Inverse topiary

Cruising down the River Thames, near Reading, I found that the graffiti artists have an unusual technique.  They cut away the ivy on a railway embankment wall to leave their friendly message.

Topiary as graffiti

Stuck on a sandbank!

Well - that was an 'interesting' day.  It started very well indeed but it soon got complicated.  Cruising up the River Thames, on an unusually wide stretch which is notoriously shallow at the edges, there were two rowing 'eights' coming down the river towards me.  There were fishermen on the left bank and with the rowing boats obviously demonstrating that they were 'less than expert', the best option seemed to be to go to the right.

Now, in retrospect, I know that was the wrong decision - and indeed 'less than expert' on my own behalf.  In addition to the above, there was a very strong wind blowing from the left.  It was an inconvenience that was waiting to happen - and caused me a great deal of embarrassment, along with the possibility of a huge bill from a rescue service - e.g. £300! 

I should have held a steady course up the middle of the channel - and certainly I will next time.  Powered boats might have to give way to manually propelled boats but after causing me a massive problem there was not a word of apology from them.  I wish I had sunk them both! 

After 5 hours on the sandbank and two failed attempts at towing, another (more competently crewed) narrowboat named 'Dragonfly' persisted for long enough - at least an hour - to help me, and subsequently and consequently got stuck themselves.  I felt very guilty about that of course.  By then I was getting free, but a third boat came along and pulled the second one out before I had chance to go to their rescue. 

I should mention that there was never any risk of injury, and the boat is unharmed.  Only my pride is injured.

All I had on board to thank my rescuers was a cheap (but cold) bottle of white wine and some cans of beer, but they seemed to accept them quite willingly.  It was the least that I could do in the circumstances.

5 hours on a sandbank and wading in water up to my waist wasn't entirely on the plan for the day!

Swimming the Thames

Boating on the canals is quite different from boating on the River Thames.

The protocols for the locks are different.  Finding a free mooring on the river is much more difficult.  And the river is much wider and deeper.

But after nearly a week on the Thames the biggest surprise is to find people swimming.  You spot a couple of things bobbing about in the water, not far from the bank and you might wonder whether they are ducks or geese, even though they don't look quite right.

They turn out to be swimmers - and these swimmers are not unusual.  Apparently people swim the whole length of the river as a badge of honour.

People don't swim in the canals.

Only dead fish go with the flow

We are often exhorted to 'go with the flow'.  But as the name on the side of this narrowboat suggests . . .

Only dead fish go with the flow

. . . only dead fish go with the flow!

Seven cygnets

Two weeks ago this pair of swans was aggressively defending their nest on the Caen Hill flight of locks at Devizes, and today the nest was empty.  Nearby these seven balls of fluff were exploring their environment, escorted by mum and dad.

Seven new cygnets for the Queen

Naturally, they belong to The Queen.  Exactly why this might be the case is not entirely clear to me.  She doesn't claim ownership of wild sparrows, after all.

A ticket to Avoncliff - and great service at "The Boatyard", Trowbridge.

Planning a rail journey I went to buy my ticket this morning.  Avoncliff is a small station near Bath, and it can't be common for people to want to travel from my home station to that specific location.  The man in the ticket office asked if I had bought one yesterday.  Apparently he hasn't sold one for months, and then there were two in two days.  Coincidences happen.

So I planned to get the 14:12 train, and was waiting on the platform for the train to Bath.  I had noticed the display saying that my train was on time, and one came into the platform at exactly the right time. Since there were no announcements and there was nobody to ask, I got on board.  By chance I heard a lady speaking on the phone, saying that she was on the train to Cardiff and would be home soon.  Alarm bells began to ring.  My train was not going to Cardiff due to the second coincidence of the day!  It had arrived at the right moment for my train but it was going to the wrong place.

Too late to get off, the only option was to change at Swindon to get onto my planned train!  It arrived in Bath too late for the connection, but the nice people there put me in a taxi without me even having to think of compaining.

I don't think the taxi driver would ever have found Avoncliff station.  He ended up on the wrong side of the river which in fact was where I wanted to be.  The road was definitely 'interesting', hilly and single track for a lot of the way.

So much for the efficiency of the railways in UK!  All things considered though, it was a good service.

The only thing was that I had already been on a tight schedule if everything had gone perfectly.  Setting off from Avoncliff on the boat I was keen to get to Trowbridge, a few miles away, to fill up with fuel.  "The Boatyard" is well known for selling fuel at rock-bottom prices and its always worth calling in there.  I made it with only minutes to spare and they had already started to lock up, but they very kindly filled my fuel tank with diesel - at only 80p per litre!  5p less than it was two weeks ago!

If you are on the Kennet and Avon Canal and need fuel, this is definitely the place to go.  I have already recommended it to two people, and no doubt I will tell everyone else I meet.

