Narrowboat IRIS #3

2008-07-07T07:10:00.001Z

Publish and be damned!
IRIS is featured in the latest edition of A Home Afloat by Gary Cookson (ISBN 9780713688771). Buy it now while stocks last etc.

2008-05-16T20:33:00.022Z

Little Venice - again
I'm fairly sure Mary will one day realise that there is in fact a bigger Venice, but until then, let the cheap mini-breaks roll! We were planning to take IRIS into town on the first weekend in May when I recalled that it was probably the same weekend as the canal cavalcade. I figured the best way to ensure a mooring was to weasel my way in. A quick call to the organisers confirmed there was space so we were all set.

Due to a delayed departure, we didn't get down there until 10:00pm, there was quite a lot of activity, and I've not really steered the boat at night when there are so many other boats moving around. We stopped to ask for guidance, as there were no moorings left, but they helpfully said we could stay where we were until the morning. We had to be gone by 9:00am as the space was needed for a historic working boat pair. This was the spot we had, I'd not yet had a coffee, so possibly thats why I'm looking a bit unhappy.

We found a mooring in Paddington basin, pretty much in the same place as New Years.
Saturday was spent looking around. Friends came down to visit for the afternoon, Bex and JP, Luci and Aaron and Greg and Helen. We sat around on IRIS drinking G&Ts and attempting to feed the ducks. Saturday night, Mary and I went to Brixton to see the Wombats, but we got bored after about half their set, so left to get a drink.

On Sunday Celine popped down to have a look around and managed to force a G&T down. On sunday evening there was the illuminated boat parade which was quite good fun. Some people made a real effort, but the best was a group of pensioners on a tiny narrowboat that had more lights on it than a Vegas casino.

On monday my sister and her family dropped in. The boys enjoyed various activities, mainly lunch and eating ice cream. They even got to go for a little ride on IRIS as I dropped them down to the end of Paddington basin.

After that, I was on my way. Mary was walking along the towpath for a while, so took some pictures of me leaving the pool at Little Venice.

On the way back we saw our neighbours from Willowtree Marina, Deep Thought 42. This was near Kensal Rise, just as I'd got a massive bit of plastic wound round the prop. I'm just about to cut in front of them so I could remove the weedhatch and take it off.

The rest of the trip back was pretty unventfull, just some nice cruising along.

Finally it was back to Willowtree.

There probably won't be too many more updates on this site, we're spending more time on getting Misterton ready.

IRIS is up for sale, if anyone wants a characterful narrowboat on a secure mooring in West London, contact Willowtree Marina

2008-04-28T20:10:00.001Z

Boat 2.0
I only put that title in for cabin boy Mat, as he loves version numbers. :)

One of the reasons I've not posted much this year is that we've been looking for a bigger boat to make our home.

Here it is.

Big isn't it?

2008-04-28T20:08:00.000Z

Coot Update
I was out at the boat today for about five minutes and noted that the coots have built an even bigger nest in the tire and there are four or five eggs in there now.

My question is - where are moon unit 1&2?

2008-04-15T18:00:00.003Z

Grand Designs

It seems everything can be a home to someone. In the case of a coot, the tyre that keeps IRIS off the dock is actually the basis for a family haven. We've been tip toe-ing around and trying to keep the noise down lest we disturb them.

There are two eggs under there and I'm already thinking of names. Current favorites are 'Moon-unit 1 and Moon-unit 2' or 'Dunlop and Pirelli'.

The bird looks unimpressed.

2008-03-31T18:57:00.003Z

Easter

It came pretty early this year, in fact I'm sure I read somewhere that there is only one other time it could possibly be earlier. I'd been looking forward to going out on IRIS for a little trip for some time, but the weather wasn't the best.

Each day I'd wake up, check the weather report and then we'd go and do something else as it was just going to be horrible.

Finally on Easter monday I just had to get out. We left the marina in heavy snow and this pretty much set the pattern for the trip. I was going to turn around at Bulls Bridge (about 2 miles from the marina) but of course, it brightened up long enough for me to think it was going to be alright. Predictably, when I'd turned up the Grand Union, it started sleeting again.

By the time we got back, I'd not been that cold since my motorcycling days. Mary sensibly spent most of the trip inside by the diesel stove, reading. :)

2008-03-01T18:03:00.002Z

Tom Waits

............for the bus

Nice shot of me and my nephew Tom, on our way to the zoo with the others this afternoon in London. If this can't tempt Dave Williams into commenting, then I don't know what will.

2008-02-29T18:15:00.003Z

Still here...
Been a busy few weeks with work, snowboarding and working on the boat v2.0 project.
Apropo nothing, here is a small Austrian locomotive that is going nowhere soon.

2008-02-14T19:27:00.004Z

Drive
I recently took another car for a spin whilst in Florida. It may have had similar characteristics, but I think I'll stick to the Cerbera.

Note to Mary - this is 'work', its not all beer and skittles in the private sector (oh, it is......)

2008-02-07T08:27:00.000Z

Snakes on a Plane?

Am waiting on Samuel L. Jackson to return my calls for this exciting sequel idea I've had to his cult hit film.

A couple of visitors (or 'nature's alarm clock') on IRIS far too early this morning.

2008-02-02T12:26:00.000Z

Pimp My Ride
Having just returned from the land of excess, I've decided to up the bling factor on IRIS.

First up are some dual chrome exhaust tips - snazzy eh?

Just kidding :)

2008-01-30T06:59:00.000Z

Florida

I'm here at my company's annual conference in Orlando Florida. There are certainly worse things you can do in january, as once you get past the sea of chinos and polo shirts, its actually nice and sunny. Just come back from a 70's nightclub to discover that the hotel shop stops selling beer at 01:30am and its merely 02:00. Land of the free? I don't think so.

Apart from the conference we managed to escape to the magic kingdom, although its not much of a kingdom if you ask me. Still, in amongst the pushchairs and the over nourished locals there was the chance to ride on a steam powered paddle steamer, and for 20 minutes I managed to feel at home as we traveled up a 'river'. You need to find these moments when you can.

2008-01-22T19:03:00.000Z

No news is, well, no news
Not a lot has been happening boat-wise over the last week or so. I came back to the marina last night to find that IRIS and most of the other boats had been moved round, so I'm now about three places further along the dock. This in itself is no big problem, most marinas retain the right to move boats around when required, but I wished they'd let me know. Normally we get into IRIS on the port side door, so its the only one I carry a key for. So last night I had to work my way along the side deck in the dark and then retrieve the keys for the other side door. Following that, there was about ten minutes of fiddling with mooring ropes (and muttered cursing) as the boat was tied too close to the dock to open the side doors (IRIS sits quite low in the water compared to most narrowboats). I was a bit peeved about the whole thing.

Still, as predicted, it all looked better in the morning and I've been able to rearrange things so I can use the starboard side doors.

About the only other thing of note was the two foxes I saw this morning in the car park running round. Apparently there are small deer around too. This place is a veritable zoo.

2008-01-11T17:05:00.000Z

2008
Slightly out of sync, here are some pictures from new years eve and day. Mary and I took IRIS into London for the night. It was a pretty grey day, but it didn't actually rain which was something.

Going into London we came across this seemingly abandoned boat.

On the way back it looked moored more normally, but still looked unloved.

Some general pictures on the way in...

Here is the view going over the North Circular, one day this won't be as fascinating to me as it currently is.

Note the pensive look as I try to avoid crashing onto the cars below.

I like the houses in this one, this is about a mile before Little Venice.

A couple of nice bridges on the way in......

Once we'd arrived, we ended up mooring at Paddington Basin, as Little Venice was full. A nice quiet place.

We went out to a local pub with friends Andy and Carolyn, plus Carolyn's mother and aunt who were over from the US. Before the pub I gave an impromptu tour of Little Venice, with a running commentary based partly on facts, partly on conjecture - well, I am in consulting after all.

They went off to watch the fireworks on the Thames, we went back to the boat to celebrate on our own. This is just after midnight.....

The following day after a leisurely brunch at Raouls cafe in Maida Vale (where the yellow eggs are flown in from Tuscany - not sure about the eco implications of that, but yummy all the same), we set off back to Willowtree. All went well, apart from a light drizzle, right up until I was trying to reverse into my moorings, in the dark. The engine suddenly stalled - there was a huge rubble sack wound round the propeller. Luckily we were able to get into the berth using a combination of too much power and some panic-driven ropework.

Here is a freaky night scene on the canal.

Finally, here is my favorite picture of the whole trip, I just love all the colours on such a grey winters day.

2008-01-04T14:24:00.000Z

Bling
Got a couple of new things for IRIS as christmas presents from Mary, a horn and a tiller pin. The original Horn was tarnished and didn't work. There was no tiller pin before, just a rusty bolt. Here they are....

I also finally got round to fitting a little brass vent that I picked up on the wonderful weekend we spent in Lechlade in august - see the Rest of the trip here.

Shiny.

2007-12-20T09:18:00.000Z

More Ice
Yes, the novelty has yet to wear off. You didn't get this on the Thames I can tell you.

