Enjoying the lower Staffs and Worcester

10 locks.

Again this morning, the spirit was willing but the mind said "stay in bed"!! However,it was a gorgeous sunny day and the canal beckoned. We set off and wound a few locks and worked up an appetite for breakfast. Chef Marcus cooked on the move and as a result, tasted better than usual. Again, uneventful was the word to describe the day. A few hours were spent moored in the sun at Kidderminster.

Moored in the sunshine at Kidderminster

This was when we found that the locks on the Severn closed at 4pm and we'd have to spend the night at Stourport. James bought more Lego in Kidderminster and spent a few happy hours in the front cockpit assembling it. A warm and cosy evening was spent in the Basin. We even found a whole load of discarded firewood in the skip- very dry and all small sizes.

Our first full day on our first proper holiday

18 locks

Despite our best intentions, we didn't get as quite an early start as we'd intended. However once we were up, the boys were raring to go. The heater plugs are definitely playing up, so Marcus started the engine using the trick with the jump leads, which we learned when the motor home heater plugs were playing up!! An uneventful cruise down the Staffs & Worcester. We were not particularly slow, but only managed to get as far as the roundhouse ruin before we moored up.

Steerers Eye View

We had been dodging showers most of the day and we'd had enough by evening. The little wood stove kept us toasty warm, but it does have to be fed with wood regularly!! I found a lovely bit of pine, nice and dry, so Marcus sawed it up and it burnt beautifully & smelled great too. Some achy muscles on me- must be out of practice and had a few too many cream cakes!!

Cruising through the dark!!

We arrived at the marina really early, having picked James up from his school trip at Southwell. Once the clothes & food was on board, we all looked at each other and thought "lets leave the marina!"
Needless to say that darkness fell really fast and by the time we were at the Fox & Anchor, James & Marcus were mooring up in the dark. All warm & cosy inside NB Harebell tho and an early night for her crew.

Fantastic Mr Foxes

We had heard from Fox Narrowboats that Ambassador had passed their marina few days ago and was heading up the Ouse. That most likely meant that she was heading through Ely. Which was where we knew we could purchase a cooker for Harebell, so once we had raided "Harebell's Drawer" for some savings, we set off for Ely in the pouring rain. First stop was the Chandlery and to buy the new oven. We went all upmarket and chose a double oven and separate grill. Am now getting renewed enthusiasm for being able to cook some delicious meals, cakes and puddings. Also we'll be able to cook toast and bagels, nomnomnom.
We wandered down to the river and I was, I'm proud to say, the first one to spy Ambassador moored through the trees. She'd been cleaned up and was looking a lot more loved than when we last saw her.

Ambassador moored at Ely

I was so pleased that she'd been bought....the tell tale damp smell was coming through the windows. We managed to speak to the new owners who were really pleased with the boat. They'd found out about the windows and discovered a few other boat niggles, like the batteries and a few engine issues. It was great to see her on the move and doing what she was built for. However, as mush as we were pleased to catch up with the boat that started it all off for us, the comparison yet again showed us how well we'd done with Harebell and how much we love her.

A rainy afternoon in Ely is not something I would recommend- To be fair though, most of the UK was probably just as gloomy- but we passed the a pleasant afternoon in the city nonetheless. Typically, the sun came out just as we were due to leave and we spent a lot of the journey home trying to block the sun from the car!! As we drove through Upwell, James spied a boat moored on the Well Creek and lo & behold it was a Foxy!!  The car was hastily abandoned at the side of the road and we all 3 poured out to have a look- A little disappointing that she was a cruiser stern, but still unmistakably a Charlie Fox boat- Foxtrot. The "V" at the front looked a lot smaller than on other boats and there seemed more room in the front, but perhaps it was because there was no cratch. Honestly, boats are like busses sometimes!!
All in all, a great day.

Car Boots & Boating.....Perfect!

Staffs & Worcs                            7 Locks
We all got out of bed this morning to head to Wombourne Car Boot, where we all picked up some goodies. Back to Harebell for lunch and a few chores & maintenance. James & Sophie went for a wander and found a park to play in whilst Marcus added some much needed hinges to the hatches under our mattress.....Will make it a lot easier to get our bedding in & out.

