Well we made it back to Mirfield for the end of August. We had plenty of jobs to do and although they didn't all get finished we are certainly well on the way with them.
NEWSFLASH Unfortunately this means that we can't see us, or our boat, getting to France until next spring now, too many things to do!
The cat seems to be taking all this in his stride, when we can get him on four legs that is! He tends to spend most of the day checking out different sleeping positions, like the top hatch of our neighbour's boat.
ALL STRESSED OUT...
We had no sooner got back to Ledgard Bridge boatyard in Mirfield when we heard that bad weather was on the way and the river may be likely to flood. The sky did look very grey so as soon as it started to rain we made our way back through the flood lock and spent a few nights moored on the canal by Lidl. Of course the weather stayed fine and this really just wasted a few days.
OUTSIDE THE NAVIGATION INN at MIRFIELD...
I did manage to knock up a "step/cat box" before we left Ledgard Bridge and it has become quite useful for getting on and off the boat. Gromit thinks it's ok too.
IN THE CAT HOUSE?...
Two things caught David's eye while he was sitting with his feet up by the Navigation Inn - the sun reflecting on the galley roof and the dust emitting from his socks. I wonder what Isaac Newton would have made of it all?
REFLECTIONS one...
REFLECTIONS two...
Just as boredom was likely to set in, we went back through the flood gates on to the river and back to reality at Ledgard Bridge. We needed modifications to our battery power as we couldn't tell what we were consuming or putting back in the system electrically and the maintenance seemed a bit antiquated (topping up cells). So we decided to have the batteries replaced with maintenance free "gel batteries" and got a battery management monitor (all you ever needed to know about the state of your batteries). This all costs of course, but improves the whole 12 volt supply on board.
We had an idea for a corner TV unit and book case. The corner unit was almost finished and so we decided to make a start on the book case. The following pictures show the progress we made. Firstly, agreement on what the front should look like before cutting anything.
A BOOKCASE PENCILLED IN...
No top, back or base required.
TWO SIDES...
The back deck makes a good workshop if the weather is fine.
WORKING ON THE BOOKCASE FRONT...
Pamela putting the finishing touches to the doors
WORKING ON THE DOORS...
Working on the trim (not looking trim!)
WORKING ON THE TRIM...
Pamela tends to do the finishing off.
READY FOR VARNISH...
Just some trim required on the edges which won't take long and the doors on the corner unit need fitting (a winter job).
BOOKCASE FINISHED...
Richard Fee who owns Ledgard Bridge Boat Co. has just come out of the building after spraying one of the boats. I don't think it's his favourite job!
TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER...
Preparing for our evening meal
TIME TO RELAX...
The latest boat to leave Ledgard Bridge is "Dokin Shushan". Apparently when the lady who had it built lived in Africa she used to ride a horse and the locals gave her this name "Dokin Shushan" which translated to "Horse Riding Susan"
DOKIN SHUSHAN...
Caught Gromit preparing to take a nap.
BUSY DOING NOTHING AGAIN...
Bill Holdsworth (of Card Clothing fame) and a good friend of John and Sally Barraclough is having a barge "BENDIGO" built at Ledgard Bridge. The next picture is of Bendigo on the wharf
BENDIGO HAS LANDED...
We are now about to set off on our next trip which will probably be the last of the season and are hoping to get to York and Ripon. So hopefully the next update should be a bit more interesting!
At any rate, all the best and sorry that this "update" was a little late. We will try to do better with the next one!
David and Pamela