A thicker layer of ice has formed overnight, so I went for a walk around and took a few pictures. I like the one of the birds and their swimming hole the best. :)

The bridge over the entrance to the basin looked pretty...

The whole marina is frozen in as well (the canal is also frozen over, but less interesting in terms of a picture).

Here is IRIS from the bank opposite. Note how low in the water she is. Guess I like my cars low and my boats lower....

Here is the side, I can now fret about the quality of insulation based on the frost patterns on the side. Don't know why, its toasty inside. :)

Finally, some ducks that I fed this morning...

2007-12-17T07:43:00.000Z

Ice Station IRIS?

I've been awake since about 4:00am today - insomnia seems to be a trait in my family - musing on the big questions of life.(why are we here, does God exist, do I have anything in for breakfast?)Part of the reason for staying awake was the constant creaking and groaning of what I guessed to be ice against the side of the hull.

Seeing as it was the middle of the night, many other possibilities presented themselves, such as we'd been cast adrift, or that all the water had drained from the canal and we were aground. I thought about getting up to investigate, but discounted this on the the grounds of it being cold and being dark. I did toy with the idea of waking Mary up and getting her to go and have a look, but I'm nothing if not wise when it comes to the ladies, and I could see that this would not go down well......

Anyhoo, here is a photo of a thin skim of ice at about 7:30am this morning. From all the noise it was making, I was assuming massive icebergs, so frankly, I'm a little disappointed. :)

2007-12-07T12:43:00.000Z

Shelves...
Been a busy couple of weeks with work in London, socialising and getting sick (no, not a hangover...). The most significant bit of recent boat work has been the construction of some shelves to go by the bed space. They didn't come out too badly and give me somewhere to put the alarm clock if nothing else.

With the front steps in place it looks like this.....

Not much else to report really, there are a few more jobs to be done, but given the time of year with the weather and the pre-christmas social scene, I haven't had time during the weekends to crack on with much.

2007-11-23T08:57:00.000Z

Ranking
Whist reading some of the other boating blogs, such as Bones, I realised that there is a bit of competition in terms of the top 100 boating sites.

I'll have a bit of that action, so there is a new counter thing in the side bar. It seems to only work off unique queries, so there is no point me sitting here refreshing my browser, I'll just have to be patient (not always easy....). Of course I may get bored soon and remove it, we'll see.

Current ranking? 293 :)

Update! Now at 179 - legend in my own mind......

2007-11-04T19:37:00.000Z

And so to Venice
Little Venice that is. Since moving IRIS to Willowtree Marina in september, I haven't had the chance to take her out. So this weekend it was the inaugural trip into London. I've been looking forward to this for some time, since I first saw the canal boats in Little Venice a few years ago.

Mary and I set off late on saturday morning, it is meant to take about 3 hours to get there, but I wanted to leave a bit of margin for error. The day was sunny and pleasant, with the leaves turning. As a bonus in this shot, can you spot the heron?

The trip took us through a variety of landscapes, some of it surprisingly pretty considering we're in a city.

A novelty was the aqueduct over the North Circular road (A406), I like the idea that IRIS was momentarily suspended like a 16 ton sword of Damocles over the unsuspecting motorists below.

The closer we got to the heart of the city, the more we saw a variety of interesting buildings along the way.

We made it to Little Venice. I was actually expecting to go on and moor in Paddington Basin, given the popularity of the place, but just as we were going by the visitors moorings, a boat left, so we nipped into the space left. Here is IRIS at the mooring for the night.

...and here is a more general view.

We left IRIS there for the night and went back to North London, via a couple of pubs to watch the fireworks at Alexandra Palace.
The next day we were joined by friends Helen and Greg (veterans of the Newbury trip) and Helen's parents Jan and Michael. Michael is ex-merchant navy and is a pilot for a UK port, so I was happy to let him take over steering duties for the first half of the trip. Greg steered for the second half, giving me the chance to strut up and down the deck in what I hope was a Nelson-like manner.

This shot shows Greg at the helm, with Michael and I waiting for any paparazzi that might be lurking.

Here we are going over the North Circ again...

One constant theme of London boating seems to be the urban jellyfish, or Tescos carrier bag. On the trip down we had to try and clear the prop a couple of times to remove debris, and finally when moored up I got a chance to use the weedhatch for the first time. I was quite pleased with the amount of rubbish around the propellor, as it did explain why the boat seemed to struggling.

We made it back just after dark, using the light on the front of IRIS. Now I know I can moor at night, all sorts of nocturnal missions are on the cards.

Finally, people sometimes use the expression 'ducks in a row' which I find faintly annoying. I couldn't organise ducks, but how about some geese?

2007-10-18T19:10:00.000Z

Paint it black
One little job that has been going on is painting the hatches black. This has taken place over the last few weeks when time and the weather have permitted. The finished result doesn't look too bad as shown here.

Continuing with the black theme is a new kettle bought for me by my sister as an early christmas present. In recent years there seems to have been a slight pattern of Beck buying me things that never get used. Some of them have gone on to enhance peoples lives in exotic locations such as Reading and Frankfurt. Still, I've actually used this and have even made Mary a cup of tea with it.

Now I can put it on ebay (just kidding).

The final black thing is this moorhen (coot actually, see comments), one of several that cruise around here.

2007-10-03T07:59:00.000Z

Time
I've been thinking its a while since my last update, I was hoping that more would've happened (on the boat front), but a social whirlwind of weddings/parties (well, one of each)has prevented much boat activity. There has been some painting of hatches going on, I also lined the hatches to try and keep the cold out. Further insulation is planned before it gets too cold, some of the original insulation will get replaced with more modern materials.

I've also been working on trimming the lower part of the side hatches, two down, one to go.

Somewhat out of sync, here is a picture of IRIS arriving in her new home a few weeks ago.

So far its seemed pretty nice there. A big supermarket and a DIY store are five minutes walk away, and driving wise its closer to the office and central London.

'Give me convenience or give me death' - who said that?

2007-09-14T18:16:00.000Z

London calling
Well, I'm finally here in IRIS at her new mooring in West London at Willowtree Marina. We got the boat here lat last sunday afternoon after about 6 hours coming up the canal from Brentford, there were 10 locks to go through. Apparently it was hard work, which I managed to avoid by playing the 'I need to drive the boat' card. Mary did it all really. Still, it'll keep her fit.

The trip from Penton Hook to Brentford was not without problems. I arrived there last friday night and had a pleasant evening watching the sun set etc. I was up at 6:00-ish on saturday morning and was underway by 7:10am. The Thames was lovely at that time with the sun coming up and the water completely still.

My aim was to be at Teddington locks where the tidal part of the river starts by 13:00 in order to catch the tide. I was there at 11:30, but was told that the river was shutting at 12:15 in order to allow a boat race to start ( the great river race). I rushed through the lock and was down by Eel Pie island when I was stopped by a Port of London Authority boat and told to wait. It turns out I had to wait for almost two hours while they started various boats off racing down the river.

I had actually decided to head back to Teddington, as I barely had one hour to get to Brentford lock before it shut for the day. I phoned the lockeeper at Brentford to let him know and he told me that the Thames would also be shut on sunday, as they were closing the Thames barrier and there would be no tide in the river!

So I turned round and ran flat out for 50 minutes in order to get there. This is all relative, but for a canal boat it was fast as the tide was ebbing too. In fact I was worried I'd be carried past Brentford and out to sea, as the boat may not have enough power to turn round and go into the lock.

I made it to Brenford lock at about 15:12 - the lock closed at 15:15. Still, nothing like a little drama eh?

2007-09-07T19:24:00.000Z

Farewell Reading

I've lived round the Reading area for about 5 or so years now. It wasn't really planned, just worked out that way. Anyhow, for a number of reasons, its time to move inside the comforting embrace of the M25.

Famous citizens of Reading include Kate Winslet and Cabin Boy Mat, there are probably more, but they're the only ones I remember.

So last saturday morning, we waved goodbye to my neighbour Dave and headed out of the marina.

It was also time for a last look at the twin (gas) towers, will I see the likes of their rusty magnificence again?

It was a long trip down the Thames over two days, I think we did about 28 miles on the first day, passing through the center of the known universe Henley. This is IRIS going under one of the arches of Henley bridge.

Speaking of bridges, there was this impressive one in Marlow, sort of like a mini-Clifton bridge.

This is another I K Brunel wonder (did he never relax?), apparently its the widest single span brick bridge ever, still being used by loads of trains, most of them only slightly newer than the bridge itself.

Windsor was interesting the next day, loads of tourists wandering around. They may have taken the UK as a theme park concept too far with the ferris wheel though.

Finally we ended up at Penton Hook lock where we left IRIS for the week.

I've just returned, getting up early tomorrow to do the final leg on the Thames (including the tidal part to Brentford), then it'll be onto the Grand Union canal.