We st off early afternoon in fab sunshine and quickly caught up with a single handed boater at the first locks, which happened to be Botterham Staircase. Sophie & James helped him through that lock and all the others until he moored up at Greensforge. We stopped at Greensforge for water and then Sophie & James discovered the magnet and have been trying to fish treasures out of the canal ever since. The last few locks passed quite easily for me, as I was reading after clearing up from the tea & donuts at Greensforge. We passed our planned mooring spot by the Roundhouse ruin and  turned round at the Stourton Junction and found a great spot in our favourite area.

James spent quite a while trying to fish out stuff from the canal....they dropped the magnet from the bridge & found 2 scaffolding links. Great!  

More Rain

Staffs & Worcs Canal                               10 Locks

Well the weather made up for the last few dry weeks.....it just rained & rained. We decided to have breakfast at McDonalds and go to Go Outdoors for a waterproof coat for me, as I had left mine at home. As it turned out, we took so long in Go Outdoors, buying trousers, coats & shoes that by the time we got back to the marina, it was starting to brighten up. As I write this, 36 hours later my waterproof has yet to be worn......worth the cost I guess to ensure that not a drop of rain fell since I paid for it.

We left the marina at 1.30pm and set off into a gorgeous afternoon. We arrived at Compton lock 1.5 hr later and  Sophie proved that she had not lost her touch when it came to lock-winding. Unfortunately, we were also behind a very slow & cautious boat, so progress through the locks was slow.

Nearing Compton

We followed them all the way to Bratch Locks, but passed them just above the top. It was gone 6pm when we were passing through Bratch and with the lock keeper to help us through, we only took about 15/20 mins. We also bought some new paddle keys, just the kind we like, for £5.00 EACH!!!!!!!!!! Well spotted Sophie!! They had been fished out of the canal at some point and painted and were just perfect.

Harebell at Bratch for the first time with our family xx 

I have had quite an easy day, as Sophie & James has been doing most of the lock- winding.....I was even forbidden to help on some of them!!

We were through the next lock in no time and found our desired mooring spot near Sainsburys in Wombourne. Marcus stayed on the boat to fix the alternator and we went for a few more supplies. A late evening after all, as we all had to have dinner.  A later night to bed, but straight to sleep for all of us and a good night's sleep to boot.  
 

Survey Day!

Well, if I said that I was nervous this morning, I don't think the word covers it! We knew that the survey would bring more issues to light, but we really wanted to know what they were and how much of a "deal breaker" they would be. We already knew we'd need re-negotiate price over the gearbox, but we felt that there'd be a limit to how much lower the price would go compared to how much money we'd have to spend on fault fixing and remedial work for the BSC.                                                                            

Out of the water and looking good.

We were excited to get to the marina and even more pleased to see that she was still out of the water, in all her glory. We finally got to meet Steve, the surveyor, who gave us a run down (and ball park repair figure) of the issues she was facing: We broke it down into 3 sections.

Work that needs completing in order to convert her from a sturdy hull to a boat that can go boating.

New gear box and  new drive plate                               £1,500
Engine service and injector service, oil change
 fuel filter change and oil filter change
 & replace flexible fuel hose.
 reseal exhaust & replace lagging.                                  £   400
3 new batteries needed                                                 £   300

Work that needs completing in order to get boating boat a licence and a BSC.

Service and fix Alde boiler in order to make safe for BSC

Secure gas hob

Change fire extinguishers and add smoke alarms.                    £150.00

Add low level ventilation 

Secure gas bottles

Work that needs completing because she is a boat and boats need work.

Replace 50-60% worn anodes and re black hull.           £500.00

That little lot certainly gave us something to think about- There is some welding that needs attention too, but not essential work at this stage. We retreated to the coffee shop for a mull over and bean count. We felt that the list of problems gave us good negotiating tools, so we were tempted to put in a cheeky offer of £15,000 and see where we got. After all, the advertised price was £19,950  and we'd already had our offer of £17,250 accepted. As Steve pointed out, the vendor was probably aware of some of the faults and had taken them into account when he agreed a lower price in the first place.
We realised that Tuesday was the worst day to have the survey, as the Brokerage office was closed and we'd have to wait until the next day to get haggling! A long drive back home from Sawley with many scenarios and figures buzzing around the car!  

