Lockdown and Crankshaft check

So good news! We have been told by CRT that from the 23rd of May we should be able to move more freely BUT! not through locks unless it is essential to do so for water, diesel or pump out..  From this date we are allowed to stay on our lockdown moorings for another 14 days to avoid the rush and let CRT get their staffing levels back to normal.. The whole canal system will be open from the 1st June when we can again move where we want, and what we would class as back to normal cruising.. This is a relief for everyone here, as we all do this to travel and have some adventure in our lives.. We have been out walking and trying to stretch our legs a bit..

Del used the time to check out the engine again, even though we are not doing the engine hours like we used too.. We have to check the engine every 600 hours according to Beta Marine because of this modification clamp we have had to have fitted on the crankshaft end..  Yes we have only done 622 hours since we have had the solar panels and batteries fitted last April 2019. It has been such a saving on diesel and engine wear and tear..  We looked at the year before and we had done 933 hours April 2018/19 so a saving of over 300 hours on the engine, this is idle and propulsion hours.
Checking the engine is a bit of a saga on Derwent6 because of the acoustic box the engine is in, and how tight it is to get to things.

It was a nice surprise to see that the pulley paint mark hadn't moved and the pulley didn't need to come off..

The belts were all removed and then play in the pulley could be checked for side to side and up and down movement.. The belts were then fitted back on and left a little on the loose side so as to not put too much pressure on the pulley, and also allow for expansion when the pulleys get hot..

Let hope we are good for another 600 hours, fingers crossed..

 

Waiting to spread our wings

Well its been a pretty static week, and we have kept ourselves busy as always.. It has been very quiet most of the time around here at Welford and only a couple of days over the bank holiday did it seem busy, if only we could spread our wings?

The wildlife are loving it and even a swan has taken over on Tooty's patch, which he doesn't seem too happy about, but they have to work together on this one..

We have seen bats flying during daytime and one even hit the side of Derwent6 and Del had to pick it up to safety..

We have only had to run the engine five times since the Lockdown on the 23rd March as the solar has been so good, and the lighter evenings are now helping..

  Mark on the coal boat turned up again and we needed another gas bottle as Al has been doing a lot of cooking and baking.
Its weird but there are loads of jobs we could do, but we really are finding it hard to do any of them in this glorious weather..  Oh well there's always tomorrow!

Lockdown in this lovely weather

Well we have been sitting tight in a place where we are content.. We are now a bit itchy to move, as we're sure everyone is, as that is why we do this, but we could be in a worse place.. The weather has been amazing and to be honest it has been reasonably quiet round here.. We have had loads of wildlife with the ducklings sprouting out in the non human world at the moment..

We have had to keep our eye on the cat as he has a eye on the ducklings.. We have a swan who sits next to us every day but he knows how to handle Tooty..
Oh the BBQ has been out a few times now and saving us on the gas bottle..

It is also nice for Al as Del does the cooking when we have a BBQ..

We have still been good and not hit the wine or beer hard, but we do have a little binge occasionally.
We didn't get a reply from CRT regarding the grass cutting, but it did get a mention in the latest news letter, so fair play something did get done about it.. Here is what they put in the News letter:

"Keeping the canal side safe

Some people have expressed concern that we have carried on grass cutting and other vegetation maintenance on some parts of the network.  We want to reassure you that wherever possible we have stopped these works and large tranches of our programme are on hold including the general suspension of mainline grass cutting.  However, there are some instances where we believe that it is essential that we should continue on safety grounds. These include:

• Lock sides, where people may still need to navigate and there is equipment that if hidden can become a danger
• Landings and mooring for the same reasons
• Maintaining accesses to towpath moorings
• To make sure that we can still carry out our essential safety inspections on key assets – embankments, reservoirs and the like"

We have now been given a month extension on our licences, which is better than nothing..  Del even cut the grass close to us, well it is our garden at the moment.

We are still managing to get our shopping for us and Del's Mum.

Del went out on his bike and did 15 miles to pick up a prescription from the nearest pharmacy, and Al has read another two books..

  Oh and Del cleaned the oven lol....

Idiots over the weekend

So it has been another warm weekend and we have noticed it was more busy as the patience of people in lockdown starts to run out.. There were a few families bringing their car down to where we are and then going for a long walk for most of the day along the towpath..
We have also had some idiots who think its ok to go canoeing.

Not only did they think it was alright to put the canoe in the water right next to Derwent6, but they just turned there heads when we asked them not to be so close. CRT were informed and we did get a reply.
 One guy thought he would do some fishing in his canoe as well, but Al tactfully pointed out that canoeing has been suspended on the waterways for the time being..

He had driven from Northampton and thought it was ok to enjoy his hobby as it was exercise. He packed his canoe back into his car with his tail between his legs...