2007-09-03T16:23:00.000Z

Rest of the trip
The rest of our trip didn't go quite as planned. The Environment Agency (which looks after the Thames) has a couple of warning boards they put out at locks to indicate conditions on the river. Yellow means proceed with caution, and every lock we went through had one of these until we reached Northmoor lock, one of the remotest on the river. Here the lockeeper handed me a red card, to match the red boards he'd hung out. This advised us not to continue navigating the river until the stream had abated.

Since the flood in july, the land is so waterlogged that every time it rains, its runs off into the river and causes increased flow. This picture shows how high the waters had been.

After thinking about it over a cup of coffee, I decided it would be a good idea to listen to the advice of the EA and stop there. We moved IRIS forward out of the lock onto the waiting moorings just upstream. There were a few other boats trapped there too, a German family on a hire boat and an old couple on a little 20ft cruiser. They'd apparently been stuck on the river at various points for five weeks. The old boy seemed to be reveling in it - very much the battle of Britain spirit. However when his wife started to tell Mary about their sanitary arrangements (or lack thereof), Mary made her excuses and hid below. Here is IRIS on the lock mooring, with the 'red board' on the right.

I optimistically hoped that we could proceed the next day (friday) as we were trying to get to Lechlade in time to meet my sister and her family who were coming up camping for the weekend by the river. However, it soon became clear that we weren't going to be going anywhere soon. We arranged for my brother in law Steve to come and get us and we could join everyone in our tent, which luckily was on the boat. In the meantime, the sun shone and we did some more painting.

Camping in Lechlade wan't much better really, it rained or was overcast the whole time, but we entertained ourselves. My nephews had not been camping before and were quite excited about the whole thing. We introduced them to the concept of 'wine pillows' - as in inside each box of wine is a magic pillow that can be used (once the previous contents have been emptied) for a variety of purposes. I hope they'll remember that when they're students. Dave Williams was the inspiration behind this one, many years ago in NZ.

Here Mary and William are modeling the translucent variety.

I wandered down on saturday afternoon while Steve went fishing to see St. Johns lock, the last on the Thames. The old man of the river was there, so I complained about the summer, but got no response.

William and I also found this nice bike. Could I look any more suspicious?

Mary's brother Steve came up from London for the saturday night and we all went out for a curry, apparently the same place Kate Moss goes to when she's up this way. The boys had never been to a curry house before, so all in all it was a big weekend for them. I think they enjoyed the experience.

After brunch on sunday at another Kate Moss local - the Black Cat Cafe, we all headed back to the boat, had a cup of coffee and then the others left Mary and I to sit it out.

The relief lockeeper seemed quite keen for us to move on, so as the river was only on yellow boards downstream, we headed back to Pinkhill at a much higher speed now we had the current with us.

We were joined on monday morning by Nev, who was on his way back from working at the V festival. He stayed to help us back down through Osney, which had only just come off red boards that morning, so was still going very fast. This is us at Kings Lock (I think).

I don't think this picture really captures the thrill and terror of piloting a 16 ton boat down a narrow fast moving river with side currents from weirs etc. but you'll have to take my word for it. It was kind of scary, mainly as once committed, there wasn't really any easy way we could stop. Mary and Nev had phoned ahead so the lock was open and ready for us, so we didn't get pulled onto the weir by slowing down.

Once that was out of the way, things became easier. We cruised downriver and found a mooring for the night 30 feet from a pub - how handy. Nev decided to stay the night, and so became the first person to try out the guest accommodation. Here Nev demonstrates while I light some candles to set the scene.

Nev left the next day (was it something I said?) and we carried on downriver. The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, apart from the fact that the good weather never materialised. We stopped in Goring for the last night, mooring just in front of the lock.

After that, it was back to Reading and then the three day festival, culminating with Nine Inch Nails and the Smashing Pumpkins on the sunday night. All very Rock'n'Roll.

2007-08-15T19:28:00.000Z

Rain
This seems to be the theme of summer 2007, we had more of it today. There is nothing quite like standing in the open when its pouring with rain to make one question some of the choices made in life. :)

We stopped the other side of Abingdon last night, we had intended to stop in the town itself, but the only mooring we could find that was free had a fisherman sitting on it who seemed to think it was his right to sit there. Maybe he was right, who knows, but that and the roving gangs of chavs was enough for us to carry on. The lockeeper let us through even though he was about to go off duty and we found a safe place for the night on a little island by Swifts Ditch - this was the original course of the Thames before some monks altered the channel so it would flow by their Abbey in 1620 blah blah blah - lots of historical trivia on my map of the Thames....

Today was a day for boat spotting - I saw a tug style narrowboat that I went to look at in the midlands (it was too small for me) going downriver and this unusual combo of a pusher tug and narrowboat. The back of the narrowboat had been modified so that the tug had a secure location, looked very interesting (well, I thought so).

I spied narrowboat Bones on the way into Oxford center.

Bones is now writing for one of the monthly waterways magazines, I forget which one. I also saw another one of their columnists moored up in their very nice replica tug 'Nobby' - no pictures of that one as I was steering round a bend in heavy rain and strong river flows.

Speaking of which, I've had to accept that IRIS is not a particularly fast boat, even by narrowboat standards. The flow on the Thames is so strong at the moment that in places we were probably only doing 1-2 mph against the stream. In this picture it looks like the bow wave of a speedboat, but snails were passing me on the bank.

The flow through Onsey was amazing - I was almost taken out by the boat 'Weasel' (see a couple of posts below). It wasn't his fault, there was no way you could really control a boat going downstream. Hope its better next week when we're coming back.

The bridge an Onsey is very low, I'm glad I took the chimney off.

We stopped for lunch at the Trout pub, made famous by Inspector Morse - a TV show apparently. Like a pro, I fell in the river after slipping on a rock and twisted my knee - the same one I did a few weeks ago in Aldermaston. As I limped through the pub the waitresses smiled at me. Nothing like a war wound to make a chap seem more dashing, or perhaps they thought Mary was working for 'care in the community'. Either way lunch was good. Note my technique of tying up to handy bits of riverside clutter, such as fences.

Finally after more boating in the rain we arrived at Pinkhill lock for the night. Here is a picture of the crew (spiders not present) during a rare sunny spell.

2007-08-14T13:18:00.000Z

Shillingford
Well, just after the crack of noon, the good ship IRIS slipped her moorings in Reading and headed out onto the Thames for our journey to the upper reaches of the river. Just me, Mary and about 400 spiders make up the crew.

Before the off there were a few jobs to be done. I finally replaced the skanky old sink in the kitchen with this stylish number.

Mary painted various floorboards, hatches and deck areas, so between us we got a few things out of the way.

On monday I topped up the fuel tanks (note, I did actually pay for the fuel) and we headed out.

We got past Goring and Cleeve lock before stopping for the night, handily close to a gastro-pub, the Beetle and Wedge, were we had a couple of drinks and watched the sun set.

Today its been raining and miserable, here are a couple of shots of the river,

This bridge was probably built by I.K. Brunel, he made lots of stuff.

By early afternoon we'd only made it far as Shillingford due to slow boat, headwinds and current. As we popped out the other side of the bridge there I saw a mooring and a pub. It wasn't a hard decision to make.

2007-08-11T18:37:00.000Z

Vikings
On returning to the marina last night, I saw a strange looking boat with the name 'Weasel'. I wanted to get a picture, but it snuck away into the the morning mist....

Tobias must've extended his reach.

2007-07-30T18:10:00.000Z

Newbury #2
The return journey of the Newbury trip was split over a couple of days. I went back to Iris on the friday evening and picked her up from the dry dock. After confidently reversing out into the main canal from the boatyard, I discovered my confidence was somewhat overated as I struggled to turn around. After a couple of attempts, I decided to capitalise on my reversing skills and go back down the canal to where there was more room.

It was a little further than I thought. So if anyone here was wondering what the narrowboat was doing exiting Newbury in reverse, that was me. I did eventually get down to the pool above the next lock and managed to turn around.

As luck would have it, another boat came along, a very nice traditional style boat with a vintage Lister engine. Martin and Jane were making their way back down to Woolhampton, so we ended up travelling down together, which made all the locks and swing bridges a lot easier. After pretty much shooting the rapids through the infamous Woolhampton lock/electric swing bridge combination, we tied up for the night. Martin and Jane kindly asked me over for dinner and we managed to kill off a couple of bottles of wine on the way. During the course of the evening I happened to mention that it had taken us 14 hours to get from Reading to Newbury the previous week. Martin got that far away look in his eyes that guys sometimes get and said '14 hours eh? Is that some kind of record?' Jane just looked nervous. I bade my farewells and made my way back through the woods to my boat on the other side of the river.

I was up early the next morning and had a nice run down to Aldermaston to meet the others who were on their way out form London. There was a bit of drizzle, but that just added to the whole 'Apocalypse Now' feel.

Everyone arrived from London (Mary, my brother and his girlfriend and Helen and Greg) and we set off into the gloom. A few fairly self explanatory pictures here.