Need a new Gearbox!

All Geared Up....

Anyone who knows boats, knows that there is very little straightforward problems and repairs. Accordingly, Harebell threw us a curve ball today, as it turns out that the propulsion fault is not simply a "faulty throttle cable" but the whole ruddy gearbox!!
All plans to test and purchase on hold until the survey now, as the general opinion between ourselves, the owner and the Marina was to wait and see what else needs attention and then have one big melting pot of discussions, quotes and negotiations.

So, no further trip to Sawley this weekend, we are just planning to chill at home and wait for Harebell's Big Day on the 20th May.

We're only going backwards, as we can't find forwards...

Sorry to the singers from the "Star Trekkin' song for messing up what was, at the time, a catchy tune, but we literally found ourselves with no forward propulsion today!

This morning was  Ying & Yang and then back Ying again. In the interests of fuel & time economy we decided to start the day with a trip to Ikea, before heading down to Sawly to take our lovely boat to be out on the water to see, feel & hear how she ran -I do fear hearing a noisy rattly engine that sounds like it it determined to loosen every bolt and fall apart....
We thought that as we knew what we wanted from Ikea it would be a quick case of in the store, a trip through the maze and be propelled out the other end with our purchases....  WRONG!!!!!!! That would

need a whole new blog to describe that visit and I just don't have the inclination. Suffice it to say, anyone who has been to Ikea - they  Will  Know!!

Once we were at Sawley, we waded through the puddles that used to be the car park and headed off to our boat to re-familiarise ourselves as to what was going to be a financial drain over the next few years- she didn't disappoint!
 Paul, our Marina Official and all round good egg, started Harebell up and reversed her beautifully off her visitor mooring.

James all ready for Harebell's Demo.

He then continued to do that until he hit the concrete piling opposite, as the forward throttle was not working. So, in best Hacker Boating Tradition, off came the engine covers & Marcus was sticking his head down the engine space to see what was wrong....honestly, we'd hardly been going 30 seconds.
A faulty throttle cable was thought to be the culprit, and we had no choice but to leave her on the other side of the marina and trudge back in the rain. We consoled ourselves with a coffee and panini at the excellent cafe on site, Mason & Mason. The rain did not seem to want to ease, so we had a quick nip round to have one last look at Harebell before we headed home, majorly disappointed.

Harebell, as we had to leave her, stranded on the opposite bank of the Marina.

Lots of work in Birmingham.

BCN Main Line & Brirmingham & Fazeley Canal                                                             27 Locks

Mooring in Birmingham can always mean a bit of a gamble on disturbances and last night, we had only one minor issue of someone banging on the side of the boat & trying to run off with the cans from the roof. As they were chained up, they did not go very far, but instead made a lot of noise!
Disturbances apart, city mooring has it's bonuses and a Sainsbury's Local around the corner meant that I could set off with a very cosmopolitan swing in my step and go and get Croissants for breakfast. The sun was shining, but the buildings were creating a lot of shadow, which was annoying. Did I mention that I wasn't a city girl?

Croissants for breakfast were very "ooh la la" and swiftly eaten with a cup of coffee that seems to get better & better on this trip. We set off for Farmers Bridge at about 9.15 and kept to our steady 10 locks an hour, with the Post Office Tower (for us oldies) looming ahead of us and then retreating behind us as we wound, pushed & pulled to get down the next 13 locks of the Farmers Bridge Flight.

 Lots of new flats have been built and England's second city is a pleasure to sail through, but there's no denying that the suburbs get a bit grim and instead of bursting through into the pleasantness of Cambrian Wharf, you just get the feeling that the best has been & gone. Water problems meant a quick stop at Salford Junction, but we headed onto the Aston Flight soon enough. Had a chat with a crowd of Villa supporters on their way to a match and got into a good routine with a single handed boat and allowed an upcoming boat to lighten the load as well.

Us alongside the boat with the added Dog Bed.

At the bottom of the 8th Lock, NB unnamed (the single handed boater)was stuck with a major blockage round his propeller. We stopped and offered our assistance, moored alongside and offered the mother of all knives to help retrieve a whole dog bed from the propeller- Amazing what people will throw into a canal these days.

