MY IDEAL BOAT

Whilst moored in Brinklow Marina, I have time to think about things. So, after living on 'Rosy' for over quite a few years, I have been sketching out My Ideal Boat (hereafter called MIB)- not that I can acquire it, as my finances are such that I have to make do with what I've got. But here goes.

Rosy is 52 ft long. I would be tempted to make MIB up to 8 feet longer, but as the licence fees increase with length, this has a low priority.

Rosy has rectangular hand-holds on either side of the roof. I much prefer the 'rail on upstands' approach.

I'm very iffy about the engine. A 'classic' engine would be nice - I still mourn loosing Rosy's Kelvin - but classic engines need classic engineers to keep them in order. My current Perkins is fine (if a bit noisy) but I bought the last one for Rosy, and would not want a second hand one! I'd probably plump for Beta Marine, though I would contemplate a single speed, hydraulic drive engine.

The engine room would be at the stern with doors fore and aft.

I would pay particular attention to the cooling of the engine coolant. It was fine in the UK, but in Euroland, where the daily (ish) cruising was often quite long, I had problems with the engine over-heating. Mike (on nb Temujin) fixed it by making and installing 4 steel boxes, sited under the engine and incorporated into the cooling system. They worked a treat.

In many ways I would like a gas-free boat, but gas is so good and convenient that it is hard not to have any. I certainly like cooking on gas, and I'm told that gas fridges work well. I very much like my Paloma gas water heater, but whilst I can keep mine on Rosy, Paloma's can no longer be fitted into narrow boats. I assume, though, that other gas water-heaters are available.

I would like a fair amount of foam to be pumped into the space between the hull and Rosy's interior - including the roof. I'm not too sure how one lags the floor.

I would like a double bed that is always available. My current bed is across the hull, so has to be set up each night and put away each morning. My ideal boat would have the bed, fore and aft at the stern - just forward of the engine room - with a door between the bedroom and engine room. In case of fire, the quickest exit from the bedroom would be via this door.

Rosy does not have a table. Food is eaten from a plate on one's lap. There is some comfortable seating in the cabin, which, at night, can be easily be converted into a double bed. I would copy all this in MIB.

I'm a bit iffy about washing machines. I don't have one on Rosy. If I am near a laundrette I am happy to use it. What I DO have is a spin dryer, so I normally 'soak and hand wash' the washing, and then dump it into the spin dryer. I then pour water into the spin dryer and swish the washing about, before spin drying it again. I do this 3 or 4 times. This all works a treat. Hand washing is not a problem and the spin dryer is very much better at drying washing than is a washing machine.

I have central heating on Rosy, which was originally designed by Dick Goble. As it stands at the moment, the Squirrel stove, up near the bows, has some copper tubing that slopes slightly upwards towards the back of the boat, as far as the bathroom. It then turns through 180 degrees and heads back (parallel to the outgoing tubing) to the Squirrel. All the nay-sayers tutted and said it would never work, but it does!!

Currently, the back cabin, where I sleep, is warmed by an Epping stove - Yes!! There are 2 stoves on Rosy!! MIB will only need the one stove, and will cut my winter coal bills by about a third (currently it is about £3 a day).

When I bought Rosy, aft of the forward cabin there was a space, on one side of which there was (and still is) a wardrobe. On the other side there were 2 single bunk beds. I removed one of the beds. The second bunk was tweaked and raised, and is now 'the office.

The next space in the bathroom with a small sink and a shower. The bathroom works really well.

BEING IDLE ON ROSY

Although the Kindle is very convenient, I still prefer reading a 'proper' book. One can acquire books from junk shops, 2nd hand shops, swapsies with friends etc etc. I occasionally buy new books (especially if I know the author), but us OAP's have to take care of the pennies. However, I tend to rely on ABE books (the UK version) which, for the un-initiated, is a website where book sellers can advertise their wares, often at a discount. 'Angela's Ashes' cost about £3 (inc p&p) paper back and £4 hard back at ABE. Interested? UK based book-a-holics should go to www.abebooks.co.uk. If you want to pay in US dollars (and spend a fortune on shipping the book from USA to UK) you could try the USA branch at www.abebooks.com. 

