Still very busy with everything here in Hull. More training, more volunteering slots and more History and Ghost walks. Fortunately not the enormous numbers of the first Ghost walks, but much more manageable and fun with smaller numbers.
Helen and I volunteer at the City of Culture Pod at the Travel Interchange, (bus and train station to normal folk) and it is always fun. You get the 'nay sayers' who tell that City of Culture' is a waste of money etc. and I then like to play the 'What did the Romans do for us' Game. I may not always convert them but it is nice to try. There are lots of folk who just want a natter, and they are lovely too. My favourite is when somebody comes and says they have several hours to kill and they don't know Hull, so you can help plan their day and send them off to the best places to make sure they come back. The most strange question I have been asked is 'why are there two tides every day?'
Helen and I volunteer at the City of Culture Pod at the Travel Interchange, (bus and train station to normal folk) and it is always fun. You get the 'nay sayers' who tell that City of Culture' is a waste of money etc. and I then like to play the 'What did the Romans do for us' Game. I may not always convert them but it is nice to try. There are lots of folk who just want a natter, and they are lovely too. My favourite is when somebody comes and says they have several hours to kill and they don't know Hull, so you can help plan their day and send them off to the best places to make sure they come back. The most strange question I have been asked is 'why are there two tides every day?'
Hull City of Culture 2017 Information Pod at the Travel Interchange.
Helen has discovered she enjoys jazz after a couple of trips out to the Hull Jazz festival and we have both addressed schools full of kids as every school in Hull is getting visit from volunteers and the outreach have got City of Culture activity packs into every school to get them involved. It is somewhat daunting standing up in front of over 200 small children.
On the boat front I think I have already said that we passed the MOT and so could get the licence with no problem, and with the discount. The next thing was the blacking. We still haven't been able to fit in a trip to the boat yet, but Streethay (and it is pronounced Street Hay, not Streath Hay, as I was told it was on the cut, a couple of times), have kept me well informed. They recommended that we fit a few low profile anodes along the middle length of the boat as there was evidence of pitting the further we got from the anodes at bow and stern. I had seen this for my self in clear water through the year. As we knew that we were having the boat painted this year I didn't get the blacking carried out last year so it has gone three between coatings. I thought the galvanic isolator wasn't working or something but then realised that it will only be active when the boat is on shore power, or at least I think that is how it works. We had a very battered propeller with two very bent blades for the full years cruising so it will be interesting to see how the fuel consumption works out when I calculate it for the end of the year. Mind you we have been on the rivers quite a bit so may not show to much. I felt that the prop must be the thinnest scantlings as not only have we bent the blades every year, but I have been able to partly straighten them with just a mole wrench and whilst in the water. I asked them to source one for me and they reckon that they wont be able to find me one until January. They said also that they could get me one made for £950!!. I think we can wait. Whilst they were down there they have replaced the rudder cup bearing and the top bearing too. I am assuming that they have started on the repaint job now so we will have to pop down and see her with her skirts lifted.