All in all, 2 bags retrieved from the prop.

On our way again, still bathed in glorious sunshine. I felt a little guilty going ahead of the other boat, but I guess that's the way the lock gates open.  3 more locks finished of the Aston flight and we were heading towards Spaghetti Junction and the sights to behold therein. I still find it amazing that there is a beautiful bridge parallel to to aqueduct over the "turgid River Tame" (Canal Companion, Stourport Ring-JM Pearson 1992) hidden by the massive structures holding up the M6.

Amazingly enough, we got caught in a 3 NB log jam, held up by NB Bob, just bobbing along- the boating equivalent of Sunday Afternoon drivers I guess. However they were polite enough to let us both past. When we reached Minworth Top Lock, we were caught up in a 2 NB log jam, held up by a NB from Langley Mill. However they were polite enough to let us past and for the second time today we jumped to the front. By the time we had been through the 3rd Minworth lock, my feet were definitely telling me that enough was enough, so we moored, mid afternoon, up in the sunniest spot just before the Curdworth Tunnel.  Marcus & I had some food and James

"chillaxed" out on the towpath with his "finger food" and enjoyed the sun.

Our Turn..... 

Most of the trip today we have felt that the tiller was shaking, no doubt having collected some unwanted plastic around the propeller. This evening, in the glorious spring sunshine, Marcus decided that the time was right to venture down the weed hatch.....much hilarity followed as he wriggled & wormed his way through the smallest spaces and managed to cut loose some offending plastic bags.

Nope- Can't reach it all from above....Gotta go under.

I'm under....Now I just gotta get IN!!

I'm in!!!! 

Ta-daaaahhh!

Now just the small matter of extracting myself from the hole!

One more sleep!

Well, a new day brings new news!! We decided this morning that we are quite comfortable with the extra outgoings each month. We have also found that we no longer talk of "if we get Ambassador" but "we can do this or that". Ideas and situations grow and develop and get easier to accept. When Marcus was first made redundant, I'd wake up in a cold sweat sometimes panicking about how we would cope with the bills; we just got on with the job and made the money.

Barclaycard won't transfer my credit limits form one card to another- it was worth asking but no matter as we still have the credit limit in place, albeit at a slightly higher rate.

Latterly, we have been spending silly amounts of money on eating out and "extras"- we spent a lot on decorating the house......we can really live without all that if it means we buy a boat- some amazing space that is just ours and our little hub away from the hustle & bustle of life.

It must be happening as I've already chosen the sofa bed for James xx

Yesssss!! Ambassador 1 step closer!

Wonderful news! We have secured £10,000 from the HSBC. With the space on the credit cards, a bit of hard work over the next few months and an accepted offer of less than the asking price, we should be well on or way to owning Ambassador. I called the marina and arranged a visit for Friday. The owners want to sell, but are sad to see their boat go; they want someone to love it and appreciate its character the way they do- I can assure you Ambassador owners, we will love her and create a whole new load of family memories and then pass them on to James, so he can then enjoy the boat with his family when he is older.

Really looking forward to Friday now. Not telling James as it's not fair to get his hopes up- he's only small and it's hard enough for me to remain philosophical about it all.

It's been a week since we got back.....

And it's done nothing to dampen out enthusiasm for Ambassador. In fact, we got the virtual tour to work and were able to see every nook & cranny of her in glorious 22 inch colour! We budgeted £15,000 for spring 2015 and now we are faced with the dream 12 months early at £5,000 over budget.

We know that the trailer & motorhome must go- we can't run 2 businesses, when one takes up a lot of time and the other require a lot of preparation and a lot of time away (save that time for boating!!) We just got to work out a way to get everything synchronised.

We went for a wonder along the Grantham Canal today and saw the new locks that have been installed- it would certainly be a fabulous trip if it was ever opened. Checked again that Ambassador was still for sale and that no one had snuck in over the bank holidays!

Just testing the water to see how this all works......

It's only taken a few minutes to decide on a profile name, rather catchy even if I do say so myself. As we have not even left for our trip, I have no narrowboating pictures to upload, so as this one has water in it, it will have to do. ......9 more sleeps to go!!