Buying boats is habit forming ...

Just got back from a short road trip to visit an old friend from our canal boating days. Apart from the pleasure of catching up on old times, the primary purpose of the excercise was to view and hopefully purchase an outboard and inflatable dinghy

The outboard was everything I hoped for - a nice, small and above all light weight Tohatsu 2.5 2 stroke. No gears, no clutch, no twist grip throttle, all of which means less weight and less to go wrong. Despite old fuel and not having been touched for a couple of years it started and ran happily in the water butt. Result!

The dinghy is a Plastimo 3 man job and too good to turn down at the price offered. I suspect it's not going to be willing to go in the available locker though, at least not packed as standard and possibly not at all. No matter, we'll tow it or stow it on deck or something. If it won't go in the locker space that may make it a temporary rather than a permanent solution. I can live with that given the cost saving over buying a new small inflatable

November Weekend 2013 - Day 4

Coffee and bacon butties were the order of the day for breakfast then I set too refilling all the oil lamps and the cabin heater with paraffin as leaving them empty would result in dry wicks which would need to be left to soak before being used.

Then we set about packing up our gear and putting the boat to bed. How much easier life is when what we need to take home can be carried to the car over your shoulder or in your hand in one trip!

With the tube heater in the engine bay and the convection heater in the cabin both on their lowest settings, she should survive any frosts between now and our next visit in a couple of weeks time

A final check from stem to stern and as far as we can figure nothing has been forgotten on this occasion. Then it was simply a case of lock up and head home.

A very relaxing weekend which we both felt has vindicated the decision to spend the extra money on over-wintering in the marina.

The only slight niggle is heating. The 500W convection heater, even aided by the paraffin heater, isn't enough for comfort although it will take the chill off. That meant running the fan heater and there was a certain amount of domestic disagreement over what constituted a comfortable temperature! I find that if the fan heater is run for too long it makes me feel a bit dry and "headachy". It's not a huge issue but it would be nice to have a better source of primary heating. Even better if it didn't rely on shore power!

PS. I clean forgot to post a day 4 update so this is several days late! I've also amended the posting dates for the earlier updates over the weekend so the dates are correct for the days concerned

November Weekend 2013 - Day 3

The day got off to a slow start over a leisurely cooked breakfast on board.

That done with, I set to trying to remove the panel behind the steps upon which is mounted the shore power consumer unit and the Sterling battery charger.

This proved anything but simple! To remove that panel meant removing all the panels around it and some of those would only come out if glued on trim pieces magically came unglued.

Since removing those trim pieces would inevitably leave damage that would have to be refinished, a temporary plan B was enacted. The new 240v socket and switch panel was mounted on the face of the panel between the aforementioned units and the spur linking it to the consumer unit simply looped underneath the units and secured with a couple of cable clips.

That achieved the primary objective of the exercise which was to put a socket somewhere close enough to the galley worktop for the 240v kettle which up until now had been sitting on the cabin sole by the steps.

The switch side of the panel (a domestic cooker panel) is intended to be permanently wired to a permanently installed 55w tube heater in the engine bay

However, on investigation I could find nowhere suitable to mount the heater that wasn't already occupied by wiring, pipework and so on. I shall see if I can wedge the heater in temporarily in the morning, we'll have to look again another day for a permanent solution.

It took a while to reassemble everything and whilst doing so I replaced the out of date dry powder automatic extinguisher with a new FE36 halon replacement one.

All finished, I relaxed with a coffee and an e-book whilst Jane prepared a tasty beef casserole. A romantic dinner for two by the soft light of the cabin oil lamps warned by the glow of the paraffin heater ... the romance was slightly tarnished by the necessity of washing up once dinner had been dispatched.

A quiet evening of reading and/or watching telly on the tablet ensued to taste until the near simultaneous death of the main cabin lamp and the heater for want of paraffin hinted that it may be time for bed.

November Weekend 2013 - Day 2

Today was to be mostly about shopping and what we were mostly shopping for was bits for the boat

The necessities to install a mains socket in the vicinity of the galley were obtained from Wickes in Maldon. A 55w tube heater to keep frost at bay on the engine bay came from Marinestore in Burnham

While we were in Maldon we took advantage of the tide being put to scry the propsect of the visitor pontoon on Hythe Quay.

Useful to note that the mud into which we'd settle if we got onto it is flat and also handy to know that there's a bank of mud between the pontoon and the margin river channel.

It looks like it would be a good mooring assuming the Dutch barges currently in residence aren't clogging it up next year (of the several photos off seen of the pontoon, such barges, possibly even the same ones, are almost invariably taking up ask the space. We shall see what the situation is when the time comes)

Anyway, shopping compete we headed to the Old Granary at Battlebridge for lunch (not as hot as they could have been baked potatoes) and then back on board for a relax, wash, change and head for the pub

We dined out on some rather tasty pork loin steaks and enjoyed the live music over sufficient falling down water before hastening back through the village in the chill night air to our nice warm cabin

A very pleasant way to spend a chilly day

November Weekend 2013 - Day 1

We copped for an unusual amount of Friday afternoon traffic so our journey down took nearly two and a half hours.

By the time we arrived at the marina it was dark and getting chilly but fortunately Erbas was easily located just a few berths away from where we left her.

She'd been moved because the berths on the inside of the pontoon are being dredged. Fair enough however I was somewhat annoyed to find that the shore power hadn't been reconnected.

There wasn't a lot of point in buying a metered lead in order to leave her plugged in if she's not plugged in! Apart from maintaining the batteries on trickle charge, the frost heater is critically important. The purpose of the exercise is to avoid having to fully winterise the boat when all is said and done.