On a good note we have been keeping in touch with friends via the internet and Tanya (our goddaughter) has been arranging a quiz night once a week to kick things off..

 It has been great fun and lovely to catch up with everyone...

 
We are still enjoying lockdown and keeping ourselves to ourselves as much as we can.. This is going to be a very slow process so we must all get used to it.. Please everyone, please stay at home and save lives, Tooty seems to manage it!!

Some good comes out of it

Its funny with this situation we are all in, there are always some positives to look at.. As we have said before we are somewhat used to this lockdown as we live in a six foot ten wide narrowboat, but the things we have noticed are first of all the wildlife seems to have had a new lease of life.. Tooty is loving the freedom of not having many people around, but so do all the birds and other animals.

Also the air feels so much fresher, cleaner, and easier to breath..  The other thing is the water, as with no boats using the canal the muddy waters just aren't muddy any more, and now we can see the fish just like you can on a river.. Its like living in a aquarium and fascinating to watch..

So we have had another shop delivered, but this time from Morrison's, so we share the delivery with Del's Mum and Keith and we take it up to them..

Al really has sussed out how to get a delivery now.
We haven't been anywhere and are just enjoying life. Yes we miss cruising, but it is a small price to pay when you think of all the wonderful people risking their lives on the front line. Remember, you are not stuck indoors, you are safe indoors..  Just enjoy life, the weather has been pretty good for this time of year and lets all just get through this by staying home.. If it was a psychopath walking around killing people you would, this virus kills people, a lot of people. STAY AT HOME, PROTECT THE NHS, AND SAVE LIVES

Lockdown Songwriting "Where there's Muck there's Money"

Del has picked up his guitar again and written this song about him and his Dad (Len)
This tells a story about Del's Dad always telling him "Where's there's Muck there's Money" when they were driving along in the tipper lorry. It also tells the story of Del's life and the jobs he has had involving 'muck' and how much his Dad was right..  let us know what you all think?

If the video doesn't work try this link!

Where there's Muck there's Money

Lockdown Easter

So here we are over the Easter weekend with the weather so Dandy.. We have had temperatures of 24 degrees and we have just been running on solar for the last few days..

So what has happened? Well out highlight was that we had a delivery of meat from the local butcher and what a fine selection of meat and poultry we had..

We split this up so Del's mum could get by over the Easter, and Al walked it up to them..
We also had some new signs go up from CRT telling people to limit the use of the towpaths and it was for local use only..

We have had the odd idiots turn up in their cars and take a walk, but overall it has been quiet.
We have had our toilets here cleaned twice a week and also had the water tested, so if need be we can use them. We have tried to avoid that due to the fact so many people do use them..

  Also the coal boat has been back for a delivery top up, serving all our static friends on the cut..

So we have been losing some weight, up to, and during all this lockdown business. Del has lost two and a half stone and is now 14.12 and Al has lost a stone and a half, so hopefully some good will come out of all this.

We have noticed how much cleaner and fresher the air feels in this world now, as the trees do their work to help give us oxygen, now the cars and planes aren't around.. We all have a lot to learn from all this..

 

Lord Muck luvs it

Well, we have lovely scenery, we're already self contained, and we have to walk everywhere anyway to get food or have to arrange a delivery somewhere as we don't have a car, so things are pretty normal.
But, we do this for the adventure, and not being able to move can be quite testing. The longest we have stayed in one place on the cut is 13 Days and although we can move for water, diesel, or for our waste tank, we have it all here. We can even dispose of our waste very easy, so we are in the right place.. We can keep Del's Mum and Keith supplied with food and have anything we need sent to them, as they live nearby.
One guy is enjoying it though.. Tooty is finding its very quiet out there and he can wander were he likes and mouse catch all day long, he strolls around like Lord Muck..

He is venturing out and about investigating his surroundings.

He has to tread on his (disinfected) mat when he comes in, he must think its like the Foot and Mouth days..

We make sure we go out with a mask and gloves, lets be honest we have a great supply of gloves that Del uses for the brasses, three boxes in fact. We were lucky with the masks as we needed them for blacking Derwent6 and are finishing up our stock..
So what have we been doing, well nothing just like all of you out there.. Del has always got his guitar, computer games, and there are always the brasses to do..  Al has her phone to stay in touch and good books to get into, just chilling in the sunshine with a cup of tea, but food is her main objective and getting a delivery every couple of weeks.

 Until out next delivery we are even down to rationing the chocolate, and this was a mini fun size!..

So all hunky dory here but it is very harrowing to watch the telly and see another 900 people have lost there lives to this horrid virus. The sad thing is the families and friends can't even be with them or go to the funeral. How do you live with that? lets hope we don't have to find out.  Please stick to the guidelines STAY AT HOME, PROTECT THE NHS, AND SAVE LIVES!