And so back to Reading in the rain, only minor damage done to the chimney after hitting the bridge by the London Street Brasserie, quite a current through there when the Kennett is flowing.

2007-07-19T20:54:00.000Z

Newbury trip #1
The reason for taking Iris to Newbury was to get her re-blacked in a dry dock up there at All Aboard Marine Services. They'd quoted a price about £1000 less than the local Thames boatyards, so it seemed worth the effort.

Using the trusty canal planner website, I'd worked out that it was a mere 20 miles away. Sure there were a few locks and things, but really, how hard could it be? My confidence was based on the fact that I'd be standing at the back steering and barking out orders to the 'crew'.

This picture shows us leaving the marina in Reading,

...and another one, showing my brother Nick/Eric (two names, long story) who was over from NZ with his partner Sally,....

This is the entrance to the Kennet and Avon canal at about 0830 on the saturday morning,

and here is the lock that separates this from the mighty Thames...

Our trip continued up through the Oracle shopping center and through the other side of Reading. It was interesting as always to see something familiar (Reading) from an unfamiliar point of view (my boat).

The Kennet and Avon canal sometimes has the river Kennett flowing through it and sometimes not. This can make for variable progress between slow and very slow. Still, plenty of time to admire the scenery, as these pictures show....

There were of course a number of locks to go through, about 20 in fact. My brother, his girlfriend and Mary were all lock-novices at the beginning of the day, but by the end of the day, I only had to shout 'lock!' and they'd all spring into action, windlasses at the ready.

Here is a nice shot showing the water pressure in one of the locks,

here I am working hard at getting though a lock....

and Iris almost at the top....

As well as locks, there were also over 10 swingbridges to contend with, some electrically operated and some manual. Here we see my brother earning his keep with the manual variety.

Not shown is the part where I fell over at the lockside in Aldermaston in the rain and badly bruised my knee. Even now, weeks later. I still can't kneel on it. Hopefully it'll be right for the new year when surely my knighthood will be announced.

2007-07-09T19:54:00.000Z

Le Mans 2007
From the 'better late than never' department we have some pictures and a few words from the family trip to the Le Mans 24 hour motor race. I've been with various people over the years, most notably cabin-boy Mat who couldn't make it this year. However, my brother came over with his girlfriend, my girlfriend Mary came along with her brother Steve and our brother in law (also Steve) rounded out the numbers.

The theme this year was rain, we saw plenty of it on the way down (apart from when I ran out of petrol 2 kms from the service station.....)

Here is a misplaced boat pikey, somewhere in France....

We pitched camp about 2 minutes before a deluge came down. Mary had brought a gazebo and it did stirling work keeping the elements out (well almost)

On the morning of the first day there, the others had gone shoping, Mary and I heard a crash and some shouting and the gazebo had broken free of its moorings and toppled over. We spent the next hour or so jury rigging the remains and anchoring it down with some tyres 'retrieved' from an old crash barrier. These two pictures show how things ended up - not pretty, but it worked.

On the friday afternoon we walked around the pits as they had an open day. It rained. A lot. Here I am after a small shower, it got much worse.

And here at last is an Aston we can all afford...

We went down to the Houx Annex roundabout on friday evening to watch the customary high jinks. There was one boat there anyway, so its in keeping with the blog theme.

Here are some more general pictures, including a riot control truck that some guys had trailered down from the UK just for friday night. I admire that sort of dedication.

Saturday saw the race start at 3:00pm, after watching that we adjourned to the campsite for some 'refreshments'. After a few Babychams I decided to fire up the Cerbera - a small crowd had gathered by then and we spent a happy few minutes just listening to the engine run...

Saturday night saw the now traditional pump action shotgun activities....

We went on the ferris wheel, here is the view of the racetrack from the top,

...and here is Steve (brother in law) looking how he felt - classic picture. My brother is trying to find a way out.

Anyhoo, there is more I could write, but I suspect my sister and parents will read this, so 'what goes on tour stays on tour'.

It rained all the way back to Dunkerque - all the way......

but despite missing our ferry, we all made it home.

Next week life at a different pace as we take 14 hours to travel in IRIS from Reading to Newbury.

2007-06-19T18:14:00.000Z

Das Boot
Massive thunderstorm, we're on battery power and shipping water*. Is this the end?

*small drip round skylight ;-)

2007-06-13T19:47:00.000Z

Le Mans
No updates for a while, seem to have been busy doing various social and work things. We're all off tomorrow morning (v. early) to go to the Le Mans 24 hour race. Not too much narrowboating going on there I guess.

Here are a few random pictures taken when I went to Sonning by myself a few weeks ago, just to go for a little trip on my own. Its been a long time since I took IRIS out by myself and it was quite enjoyable. Apart from the fact there was no one to bark orders at.....

I was feeding some ducks out the side window, when this duck-like bird came along with her ten chicks (some kind of catholic bird?). There then ensued quite a set-to as the ducks and the duck-like bird had a massive fight, including the ducks attempting to drown the chicks by swimming over them. Amazing what social unrest can be caused with a stale muffin.

2007-05-30T19:06:00.000Z

New ropes
Ah, the gentle thrill of new mooring ropes. The ones that came with IRIS when I bought her had seen better days and were pretty abrasive to use. I ordered some replacements from the Fendermaker, the same place that I got my (wait for it.....) fenders from. As before, prompt service and lower prices than most places.

Here they are waiting to go on....

...and in use....

There was never any question over the colour choice. :) Should be a little less chafing from now on.

I've also (finally) fitted the sink to the bathroom. It ended up going in against a different wall, but seems to fit well there. Just need to do a little bit of tiling around it and I'll be done.

2007-05-24T19:27:00.000Z

Waiting.....
Doing a bit more work on the bathroom project tonight, and of course the battery ran low on the drill a crucial point. So while I'm waiting for it to re-charge, here are a few random pictures. I've been working away in Scotland and London for a while, as well as taking the odd boat trip, so progress on things such as actually having bathroom sink have been slow.

Anyway, been working from home the last few days and its been very pleasant. I'm possibly the only person on various conference calls who is feeding ducks whilst discussing the riveting detail of the IT world.

Here is a view of IRIS from the side on her mooring, normally there is another boat in the way, but they seem to have gone somewhere...

....and here is one of the locals at the side door. Apparently stale pitta bread is a big hit with the wildfowl.

Finally, here is that massive on-board computer system that enables these pages to be bought to you.

All in all, not the most scintillating of posts, even by my standards. That drill had better be charged up now....

2007-05-13T18:56:00.000Z

Saturday

Three men went to Henley in a small boat (IRIS), had lunch and came back again. Two of them had burgers.

Crazy.

2007-05-10T19:30:00.000Z

Edinburgh
Been up here for work during the last few weeks and there is not much narrowboating to be had in Scotland. Did another little trip on the Thames last weekend with Mary, and cabin boy Mat makes his first appearance of the season this weekend with our lunch trip to Henley (teenage girls optional I hope - see previous post) - hopefully we won't be mobbed by adoring fans, judging from the number of times you've checked out his profile compared to mine.

Been reading Sarah's Warrior blog and have to say I agree with her view of modern boats. There aren't many that I find inspsiring, I guess thats why I like mine with its old-skool appeal.

Went to the Little Venice canal festival on bank holiday monday and saw a range of interesting old working boats, as well as a range of interesting old people.

Just to include some photographs, here is one of my favorites from this year, IRIS in the ice in february.

...and completely at random, my brother and cat in front of my house in NZ in October last year.

2007-04-24T19:52:00.000Z

Henley - chavtastic
We decided to go to Henley on saturday, I was quite excited as it was the first time I've taken Iris out on the river this year, Mary was excited as she had no idea of what to expect. I was trying to remember what I need to do going through the locks, but all was fine when we came to Sonning lock - we were the only boat going downstream. After letting the water out, the downstream gates opened, and I hopped onto the roof from the lockside like the sprightly 42 year old I am. As you have to turn the engine off in Thames locks I went to start it again and......nothing, just a faint click. After letting the lockeeper know why I wasn't leaving, I went and had a look. Luckily it was just a loose connection on the starter battery. Years of various cars and bikes have taught me to check the obvious first.

Finally we arrived at Henley in the late afternoon after a pleasant trip. After a spot of shopping to get some essentials (gin, lime, tonic), we watched the sun go down.

There were some interesting boats around, including this steam driven launch.

At about 7:00pm there was a commotion in the park next to us, as a group of teenage girls shouted obscenities at each other and threatened to start a fight. Meanwhile a boat was going round and round the island increasingly erratically as the teenage boys driving it got stuck into the refreshments. Inevitably, the two groups become aware of each other and then it all kicked off. Very tedious, and it reminds me of how old I'm getting when a group of drunken, shrieking, teenage girls fills me with a sense of outrage rather than a sense of hope.

Still, the youth of today have no stamina and they were pretty much done by 9:30pm. Gin, wine and ranting about it to Mary helped ease the pain.

