STILL IN RUGBY

I have now been moored near Rugby for more than a year. The moorings are quiet, the essential shops and amenities are close at hand and there are some decent walks to exercise Fanny the Woof. I have a monthly meeting at a nearby pub, where a friend  plays his guitar and sings the pop songs of our youth. Other than that, not a lot has happened, hence the lack of postings! There is a cinema near by which I occasionally visit, and an OK restaurant which I use when I have visitors.

The only boating I have done since my last post is to occasionally move a boat from where it is, to where it is supposed to be. I have also spent some time recently keeping 'ROSY' in good order. 

That's all folks!

BOATMAN STOVES

I have now not only got the new Boatman Stove installed, but I have also got it going. I'm VERY pleased with it!

A QUIET TIME

My last post was several months ago. We are still moored near Rugby, and both Fanny-the-Woof and I are in reasonably good shape. The only boating that we have done has been to move a couple of boats, from where they had been left, to where they ought to be.

I have had a great sadness. A long standing friend of mine was planning to retire from his work overseas, set his family up in England, and then leave them. He would then buy a boat, and he and I would then go off cruising together. Unfortunately, having set up his family in England, he died.

Since then, I have led a quiet life. There are some excellent walks that we take advantage of, and I have a monthly outing to Newbold where a musical friends appears with his guitar, and spends a few hours playing the pop songs of my youth. I still read quite a bit, not only books on 'Rosy' but also others on my Kindle. A few weeks ago I got the Morso stove going, so we are beautifully warm in 'Rosy'. I have also bought an 'Eco Flow Stove Fan'. This sits on the Morso stove, and uses the heat from the stove to operate a fan which blows the heat out into the cabin. I'm very pleased with it. When the fan stops turning, it is because the stove needs more coal. 

When I bought 'Rosy' she came armed with an Epping Range - a coal fired range with an oven and hot plates. I only used the oven and hot plates a couple of times, as I prefer to cook my food on 'Rosy's gas cooker. However, I have made such good use of the Epping (for heating), to the extent that it was beginning to fall apart. Unfortunately a new one costs some £1000 which is a lot of beer!! We have, therefore, removed the broken range, and replaced it with the very much cheaper Boatmans Stove, designed as just a warming stove, and without any twiddly bits. It's installation is not yet complete.

Toodle pip!!

Bill

STILL HERE

It is ages since I last posted to this blog. As it is advertised as 'Voyages with Rosy', and as since late last year Rosy and I have been moored up, any postings (including this one) would break rules. However, I have often had an urge to break a few rules, so here goes.

Fanny the Woof and I are still happily living on 'Rosy' .

Fanny is fine. She still enjoys her daily walks, but her chief pleasure is sleeping, which she does nearly all the time when she is not eating or performing the natural, excreteating, calls of nature.

We are moored in a place that rents out boats, has several good walks - both country and tow path - is near to a cinema and a reasonably good Tesco and has very reasonable mooring charges. What more could one ask for?

I have had one cruise this year, when the boatyard manager invited me to move one of their boats to the boatyard to where that hirers wanted to pick it up from! In the past I have moved boats for them from where the hirers have dumped them.

The next blog will be in the near future, when some friends and their children will visit for a short cruise.

Toodle pip!!

Bill

WET, DRY, COLD AND WARM (ish)

Winter continues on 'ROSY'. I won't whinge about the weather - the last few days have been a bit annoying, but generally it has been 'not bad'. Certainly Fanny the Woof and I have had our usual walkies without having to don rain-wear, though sometimes that entailed waiting for the drizell to cease. Basic food shopping is a 15 to 20 minute walk up to a Tesco, or a 40 ish minute walk up to Rugby. The staff at Willow Wren are very friendly and helpful. 

I've been sorting out the doctors and dentists, the former with the help of Veronica. I tramp up the towing path to Newbold on the first Saturday of each month, to hear Eric wield his guitar etc and sing the pop songs of my youth. He sometimes plays a song that I don't recognise, and that usually turns out to have been popular during one of my over-seas stints. I've been reading quite a bit, especially the free-to-very-low-cost books for my Kindle. I kept Mike George happy by reading his 'California or Bust' - he had hoped to find employment over there, but at the end of a year all he had was the experience, so he wrote about it.

Those of us who live on our boats generally find it necessary to have a base for mail delivery and the like. For many a long year Veronica has been doing this for me, so it  is always a pleasure when she comes over for a 'live' visit.

I've just spent a couple of days watching 'Coast'. A few years ago there was a TV series of a chap who walked round the coast of mainland Britain - England, Wales and Scotland. I have it on three 120 min DVDs, and watch it every 4 or 5 years.