Remember, too, that there are web-sites that cater for those of us who appreciate FREE e-books. Some such sites limit your downloads to so many per month (5 in the case of www.free-ebooks.net, though an unlimited (?) number if you pay a subscription). I've also heard of 'lending libraries' that let you have a book for a given number of days - I assume that the book self destructs on the appointed date. I haven't yet tracked one down, and I won't look for one until I have put a dent into the 50+ books that I have recently downloaded).

WORLD WAR 1. I've been re-reading my collection of books about the First World War battle of the Somme. I was in The Somme Company at Sandhurst, and on a couple of occasions I have visited the site of the battle. Each time I see the site, or read the books, I seem to learn another twist in the tale. Incredibly, the planners (in the rear) rarely visited the front, so were un-aware of the conditions there - e.g. the mud and even, apparently, the fact that the Germans held the high ground! Hence the Brits (and Commonwealth supporters) had to attack up-hill. The same, outline plan was used over and over again, each time with the same result - dead Brit (and Colonial) soldiers. Grrrrr!!

GETTING READY FOR FRANCE. Meanwhile, I'm twiddling around preparing to take Rosy back to France. She needs to have her Small Ships Register number re-applied - they were erased last year during the big re-paint, when I did not envisage returning to European waters. Also, the insurance vultures will soon be wanting an 'out of water' hull inspection.

MUSIC ON 'ROSY'. For various reasons, I have not used Rosy's music system for quite a while. I have just been trying to get it going again. At present, I can play all my CDs. Unfortunately, the ex-car radio that used to play my 300ish cassette tapes no longer wishes so to do. I mentioned this some time ago, with the result that I acquired a rather nice second hand Blaupunkt car radio/tape player at a very good price. Unfortunately this is a bit bigger than the old one, and installing it will take some time and ingenuity.

RAIN, SNOW AND SUN ON ROSY

Here in Rugby we are having all sorts of weather. Rain, wind (lots), snow, ice and sun - it's all here.

The rain is a bit annoying, especially as Rosy has a small leak associated with one of the windows. I have a temporary fix in place, so at least the water is kept outside. The full repair will occur on the first dry day, after a new bottle of 'Creeping Crack Cure' arrives on Rosy.

I get some exercise every couple of weeks when I take the ships wheelbarrow up to the coal yard to replenish the bunkers. Also, every day, Fanny needs some exercise. Tow path walking is not especially enjoyable, as the towing path is sodden, and only slightly less watery than the canal itself. Fortunately the marina is blessed with an extensive, grassed area, so Fanny gets to chase after an old tennis ball or an Aerobie - usually the latter which (for the uninitiated) is a disk which, if I throw it properly, flies away very much further than a thrown ball.

Once a week Derek or Sheila or the Haven Meister (Eric) kindly give me a lift down the food shops. I am getting a little concerned about my diet, as I'm in a bit of a food rut. It's a healthy enough rut, but it's getting a bit monotonous

Apart from that, I read a lot. I've been having fun filling the new (for me) Kindle up with new books. With a bit of patience it is possible to acquire a decent library of free books. I've read some proper books as well. I re-read the non-fiction 'Angela's Ashes', the auto-biography of Frank McCourt, who was raised in a poor family in Ireland with a father who drank most of his earnings. It's sequel ''Tis' sees Frank moving to America in time to experience the post-war depression.

Meanwhile, I'm twiddling around preparing to take Rosy back to France. She needs to have her Small Ships Register number re-applied - they were erased last year during the big re-paint.

For various reasons, I have not used Rosy's music system for quite a while. I have been trying to get it going again. At present, I can play all my CDs. Unfortunately, the ex-car radio that used to play my 300ish cassette tapes no longer wishes so to do. I'm hoping that this is because of a mere wiring fault - but how to fix it?

READING ON ROSY

I cannot say that I enjoy marina life.

