The Weekend Trip That Never Was

27th February 2016

This weekend, being a 4 day holiday, we had planned a return trip to Racecourse Marina at Windsor but the weather gods had other ideas! We had a few days of nice weather on the run up to the weekend but no matter which forecast we chose to look at they all told us the same. It was about to get very wet and windy.

We arrived at the marina mid afternoon on Good Friday and loaded our kit bags, food and wine onto Life's Too Short. Our new 'ball' fenders to go on the bow had arrived but needed to be pumped up. We had no pump so we'd wait until we could use one at the marina first thing in the morning.

It was pleasing to see our boat sitting a bit more level in the water, a quick look in the big compartment under the cockpit revealed the 10 bags of builders ballast that had been added, so that's 250 Kg as far back in the boat as it can be. It made a reasonable improvement but Life's too Short was still a bit 'bow down' and the shower tray plug was still at the highest point of the shower tray! More head scratching required then.

It was a lovely warm evening on board with a nice bottle of wine and some home cooking, very relaxing. We were too late to head out anywhere on the river, we just kept our fingers crossed that all the forecasters had got it wrong for tomorrow.

A beautiful evening

We had a disturbed night, the weather front arrived and we were being buffeted about by the gusting wind. We've normally had some weather protection with Jim's big Princess moored alongside us, but it has now gone to Plymouth ahead of a trip to the Med, leaving us feeling a little exposed!

We were up a little earlier than planned, a slow start to the day. We decided to have breakfast at Boaters Bar after which we collected our fenders which Lee had so kindly pumped up for us. The weather was as forecast so we didn't go anywhere. Caroline spent the day relaxing with a good book and I continued to write 'Uncle Bryn's Guide to Boating' (the handbook for Life's too Short).

Saturday night I made a curry (well to be honest I think Mrs Patak made it, I just emptied the jar) which we enjoyed with a bottle of Champagne, an unusual combination but lovely all the same! By now we were experiencing frequent rain storms as well as gale force winds, so we had another night of disturbed sleep.

Today we awoke to sunshine and blue skies! I cooked some breakfast and checked the forecast - it suggested that by 10:00 the storms would arrive. And they did. Bang on cue the skies darkened, the thunder rumbled and the heavens opened. The cockpit canopy leaked more than usual, water comes through the stitching on the zips on the flaps that cover the roof poles and it runs out of these 'tubes' at both ends. We need to find a way to stop this but for now we just needed to catch as much of the water as possible. At least we now know why the cockpit cushions are always so wet.

It rained. Hard.

Water catching

More water catching!

We decided to pack away and get the boat 'ready to go' so that on our next visit we should be able to just load up and get going. No more faffing! Hoping to be back in 2 weeks time, watch this space!

Our Second Short Trip

20th March 2016

We hadn't expected to be on board this weekend, but as we didn't have any plans that couldn't be moved we decided to grab a weekend away. I was hoping to see a few of the snags rectified but I was disappointed to find that nothing had been done since  last week (with the possible exception of the gas leak - we couldn't smell gas this time but we couldn't find out if anyone has been to fix it or not).  I brought some more tools with me this time so I attended to a few of the minor things myself. I used silicone sealant to seal around the shore power socket and around the navigation light cable where it goes into the roof, I glued down a loose edge of carpet in the bow and fitted a small ball catch to the cabin door (which means we can now close the door without having to lock it all the time).

A very simple 9.5mm ball catch, 99p did the job. I was terrified at the thought of drilling a 9.5mm hole into the edge of the door, but I managed it OK, I just need to get some tiny brass screws to fit the striking plate next time we visit.

With my DIY successfully completed we took a walk along every pontoon of at the marina looking at the wonderful variety of boats moored there, and it's certainly true that there is a boat for every budget.  I then made us a curry and we settled down for the evening with a bottle of wine and a DVD (which I slept through!)

After another slightly chilly night we dragged ourselves out of the den and tucked into breakfast, then set about tidying up and preparing for the day. We discovered another snag in that our hot water heater doesn't work on the 240v electricity, only on gas so this has been added to the list of things that need to be investigated and rectified.

Our marina neighbour Jim (lovely chap, knows a lot about boating and always happy to chat) has an old Princess 38 which he'll soon be transporting down to the Med to live on for a while. I believe it is being collected this week and today Jim fired up the engines for what was probably the first time in quite a while, so he could move to the fuel jetty. He describes his boat as having 2 bus engines, and judging by the noise and amount of smoke I'm inclined to believe him! I thought the smoke would reduce once the engines had warmed up but this didn't seem to be the case. Jim carefully edged out of his mooring without bumping our little boat and began his short transit to the fuel jetty at what looked like a fairly quick pace - it turns out this is as slow as his boat can go, with both engines on tickover. Also he has no rudder, steering is achieved by varying the speeds of the 2 drives, so low speed manoeuvres in the marina are not the easiest.  As we tracked Jim's journey around the marina by watching the enormous plume of smoke that trailed behind we decided to go for a short trip ourselves. As well as being fun for us it would also make Jim's life a bit easier when he returns and needs to moor up.

The stretch of river between Sonning and Caversham is still under 'amber' conditions as the flow is quiet fast (check conditions here), so we decided just to cruise to Caversham lock, then back to Sonning lock and then return to the marina. The river was a bit busier than last time, more people are getting their boats ready for the season ahead and there were quite a few canoeists out as well - rather them than me!

When we returned to our berth at the marina Jim's boat was back in it's place and I was chuffed that I was able to reverse Life's too Short in next to it without bumping into either his boat or the pontoon! I won't be able to do that every time I bet!

After a snack, I replaced the gas bottle that ran out yesterday and we set about packing away ready to head off, going through all the checks to make sure we left the boat safe and secure.

I decided to take Caroline for lunch at a lovely pub by the River Kennet that a friend recently introduced me to. The Rowbarge is between Woolhampton Mill Lock and the swing bridge and well worth a visit if you are in the area; the service and food are both superb. They have a large riverside garden with moorings and Woolhampton lock is just a very short stroll along the towpath.  We watched a narrowboat negotiate it's way from the lock, through a very strong side current (where the weir stream meets) and through the swing bridge. I also videoed it just in case there was an easy £250 to be had from You've Been Framed! But Stan on the helm knew what he was doing and made it look easy although we heard that a several others earlier in the day had not done so well.

And that was it for another weekend, we should be back on board next week for the long Easter weekend with a trip to Windsor planned.

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!