Err . . . That's about it, except to say that I am slowing down, and my really adventurous cruising days are over. My 'plan' (?) now is to cruise for 2 or 3 hours and then to moor up for 2 to 3 + + + days.

That's all, folks!!

WINTER CONTINUES

I have just re-organised the interior of 'ROSY'.

Before the re-org, the interior - starting from the front - was:

1. The living room, sporting: shelving for my 200+ library, the music centre, the  CDs, DVDs and cassette tapes, a sturdy coal box, a Morso stove, a space that houses an (IKEA) easy-chair on one side and what looks like a comfortable sofa on the other, but which at night can turn into a double bed, followed by a sink (with cupboards below) and a fridge on one side and a gas stove (including an oven, food preparation table and cupboards below on the other.

2. What was originally a bedroom, with 2 bunk beds (one above the other) on one side and a wardrobe on the other.

3. The bathroom, which is armed with a bath-cum-shower, a small sink, lots of shelving for bathroomy things and a magic, gas-fired box that turns cold water into hot water. 

(There is a central heating system, powered by the Morso stove that heats up these three spaces. I was 'warned' that this was not possible, but it was. The secret was to ensure that the proper gauge piping was used, that it went slightly up-hill all the way from the stove to the bathroom, and that the Morso was working well).

4. The engine room (including the tool depository).

5. The traditional back cabin that provides a cross-bed (that has to be set up each night), a side bed (that is a seat during the day and a bed for children at night) cupboards and a coal fired Epping stove that incorporates an oven and a hot plate for cooking. (It also has the cunning flap that was supposed to prevent a perverted father from interfering with his children at night).

Up until 2 or 3 weeks ago, Fanny-the-Woof and I slept in the back cabin. However, the Epping was playing up (and, indeed, was falling apart), so we abandoned the back cabin, and set up shop in the living room. I wish I had done this years ago, at least in the winter. The new regime gets me in and out of bed very much more quickly, and causes me to spend about a third less money on coal.

As some of you will know, for the past few years I have been paying infrequent but reglar visits to doctors who have been helping me deal with my short term forgetfulness and type 2 diabetes. I have now been warned that the former is getting worse, and will eventually be termed Dementia. I am, naturally, not too happy about this, but it is my intention to stay on 'ROSY' and to continue to go cruising, though restricting myself mainly to the Oxford Canal.

That's all for now. Toodle pip!! Bill

 

IDLENESS

Over the last few months 'Rosy', Fanny the Woof and I have been leading a very quiet life in the Willow Wren branch (off the Oxford Canal). It takes 20 minutes to walk up to Tesco for provisions, and only 3 or 4 minutes to walk down to the juntion with the Oxford Canal and its towing path. I have had a very indolent few months, reading lots of books, visiting the nearby cinema at least once per month and walking with Fanny.

I am regularly asked 'Isn't it cold in the boat during the winter'. I have a variety of answers. No. 1. If it was cold inside I would be elsewhere.

No. 2. I have 2 coal fired units on 'Rosy'. The one up front keeps the living room warm (where I live during the day) and the one at the backwarms up the place where I sleep.

No 3. Yes, it is cold in the boat, but I find that a coal fire eradicates the problem.

No 4. I did not realise that I look stupid enough to spend entire the winter freezing to death.

There are some great advantages in being moored up on 'proper' winter moorings. Most importantly, I do not have to run the engine for 30 to 40 minutes each morning and evening to charge up the batteries. I also take the opportunity to cram all of the 'professional' visits into the winter break, leaving the rest of the year available for cruising. Hence my diary covers dentists, doctors and other such ne'er do wells! It is also useful to be able to tap-in to the boaty engineers, who can put to rights the occasional tweaks that 'Rosy' requires.

Right. That's all folks!!

Toodle pip!!

BACK AGAIN!!

The last post, as I recall it, covered the retreat from European waters, way back in late spring. Since then I have been twiddling around the Brinklow, Rugby and Braunston areas. I had a wonderful 2 week break in early September, when a friend invited me to help him move his narrow boat from where his kids had dumped it, to where he wanted it to over-winter. The waterways involved were those in Brittany! They are rarely cruised by British boats, mainly because they are disconnected from the main French canal network. Having now 'done' them, I suggest that if you have a chance of cruising them - take it. We saw most of it in our 2 weeks. There is none of this 4mph speed limit, so in the wide, deep waters the boat can fly along. The boat attracted a lot of attention from passers-by, along the lines of 'Why is your boat so narrow?'

Brittany does not attract many Brits, so its a good place to go for a holiday. Apart from the canals, there are some bits of proper sea to swim in, and the old, huddled together, car-less quarters to explore. 