No - nothing surprising

Sorry - but today turned out to have nearly nothing surprising and for a blog of this name that is a bit frustrating.

The day had some nice points, at least one that was more disappointing and others that were frustrating.

My boat is now stranded in Bath.  You might wonder why that would be a problem.  Bath is a nice city isn't it?

However, it is because the visitor facilities for the River Avon are second to none in their paucity.  I can't get back to the canal until they manage to fix Lock 11 of the Kennet and Avon Canal, and nobody is giving any more news than that.

I have to go to move the boat on Friday, but there is nowhere to move it to.

This is an interesting paradox.  It seems that internet technology has not yet reached the Canal and River Trust.  Or maybe customer service is not their top priority?

CRT's reputation has been confirmed.

Bath to Bristol - by boat

What a glorious sight to wake up to . . .

Reflections in the River Avon, Bath.

and then to cruise down the Avon on a sunny day with a stop for lunch at a nice pub was even better.

Those who have met my boat will understand why I took the opportunity to show this picture of a pretty young lady at this point.

Name that b . . . beer!  Bath Ales finest.

Perhaps the highlight of the day was to cruise around the 'floating harbour' in Bristol.  It gets this name because ocean going ships can remain floating in this harbour, whatever the state of the tide.

SS Great Britain - Brunel's fine ship

And a bit too much sun - yes, in England - perhaps that is today's surprising concept!

Approaching Bath

My boat is moored in Bath tonight.  The approach to the city along the Kennet and Avon can is quite enchanting.  I've moored on the River Avon, after a late evening visit to the famous weir by Poultney Bridge.  I had to find a mooring before it got really dark.

The famous weir in Bath, late in the evening

This might not be a surprise to you, but until very recently I never expected to see the view of this famous site from my own boat in the middle of the Avon!

The boat is moored in a place that is not entirely legitimate for a fit young fellow like me, but we'll move on tomorrow, very early in the morning.  I have very good reasons for needing to be moored somewhere accessible.  (Elderly mother on-board.)

Finding visitor moorings turned out to be more difficult than I expected.

Bristol tomorrow - I think!  Come and say hello.

34 locks on the K&A!

The Kennet and Avon Canal crosses England from West to East, and it features one of the finest examples of canal engineering in the UK.  This is the Caen Hill flight of locks - 16 of them close together.

Looking down the famous Caen Hill flight, Devizes

Above and below the flight there are other locks, and today with an able crew I have cover 8 miles and negotiated 34 locks in total.  Half way down the flight my crew had to brave the attentions of nesting swans.

Nesting swans, Devizes

Fortunately they failed to break a man's arm as they are fabled to be able to do.  Some claim that they are able to do this just by looking at him!

Narrowboat lawn

One of the many pleasures of living on a narrowboat on England's waterways is that the garden is provided free of charge.  Leafy rural England is all around you and although boats are not exactly maintenance-free, at least there is no need to mow the lawn.

Or is there?

I spotted this boat on the Kennet and Avon Canal recently.  The whole roof has been covered with turf.

A narrowboat with a lawn - best of both worlds?

One good thing about it is that there is no problem finding the water to keep it green.  If water is that short, then the lawn must be the least of your worries.  Another is that it keeps the heat of the summer sun at bay, maybe making life aboard a bit more comfortable.

But in the small space available in the boat you now have to keep a lawn-mower, or else spend a lot of time with a pair of scissors every week.  And I would be a little worried about corrosion of the roof, but I suppose that is a minor issue.

My boat will remain free of lawns!

The fresh smell of the sea!

Cruising on the Kennet and Avon Canal with two neighbours who are chemists proved to be an educational experience.

I found that salt has no smell as its vapour pressure is too low.  (Secretly, I slightly doubt that it has no smell, but the logic of that physical quantity can't be denied.)  I foolishly ventured that you can smell the sea.

Of course we were almost as far from the sea as it is possible to get in England on this canal - and my question was immediately overturned, in stereo, with "that's the smell of di-methyl sulphide".  So it isn't salt.  It isn't ozone or 'fresh air' but it is a slightly toxic gas that gives the sea its nice smell

Apparently DMS is produced by bacteria and plankton in the sea.  It gives the sea that characteristic smell and it plays an important role in the formation of clouds over the sea too.

Having googled the topic when I got home I found this interesting article, written by Sanjida O'Connell in 2009.  It confirms what I had been told.

How educational!

The surprising product of an evening's work

Believe it or not this took all my evening - no time for blogging until now!

Draft wiring diagram for a narrowboat!

I guarantee that it is not yet correct!  Still working!