Sunday morning came and another lovely day arrived

We headed back upstream to meet my sister Beck, brother in law Steve and nephews Thomas and William for lunch at the Bull in Sonning. Mary had a go at driving while I stood on the roof at the front and generally pretended I was Nelson.....

We had a lovely lunch, followed by ice cream on the boat. Here is a nice shot of the Brookes family.....

.....and a classic one of my two nephews attempting to abandon ship ahead of schedule.

2007-04-04T13:45:00.000Z

Three stories
Got a collection of random updates to add in, so in no particular order, here goes...

Three stories #1
Last month I went down to Bristol with Mary to see my old friend Nev. That's old as in I've known him since we were 13, not old as in age, although there is no denying we're getting on a bit now.....

The hotel car park was full, but I managed to find a place to park (underneath a ramp) as shown here.

Here is another picture (model provided for scale).

Nothing to do with boats, but amused me and puzzled the hotel staff.

Three stories #2
Been making some steps to access the front deck. My neighbor Dave watched my initial attempts to cut the rebate for the treads and then offered to help me (he's a carpenter and has a table saw on his boat). The picture here shows everything in kit form.

This next picture has everything all glued and clamped up.

...and this is what they look like in place. I need to oil and wax them, but that'll have to wait until I get back after Easter.

Three stories #3
During the course of the stair making, the cable ties holding on one of my low profile tyre fenders broke, and the tyre sank into the depths. Even though the tyre was free, it was doing a good job of keeping the boat away from the dock. No one was around for me to borrow a boat hook from, so I wandered over to the marina shop. They just happened to have a tiny folding anchor for £3.65 - bargain! I've no idea what sort of boat this is meant to hold, but it'll do me as a grappling hook.

After about 10 minutes of dragging the lake bed, I managed to find the tyre and hook it back up. Far more satisfying than I would've thought, and I had to be restrained from throwing more things in just to fish them out again.

I upgraded the attachment for the tyre to a chain based system. Its not going anywhere now.

2007-03-20T19:09:00.000Z

Bathroom
Its all been a bit quiet on the bathroom front, as I did a couple of minor projects (table etc.) that were more immediately gratifying. So on Saturday while Mary did some work on the laptop, I got down to the laying of the floor.

I'd previously treated the underfloor area (once I'd removed any loose rust and dirt) with an anti-corrosion wax. I couldn't reach all the areas I wanted to without dismantling the shower etc., but a couple of judiciously drilled holes helped out. I used the anti-corrosion wax from here. The aerosols came with a long probe (ooh-err) to get to those hard to reach places.

The next stage was to cut the floor tiles to shape. I'd previously got some tiles from the Rubber Floor Company in 'cinnamon', as this closely matches the raddle red paint used on the exterior decks. Tedious eh? :)

These two pictures show the glue being applied to the floor and left to go off a bit before putting the tiles back down.

Here is the (almost...) finished floor, just need to do something around the edges. Then it'll be onto the new sink to replace the old one I so rashly ripped out 5 weeks ago.

Finally, here is a reminder of what the old toilet looked like before......skank-tastic.

2007-03-13T08:32:00.000Z

Visitors

Heard some squeaking noises outside the boat yesterday and discovered one of the now almost fully grown cygnets lurking by the front. We seem to have a mix of both black and white swans here - very harmonious.

2007-03-08T13:02:00.000Z

Lunchtime O'Blog

Haven't done an update for ages, so thought I'd write a quick one over lunch. Been making a table from the reclaimed NZ wood. The idea being that this'll be better for working at, maybe even dining, but lets not get ahead of myself here.

This picture shows the now familiar to regular readers 'woodshaving fest'

The table still needs waxing and the detachable leg sorting out, but it'll look like this up.....

....and like this down.

Genius eh? Isambard Kingdom Brunel would be impressed with the over engineering in this, especially the hinges which are designed for truck tailgates. I was just looking round the local ironmongers and these seemed to fit the bill. No delicate joinery here.

Finally, one of the plus points of working at home on occasion is the chance to enjoy the weather. Recently thats been more of the snow/sleet/rain variety, but today I had a conference call with colleagues whilst working on my tan. Nice.

2007-02-18T19:33:00.000Z

London girl drives boat shocker

In a move that rocked the capital to its core, one of its citizens;

a.) Left the cosetting embrace of the M25
b.) Drove something that isn't a SUV (although its as big as some of them)

Here is Mary adding her own touch of glamour to the scene....

I needed to top up the tank for the heating stove, and thought we might was well go for a little cruise. As the Thames is still running very fast, we went down the lakes towards the boatyard. I think this is where the marina used to be, as marked out by all these posts and buoys.

Note the cluster of derelict barges on the left.

Do I know how to show the ladies a good time or what? (err.. no)

2007-02-15T12:29:00.000Z

The unseen crew

A valentines day gift from my lovely girlfriend was this gizmo (cellphone shown for comparative size)

designed to scare insects (specifically spiders) and other pests away. I had mentioned that the spiders seemed to be coming out of the woodwork with the warmer weather, so I detect a degree of self interest in this present. :)

You can get one of your own here. We'll gloss over what I got her for now......

Anyway, too early to see how effective it is, but Tobias is staying away, so it has to be doing something.

2007-02-08T22:29:00.000Z

Winter Wonderland

In a break from the usual narrowboat themed posts, I thought I'd write about my journey along minor roads in the snows that hit the UK today. I was due to attend a course at Chartridge House - something to do with leadership training. I saw the 'ship' part so assumed it must be good, after all I'm refitting a canal boat.

Anyway I departed the boat at about 7:00am, IRIS looked like this in the dark.

The car was also a little covered in snow too....

Progress was slow but steady. Mat had reported that the roads were mushy but not too bad, and this certainly proved the case once I'd got out of the marina drive. Henley (center of the known universe as mentioned in previous posts) wasn't too bad either, as shown by this atmospheric shot of some traffic lights.

The journey continued towards Marlow, I made the mistake of trying to take a picture whilst driving on snow covered roads, this is the result.

A better one, taken while stationary....

Remember kids, don't take pictures and drive - I almost went into a ditch. Once I'd abandoned this idea, the journey continued to interest, with people parking on hills and generally causing chaos. Now hillstarts in snow aren't my car's forte, so I was stuck three times for about 20 minutes each trying to get going. However, I continued to make progress, through High Wycombe, Great Missenden and on to Chesham. It was here that I finally got stuck as the snow was falling heavily and compacting on the ground. This was about two miles from my final destination.

As I tried to get unstuck by some houses I noticed some locals viewing me with a degree of suspicion. Turns out that there is someone in their village with a car like mine who they don't like. Apparently it makes a lot of noise......

As more of them were gathering with pitchforks and a pitcher of tar and a bag of feathers, I felt it was time to introduce myself. Once I'd explained that I was not the local annoying idiot, but merely some idiot from Reading, it was all smiles. A few of the assembled yummy mummies helped push me a little further up the road, but alas, we were on a hiding to nothing.

We decided that pushing my car underneath an old apple tree was the best bet until the snows melted.

After a refreshing cup of hot chocolate in one of the local's houses (turns out they were sheep farmers from Switzerland) I got a lift to Chartridge house.

I got a lift back and retrieved my car in the afternoon, as I was a little worried that the locals would burn it as some sort of message to the other one. So now its sat in the car park at the back.

Just so we have some nautical themes here, I've got a picture of IRIS I took the other morning when it was -8 degrees c.

2007-01-29T23:48:00.000Z

Living?
I've created a bit of a space in the middle of the boat when I got it, by removing the old bed. This areas has largely served as a storage area while I worked on the rest of the boat. I've been pondering what to do with it and had several ideas about fixed settees etc. and other such things, but in the end decided to go for some movable items.

I got two futon cube things and a wooden chest. The futon cubes make useful seats and can also open out into sleeping mattresses, should guests find themselves stranded. The fact that all this stuff is movable means that the combinations are endless. Here is one option....

And another.....

erm... thats it actually, so not so endless after all. I guess the whole lot could be moved out of the way if there was some sort of hoe-down going on. We'll see.

Currently in the US at a conference, this post has been brought to you courtesy of Steven's laptop, as I left mine at home. :)

2007-01-24T08:16:00.000Z

Snow!

Quite excited today, as it had snowed overnight. I'd got up early to do some work (note to colleagues here - really, was reviewing a Statement of Work!) and it was all winter wonderland. For a while. Its now started to melt, shame.

Ah well, here is a picture taken before the sun came up, but you get the idea. A boat. With snow on it. :)

2007-01-19T08:36:00.000Z

The smallest room

Here are the interim toilet facillities on IRIS. Note the advanced 'anti-splashback' features (sponges).

Normal (and improved!) service to be resumed soon. I do hope so, I can't hold on much longer.

Todays post is for my two nephews, William and Thomas, who will no doubt find it hillarious and insist that my sister installs similar facillities for them.

2007-01-18T10:16:00.000Z

Pretty windy out there today, there are waves big enough to surf on rolling across the lake. One of the times when I'm reminded that I'm on a boat, as its constantly moving about in weather like this. Found one minor leak from one of the portholes I need to fix, but not in this weather.... ;-)

Got some more of my NZ wood to make a table from, so that'll keep me amused for a few evenings. Should make using the laptop easier, at the moment its perched on the corner of the chest of drawers.

