We had that Pie

It has been an interesting weekend and one of making new friends and enjoying the company of old and established ones.

Friday night we had the normal few quiet drinks and a takeaway pizza before retiring early for a good night’s sleep, ready for the weekend to come. We awoke bright and early on Saturday morning to be greeted by a gloomy, misty morning. Not the best start to the day. After a spot of shopping in Lincoln we headed in the direction of Torksey Lock. The river was quiet and we hardly saw another boat on the move, sheer bliss. Upon our arrival at the lock we were welcomed by the owner of a narrowboat, “NB Emma B”. This set the tone for the evening as the three of us drank, ate and made merry. Whiling away the evening in the White Swan, with the aid of a steak pie and the crossword.

The next morning and it is time to say goodbye to our new friend. He is heading back to his home mooring on the River Trent. His crew arrives bright and early and we all settle down with some coffee planning our outing in a few weeks time onboard Naughty-Cal. It will be a great pleasure for us to take our new friends out for a cruise on the River Trent, to show them a different method of boating, not the serene plodding along that they are used to. With the boat gone it was time for us to head back home, but not before a few beers in the Pyewipe, but boy did the dark sneak up on us. We had great fun heading back in a misted up boat in the pitch black. But safely on our home berth we had a great Sunday lunch before tucking ourselves into bed, listening to the mooring ropes creaking as they go about their work.

The last weekend of the worst month

It is the last weekend of October, pay day on Monday and the weather looks reasonable. What more could one ask for?

We don’t hold too many plans for this weekend other than to clean up the boat on Saturday morning and to do a spot of shopping in Lincoln Saturday lunchtime. The last few weekends of relaxing have left the boat looking decidedly untidy so we really do need to give her a good clean. The benefit of having a small boat though is that this won’t take more than a couple of hours during the morning, leaving us the rest of the weekend to enjoy. The lure of a White Swan pie is starting to get stronger again we may have to head up towards Torksey for the evening on Saturday, spend the evening away from the marina, grabbing every last opportunity to do so before winter and the predicted big freeze arrives.

I suppose we will just have to wait and see how the weekend actually pans out. One thing is for sure though, we will enjoy it.

Winter Jobs

Winter is the ideal time to tackle some of the bigger jobs and upgrades that you have been planning for your boat. We usually start with a small list and end up with a huge list with some of the jobs inevitably not being finished before spring rolls back around and the cruising season begins.

This year our list so far comprises:

· Changing the galley work surface. This is a job we have wanted to do for the last three years. We hate the surface that is currently installed and think that the boat would benefit hugely from a fresh new surface, to lift the interior space. This won’t be a hugely expensive job to complete but will make a big difference to life onboard.

· Installing an inverter. This job was on last year’s list but due to other jobs being completed never got started. This year will be the ideal time to install the inverter so that we can have 240V power away from a shore power post. If only to boil the kettle in the morning it will make a huge saving on gas. We will of course have to watch our power consumption and be careful not to over stretch the battery bank. Another cheap job that we just need a little time to complete.

. Installing a 240v socket in the cockpit Another of those small jobs that keeps getting put off. We spend a lot of time in the cockpit area and the nearest 240V socket is in the galley area. It would be a great benefit for us to have an exterior water proof socket in the cockpit area beneath the table area, so that we can bring out the coffee machine, plug in the laptop, charge phones etc. Another cheap job that we just need a little time to complete.

· Service the windlass. This is one of those jobs that keep getting put off. Now that we are using the anchor winch a lot more we need to make sure that it is in full working order and to keep it in full working order it will need some attention. The motor will need stripping and inspecting and if all is fine reassembling with a liberal application of waterproof grease. Does not sound like a bad job until you try to access the winch in the tight confines of the anchor locker.

