Category: Narrowboat

Braunston -> Yelvertoft

Step 1: Braunston to Watford Locks

Two flights of locks. One of them staircase locks at Watford.The other Braunston Locks. One that I’ve done a few times now.

Braunston Locks are very tiring. And I was kind of happy when I found that due to water shortages, the Watford flight closed at night when the volunteers went home.

Being staircase locks, only one boat can go through at a time. And the CRT like you to book ahead, (which I didn’t).

During the day, the CRT prefer to keep it manned. Previously, at night, they let the public traverse the locks as they wished. Due to water shortages, this practice stopped, and passing through the flight is only possible with the aid of the lock-keeper.

I woke up around eight, and got going just before nine. Entering the first lock at 8.50am. Luckily, they are good and fast and I made it through the whole flight in around an hour. Apart from my button getting stuck under the gates at the top lock, all went without event, and I set off on my way again. Continue reading “Braunston -> Yelvertoft”

Flecknoe -> Braunston

People do moor in-between, but there’s no road access, so it’s useless to me.

Fairly picturesque and popular.

Old Braunston

At the moment, I’m at Braunston, ancient Bargee village.

All things barge are here, chandlers x 3. Marina x 1. Canalside pubs x2. And some other shops and services connected to the trade.

I was moored here for the winter on the Rugby arm.

This time I’m on Oxford arm.

There’s no piling and I’m moored up on pins but it’s a much better mooring for a number of reasons.

Not least because:

  • The towpath isn’t overgrow. On the Rugby arm, the trees hang down and you have to crouch to pass them. This is for about 20-25 yards.
  • The trees don’t overhang. They stand up straight, not grow up over my solar and cast shade over the boat.
  • Parking is better. Not on the A45 which you have to cross daily.
  • Quicker into town. Not by much, but a shorter walk into Braunston.
Mooring in Braunston
Mooring in Braunston

Views are better.

Got a better all over ambiance certainly compared to mooring on the Rugby arm, but also in toward the village. It’s nicer here because you’re out in the country.

Will have to turn Bonnie round in due course, as she’s pointing in the wrong direction. Continue reading “Flecknoe -> Braunston”

Calcutt Boats -> Flecknoe

It’s amazing the power a little post on social media has…

Imagine.

My little problem with invoicing at Calcutt boats magically disappeared! Simply paid the bill and left.

Social media and complaining

I was discussing this with my respondents the other day. If you’ve got a grievance with a company these days, often the only way to get someone to take notice of you is posting some nasty stuff about it and spamming it out on social media.

They no longer man the phones any more. You’ll be lucky to get a response by letter.

Working for people like Amazon, I know this to be true.

They will just ignore you till the cows come home. Nothing you can do.

Once you start blowing them up on social-media, it’s a different story, you get a response pretty quick.

Same with this Calcutt Boats thing. One day there’s a problem. Post it on social media and it disappears.

Magic!

Flecknoe

I’ve moved the boat a little further down. To Flecknoe.

This is out in the wilds.

The nearest real shops are Daventry, which is 5 miles away. Continue reading “Calcutt Boats -> Flecknoe”

Weedon -> Calcutt Boats

Calcutt Boats

Supposedly to get a Eberspächer fitted, which on arrival, they claim to know nothing about.

As well as that, they’ve given me an invoice with a cost from my last visit. That was on the 8th July 2017.

An invoice that was paid at the time. On my querying it. The guy Matt, went off and brought out another invoice.

This time the invoice, which was again paid at the time, had been “entered it into the system wrongly”.

For this reason. It was up to me to pay it again.

Calcutt Boats dodgy invoice
Calcutt Boats dodgy invoice

Whether they’re trying to scam me out of money here, I don’t know. I do have eyes. That’s certainly what it looks like to me.

Blacking

Apart from that I’ve had some blacking done.

Blacking at Calcutt Boats
Blacking at Calcutt Boats
Hull Blacking at Calcutt Boats
Hull Blacking at Calcutt Boats
Hull Blacking at Calcutt Boats
Hull Blacking at Calcutt Boats
Fitting Anodes at Calcutt Boats
Fitting Anodes at Calcutt Boats

This and a service, which, to be honest, I could have done anywhere.

Eberspächer

The main reason for bringing the boat here was to have it priced for the fitting of an Eberspächer.

Something which was agreed in emails months before.

When I arrived. They claimed no knowledge of it.

Adding to narrowboat battery bank

Over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve been planning to upgrade the electrics of Bonnie Lady narrowboat.

One of the first jobs has been to add to the battery bank

Battery Bank

Is a collection of batteries which feed the boat and all the appliances on it.

Currently, we have 2 AGM 120ah leisure batteries in the bank. (There’s a starter battery, since none of the appliances run off this, I’ve not included it. It starts the engine. End of).

agm-leisure-battery-lp120
Due to the ‘live-on’ nature of the boat, this really isn’t enough:-

  • If you want to watch telly
  • If you want to be able to charge your computer, run printers, charge hoovers etc.
  • If you’re planning on having solar panels fitted

Solar panels will charge 4 leisure batteries during the course of a sunny day and less on more covered, cloudy conditions. The more batteries in the bank, the more cushion you have to soak up and store excess energy when it’s available. This may be through running the engine, or through the solar panels. When it’s raining, and you end up sitting around the boat all day with the lights on using the internet, you’ll really appreciate the difference!

Adding batteries to the battery bank

Major considerations are:- Continue reading “Adding to narrowboat battery bank”