Saving Sophie

I was in Newbury (Berkshire, UK) this afternoon, looking (with a little dread) at the rate that the water was flowing on the Kennet and Avon Canal (and River Kennet).

Walking along the canal I saw this sight, which is the sort of thing that boaters never want to see.  The water flow had caught her helmsman unaware as he approached his mooring, and the boat was wedged across the canal.  I wondered whether I might be able to help.

Saving Sophie - atheistic altruism at work!

But the tow path was closed to pedestrians . . . so I walked around in order to approach from the other direction, only to see this view and . . .

Saving Sophie - some engineering assistance needed.

. . . to find it closed too.  Another helpful fellow and I decided to go the the rescue, along the closed tow path.

One hour later, with shoes full of water and trousers wet up to the knees, we had the situation in control.  I had not expected so much exercise this afternoon!

Next time someone asks that question "Have you done much boating?" the answer will be a confident "Plenty!"

Small note:  Have been looking on ebay this evening for a light-weight chain hoist.  I think it would be useful to keep one on the boat for 'interesting' situations like this!

The small matter of orientation - that's solar panel orientation

I have been thinking about installing some solar panels.  Now obviously if you are installing them on a building, it is easy to see that mounting the panels to face in some directions would be better than others.  In the Northern hemisphere, pointing the panels in a generally southerly direction is obviously better than a northerly direction.  At a particular time of year it might even be possible to find the optimum angle.

However, on a movable structure - namely a boat - it would be much more difficult to choose the best direction.  On any day of the year the boat might be facing to the North, South, East and West at some time of the day.  That could leave you constantly worrying about setting your panels to produce the largest amount of power.  This is something that I don't want to bother with.

The one direction that you can always guarantee to point to, with reasonable accuracy, is UPWARDS!   So I have been wondering whether this is could be the best compromise.  Obviously it is not the very best in ideal conditions, but from the point of view of a pragmatist who wants a tidy roof and the least possible bother, would this be a silly choice?

It seems not.  According to this site, pointing vertically upwards will lose 10% of the optimum energy collection (in the UK at least).  At lower latitudes that loss would obviously be reduced.  A mere 10% loss is much better than pointing the panels in completely the wrong direction for a lot of the time.

Now the only problem is that England is often rainy.  A flat panel will collect water.  How much shall I tilt the panels to keep them clean and relatively dry?

Satellite dishes everywhere

Some people refer to satellite dishes as 'architectural acne'.  And however useful these dishes are in these days of widespread competition in the TV market, I find it surprising and amusing to discover them attached to trees and posts next to the waterways that cross the English countryside.

Satellite dish on firm ground - Kennet and Avon Canal

If you want satellite TV on your boat, perhaps it is wise to fix the dish to 'terra firma' at your mooring.

Country Style

Walking in rural England you often reach fences which are supposed to keep animals in a field (or out of it) but to let people pass.  Often there are footboards so that you can step over the fence.  We use the term 'stile' to describe them.

However, across a public path in Hungerford church yard, close to the Kennet and Avon canal, I was confronted by this alternative design.  I had just passed a group of people coming the other way and doubted that they had climbed over it, but it looked just like a fence.

An interesting type of gate (or stile) in Hungerford - closed.

Looking at it from the other side, I found an odd looking post that seemed to have been cut into four sections.

An interesting type of gate (or stile) in Hungerford - closed - from the other side.

And then I realised that the left hand post sections act only as counterweights, and that the pins through the smaller post were pivot points for the horizontal bars.

When you press the top bar down this happens . . . 

An interesting type of gate (or stile) in Hungerford - open.

and you can step over the fence at its lowest point.  When you let go, the bars rise again under the influence of the weights on the left hand side.

Surprisingly ingenious!  I've never seen one of these before. 

Small but appreciative note:  Thanks to regular reader, Darryl, for pointing out that I had not spelt stile correctly.  I think I have changed the spellings appropriately now.

No large dogs

Just a bit of canal-side graffiti today.

Graffiti - no large dogs!

Someone has added a funny caption.  It made me smile, at least

Small note:  Photo taken at Hungerford, Berkshire. And I did see a dog almost as large as that today!

Canal tunnels

Today I went through the Bruce Tunnel on the Kennet and Avon canal. 

The Bruce Tunnel on the top section of the Kennet and Avon Canal.

This is the view, emerging from the south-east end of the tunnel.  Having done 7 miles and 15 locks today with a crew of two others, I didn't see another boat moving at all. 

Just three more locks tomorrow and I can moor up and relax.  Apparently there is snow coming.

First Cruise!

I bought a boat yesterday, and took it for the first cruise on the Kennet and Avon Canal today.  This is a view from the helm (at the stern (i.e. back) of the boat).

The view from the helm of a 70' narrowboat in a lock at Devizes, Wiltshire.

So far so good!