Today the linking system within the website has been changed. You may not have noticed, but before the naming convention of the links didn’t really have any relevance, and also, more importantly, they weren’t very search engine friendly. The names of the links are now the actual names of the posts I add. With a bit of luck, Google may like me the better for it!

It also gives me pleasure to report that the Canal Route Planner website appears to be alive and kicking once more. The site dropped off the Internet around a week ago, which caused much discussion on CWF.

Some more albums have been added into the Gallery this evening. At last! It’s been a right pain trying to get it to work just as I wanted it to, which involved chopping the code to bits, but it’s finally done!

Good timing really, seeing as though I treated myself with the new cam, and along with Middlewich Festival this weekend, Dry Docking at Dutton in a couple of weeks, we’re off on our annual boating holiday sometime in July or August so more pictures will be on the way!

I thought I’d finally treat myself to a new camera. You get sick of trying to take pictures using a mobile phone, and the quality is usually very poor anyway.

It’s a Fuji FinePix S5700 and although a modest peice of kit, I couldn’t find a bad review about it on the Internet. Quite reasonable too, really, at £99 (or £89 if you use the Jessops Voucher Code for 10% off!).

So who’s going then? The original plan was for us to move the boat towards Middlewich during the week after work, eventually arriving there on either Thursday or Friday evening. Those plans have been scuppered now, due to the problems with the boat previously mentioned. Although not managing it on the boat I will still be going, along with my Dad, as Road Hogs. Sunday I am not so sure about but we’ll definately be there for most of the day on Saturday.

Don’t forget to let on if you see me around - I will be the one down on the cut, with my new camera taking shots of the working boats there - with a bit of luck a few will turn up, they usually do!

The official website: The Middlewich Folk & Boat Fesitval

I’ve delayed adding new content to the site recently as I was putting off updating the software, until now. I’m pleased to say the new version is up and running which should do me for a while.

I have done a fair bit of boating recently, although only local. A couple of weeks ago it was the FBCC Rally at Astley near Leigh on the Bridgewater, we’ve also took a trip up to Worsley and also been up to Grappenhall last weekend as well as potting around near the Dunham/Lymm area.

Earlier on today I spoke to Tim and have booked a day or so to get the boat out of the water at his dock in Dutton. The tiller bearing was recently replaced but now there are other problems which appear to be coming from lower down towards the skeg. Tim has agreed to doing the work for us, which involves removing the rudder, grinding off the old cup, making a replacement and then building the welds up around it to secure it to the skeg, and afterwards of course replacing the rudder. It should take no more than a couple of hours to do and cost wise seemed quite reasonable. We’ll be shifting the boat up that way on the 5th and 6th of July, ready for it to come out the following morning.

Today I accomplished one of those jobs that I had been meaning to do for a long time, that is, to slow down the tick over speed of the Perkins D3 engine. Since we bought the boat, back in 2005, on tick over it has been a little too fast but not that as to warrant immediate attention - it was just popped up in my mind now and again. With ten minutes spent in the engine room, and following the advice of Tony Brooks’ friendly advice I managed to slow the engine down enough so that the ignition light stayed off so it continued to charge the batteries. A job well done.Later on, as I was walking down the moorings on the way into town to grab a bite to eat, I noticed a boat moored up on the other side, and by the sounds of the engine kicking over but not firing, and realised they had problems. I spoke to the owner, Dave, who was from the moorings down the “road” from us and offered to help move the boat over to our moorings as it was obvious that he wasn’t going to get moving. After a chat we came to the decision that the boat would be better off taken back to his home moorings so he could work on the job properly. After nipping in to town, I started up the boat and took it down the moorings to Dave. We hitched up and started the short half an hour journey back to his own moorings. On the way down, after chatting, we came to the conclusion it was an electric fault. I winded, dropped him off and then set off back, stopping at a local canal side pub for a well earned pint - where we ended up stopping until much later in the day.

We finally set off at 7.45pm towards Dunham, where we moored for the evening, arriving at 9.15pm and, as planned, in The Vine by 9.30pm! A good day considering we didn’t have anything planned!

May is the best month of the year, as not only does it have two bank holidays but my birthday is on May 2nd. I found myself down at the moorings, as usual, earlier on Friday after finishing work. I pottered about a bit with helping our neighbour, Joan, pole the boat over to the other side as she currently has engine problems and then after some food, went for a birthday pint or three!

We finally have the Boatman Stove installed!

After cocking the dates up on our part, we eventually managed to get the boat down to Eddies workshop on Sunday. It didn’t take as long as I originally thought but due to the weather and a late start to the job we didn’t get completely finished. That will have to wait until next weekend. Eddie packed us off with clear instructions and all of the gear we needed to do the job.

Pictures to follow…

The Cruising Club I am a member of had arranged a coach trip up to Strawberry Island Boat Club for the day, which started off at 10am and finish finish until 3am!

We arrived shortly after noon and were directed into their beautiful clubhouse for a bite to eat and a cuppa, or a beer, of course. We then had a walk around the Island, which has been created by the course of the navigation being altered over the years and also due to the allotments actually on the Island itself, which, as you may have already guessed, is where the strawberries are grown!

We were put with a lovely couple, Richard and who, although they said they were t-total, their boat was called “Rum a Gin” so I think they were pulling our legs, and, later on, during our cruise, this was confirmed by a rather large milk churn being full of cans of assorted beer!

We headed in the opposite direction of Doncaster, through the lock and towards the Aqueduct at Barnby Dun, which we did pass over and then winded shorty before the next lock, heading back over the aqueduct and then mooring up for a nice stroll down another arm of the navigation. The boat, which I did have a go of, was a lovely, nearly new 55ft narrowboat built locally at Kimberley in 2004. It handled well and had ample power from below through the Beta engine.

We headed back later in the day, returning to the clubhouse for even more food and some excellent entertainment laid on by the members of SIBC. We eventually, and reluctantly, boarded the coach shortly after 1am as it was started to snow, and when we got up in to the hills, we were greeted by a complete snowy outlook which followed us all the way back to Manchester itself.

We took a trip over to the Dry Dock first thing but when I arrived the surveyor was already in the middle of doing the complete hull survey for insurance purposes. I enjoyed a cup of tea and a quick natter with Barry, as usual, Judith was off gallivanting, and then it was time to be gone. It was a relatively quick journey back up the cut to our moorings, but it is always coming home.

Just as we left Worsley and came through the bridge near the Dry Dock, a Push Tug shot out into the main channel and floored it up the cut. It’s a good job I was going slow past the moored boats otherwise the tug would of been a new front fender! Not only that, but at the wider section of the canal a few boat lengths up the cut they winded right across the bows. Luckily it was only a small boat and was able to make it round in one and I wasn’t that close, otherwise I could see a jam happening as they didn’t give any notice of their actions at all. Tut!