Enjoying the Sun

11th March 2016

We came over to the marina yesterday (10th) for an overnight stop. On arrival it was pleasing to find the bow locker to be dry for the first time as there have been some issues with water finding it's way in and when we visited last week the boat had to be lifted out so that Viking could come and repair it.

Life's too Short was also sitting a bit more level in the water thanks to an extra 175Kg of ballast being added under the rear bunk. We're not quite there yet though as when we filled the water tank the boat developed a nose down stance again so some more ballast will be added in the rear compartment to level it up again. There are still a few snags on the list but I'm starting to think that we'll end up having to put up with a few of them rather than keep on pushing for everything to be sorted as Life's too Short to keep making a fuss when all we want to do is enjoy the boat, (it's a bit like when you buy a new house, eventually you give up nagging the builders to resolve snags), but there are some things that I will insist upon if I have to.

We have been impressed by one of the marina cats which seems to have no fear at all of the water, often to be seen climbing around perilous places with a calm dexterity.

We decided to eat in Boaters Bar at the marina rather than cook this time; we were made to feel very welcome and the food was fine so I expect we'll be back as it is so convenient. Walking back to the boat afterwards it was quite cold so I was looking forward to winding up the heating!

In the distance on the left you can see the red ORACLE lights in Thames Valley Park

On the boat we have gas powered warm air heating and I'd also bought a small fan heater for when on  shore power, but I don't like the idea of leaving either of these on overnight so I have now added a small oil-filled radiator to the collection.

We haven't been able to use our TV on board yet as it doesn't find any channels. We wondered if it was a problem with the aerial but it's been suggested that the marina is in a bad area for reception. On this visit I happened to take my laptop and a 'TV dongle', using this with the little aerial it comes with we managed to find 22 channels so we were able to watch a bit of TV while we enjoyed a drop of wine! We'll have to wait to try the TV and proper aerial until we are moored up elsewhere.

To stop things sliding around in the cupboards I lined them with some non-slip mat, one large roll was sufficient to do the job, it should reduce the rattling of the wine bottles and glasses!

We settled down for the night in the rear berth, it's quite cosy to say the least. I left the oil filled radiator on all night, right next to us but to be honest it was still very cold so I'm not sure if it helped much.

It was foggy when we got up today and still very chilly but it wasn't long before the sun broke through and it turned into a beautiful day.

Marina life continues to interest us with the early morning people heading off to work and many others who spend time working on their boats - perhaps readying them for the season or maybe for trips further afield.

The River is in flood again at the moment which meant we couldn't venture out anywhere, so after breakfast we did some tidying up then Caroline settled in the cockpit with a good book and I tended to a few odd jobs I thought needed doing on the boat. I also happened to have a telephone interview for a job - the joys of modern technology and marina wifi, working from home will never be the same again!

Life's too Short is one of the smaller boats at the marina!

When it was time to go home I filled the water tank to the brim so that when the ballast is being added it can be made level when full of water (otherwise the shower tray will never drain), it would be interesting to find out what the boat weighs once it's sorted!

We're only a couple of weeks away from Easter and if the water levels have dropped to safe levels we are planning a 4 day return trip to Windsor - our first adventure!