Since returning to UK, I have stayed in the Rugby area and, indeed, have booked a winter mooring within walking distance of Tesco.

This is being written at Newbold famed for its tunnel. Not too far away there is another tunnel - now disused and blocked up. It is the original tunnel, that was used before the straightening of the canal. A kind person has hacked a hole in the bricked-up entrance, so with a torch and a camera you can get to see inside it.

That's it for now.  Back soon!!

ROSY IN EUROLAND

The last post, as I recall it, covered the retreat from European waters, way back in late spring. Since then I have been twiddling around the Brinklow, Rugby and Braunston areas. I had a wonderful 2 week break in early September, when a friend invited me to help him move his narrow boat from where his kids had dumped it, to where he wanted it to over-winter. The waterways involved were those in Brittany! They are rarely cruised by British boats, mainly because they are disconnected from the main French canal network. Having now 'done' them, I suggest that if you have a chance of cruising them - take it. We saw most of it in our 2 weeks. There is none of this 4mph speed limit, so in the wide, deep waters the boat can fly along. The boat attracted a lot of attention from passers-by, along the lines of 'Why is your boat so narrow?'

Brittany does not attract many Brits, so its a good place to go for a holiday. Apart from the canals, there are some bits of proper sea to swim in, and the old, huddled together, car-less quarters to explore. 

Since returning to UK, I have stayed in the Rugby area and, indeed, have booked a winter mooring within walking distance of Tesco.

This is being written at Newbold famed for its tunnel. Not too far away there is another tunnel - now disused and blocked up. It is the original tunnel, that was used before the straightening of the canal. A kind person has hacked a hole in the bricked-up entrance, so with a torch and a camera you can get to see inside it.

That's it for now.  Back soon!!

BOTTOM BLACKING

I left Brinklow Marina in high spirits when we went out for our first cruise in 2014. I cannot say that I am a big fan of marinas, but as marinas go, the Brinklow one is pretty good - if you want a quiet life. Exiting the marina, and in foggy weather, we made it as far as Newbold. The next day was another short cruise to the Rugby moorings, from where I topped up with provisions. The next day took us up to the golf course, and the following one saw us at Hillmorton, a full 5 miles in 4 days from Brinklow Marina!

I had to wait a few days until Dave Bixter - who runs the Hillmorton boat yard - had room for us. Whilst I was away from Rosy, a boater T-boned the moored Rosy - as I discovered when I happened to be on the other side of the canal, and saw that a chunk of paint was missing from Rosy’s upper works. Fortunately, it was on the same side of Rosy as all the other crunches, so Jeff - the Hillmorton boat painter - only had to tweak one side of Rosy, the other side being un-damaged. How he did it, I do not know, but it is impossible to see where he had to touch up the hull. When Dave was ready, we got into the dry dock. Rosy’s bottom half was blacked - it needs doing every 2 or 3 years - and various other bits ’n’ bobs were also completed, namely:

  -  My old ’Sterling’ inverter (it changes 12 volts into 240 volts) only gives a ‘square’ sine wave from which (for example) my computer cannot re-charge. The new Vitrinox inverter costs more, but gives a pure sine wave.

  -  Rosy’s gang plank - which I sometimes have to use to get ashore - was showing signs of wear. Indeed, it broke in two as someone was using it to get onto Rosy in the dry dock.

  -  Six new anodes were welded on to Rosy. The anodes help to maintain the integrity of the hull (I think).

  -  The local van Gogh was called in to sign-write Rosy’s Small Ships Registration (SSR) number. This number is not required on the UK canals, but is required on the mainland European canals.

  -  I had a cover made up to fit over Rosy’s pigeon box (it admits light into the engine room and helps to alleviate engine room smells). Mine is fine - except that admits too much rain water. The cover will go on when we moor and rain is forecast.

Whilst all this was going on, I got to know the inside of the nearby ‘Badsey’ café quite well, as various friends dropped by, and the café does very good ice cream, coffee, tea, snacks and food.

Dave Bixter then enquired if I wanted my old French gas bottle back. Eh??! Apparently, on my return from France - in September 2008 - I dumped it on Dave’s junk heap, and there it has remained. It’s now back on Rosy!

MASTS AND FLAGS

This is a little quiz. What is the memoire that the following aide memoire helps you to remember?

My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas (or Pears, Puddings, Pies etc, anything so long as it starts with a P).

(Answers at the end of this post)

Today will be my last day in Brinklow Marina. Tomorrow we head up to Rugby for a bit of shopping, and thence up to Hillmorton, where 'Rosy' is to have her bottom blacked. Last autumn I was in the Hillmorton boat yard to have 'Rosy' repainted. At the time I had no intention of leaving the UK, so I had Rosy's SSR (Small Ships Register) Numbers painted over. Now I need to get the painter back to paint them on again.

