Starting A Fresh

By now we should have had a small motorhome on the drive and Naughty-Cal should have been a distant but happy memory as we looked forward to new adventures on the roads of the UK and Europe. Best laid plans and all that, hey?

Thinking that the boat was sold we had stripped everything off of her only keeping the boating essentials just in case we came back to boating one day. Of course this has meant we have had to buy all new stuff for her again. New bedding, new cutlery, new glassware, new plates, new pots, new pans. The list has been seemingly endless. We still keep remembering little odds and sods of things that we have forgotten about that we will need.

In a way it is nice to be starting afresh. Everything is clean and tidy and after a years break from boating we are all starting afresh again. We can now start planning some trips away again. Where will we head? I don't think even we know the answer to that one yet!

On the List

Now that we have Naughty-Cal back in the water after almost a year ashore we have a small list of little jobs that need sorting out. Nothing major, all little odds and sods of jobs really but stuff that needs sorting out before we start to plan any trips away. So far the list includes:

• Fixing the diesel heating. We are waiting for the spare parts to arrive for this.
• Fixing one of the burners on the hob. This has mysteriously broken but tracking down spare parts is proving tricky as the hob is now obsolete
• Buying a fitting an adapter cable for the transducer to the sonar module. Again sourcing the right cable is proving difficult.
• Installing new bulbs in the white nav lights. These have given up the ghost in the last year.
• Rewiring the VHF aerial as the quick release connection has parted company with the cable. 
• Checking the fuel filters. These were freshly changed before the boat came out of the water but now that we have run for a few hours we want to check them for dirt and debris that might indicate issues with the fuel.
• Change the impellor. This has been damaged due to the pump not self priming when the boat was relaunched.

As you can see there is nothing major on the list but we would like to get some jobs crossed off before we can go anywhere too far.

A Change of Plan

Well it would seem that circumstances have dictated we have had a change of plans and we will now be keeping Naughty-Cal for a while longer.

The sale fell through due to Coronavirus so we thought it is sometimes better the devil you know. 

We are now working through a list of small jobs to get her back up to top notch condition again but she seems none the worse for almost a year ashore.

Now we just need to be able to stay overnight onboard. 

Drawing to A Close

We would like to thank all of our regular readers for their time and lovely comments over the years.

We have made the difficult decision to sell Naughty-Cal. We just have not got the time for her at the moment and it is a shame to leave her sat idle on her mooring. With this in mind we are spending the next few weeks fettling and cleaning before she is officially put onto brokerage hopefully by the end of next month.

We have had a great 12 years boating and have made some great friends over the years. We won't be strangers and will still see our friends on the water. Just for the time being not on our own boat.

We have plans in the pipeline to buy a campervan and do some exploring by road, but this won't be for a couple of years as we have other holidays booked and planned so no point getting one to just sit it on the drive.

So for now it is goodbye and fairwell. 

Good boating to you all.

A Birthday Disapointment

It was Liam's birthday yesterday, so to celebrate we had booked a table in The Parish Oven in Thorpe Salvin. A pub we had only just discovered but had heard good reviews about the food, so we thought we would give it a go.

I will start firstly by saying that the pub is very well fitted out, very clean and very welcoming. Even on a wet, cold and miserable June Tuesday evening we received a very warm welcome from the staff and were quickly seated and enjoying a drink of our choice.

The food however did not deliver as expected. My fish and chunky chips were really very good. Sadly the same can not be said for Liam's Ribeye steak which was firstly not cooked how he asked for it, it was far too rare for him, but secondly was for the most part inedible and chewy. Even Sydney has a struggle with it!

Will we visit again? We will certainly give it another try. Every pub can suffer from a less than perfect batch of steaks. We will perhaps try other items on the menu though.

More Exploring

After a wet and windy Saturday on the boat yesterday dawned bright and sunny with light winds. Perfect boating weather.

We had a breakfast of sausage muffins on the way back to Saxilby where we had a brief stop to visit the shops and let Sydney have a good run around with his ball on the playing fields before heading back to the marina at dinnertime.

With the boat packed up we headed home, put the cola gammon in the slow cooker and then decided to head out and go for a walk around Cresswell Crags. Another local spot ideal for walking the dog. We will certainly go back here, Syd loved it.

A Mixed Bag

It has been a weekend of mixed weather. If we had not arranged to meet friends at Torksey on Saturday afternoon we most probably wouldn't have gone to the boat. But we had so we battled through the wind and rain. We had a lovely evening in good company.

Today has been a much better day and the run back was in glorious sunshine.