Admittedly, there are some positive sides to it. It saves on diesel fuel because, with an electrical hook-up, there is no need to run the engine in order to make electricity. If the marina is well run, then rubbish disposal and the acquisition of coal, kindling and the like, is much simplified.

Food shopping can be a bit tricky, if only because not many marinas have a decent supermarket within easy walking/cycling distance. (I'm happy to use local grocers whilst out cruising, but prefer to overwinter near to a supermarket, both for the (generally) lower prices and the greater choice).

Apart from taking Fanny-the-Woof out walking, my main winter occupation is reading.  I have some 3 hundred books on Rosy, so the shelves are getting a bit full. My computer has a Kindle within it, but that means having to perch the computer on my knees when I'm reading, and racking-up greater electricity bills. I am therefore in the process of acquiring a 'proper' Kindle. By chance, a friend had recently upgraded his Kindle, so I bought the old one from him at a very good price. When I say 'old' I really mean it! Its bottom quarter is a typing key-board. For the un-initiated, a modern Kindle can hold 1000 books.

Over the last few weeks, I have been searching around for e-books.

I soon learned that books published before 1924 loose their copyright status. (It seems that authors only have the copyrights of their books for 90 years). Hence, today, books first published pre 1924 are, generally, easy to acquire at zero cost in e-book format. The only hiccup is that one often looses any illustrations that were in the book.

Books being published now often quote 2 prices, one for the book, and a cheaper price for the e-book version. There are already some boaty e-books.

The up side of all this is that preparing an e-book, and putting it up for sale, can be done quite easily, so 'self publishing' is always a possibility. The downside is that a high proportion of such book could do with serious editing by someone who knows their English grammar!

I had vaguely thought about editing my old web-log posts BUT . . . . I am now 70 years old, and feel that there are many other things I would prefer to be doing during my remaining days.

A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL

YES!! It's that time of year again. Once more, I am doing without Christmas cards, preferring to send e-greetings, and donating what would have been spent on cards and postage etc to a worthy organisation. This year it will be 'Help for Heroes' - a charity that 'Supports full time, reservists and veteran service men and women from the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force.'

The BIG news from this end is that plans are afoot to take my narrow boat 'Rosy' - and Fanny the Woof - back to France in March/April 2014. The intention is to stay there for several years. This is not yet definite, but beware - if it doesn't happen, I am highly likely to become an exceptionally grumpy old man.

This past year has been exceedingly pleasant. We left our winter moorings in Rugby and headed northish and westish to explore the Welsh canals, in company with the good ship Clarence. We were testing out our compatibility, with a view to cruising together in France next year. We visited Chester, spent long, lazy days on the River Weaver (below the Anderton lift) and cruised through Wigan. We had just decided that 'Yes, we could get along together' when we had to make a major change of plan. Business pressures caused Clarence to abandon the French cruising plan. Indeed, Clarence zoomed back to Rugby to concentrate on work. I cruised back down south a little more sedately, and went on down the Oxford canal to Banbury and back, ending up at Brinklow Marina (near Rugby) where we are over-wintering.

In recently abandoned Rosy for 3 weeks, and went up to London, to spend several weeks with my sister. Minor problems with Fanny, who is used to open country. The best we could do was to walk the towing path of the nearby Grand Union Canal - my sister's house is not too far from the Islington tunnel. Originally, the London visit was planned with the idea of helping her to move to a new, flat, but she has now decided to stay put - and to merely move downstairs. Whilst in London I celebrated my 70th.

Physically, I'm still in reasonably good nick - though one of the advantages of France is that the canal locks are either automatic, or are worked by a lock keeper. I am also becoming somewhat forgetful, especially of happenings and conversations in the immediate past - so I spend a lot of time searching for things, doing things twice over (as I had forgotten that I had already done them), and keeping notes of what has to be done - and when it needs to be done by! I also forget recent conversations and meetings. Its all a bit frustrating!! I'm pretty sure that Fanny plays on this forgetfulness, and puts on her 'Where is my food' look when I have, in fact, just fed her - hence the recently established FFR (Fanny Food Register).