Oh well, plugged back in again we got the kettle and heaters on. It took a while to take the chill off but there was no damp which is good.

A simple dinner of bread and soup was followed by watching a film on the laptop then an early night.

Scramble! Scramble!

The eggs that is!

With work looming over the horizon, a breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast was followed by a visit to the marina office to purchase a metered hook up lead (necessary evil if we want to leave the batteries trickle charging and a frost heater running)

Jane tidied up below whilst I made a better fist of the mooring, hauling the stern clear of the dock and the gel coat munching potential of the pile adjacent to our winter mooring

Then it was time to put the boat to bed, make up the travel mugs of coffee and carry our bags to the car, dumping the rubbish en passant.

Of course, we forgot to do something as always. This time it was the burner pads on the cooker that stop the spirit from evaporating gradually. Not a big issue as the burners are virtually empty anyway.

Erbas having been given strict instructions to behave herself in our absence this time, we headed for home.

With coffee made before departing, it was a non-stop run. We didn't bother with the flask too as we had on the way down. Making coffee at home, or on board, before departure has saved at least £20 this one weekend alone. Not that we drink THAT much coffee but once you're in the shop you never just buy coffee. It's snacks and chocolate and what have you that inflate the bill

All in all, a very relaxing weekend. Not a lot done but then there was never any intention to do a lot. Erbas having already proved herself an excellent boat for cruising with three or four crew, she now proved herself an even more comfortable weekend retreat for the two of us.

It's tempting to head back down next weekend but there are things that need doing on the home front so it'll be three weeks before our next trip

Mud, mud, glorious mud

Essex mud, marvelous stuff. Well, amazing anyway. It's soft, it's sticky, it's friendly and forgiving when you hit it.

It also gets everywhere! Yesterday, I quickly hosed the worst of it off the cockpit, after breakfast today it was time for a more serious scrub and hose down from stem to stern

Some hard work later and pretty well all the evidence of Erbas's adventures last week was gone. Even the scrapes on the hull mostly turned out to be good old sticky Essex mud

After those labours I needed a lie down! No seriously, I've got a bug, the old sore throat, chesty cough sort of thing, which is leaving me with even less energy than usual.

Bit of a nap later and it was back to work this time with the bucket and sponge removing the last gallon or so of water from the bilges that the pumps can't lift.

Meanwhile, we entertained visitors, well one visitor anyway, when Chris of Tomahawk stopped by for coffee. How much nicer to be able to invite guests on board and sit and chat on comfort!

Late afternoon, we hoped in the car and drove around to the yacht station. After checking that our tender is ok (it is) we walked down the riverbank and took some photos of "our" mooring in its new mud berth location! (Photos below)

She got frighteningly close to the rocks and hard stuff along the edge of the sea wall! No doubt the buoy, chain and sinker will be retrieved and reset in due course but I doubt if Erbas will be back on it.

After nipping into the yard to stare in dismay at the damage done to our friend Lisa's boat when it fell over, we repaired back on board in the rising wind and falling temperature - it's been blowing a yachtsmans' gale all day. Didn't stop the racing boys going out around lunchtime though.

Dinner was home made beef stew and dumplings after which I dozed of again cunningly leaving Jane to do the washing up. No doubt I'll pay for that later! It started raining so we abandoned any thoughts of walking down to the pub for a drink and did some damage to the rum supply instead

Tomorrow, it's pack up and go home after breakfast as work rears its ugly head again

No (life)jacket required

An early start to the day saw me up by five in the morning making up two insulated mugs of coffee and a back up supply in a flask.

Then it was off to the big shed to pick up the ship's Purser from her labours and off we set in the dark along the A14.

After a pit stop for diesel, we arrived at Fambridge and even remembered to go straight on to the marina rather than turn right to the river moorings.

Having never been on the pontoons at the marina, I hadn't considered the fact that they have coded gates on the entry ramps! Fortunately, it wasn't but ten minutes wait before a couple of the staff appeared on scene and we were soon armed with the necessary codes.

Oh how nice it was to walk straight up to the boat without having to don a lifejacket and paddle out to her on the dinghy. One could get used to this (were it not for the bill for a year round marina berth). Actually, according to the notice above the gate, we should have been wearing lifejackets on the pontoon but we chose to be daring and rebellious!

An exterior inspection of Erbas found no evidence of serious injury. She's picked up a year or twos worth of scratches and scrapes to the upper works all in one go but nothing to get excited about. There was mud all over the decks of course and splattered up some of the canvas work but that's hardly surprising!

Down below, apart from a couple of books lying on the cabin sole, all was as tidy as we left it. Both the bilges, which were bone dry, had an inch or so of brackish water in them though.

With signs of damp underneath the vents in the heads and forward cabin, it seems likely that the driving rain and spray got in under them and made its way into the cabin and thus into the main bilge. I'm guessing that the cockpit floor hatch leaked a little of the same salty brew into the engine bilge.

A few seconds on the pumps and it was all gone bar the inevitable puddle the pump can't pick up. Item one on the things we haven't got list is a sponge!

Jane went to bed up forward whilst I dozed and did very little for the day other than hose the mud out of the cockpit and off the decks.

Come the evening, we walked down to the pub for a meal and a beer or two before staggering back in the strong breeze for an early-ish night.

We'd made up the v-berth with a king size sheet, quilt and decent pillows rather than the sleeping bags. Oh what a luxurious difference! That is definitely a permanent arrangement! Well, except when we have to tidy it away to go sailing of course.

OK, so who can't work his oh so smart phone then?

That'll be me

Specifically, mis-read the diary and thought Jane was off tonight when in fact she's working

So we're still off to Fambridge ... but at half past five in the morning not this evening!

Technology, ya gotta love it!