· Replacing the cabin carpets. Due to our recurring water leaks we have suffered this season, now hopefully fixed, our cabin carpets have suffered badly from water staining. Earlier in the year we removed them and washed them at home only for the water leak to reoccur a few weeks later. This time the carpets are beyond washing so we will take them out, use them as templates for the new carpets and replace them with a much easier to clean synthetic carpet. At the same time we will wash our over carpets which should help to keep the new carpets clean and tidy.

· The outboard bracket. This has been one of those nightmare jobs, a real thorn in the side. This winter we need to fabricate a way of attaching the outboard for the dinghy to the transom of Naughty-Cal. With the davits installed the dinghy is a breeze to hook on the back but the outboard is still proving to be a challenge some six months after we started the search for a suitable bracket. We have come to the conclusion that a custom made stainless steel bracket is the way forward but we need to design it and make sure it will work so will mock it up in mild steel first.

· Servicing the Outboard. This needs doing about once a year and winter is the ideal time. We will take the outboard home to do the service in the warm and cosy surroundings of the garage. We won’t use the dinghy much during the winter months anyway so we may as well take it home and offer it some protection from the elements.

· Spruce up the dinghy. We have had dinghy for most of a year now and the heavy season of use is starting to show. During the winter we will deflate the dinghy and take it home before reinflating it in the garage and giving it a thorough clean up. We will also install the bow bag and repaint the wooden floor which is starting to peel and look unattractive. This will also be the ideal time to check the tubes for any signs of damage or general wear and tear, hopefully ensuring a trouble free season next year.

This little lot should keep us occupied during the long winter months and should also ensure that both Naughty-Cal and Asbo are well prepared for the 2012 cruising season which promises to be the most action packed season for us to date.

Winding Down

Although there are still many cruising days left in 2011, we are gradually starting to wind down our activities for the year. Although we will still use Naughty-Cal during the winter months, our cruising grounds will become much more limited, mostly due to the shorter days and colder weather, and nights away from our home berth will become much fewer and further between.

We are starting to think about hunkering down for the winter, bringing winter clothing, winter bedding, winter night clothes and starting to clear out the summer items such as fold up chairs for the bank side, BBQ’s, and summer games equipment. Even little things like the emergency rations cupboard are getting a clear out. We have accrued a fine selection of tinned “emergency” food over the summer cruising season and it is time to start using it up, discarding anything past its best or unlikely to be eaten any time soon, and generally clearing out the cupboard space ready for stocking up again with fresh stock next spring in time for the main cruising season.

We will still cruise locally during the winter months but we will always have one eye on the weather forecast. We don’t want to get caught out and frozen in away from our home berth or caught out by rising river levels and stranded on a flooded river. We have been here before and it isn’t a pleasant experience. That said we will still enjoy our winter cruises. There is something quite pleasing about cruising down the river in a nice warm boat with the frost on the ground and snowflakes falling from the clouds whilst clasping a steaming cup of hot soup. Winter cruising takes on a whole different look from the more popular summer cruising season but it is still equally enjoyable and with a little extra care on icy pontoons and frosty river banks is equally as rewarding. The rivers are quieter, the scenery stunning and the weather despite being cold at times can also give some fabulously sunny and still days. The summer boaters really do miss out at times but shhh, don’t let them all know.

Another Relaxed Weekend

We must get out of this habit of relaxing so much. The boat is starting to look messy. This weekend started off chilled out and relaxed and didn’t get much more active than that. Friday night was a mixture of drinking and eating good honest winter food in good company, before retiring early at 10pm for a fantastic night’s sleep.

Saturday morning and it was 9am before we rose, almost unheard of for us. We are usually early birds. After a couple of cups of coffee and a hot shower we set sail in the direction of Lincoln to do the weekends shopping. We didn’t see another boat on the move all morning barring the Brayford trip boat, Brayford Belle, on one of her last runs for the season. After a spot of shopping and some breakfast we headed back to the boat for more coffee and a dinnertime beer before setting sail once more. Upon reaching the marina entrance we were having so much fun that we carried on, enjoying the quiet river. We moored at Saxilby for the afternoon, enjoying the late season sunshine with a few beers and a couple of magazines. Eventually we decided to head back to the marina where we found plenty of people willing to help us drink some supplies. We somehow managed to squeeze eight people into the cockpit of Naughty-Cal.

