2017 Consumables.

As a rest from Hull I am giving you my years collections of animal photos. You will soon see why I haven't been invited to meet David Attenborough!

Who knew that we actually have the have the pink footed geese from Greenland and Iceland, where as those from Svalbard go to Denmark and the Netherlands! For some reason it is rare in France and Ireland and Canada and east coast USA. It seems they are quite fussy. In the UK they have done very well, from 30,000 birds in 1950 to 292,000 in 2004. This one was seen near Minworth on the way into Birmingham.

Surprisingly this wont be the only elephant you see in these photos. This one was filmed on the Dudley Canal No.2 on the way to Hawne Basin.

Are these the ugliest birds in the UK? Muscovy ducks aren't even after Russia for which they are named. They are actually from Mexico, Central and South America and have been domesticated since the pre-Columbian times. In actual fact the wild goose is black in colour.

As we were passing from Birmingham we decided to head up the Wednesbury Oak Loop at Deepfields Junction and have a look at the  Bradley Lock Gate factory. On the way we saw little egrets for the first time (no picture) but did get these swans gracefully flying off.

On the way back we saw these tethered horses with the ubiquitous Canada geese sharing the turf. The Canada goose was introduced into the country, but it has been proven that they have naturally migrated here as well. They don't seem to migrate once they arrive though. They are from Canada and USA and have a life span of between 10 and 24 years in the wild. Here in the UK the oldest recorded has been 31.

Some sort of a long eared owl and a couple of other kinds were patiently sitting on a stand in Wolverhampton Market raising money for an Owl Sanctuary. Helen is a sucker for an owl.

This year we saw more kingfishers than ever before, but always seemed to be when we were cruising so by the time I had picked up the camera, stuck the tiller in the small of my back and aimed, this was almost as good as it got.

2017 Consumables

                                              2017       2016       2015         2014 

5 x 110Ah batteries             395-00

sale of old batteries;  refund 66-55

2 x life jacket gas btls           39-92

2 x Morris K99 grease          10-00

5 lt 15/40W engine oil          15-50

2 x East Yorks. flags               5-98

Carnuba wax                         17-95                                                  

TOTAL                               417-80     342-24     454-58     255-22

I am hoping that I have cracked the battery situation having altered the wiring of them to have a more even charge so they last longer. I had the usual dilemma of what type of batteries to buy. I settled on normal lead acid ones and got them enclosed to even reduce the possibility of over filling them. 

It is always nice to get some money back for the old ones to defray the costs, but it was about £5 less than the last time and just depends on the price of the metals on the market at the time.

One of our four life jackets had got set off by the automatic activation device so needed replacing. I bought a spare. It just shows that they should be entirely dry before storing and they should not be kept in damp spots. Always check well before you need them too.

I had some filters left from last year, and only needed 15 ltrs of oil extra. The grease is for the stern gland.

The carnuba wax is expensive but I must say I have been impressed by it and will no doubt buy more next year. I still have half a bottle left. The flags are to proudly show where we hail from. Holderness, the boat's name is the triangle of land boarded between Hull, Spurn Point and Flamborough Head, and Hedon Haven, our 'port of registry', is the ancient town where we live, close to Hull.