If it can go wrong . . . . .

Well these last few months have turned out to be a bit of a shake down cruise, but better now and (hopefully) behind us.

Started with the stove going AWOL as mentioned in a previous post, then our engine decided to play up about two weeks before we were planning to get it serviced, then we needed to change the bilge pump as the float switch wasn’t working and we subsequently found out that the replacement one isn’t working properly and needs sorting, the alternator that charges the starter battery seems to have decided that it’s Shakespeare as in ‘to charge or not to charge that is the question’ and finally (hopefully) the central heating decided not to play ball. Budget what budget ! Reminds me of the odd forum post where a boat is referred to as a hole in the water that you throw money into or something along those lines.

Still, in spite of all of the above, loving the life and decided to extend our three month get away from it all for a sort of indefinite period.

Back on the topic of the stove, what better way is there to spend a winter night in than roasting chestnuts. Unfortunately not hand picked from under a tree as they seem to be as scarce as rocking horse shit this year, so good old supermarket to the rescue. My problem with the fire though seems to be one of priority and as you can see I’m forth out of four in line for heat.
 

Now that we’ve decided to stay out for a longer period we’ve had some solar panels fitted as the pay back period is better than if just used for holidays. By all accounts it seems that within two to three years they should have paid for themselves in fuel saving by not having to run the engine to charge up the batteries as much. We were considering a wind generator as well, but the general online consensus seemed to be that the benefit versus outlay isn’t all that great. I think the post I read that finally swung it for me was the guy who said he wasn’t going to totally give up on his as it might be useful as a mud weight. I’ll watch this space until maybe technology improves and costs come down. No pictures of the solar panels yet, but will get some whilst going under a bridge for my next post.

As a part of our focus on electricity usage, I’ve just replaced all of the lights we use in the boat for LED lights. Don’t understand the technology, but the benefit is that a LED light only uses about 10% of the energy of a normal light bulb. It has cost us about £110 though, although with an apparent lifespan of about 20,000 to 25,000 hours, I don’t expect to have to replace them any time soon.

Woke up t’other morning to the marina being frozen over, although it hadn’t actually seemed that cold during the night. Oh well, wake up call to what we’ll be enjoying / enduring whatever the case may be in the coming months.

 

Bit of a short uneventful post this time as we’ve been based pretty close to home and getting on with jobs on, in and around the boat, but each day something else on the list gets ticked off. The biggest job ticked off so far was the T-Cutting of the boats paintwork followed by polishing it and so pleased that our boat is only 57’.

And so in signing off,

Day 96 in the Badger Sett Narrowboat - 168.5 miles and 69 locks further on from when we started.