Category: Narrowboat

Bonnie Eye

Centre rope for the narrowboat

Currently, Bonnie is without a centre rope hook.

We’ve been using the rails to tie the rope to. This chafes the paint off the sides, which now I’ve nearly finished the painting, is going to cause a problem.

Previously had a quote of £80 for fitting a centre rope from the ABC in Gayton.

After some gentle negotiation, managed to reduce the price with the ABC marina at Gayton.

I provided them with the eyehook, (which is a .34 tonne). The guy welded that onto a square plate.

I believe there’s a picture of it in my previous video.

The insulation is POLYSTYRENE which is not a fire hazard for welding jobs of this kind. Continue reading “Bonnie Eye”

Boat update

So I know we have some interested visitors in the progress of the boat, Bonnie Lady.

Since I got here on Friday, under the A43, I’ve been painting and arranging the boat by sanding and cleaning.

It’s taken a while to get to this stage. But I’ve managed to get a coat off on one side and also do the other, but to disappointing results.

Port Side

The wind got up yesterday and blew all bits all over the fresh paint.

Also, I found there where big differences in the drying time, and when I came to ‘lay off’ , the paint dried prematurely.

For the sake of continuity, after scraping the bugs and grit off with emery paper, I’ve decided to do it again.

Starboard side

Done now. Looks as good as I can get it under these conditions.

There was virtually no wind when I painted this one.

I was pretty happy with the finish.

Unlike the Port side, where there were many things that looked bad, on this side, most of it looked good.

Whilton Marina

Dropped into Whilton Marina this afternoon, and made this video to show my purchases.

As it says in the video, I’ve had quotes to do the job, but nothing serious considering it’s a 10-20 minute welding job.

Hope this puts those interested parties more in the picture.

It’s coming along, but it’s slow going.

Blisworth Marina

Whilst the others are holidaying in France, I’ve parked the boat outside Blisworth Marina to try and finish the paintwork off.

You can see her nestling under the bridge over the A43.

It’s pretty close to Gayton, where the junction leads up to Northampton, where I originally planned taking the boat.

Wifi signal is quite strong and there’s the slight noise of traffic from the A43.

It’s a lot less windy here than outside, and I should get some painting done during the course of the day.

I’ve also got this interview thing at Amazon flex, so I might be working for them in my spare time also.

Nene and onwards

Or not, as the case maybe.

Contacted one of the marinas – firstly, I was interested in knowing about staying, then I got to realise going on the Nene was going to cost and EA licence.

EA Licence

Basically means paying twice. If you’ve got a CRT, you’re going to stick to CRT waters.

If you’ve got an EA, you’re going to need to licence for each individual stretch.

Can work out costly.

For this boat, just to go on the Nene and surrounding waters was £800.

Not money I have lying around. Neither worth it, since we’ve already forked out to stay in CRT regulated waters for the next 9 months or so.

Marina

I spoke to this marina, who told me that, like the CRT, if you’re on their water, you’re going to be paying their rates.

Looks like a trip to the fens is out of the question.

At least for the moment.

I need to do some more work and save some more money up.

Gayton

Started raining and I really didn’t fancy getting wet.

Called it a day at Gayton have hung up my boots and started cooking some dinner.