My orignal plans for the alcove I created have changed. I've bought a couple of these futon cube things for seating. They can also unfold to be used as mattresess should anyone be foolish enough to venture out onto the river with me.

Speaking of which, I must admit I have become obsessed with the river and the water level. Its flowing incredibly fast at the moment, so my vague plans for a half term trip with my girlfriend are looking a bit shaky. As Clint said, 'A man's got to know his lmitations'. (I'll wait for Mat to correct me on that quote as I always get it slightly wrong)

So, just to remind me of summer, here I am going up the Thames. :)

2007-01-06T08:52:00.000Z

2007?
Since coming back from holiday, I've not done much on IRIS at all. I think I've put up one light fitting, which hardly seems worth going on about.

Then I thought I'd write about what I say to people when they ask 'why do you want to live on a boat' - except no one does ask. Perhaps rather tellingly, people that know me well are not suprised, and everyone else isn't that bothered, as long as they're not roped into the whole scheme. The answer is, I want to. I've thought about living on a boat for ages. I remember trying to buy a 40ft catamaran when I was in my mid-twenties and even trying to engage in a spot of boat sitting around that time. Probably like many choices I've made in recent years, its been spurred on by the thought that I'm not getting any younger, so 'why not'? (lets not be coy, who can say 'mid-life crisis' first)

Anyhoo, here is a picture of IRIS I took yesterday. :)

2006-12-27T09:47:00.000Z

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
No narrowboat activities over the holiday period, I'm, snowboarding in Switzerland with friends. Here is a picture of me and Kev before we set off down a run yesterday.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday and I'll add some more narrowboat-themed drivel when I get back. :)

2006-12-15T15:51:00.000Z

I've seen the future, and the future is retro

Big thanks to mum&dad, Beck, Steve, Thomas and William (sister, brother-in-law and nephews) for the early christmas present. A retro styled radiator that is now keeping me warm. The oil stove is too hot in this mild weather, even on its lowest setting, so this raditor is working a treat. It also has a frost setting, so it'll not let the temperature drop below 5 degrees celsius when I leave the boat unattended.

2006-12-13T11:32:00.000Z

Due to lack of imagination (and an abundance of white paint) I’ve been decorating what should be some kind of ‘living area’. Although so far, its been used to store materials. I’m envisaging some kind of couch/seating in this alcove. A Post Christmas project though.

Also painted the partition I made for hanging coats up by the side door.

Here are three impulse purchases I made last night. I needed a fruit bowl, as the plastic bag the apples etc. come in just isn’t good enough any more, and I liked this metallic glassy one. Am I becoming house proud (boat proud)?

The Sonic Youth CD is one we used to listen to years ago when I lived in a big flat in Wellington (NZ) with my brother, Kim, Dave W, Alwyn and others. Samuel Johnson said 'patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel', but I’m thinking nostalgia is better furnished.

Anyway, that’s what the fish are currently listening to through the hull of IRIS.

Here is a another random swan picture. This creature came steaming over as soon as I opened the door yesterday, but alas, I was out of food.

2006-12-11T18:50:00.000Z

A couple of little jobs got finished on saturday. I put up this shelf, which was originally in the bathroom, but now won't fit since I've widened the bathroom door. Actually maybe its some kind of weird towel rail - who knows. I thought I'd try it up here and see what I think. I can hang things from it (suggestions?) or maybe even put something on it. So far its main purpose seems to be to catch me in the corner of the eye when I straighten up from the worktop.

I also finished my steps for the side door, I used some very dark wood stain. Not entirely sure about the results, but they seem to do their job well. I think I may put some kind of non-slip surface on the treads, maybe aluminium treadplate.

Mat thinks I should sign up to adsense and make millions from my blog, but I'm not so sure about pimping it out. Still, the lure of easy money is hard to resist......

Todays soundstrack: 'The Pixies - Surfa Rosa & Come on Pilgrim'

2006-12-07T10:30:00.000Z

Refueling

Was just finishing the evenings entertainment last night (making some shelf brackets) when I noticed that the eco fan on top of the stove was no longer spinning - the fire had gone out. I'd checked the tank for the stove the day before and had worked out I had about 2 days running left on minimum heat, but of course hadn;t considered that the outlet is about 2cm above the bottom of the tank.

Luckily it wasn't too cold last night, and I lit a couple of candles when I got up this morning for a sense of comfort. After talking to my colleagues in Denamrk and Sweden on our early morning call, I went to make a cup of coffee. 'Wonder when the gas will run out' I thought. Right now was the answer, so it was out onto the front deck to swap the connector over to the spare bottle.

When the shop opened at 9:00am I was able to take the empty gas bottle and a jerrycan over and get some more gas + diesel. Strictly speaking, they should'nt let me take marine diesel away in a can, but as my car is obviously not a diesel, they took pity on me. While I was there I re-stocked on electricity tokens, so I should be covered for heat, cooking and light for a while.

One thing I've realised is that tank capacity makes a quite a difference. My water tank is only about 50 gallons, so needs refilling every 7-10 days. I've made this a little easier by running a hose along the roof to the front of the boat where the filling point is, as I can see a time will some when the marina hose will either be frozen, or the roof covered in ice. The stove tank, which is seperate from the engine diesel, is only about 54 litres - enough for 8 days running on the lowest setting (24 hours a day). Perhaps I should just wash less, and be colder, but I can't see that being a popular move.

Hopefully an early christmas present will help out on the cold front, watch this space. :)

2006-12-04T20:51:00.000Z

In this weeks exciting episode we find out what the door turned out like. Well, it works anyway as can be seen below. Not sure what to do about the newly added wood. Paint white? Contrasting colour? Or stain with something? All these choices eh?

These next couple of pictures show the side steps being constructed; note the efficient use of odd bits of wood and stuff.

The second picture shows them being glued and clamped. I’m using some really dark wood dye on them to get an almost black finish. Not sure why, just going with a hunch. I got the dye at hardware store in Kilburn, London.

While I was there I also picked up a sample pack of SPAX screws. I’d previously been using screws from Focus DIY etc. and really, a screws a screw right? But these SPAX screws are top German quality and seem to go into the wood like they’re Teflon coated. No slipping from using the drill to drive them in either. Paying extra is worth it – I’ll be going back for more.

Although there are no pictures, I have my new toilet sitting in its packing in the living room. A guy came round on Saturday to quote for plumbing it in, so it might even happen this side of Christmas.

2006-11-27T20:06:00.000Z

Again, not much done really, but I’ve managed to widen the bathroom door. I did this by taking the old one and building an overlapping ‘picture frame’ to make it about 100mm wider. I managed to find some wood the right width to fill in around the back and it actually seems to work fine. I re-hung the door on its original piano hinge, just need to put in the millions of screws to secure it properly now.

I also decided that building a raised base for the bed would be a good idea. Taking inspiration from Sarah’s Warrior blog, I pretty much copied what they did using £45 worth of wood from Travis Perkins. Only took a couple of hours to make – amazing what you can achieve if you’re willing to let precision slide.

The CO and smoke detector both failed within a week of buying them. In a fit of pique I decided to phone the manufacturer, FireAngel (http://www.fireangel.co.uk/) and was pleasantly surprised by their concern. They sent out a returns envelope so they could inspect both units and ended up replacing them for no cost. Guess I’ll need to find some other organisation to complain about – London Transport possibly?

The bathroom re-modelling is happening in the background, the new toilet arrived last week and the new tank has been made. Just need to sort out the final fittings and then the fun job of installing it all can begin.

The Friday evening project was to begin making some steps for the side hatch, currently there are a set of portable steps being used for this. I’ve been trying to use up some of my surplus wood that has been on the boat for one reason or another, and I find it quite entertaining scheming as to how I can use what I have, rather than go out and buy more. Simple pleasures eh?

2006-11-17T14:01:00.000Z

Not massive amounts of progress this week, but I’ve made a little partition by the side door. This’ll be somewhere to hang a few coats etc. It also is a good place to store the ironing board (once I’d modified the board), but this was more by accident than design. Still, I’ll claim it as a good idea.

This all needs painting, but I’ve got a couple of other things to make before I have a painting-fest, so it’ll stay as it is for now.

The eco fan (sitting on top of the stove) has been working well. It runs off of the heat generated by the stove and just helps to circulate the air around. Given that the boat is fairly open plan, things seem to stay warm. I’ve been running the stove on its lowest setting, and unless the temperature is in single figures it tends to be too warm. Apparently the stove only uses .25 litre of fuel an hour on this setting – amazing the trivia you can find on the internet.

On Wednesday lunchtime I took the boat round the corner to refuel. Bit of an adventure, lightly hit one boat on the way in. I chose midweek at lunch to do this, thinking that it'll be quiet, but oh no, when I came back to my mooring a small crowd had gathered to watch me cock it up. Got reversed into my berth on the second attempt. Was nice to go for a little trip, even if only was a couple of hundred meters.

