With the jobs all done on Hadar, we paid the bills, unplugged from the electric, which was a luxury, as it meant I could get all the washing and drying done in one go. I filled the water tank and Keith did a few jobs to prepare Hadar for the off from the boatyard. We had lunch and then fired up Hadar's engine to make the long journey to our mooring for the next few days. It took us all of 5 minutes to reach ha ha ha. We are now moored opposite Roger Fuller's boatyard for a few days. It was not long before we were having conversations with the public walking past the boat, whilst we were sat on the roof. I was knitting and Keith was continuing to make our rag rug. One of our visitors was a lovely gentleman, who I said I would give him a mention on the diary. So here goes, Eric it was lovely to meet you and thank you for reading our diary. We wish you lots of luck with finding your boat, and who knows we may meet up on the cut somewhere, when you are afloat. I absolutely love chatting to people who are passing by. I know that working boat people tend to get a bad name for being miserable buggers, who never chat to people, but not on this working boat. I will happily pass the time of day with anyone. I always say ' It costs nothing to be polite'.
So now that Roger has helped us with our boat jobs and Tina has supplied us with hadar's paint, we are all set for the adventures ahead. But first we are staying in Stone for the Food and Drinks Festival on the 3rd, 4th and 5th October. We are then heading for the Grand Union Canal down to our Coal Supplier Fred Tarry's to take on some more coal, as the hold is looking a little empty at the moment. Now that the weather is getting a little chilly, we are beginning to sell coal once more. At present we only have 2 ton on board, so Hadar is sitting high in the water. We are looking forward to taking on some different types of coal this time. So watch this space for pictures of the event.
It is now time to sort out tonights dinner, so I will say good evening and hope to see you over the weekend. Stay safe and enjoy what is supposed to be a good weekend weather wise.
13 years ago
We added a ton of ballast when the boat was launched, but have now decided that if we take that ton out, we can get another ton or more of coal onboard, which will benefit our customers as we move around the system. So with the help of Nigel from N.B Ensebee, we stacked it into neat piles, ready for it to go into another boat. Roger has been really busy for us, doing the jobs that we have thought of whilst being out. They are all things we never though of when the boat was being built, but now we would like them added. So firstly he made the stays for the hold. The stays stop the top planks from sagging when being walked on. Otherwise it feels like you are bouncing up and down, when walking from one end to the other. Keith has very poor balance so the stays will help no end. Roger has even stamped them so we know which stay goes where, which is brilliant.
I spent the weekend, moving and counting the coal we have left onboard. I then stacked it back into neat piles, so I know exactly how much we are carrying. We are planning to take more on once we get back onto the Grand Union Canal, as we have found a coal merchants who is willing to supply us. Roger and Keith took the fuel filter off of the engine as it had been leaking from a joint and through the casing. The filter did not actually have a filter in as we have a modern one fitted, so it was purely there for show. Now that it has been removed and replaced with tidy pipework, it looks a lot better, and even better still no more leaks of diesel. At the moment Roger is putting in a shelf over the generator, which will be a great help.
Keith would like to put his tool boxes on it, so they are to hand should he need them. I will still be able to use the washing line above the shelf for small things. I tend to hang larger items in the hold, where they dry really quickly. We have rope on order to re-string the hold sheeting, as the nylon rope we have at the moment, does not look very nice, but it is also falling apart due to the UV. The sun has rotted it and if you just lean against it, it snaps which is hopeless. So we have ordered something more in keeping with the boat.