Sunday morning and we are even later out of bed, 10am. With the wind whistling outside and the water lapping at the hull there was no great rush to get up. We wouldn’t be going anywhere by boat today. So after a couple of coffees we head off to Newark Marina in the car, to have a browse of their brokerage and a surprise meet up with some friends who had just arrived by boat. At about lunchtime we decided to head back to our own boat for a spot of brunch, time was flying by and we had not eaten yet. After a bite to eat we were both getting a little bored so we decided to take Asbo, the dinghy, for a little spin. She hasn’t been used for a while, in fact since we came back from Boston, so it was a great surprise when she fired up at the first pull of the cord, eager to set sail. A quick spin around the marina and we had our boating fix for the day. Happy that Asbo was still in fine fettle. Then it was time to get ready for dinner. We were heading to the Chinese restaurant at the Marina, Harbour City. It has been a while since we last ate at Harbour City so it was time to change that. Sunday to Thursday they have a great all you can eat offer for £12.50, but not the usual buffet rubbish, this is proper food from the menu. You can have two starters, a main and a side included in the price, then any extra that you order you have to eat it all, otherwise you will be charged full price. We all struggled with the first food we had ordered, there was loads of it and eating it with chopsticks made for hard work. At £12.50 it is a real bargain and we will certainly be going back. It didn’t feel like long before we were rolling into a warm bed, another weekend over and done with far too quickly.

Another Weekend

It’s here again and it seems to have come around very quickly this week. With the onset of the much colder weather, winter has heralded its reappearance once more. Chilly nights with frosty mornings are starting to become the norm again so it is most definitely time this weekend to install Naughty-Cal’s frost heaters to give her some added protection during the winter months.

We don’t have much planned for this weekend, we will see where it takes us but with brisk winds forecast we don’t expect it will be too far. This will give us chance to get rid of some of the summer clutter we have accumulated onboard and replace it with winter items, like extra winter coats, bedding and hats. A trip into Lincoln will no doubt be on the cards to stock up the fridge and food cupboard with fresh meat and vegetables and no doubt a trip to the Pyewipe will be in order for a few afternoon refreshments. Other than that, with no concrete plans it should be another relaxed and chilled out weekend.

E Pontoon

“E pontoon” of Burton Waters has a bit of a reputation on the go. We like the social scene, is probably a polite way of saying that we like a party every now and again and a good drink. This year we have had a couple of parties on the pontoon and we have also taken the party “on tour” with a couple of BBQ parties in the local village of Saxilby.

“E Pontoon” originally started with various boat owners on E Pontoon. However over the years we have gained a few unofficial E Pontooners from other pontoons in the marina and also from the residential section of the development. To qualify for E Pontoon “membership” is really quite simple, you have to like a drink, you have to be up for a laugh and most of all you need a boat. Any boat will do and we have them in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

Our next party for this year is a three course Christmas dinner and evening disco at the Pyewipe Inn on the 3rd December. We have a table of 36 booked so it should be a great evening of entertainment. We have added a black tie dress code for a bit of added glamour and weather permitting most guests intend to attend by boat, with the vessels being dressed up for that extra special touch. Hopefully the weather will play fair this year and allow us to make it by water.

Plans for the New Year’s party are underway with a few suggestions on the table. Last year we split up with some of the group heading to Woodcocks for the Casino party and some of the group heading for the Yots Bar dinner and drinks party. This year, the group seems to suggest a pontoon party is on the cards however much will depend on the weather conditions and the condition of the pontoons. If they are too icy this will be a bad idea. Only time will tell where the New Year’s party will take place.