2006-11-06T19:41:00.000Z

Well, been up to a few things over the last week. First of all, I've been carrying on in the evenings with my worktop project. When my parents moved back here from New Zealand earlier this year, my brother put about 30m of old rimu (native NZ wood) floorboards into the container with my parents furniture. There seems to be an endless supply of reclaimed wood underneath my house back at home. I'm thinking of using this to make some kitchen worktops, but thought I'd have a practice run making a top for the old chest of drawers that came with the boat. As I don’t have a workbench on IRIS, I thought I'd use the chest of drawers as a base to build it on. Having selected the least warped pieces of wood, I worked from the back fastening the planks in place. They are tongue and groove, so they are glued along those joins, while I've used coach screws into holes drilled underneath to fasten the planks to the chest of drawers.

These two pictures show the process of building up the worktop.

Once the glue had dried, I set to with a hand plane. I found this incredibly satisfying (once I'd got the hang of it) and happily spent most of a friday night creating a huge pile of shavings. This reminded me of my grandfather, who was a carpenter/builder - he would've loved all this. Hope he can see it from wherever he is ;-)

The wood didn't always plane cleanly, and after some online discussions with my friend Kev (woodworking consultant to the stars), it seems like its just a 'feature' of the wood and the way it was cut from the tree. Remember kids, a bad workman always blames his tools, but a good consultant will never fail to blame the materials.

This is the finished article, once I'd used some Danish oil (good that your country can produce at least one useful thing eh Tobias ;-) and a coat of wax. I really like the finished effect of using this reclaimed wood, the grain and colour looks lovely.

A more modest project was to make some fenders to keep the sides of the boat away from the jetty. As I'm now using the side doors to get in and out this seemed like a good idea, as the doors would not open unless I pushed the boat away from the dock each time I wanted to go out. When I was down in Hampshire at the specialist that looks after my car to get something checked, I asked the guys at the tyre place next door if I could take a couple of discarded tyres away to use. I chose a pair of 205/50x16" Dunlops, selected especially for their high performance characteristics, and not simply because they were on top of the pile. Turns out that 225 wide tyres would've been better, but I'm not changing them now :-). Still, not bad for ten minutes work.

I've also added a CO2 sensor (to avoid the big sleep) and a smoke detector. I now feel happier leaving the heater on overnight. It was a little chilly in the mornings without this; I took these pictures on the morning of friday the 3rd November at about 8:00am. Nice eerie effect of the mist on the water.

The bathroom project has been coming along slowly; I can't find anyone locally who has the time to fit a new toilet, so I guess I'll do it myself. One of the first jobs was to make the bathroom door a decent width. This helped pass another friday evening - you make your own entertainment on the river.

Finally a word of thanks to our sponsor, Brian Gatt, without whose camera this would not be possible (did you want it back?).

2006-10-27T18:59:00.000Z

Nothing new to report today, so I thought I'd just mention how social things seem to be around here. This is who I chatted to today;

0630am - bumped into the young woman who lives on the boat in front of me walking her little dog, she was getting up early to drive to the midlands for the day.

0900 - whilst waiting for the marina shop to open (to get a few screws to fix a shelf up) I got chatting to an old couple on a neat little narrowboat tug. They were on their way down the Thames from the Kennet and Avon canal when the flood warning went up, so had taken refuge here. We had a chat about the river, boats and Leicester, where I studied engineering and from where they bought their boat back in '81.

1100 - on my way back from putting something in the car, stopped by to talk to a guy who is fitting out a 62 foot narrowboat. Had a quick tour and a lenghty disscussion about toilets, as he'd just installed the type I'm thinking of getting. Very informative.

1500 - On my way out to post something, talked to a couple of guys who were drinking tea and chopping wood for the stove. They told me about giant pike that live in the lake we're on.

Also discovered that my water tank is only 50 gallons, so I guess more frequent re-fills are on the cards. Tested out both the washer/dryer and the oven - both working fine.

Am I living the dream or what?

No boat work this weekend as I'm helping a friend build his garage and going out in London.

2006-10-26T14:12:00.000Z

Well, moved the last of my things onto IRIS at the end of September and then disappeared off to New Zealand for three weeks holiday. It was my brothers 40th and was great to see him and all my friends out there. My house still seems to be in good shape and my cat appears to remember me - bonus.

Back to the UK on the 22nd and onto IRIS, so this week has mainly been a rapid adjustment to full time life on board. Been testing out various things such as the oil stove (nice and toasty), the shower (not bad, but glass will be better than a shower curtain in the small space) and the oven (seems to work, no plans to use it yet ;-). Also been tinkering with putting up various small shelves and fittings. Have made enquiries about getting a new toilet installed, as I think that's going to be be the biggest improvement I can make to start with.

The T-Mobile 3G card is working well with the external ariel, even with all the doors shut. Mobile phone reception is flakier, but I've found that with Orange where I used to live, so no worse off really.

No real new pictures of the boat (its now just full of more stuff than before...) so here are some locals I spotted out of the front door this morning ;-)

2006-09-24T21:58:00.000Z

Well, been a busy couple of weeks, what with working in Sweden, getting ready to go to NZ and getting ready to move onto IRIS. I’ve been taking advantage of a week working at home to do some more painting that I originally planned, recoating most of the inside in ‘eggshell’ white. Fresh paint smells nice anyway.

I solved a problem with the engine room filling up with water – turns out one of the automatic bilge pumps wasn’t working, so it was gradually re-filling. With a bit of luck this will also explain the water that was found under the floor in the kitchen and bathroom areas.

The Sterling batter charger was replaced under warranty and apart from one scary moment when it tripped out under the load of the discharged cabin batteries, seems to be working fine.

As part of moving on board I’ve been getting rid of a lot of stuff, I didn’t think I have that much to start with, but local charity shops are now bursting at the seams with things that won’t really fit on a boat.

The under deck area still needs trim, but I’m going to see how I like sleeping under there first. My previous plans were lengthways down the boat, but the mattress seems to fit well into the space crossways. Even seems to work well with my height being close to the width of the boat.

Here is another shot, looking from the under deck area.

I’ve installed fenders on the bow and stern, I got these from http://www.fendermakerltd.co.uk, very quick service and no VAT!

This enabled me to turn the boat round and moor stern to the dock. This allows me to access the engine room, and then get into the main cabin via the side door.

For me the real benefit is that instead of the front doors opening out onto the dock, I now have a bit of ‘space’ as show by this picture taken early this morning.

I managed to back IRIS out and turn round on my own, which was fun, Dave from the boat next door helped with the lines from the dock in between working on his boat.. These things basically don’t steer in reverse, so occasional bursts of forward are required to swing the stern round..

2006-09-10T21:12:00.000Z

Another productive weekend, with lots of different things done. Mat helped me out both Saturday and Sunday and we managed to get rid of the water under the bilges, build some shelves, finish the wall at the front of the boat, remove the carpet and have a general cleanout. On Sunday we were joined by Caoilfhionn, Mat’s girlfriend, and we went on a little trip up to Sonning so we could paint the side decks. While we were doing this, Caoilfhionn gave the under deck area a coat of primer. There is still lots to do, but at least its getting close to the stage where I can move on before I head off to NZ at the end of the month. Made a real difference having some help as its easier to stay motivated when so much is getting done.

This picture shows Mat and Caoilfhionn looking keen before work on Sunday.

These two shots were taken up near Sonning while we worked on the boat (and read a Sunday supplement article about ‘what makes women happy’ – boats didn’t feature for some reason….....)

Here is Caoilfhionn painting under the deck

This shot show the interior at the end of the weekend, surprising how different it looks without carpet.

Oh, and as a bonus the fridge started working as we went up the Thames. I can only guess that the battery voltage had run a little low or something – who knows.

We also got rid of the biggest spider that I've ever seen in the UK. It appeared on the roof of the boat as we were leaving the marina. If it had come towards me I would have abandoned ship. Mat put it in a spare tupperware container we had and we let it out at Sonning. Pretty sure it was a black widow. Hope there are no more of that size on board.....

2006-09-04T09:06:00.000Z

Not a great deal to report this weekend, sent the battery charger off to be repaired or replaced, hopefully for low/no cost.

I finished the ceiling under the deck and gave it a coat of oil. While that was drying I started framing the back (front) wall and threw in a little extra ballast while I was there. The front door lock could only be opened from the inside which was irritating, so I took that apart and fixed it.

That seemed to take most of Sunday, amazing really. Also discovered that gravel has been used as ballast under the kitchen, so looks like another mine-laying trip down the Thames is on the cards.

2006-08-28T22:29:00.000Z

Well, this is what I did over the bank holiday weekend. I wanted to try and fix up the under deck area at the front. In my minds eye, this was going to involve a bit of work on saturday, followed by a cruise to Henley on sunday with Pimms on the Thames on sunday.

