sandwiches using the Diablo toastie maker. They really were very nice and worth the wait. We did eventually manage to get into gear and had an hour or so cleaning the boat, doing the engine checks, checking the raw water strainer and just generally ensuring Naughty-Cal was ready for next weekends run down the Humber.

With everything in place we settled back with a few beers, had a surprise visit from a long lost boating buddy, so enjoyed some more beers and finally settled down to a lovely dinner of haggis with sweet potato and potato, peppered mash. Despite getting up late we were both dog tired by early evening so hit the sack early, we were in bed for 8pm!

Just one last note. I seem to be having problems with the Blogger app on my new phone. Hopefully I can get this sorted by next weekend. It doesnt seem to want to post anything at the minute. Fingers crossed its sorted soon.

Bygone Lincoln

A few photographs that a friend posted on a Facebook Group today for your viewing. All of these scenes show bygone Lincoln City Centre around the Waterside and Stamp End area. A real look back in time and a sense of how busy this waterway once was.

New Phones

So we were both due upgrades on our mobile phone contracts. I was adamant that I was going to wait for the new I Phone 6 to come out to replace my I Phone 4S, whilst Liam was somewhat undecided what to replace his Samsung Galaxy S2 with.

So Monday saw us head to the big Tesco store in Sheffield so that Liam could decide what to get. In the end it boiled down to the Samsung Galaxy S5 or the Sony Experia Z2, both of which are high specification phones and more importantly the S5  is water resistant and the Z2 is waterproof to 1.5m. Liam has killed a few smart phones by getting them wet!

In the end the slightly better specification of the Sony Experia Z2 swayed him and before long he was the proud owner of a shiny black phone. Upon getting it home it became quite apparent that actually this is a very good phone. The screen is very high resolution, the camera is shockingly good for a phone and the processors super quick. 

So impressed was I by it that the next day I ordered myself a white one. Sod the I Phone, the Sony is amazing. So mine arrived yesterday and within an hour or so I was up and running with the phone set up as good as the I Phone 4S ever was yet working the apps much quicker.

So you will have to excuse me if you get some random postings on the blog, Im still getting used to the new phone!

Getting Sorted

It really isnt long now until our next proper trip away on Naughty-Cal. For our extended bank holiday cruise, we have taken an extra day on the Tuesday, we will be heading down the Humber to Hull Marina. 

Until our recent visit to Hull on the way back from Newcastle we had forgotten just how much we enjoy spending time in the city.

But before we can leave we need to make sure Naughty-Cal is ready for action once more. Last weekend we make in roads into filling the fuel tank with 80 litres of the red stuff. This coming weekend we will add another 60 litres which should easily see us to Hull and back before we need to start refuelling again for our week away in October!

Other than refuelling and checking the oil, water and fuel filter it will just be a case of decluttering the cupboards once more and giving her a good scrub from top to bottom. 

This coming weekend we have family coming to visit on the Saturday so last weekend we started the job of cleaning the cabin and cockpit. The rain stopped play on the exterior cleaning but that wont take much more than a half hour on Saturday morning before they arrive. Where we end up taking them will very much depend on the weather, if it is wet or windy it wont be too far!

Beef Cobbler

Remember last weeks vegetable and lentil cobbler?

Well here's a slightly different version I rustled up last night. I used a slightly different mix of vegetables which included garlic, onion, mushroom, celery, bell pepper, mixed lentils and aubergine and added some diced steak. Only a cheap cut of steak as it is slow cooked.

Cooking was much the same long and slow in the oven.

In Again!

Hes been in again!

On purpose this time. He dropped in his favourite baseball cap. He didn't find it either!

It's a bit wet

It's a bit wet on the Fossdyke today. We spent the evening in Saxilby last night and snuck in a quick BBQ. We made an early start this morning though and got back to Burton Waters when the heavy rain started at about 9.30am. Been raining pretty much non stop since with some really very heavy periods of monsoon style rain!

But it's not bothering us. We are safely tucked up on our mooring enjoying a few cans with a pork loin joint cooking to perfection in the slow cooker with some sweet potatoes. Later I will cook up some cabbage and cauliflower to accompany it.

For now we will just relax and watch the soggy world outside with the heating on and a can to hand.

Vegetable and Lentil Cobbler

We tried this for the first time last night and I have to say it was really very flavoursome and filling.

In a large pan fry chopped garlic, onion and chilli, frying until browned and softened. Next add chopped celery, mushrooms, sweet potato, broccoli and fry until the vegetables are starting to soften and then add a tin of chopped tomatoes.

Bring the mixture to the boil and add vegetable stock and mixed lentils. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes with the lid on the pot.

To make the scones rub together 50g of butter and 150g of self raising flour then add beaten egg and milk mix to form a dough. Knead gently and then form into balls. Put the balls on top of the stew and bake for a further 20 minutes in the oven this time with the lid off the stock pot.

When the scones have browned serve. This dish is very filling and you really dont need huge portions of it.

Walking in the Woods

Last night after work we decided instead of heading straight home we would take a walk through Rivelin Valley along the route of the river and explore the many mill ponds, mill races and dams along the way. 

Evidence of a former industrial past is everywhere along the route, quite a change from its once working life the river now races through the valley with no work to do. The former dams, mill races and ponds now forming a pleasant and rural green space for people to enjoy and relax around.