I also have the boat insurance bandits wanting a hull inspection done sometime soonish, so I can have that done as well.  Ah yes! There is also a lot of water sloshing about in the bilges which needs pumping out and finding out where it has all come from. I assume it is the result of all that rain, but how is the rain getting into the bilges? I think there is far too much water to assign it to 'condensation'.

Also last year, I ditched Rosy's mast and tabernacle. I don't think a mast in compulsory in Euroland, but it is a boating etiquette to fly the national flag of the host country from the starboard cross trees. This is tricky to do if you do not have a mast. At the stern, of course, the flag of ones country of origin is flown - the Red Ensign for Brits. So we need a new mast and tabernacle - though, with luck, the old tabernacle might still be lying around. A 'tabernacle' is a fitting, screwed onto the deck, into which is placed the bottom of the mast.

I used to fly, in lieu of the Red Ensign, the flag of the Army Sailing Association. I was entitled to do this, but only in exchange for money. Certainly the flag was a talking point, but swapping a fancy flag for a bit more French red wine seems to me to be a better use of scarce resources! Visitors thought so as well, very much preferring a glass or 3 of wine  than an inspection of a flag.

I am finding it tricky to locate a source of decent, white string. I had some on 'Rosy' but it has disappeared. I need some to lash a short length of tubing onto the back of the rising length of the tiller, and into which is placed the bottom few inches of the Red Ensign flag pole.

(Quiz answer: Each initial letters is also the initial letters of a planet (e.g. E = Earth). The aide gives them in the order of their distance from the sun: Mercury being the nearest, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto).

BOATING SWEATERS

Some 50 years ago, before it was normal to have central heating in the average house, and whilst I was young and foolish and, as it happens, reasonably well off, I bought a Guernsey sweater. I seem to remember that it cost about £30. I didn't wear it every day, and I didn't take it around with me when (for example) my boss (HM the Queen - I was a soldier at the time) required me to serve in Singapore. Nor, for obvious reasons, did I take it to Oman. I now have the sweater on 'Rosy' and I still occasionally use it on 'special' days and it is still un-damaged and in good condition.

A few years ago, on my return to the UK from the European Narrowboating adventure, I bought another Guernsey for every-day wear. It is very much lighter than my original one, and cost about £50 to £60 (ish). A few months ago I washed it (by hand) for the first time (in warm water, using soap flakes) and was embarrassed by the blackness of the water.

Before the wash, the sweater was annoying me as the stand-up neck insisted on drooping. Now, it is standing up again.

A few weeks ago I was twiddling on the internet, and looked up 'Guernsey sweaters'. Gulp!!! My original £30 one now needs at least an extra nought!! During the same session I discovered that Barbour (of Barbour Jacket fame) also dabble in sweaters starting (I think) at about £60.

The beautiful Norwegian and Icelandic sweaters have always appealed to me. However, a few weeks ago I saw one being worn in London. The problem is that the traditional Nordic sweaters nearly always have lots of white wool in them. This is fine in a wintery country, but on a wintery day in London the whiteness shows up every speck of dirt and makes them look uckh!

Toodle pip!!

DRESDEN etc

I've just finished reading 'Rifleman', the auto-biography of Victor Gregg. Old soldiers in particular will find this fascinating. He was at Alamein, and then crossed the Med to fight his way up Italy. After that he went through parachute training and participated in the disaster of Market Garden. (The paras went in virtually un-supported. A fight between paras and tanks inevitably leads to a victory for the tanks.)  He managed to escape from his Prisoner of War camp, and decided that it was better to be in a busy town than in the countryside, so he went to Dresden, arriving a few days before that city was severely bombed. Victor was a Londoner, so he knew about the bombing of London, but he still fumes about the in-humanity of the bombing of Dresden. The rest of the book is OK, but not, for me, nearly as fascinating. He was a keen motor-cyclist, and attended several rallies in Germany. Like many of us, he hated the Nazi regime, but holds no grudge against the German people.

I am planning to return 'Rosy' to French waters next year, and I doubt that I will head east. However, when I was last in Europe with 'Rosy', one of the highlights was the time we spent in Germany, and especially Berlin. The Germans were welcoming and friendly - I was whisked off to a disco at one point and invited to a party where 90% of those present spoke good English. At another mooring, a passing person insisted on taking me to their house (not too far away) for lunch. Would that happen in London? I think not.

However, the French canals can keep my interest and enthusiasm for several years, even if one stays north of Lyon. (South of Lyon leads, eventually, to the Midi etc where one can spend many years cruising East-West one year and West-East the next).

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 . . . .