The reality was somewhat different....once I started looking into it in detail, there was nothing of the original under deck fittings that I could keep. It seemed to have been lashed together from MFI drawers and bits of old table. I took it all out, along with the last of the gravel. The hull didn't look too bad after all the dust had settled, just a bit of surface rust.

I splashed Waxoyl liberally around to kill the existing rust and to prevent any new outbursts. I had to cut a new section of flooring, luckily I was able to use the plywood from the partition that Mat and I had previously removed.

Once that was done, I installed some new ballast (courtesy of Travis-Perkins) restoring the trim.

Roof battens and side frames needed to be constructed, I used a variety of timber for this, working on the dymanic planning approach of carpentry. All the wood was given a coat of Waxoyl, to seal it from moisture and because it smelt nice in the confined space.

Insulation was put in between the wooden bits, 50mm for the sides and 25mm for the roof. Cutting this stuff up combined with a mild breeze made the inside of Iris look and feel like a sno-globe. I lined the sides with 9mm ply and will be using 8mm tongue and groove for the ceiling. I put a couple of bits up just to make it look like I was achieving something.

It was at this point I noticed that the water pump was leaking, so there was no point in constructing the front wall until this was fixed (I dismantled the pump on sunday, cleaned it out and used a bit of Loctite sealant and it seems ok now).

To have a break from the under deck project, I added a bit of variety by dismantling the original bed, which was made up from a wide variety or wood and assorted cabinets. I made two trips to the tip to get rid of stuff, suprisingly cathartic. I had a rental car this weekend for removing rubbish and bringing in supplies, wouldn't have been easy with my car (away getting an MoT and emptying my bank account).

Had a few visitors on sunday, Kim and Harv, friends from NZ who were staying with me. they wanted to see where I kept 'popping out to' for 11-12 hours per day.

Kev and Sophia came across from Hertfordshire to see me too. Sophia looks particually happy in this picture as Kev has just anounced they can go. They brought lunch which was much appreciated.

We did encounter the 'black swan of death', a frightening creature with glowing red eyes. I was afraid it was going to launch itself out of the water and take someones face off like a Great White. Maybe we shouldn't have fed it some crisps.

So at the end of the weekend some progress has been made, but there is still lots to do.

A special thanks to Brian for the 'loan' of his digital camera. Bet he's regretting me having a set of keys to his house now....

2006-08-19T19:05:00.000Z

Cookham to Reading.

We set off again at early-o-clock to catch the train from Reading to Cookham. Top tip: there is no where to get a bacon sandwich in Maidenhead or Cookham. I told Mat the lockeeper would make us one, but by the time he realised I was lying, we were in the middle of the river.

We saw this interesting castle type house on the way, wonder who lives there (we didn't wonder really, we were more concerned at the lack of food on board).

The weather wasn't too bad for the first part of our trip and we cruised along feeding moudly bread to the ducks and geese while waiting for our turn at the various locks on the way.

Later on the weather got worse and worse, with torrential rain, so we both got soaked. Mat in the meantime continued with the project of 'returning to nature' some gravel and rocks that had been used as ballast under the front deck. This stuff isn't the best thing to use, as it retains damp very easily. We managed to misplace all of this during the trip, with Iris sitting about 3 inches higher at the fron by the time we got to Reading. I'll be putting in concrete bloack ballast over the holiday weekend.

During one particularlly bad shower, we passed through Henley, center of the known universe. Basically you can get anywhere from Henley, a little known fact.

Eventually, we arrived at Iris's mooring at Reading. Didn't get much time to take in the scenery as we had to go and get Mat's girlfriend and head off to a BBQ in Hertfordshire.....

Here's a final shot of the crew, a little out of focus, some would say thats no bad thing.

2006-08-14T19:10:00.000Z

I got up early today with the intention of getting as far as I could. I went through the first lock on my own, as it was out of hours. Luckily it was one of the electrically operated ones, but it was still a lot of work having to run from one end to the other during various stages.

Was lovely travelling along the Thames, seeing things I'd only previously seen on TV. Two small kids on a bridge in Staines were hanging around spitting on boats passing underneath. I gave them a wave, thinking it might buy them off, but no, I felt a gob land on my head as I went under. Luckily I was wearing a hat, and luckily we aren't allowed guns in this country.

Stopped for lunch opposite Magna Carta island.

After that, just continued on through Windsor and Maidenhead. I mentioned about needing to find a place to leave Iris while I went back to work to a lockeeper and he suggested asking at Cookham lock. Luckily they had space and I made it there by about 6:30pm. Adam the lockeeper and his wife kindly gave me a lift to the train station on their way into town, so it was back to Reading to get my car, then home to pack to come to Sweden in the morning.

2006-08-13T18:56:00.000Z

Thames....

Basically once onto the Thames we just kept going until we got to Teddington locks, the unspoken fear being that the tide would turn and we'd be swept out to sea, or at least to France....

Due to fading light and the fact that Mat needed to get back for work the next day, we stopped at Hampton Court. Once again the visitors mooring were full, but we found some useful pilings to tie up to. Mat caught a taxi home, while I finished off the bottle of Smirnoff Ice we'd been using to steady our nerves.

I'd mistakenly thought that Hampton court would be some kind of picture postcard English setting, but it was chav central. Firstly I got to witness an extremely agressive argument between two numbnuts in a speedboat, and some guy on a barge who had been taking pictures of them speeding. After shouting abuse and threats for 25 minutes, the two Miami-Vice wannbees roared off scattering wildlife and boats before them.

Just as I was thinking it was all over for the night, some local loons decided to have a motorcycle donut competition on the opposite bank. Still, gave me a chance to reflect on my own behaviour as a youth.

2006-08-13T15:36:00.000Z

Brentford to the Thames

Being keen, we were up early and went down through the gauging locks to see if we could get out onto the Thames at 8:00am, but the lockeeper didn;t recommend it. So we returned to the U-Boat pen and amused ourselves by reading the paper and putting the name on the side of Iris.

This was actually quite easy, I got the name made up from SAC graphics (www.sacgraphics.com) who were very helpful and sent me a couple of examples in differing fonts to choose from. I decided to keep things nice and clean, so no flourishes, roses, castles or any of that stuff. The finished result looks really good. Thats Mat 'Thousand yard stare' Sleightholme at the helm.

Finally it was time to venture out onto the Thames, so it was back through the gauging locks at Brentford. These are electrically operated, with about 12-14 buttons for individual functions. I was hoping that there was just a big 'get my boat through' button, but I managed to figure it out.

I decided to take one last picture of us on the Grand Union, by this time I was begining to sense a level of discontentment amongst the crew.....

2006-08-12T12:31:00.000Z

Grand Union Canal, Denham to Brentford
So, we began our trip on saturday the 12th. The boat should have been ready to go, but the engine start battery was flat. It took the boatyard a couple of hours to sort that out, so we didn't get away until 1230-ish. While we were waiting Mat fixed a couple of minor things, and I started dismantling the stuff underneath the front deck, half of which consisted of a drawer unit made of chipboard.....

The trip was fairly uneventful, apart from trying to remember how to steer a boat and operate locks. There are an awful lot of boats lining the canal, some in much better condition than others. We also got re-aquainted with the concept of boat speed. It became clear that we weren't going to make our slot to get out onto the Thames that night, and actually arrived at Brentford at about 6:30pm after racing down the Hanwell flight.

All the official visitors moorings seemed to have been taken up, but we found what seemed to be a disused U-Boat pen.

Given that the rain had been falling off and on all day, this seemed as good a place as any to stop for the night. If anyone is looking for a good time out in London, Brentford is not the place to go. Everywhere we went seemed half full at best and there didn't seem to be a lot going on.

2006-08-11T21:36:00.000Z

Essentials packed (lifejackets, smirnoff ice, fizzy sweets) next of kin informed, farewells bade.

Either the last post, or the begining of a modern day Homer's odessey.......

2006-08-08T17:45:00.000Z

This is the view looking aft. Although the basic boat is ok, some of the 'additions' are of questionable quality. One of the reasons I bought the boat is that I figured I can't make it any worse.

Mat and I have already removed the partition that was blocking off half the passageway through the kitchen, which makes a big difference to the amount of light in the back of the cabin. With those tiny portholes, I need all the light I can get.

This second view is looking forward, the bed has been cobbled together from a chest of drawers and some bits of plywood. I plan to get rid of this, apart from the chest of drawers part, and build a bed under the tug deck at the front. I'll try it first to see if I like it though!

2006-08-08T15:05:00.000Z

The cruise preparations begin....
sleeping bag
air bed
survival book
maps
bottle opener
what else is needed?

2006-07-28T16:36:00.000Z

by flatplane8

Here she is.......just bought IRIS the narrowboat, or 'IRIS No. 3' as she'll be known on the Thames.

My friend Mat and I need to move her from Uxbridge in West London, down the Grand Union Canal and onto the Thames. We then need to make the journey upstream to Reading, a total trip of about 72 miles.

Could quite possibly be a 'leave as boys, arrive as men' type experience.