That's about it for this year. The next update will be earlyish in 2014!!

TO KINDLE OR NOT TO KINDLE?

One of the many things that I like about living on 'Rosy' is that every day is different. At school, university and work, there was a definite routine. On 'Rosy' the only routine is the preparation of the bed when it's time for bed, the stowing away of the bed in the morning, feeding myself and Fanny during the day and organising a shopping trip once a week.

Along with other live-aboards (I know, as I've asked them) its quite important to have a watch that not only tells the time, but also shows the date and the day-of-the-week. Even with these guides, things can still go wrong. I got out of bed the other day, breakfasted (without the radio on) and then set off with Fanny for the mile or so walk to the post office, as I was expecting some mail. The post office was closed - as, indeed, it should have been, as my watch - when, at last, I consulted it - said that it was a Sunday.

I am re-reading 'Brideshead Revisited' by Evelyn Waugh. I have a go at it every 3 or 4 years, so my paperback copy - I acquired it 2nd hand - is now in 3 separate bits. Its going to be a toss-up as to whether I get a new copy, or a new (for me) 2nd hand copy, or a DVD of the excellent TV production from the 1980's. Decisions, decisions!!

I have also decided to acquire a Kindle which, for the un-initiated, is like a small (6 inch) tablet for reading books. Currently, I have a Kindle app on my computer, but the 'proper' Kindle can store 1,000+ books and does not need nearly as much charging-up as my computer.

An additional Kindle plus point is that Fanny will enjoy it too. Currently, I read whilst sitting on an arm-chair (bought from IKEA on the Canal du Midi). Of an evening, I sit on the chair, Fanny sits on my lap and the book rests on Fanny. Fanny is not overly keen on this arrangement, especially when the tome is a bit hunky-chunky. 

FROM LONDON TO 'ROSY'

The new gilet is near perfect. It was delivered the day after I ordered it. My only beef is that the pockets are a bit small. I was going to get a Help For Heroes (HFH) gilet, but they come strewn with HFH logos and I try to avoid logos. They were also more expensive than my choice.

The morning walks along the towing path in London got more and more interesting. The boats are moored 2 or 3 abreast with no water-point visible. I learned that the moorings are merely visitor moorings. Water is available above the lock (which, at the end of my visit, seemed to be closed, whilst lots of waterways employees were tampering with it). On the towing path there was a tent, which seemed to be home for a couple of people. At one place, on the off-side, there were a few long-term moorings.

I paid a visit to the Canal Museum, and was saddened not to find any second hand canally books in it. Rosy's library was largely compiled from the Canal Museum - I could never have afforded to stock the shelves with new books. Instead I bought 2nd hand copies - mostly from the Canal Museum - and even so, my 'Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals' (for example) set me back a tenner some 15 or 20 years ago, even though it was only the 1969 reprint, and was an ex-library book.

Later . . . . .

Our London life was very easy. We were only a 3 minute walk from the Caledonia Road, and its fine array of small food shops. Even closer was a well maintained park. Train and underground stations were within easy walking distance, and there were plenty of bus stops.

Back on Rosy, the first 12 hours were not very pleasant as her interior was damp and chilly. Once the fires were going properly, Rosy was transformed into home sweet home. Yes! I meant 'fires' plural, as Rosy boasts 2 of them. There is an old Epping (complete with its oven) in the back cabin. Then there is the engine room which is fire-less. The rest of the boat is warmed from a Squirrel stove up front, which has copper pipes attached to it that circulate through the living and cooking area, the office (which was 2 bunk beds when I bought the boat) and a bathroom. Despite the warnings proffered by 'experts', the Squirrel circulates hot water through these pipes without the need of a pump. When building the system, we (Dick Goble designed and implemented the system) took care that the out and in pipes - which are parallel to each other - rise on the way out and descend on the way back.

Our first meal back on Rosy was all out of tins, but then we got to a super-market to stock up with perishable food. I keep about 2 weeks worth of canned food on Rosy, just in case . . . .