Highlight of the Day

We were laying in bed when there was a knock on the side of Derwent6. It was a guy holding a big box of fruit and veg which Al had managed to order from a Northampton farm shop..
It was a fantastic selection of all kinds of vegetables including cabbage, cauliflower fresh carrots and sweetcorn's.. Also apples bananas, oranges and pears all washed and packed nicely..

 All this should help to keep us going for another week... We also split it up so Del's mum could have some as well and Al walked it up to them and left it on the doorstep.. They were truly grateful..

Del did some brasses (here with his mask on) and gave Derwent6 a general clean, and as the sun came out very intermittently we through we should catch the rays..

 The solar panels went up and soon pushed the batteries up to 90%

So people are dying (including two nurses today) and the virus seems to be accelerating, and the right thing to do is STAY AT HOME.. and try and save the people trying to help us..
We still have the idiots around here who just don't get it, and think its alright to drive here in separate cars, meet up, and go for a stroll along the canal.

Its going to be a warm weekend and we will be basking in the cratch .. Lets all enjoy the sunshine in our homes, gardens and local areas. On the plus side, Al has cooked a lovely pork joint which we had on a Tesco's delivery because they couldn't get us a roast chicken. It was huge and will do us for three days, it was yummy!

C&RT this is non essential and you pay them

We are still in lockdown on Derwent6 and you just won't believe what happened..
We were keeping our heads down and in the distance could hear a piece of machinery coming along the towpath..
It turned out to be the grass cutting contractors cutting the towpaths so I'm sorry, but a letter had to go to CRT.. It went like this.


Dear Sir's

 

I can't believe we are sitting here on our narrowboat in total lockdown and then alongside us come two guys in high viz jackets cutting the grass along the towpath right next to our boat.

 

Firstly they got within two metres of the boat and they clearly didn't read your Keeping People Safe sign, saying "Avoid any stretches along the towpath with moored boats"

Secondly, they clearly are not essential workers, and they should heed the government warnings of STAY AT HOME, PROTECT THE NHS and SAVE LIVES!

Thirdly I'm not happy that my licence money is spent on grass cutting at this critical time. I know its not their fault and they are just doing a job, but Canal and River Trust pay this company.

They had no protecting masks and were coughing and spiting everywhere like its all ok.. yes! we are anxious, just like the whole world is at the moment.

  

 

So while the rest of the country stays at home, they feel its essential and alright to cut the grass. A very poor decision in the light of this global pandemic.

 

 

 

 

Not much more to say with that so things are ramping up now and it turns out there are more cars getting on the road, so PLEASE STAY AT HOME! and save lives!

Lockdown procedure

So here is our lockdown procedure for this difficult time!
Well for us its pretty much the same as normal really, except we can't move. Well we could move, as we might need diesel/water etc, but as with any boating you just need a little bit of planning.. We are in just the right place, for us, and we have all the things we need right here on Derwent6, after all it is our home.. We know that some people that have houses as homes are struggling to survive without going out.. Our life is an outdoor life and we are lucky that we don't even feel like we need to go out. We don't have a freezer on board, but food still hasn't been a problem yet. We are having small meals to make things last a bit longer, but this is helping with our weight loss programme.. So you don't have to go out for milk, a paper, or butter if you run out, just do without and make do with what you have got.. On the food front we can get a delivery from one of the main supermarket chains.. I know they are saying you can't get a slot, and it is tricky, but we have managed to get one.. Lots of small companies are now delivering as well, and we have a fruit and veg box on the way, and a delivery from the local butchers.

The other thing people are saying is that they get bored. On a boat there is always a list of things to do, in fact that list can get stressful if it gets too long. Del always has the brasses if he wants to get out and Al gets her head into a book sitting out in the cratch. That way we both get some fresh air... Its a great time to attack those jobs you always leave as they are a pain to do or difficult to approach..
We also do exercise on the boat, not star jumps and the high beam, but just stretching to keep flexible. We even dance to a good song on the radio sometimes.. So you don't always need to go out for a walk down your local park or even take a run or go out on your bike..
I think the message we are saying is PLEASE JUST STAY INDOORS (or in your garden) it will just help save lives and stop you losing someone you love or someone very close to you..

Frost, a good sign for sunshine

The weather has all of a sudden turned a lot colder and we were grateful for the wood we had on board and the coal bags we obtained off the coal boat.. Here you can see the line of frost melting towards us as the solar panels were waiting for sunshine..

 The sun we have been having has charged the batteries by lunchtime as you can see from this graph..

CRT have been out putting up signs about the virus, stopping people from walking past or close to boats on the towpath.

Although the towpaths are far less busy, people still have been using them for exercise and getting away from it all.. The trouble is in some places the towpath is narrow and you can't keep that two metre gap, and for that reason they don't want people to use them.. Lets be honest, the whole reason for this lockdown is to stay indoors and isolate yourselves..