Relaxed afloat for a day.

We left home at 1230 after having to sort out car insurance. I have never found it so difficult to obtain a good quote as this year. Every time I think I have found a good price and then called for confirmation of this or that the quote has changed, and always upwards. I am glad I only have one boat as organising two cars at the same time is a real test. Still all done for another year and fingers crossed we wont even need it!

The M62 was busy but not excessively so. They seem to be changing the motorways round here to 'Smart Motorways'. It seems that these are roads where the congestion is managed by overhead gantries that indicate speed limits and open the hard shoulder for use as a fourth lane and give out other information to maintain a smooth flow of traffic. The 50mph speed limits will go some way into using up the £2 billion that they reckon these 'new' roads will save in congestion.

I dropped Helen off just by the city centre 75 mins after leaving home as she wanted to check out the Saturday market. I continued the short way to Savile Town Wharf and the boat. The sun was trying to shine as I got to the boat and as I passed down the pontoon I was struck at how smart she looked. I soon had the hatch open and inside to find that there were no surprises at first glance. I then set to straight away in getting the loose fire cement out of the top of the stove and flue and replaced with a new so that it would cure. I then lit the stove to warm the boat through and soon had it roaring away.

Roaring stove soon had the damp out of the boat.

Our last visit to the boat found us with no Hurricane heating or hot water. I fairly quickly traced it to a fuse that had got water in it and burned out when turned on. I managed to get some new fuses and re routed the wiring so that there was no likelihood of water ingress again, but when I turned it all on nothing happened! I fiddled about but I was rushing as we had to leave. At home I have been reading up about it all and trying to work out what could have gone wrong and what to do about it. After lighting the stove I cracked on with sorting it out as we would need a bit of heat as it is to be below freezing tonight. I checked the fuse and all the settings and set it on and there was no demand for heat despite the thermostat being on 35 degs. It then dawned on me that the control unit was on timed and was not currently on. As soon as I pressed it for constant the Hurricane fired up and in short order the radiators were heating up. A quick check of the header tank saw me topping it up a little just in case. I then went round the radiators and gave one a bleed. I think there is a very slight weep in the pipework of the forward radiator so it needed topping up.

I left it to heat right through the boat and get the water hot and went to turn on the water from the tank and the pump. (remembering to shut all the taps and showers etc). I then brought some logs and coal in and went down the engine hole. There was a bit of water down there but not as bad as I thought after all the rain since we were last over here. It is something I have to sort out and that is a job for tomorrow. I mopped it out and dried it off as best I could and then set about about checking the oil and water of the engine. As all was well so I gave the glow plugs a 7 second burn and then she started first time and ran none smokey and smoothly. Hurray!!

I then left to get the rest of the stuff out of the car and met Helen coming back. She had bought so gewgaws of braid and cushions etc and managed to get our tea for less than £2-80. I was expecting to take her out to eat so that was a bargain. We both potted about doing this and that and relishing being back on the boat. It feels so easy to come back as we both think of it as home really. As tea was sorted we decided to pop to the Leggers pub by the moorings. It was lovely and warm and busy at 1800 on a Saturday night. They have a good selection of beer so I tried A Moorhouse Brewery Excalibur Ale and a Black Iris Brewery 'Rose of my Heart'. Both were very drinkable and the Rose, a dark ale, was my evenings favourite.

We had been talking about going down to London for a few days before we get back aboard full time and Helen had been rummaging through some hotels but found nothing that she liked that was a good enough quality for the money she wanted to pay. I was  feeling very mellow and relaxed so had a look whilst the tea was on. In the end we have booked three nights in London in a good hotel, with breakfast, for under £300. I then got a train booked for £50 return for the two of us, and whilst I was on a roll we chose to see The Commitments and got two middle stalls tickets for £80! That means that we have a good break for under £450 and a saving of £260. I'm not coming to the boat again as it cost me money, but I'm looking forward to it all ready.

Helen feeling the glow of the stove and looking like she has never left.