Stourbridge for drinks

Meeting some friends in Stourbridge for a drink on Saturday 27th November and decided to travel down by boat. A bus from my house takes about an hour, the trip by boat takes a day-and-a-half!

Started out at about midday on the Friday and managed to just get through Bratch before it got to dark. Moored just below Bratch and settled in for the evening, woken up during the night by heavy rain and winds. I didn’t know at the time, but this was Storm Arwen.

Woke up in the morning ready to set off, but discovered that snow had fallen overnight. I decided to wait until the snow melted before moving off, although this put me behind scheduled.

Snow below Bratch Locks 27th November 2021

The rest of day was uneventful until I reached Stourton Junction. I was about to turn into the locks when I was told that the third lock up was out of action (a gate was being replaced). So much for mooring in Stourbridge and going for a pub crawl. There was nothing for it, but to go through the bridge and moor opposite Stewpony Wharf.

Unfortunately I didn’t notice the tree that appeared to be half blocking the bridge hole and got stuck about half-way through. To cut a long story short the friends I was due to go drinking with came down to Stewpony and after much pulling on ropes and pushing with the boat-pole helped me through the bridge hole.

Stourton Bridge (33)

Moored opposite Stewpony Wharf

After mooring the boat we drove into Stourbridge for a drink and a meal. Then a taxi back to the boat later in the evening.

The plan for Sunday was to start the return journey and arrive back home sometime on the Monday. However a quick look at the fallen tree and it was clear that although I had managed to drive over it the previous afternoon there was no way I would be able to reverse back through the bridge hole.

Tree blocking bridge from above

Tree from Stewpony Wharf side

A quick call to C&RT established that due to storm Arwen several trees had been uprooted on the Staffs & Worcester and it was unlikely that that the tree would be removed on Sunday. So spent all day on the boat hoping that the tree would be cleared on Monday. Fortunately at about 10am on Monday a gang of contactors appeared and started to cut up & remove the tree.

I was back underway by midday and with the help of some some unseasonal weather (very warm & dry) I was able to make good progress and got home late on the Tuesday. 5 days just to have a Saturday evening drink with some mates, the joy of boating.

Bow doors film

 

Bow Doors Privacy Film

Bow Doors

A few months ago we had some film applied to our street facing windows at home. From the off-cuts there was enough to use on the bow doors. This means that we can open the blinds to let light in, but not worry about people looking into the bedroom.

I finally got round to fitting/installing the film and am very pleased with the result as the photos below show. 2 with one door complete and the a couple showing both door windows covered.

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Dimingsdale & Return

 

April 14th First Trip Since September

A bright but fresh day for our first trip of the year. Delayed due to the Coronavirus lockdown.

We travelled to the winding hole just north of bridge 5 on the Shropshire Union. Approaching from the south and everything appeared fine, however as we went through the bridge hole we could see several pieces of brickwork and then turning round it was obvious that a section of the bridge had been demolished.

Bridge 5 (Before & After_

After winding we past the boat club and made our way to Autherley junction.

At Autherley we turned south. A really bright day enabled Josie to take advantage of the lock free section to walk Bruno. The sunny day also encouraged some volunteers to work on maintaing the tow path just past Two Pennants basin.

WE turned just below the lock at Dimingsdale to head back to our mooring.We turned and then stopped on the mooring rings above the lock for lunch. After lunch we had been travelling for about 10 minutes when we saw Tony & Erica (former sharers with us on Eos) on their boat ‘Gin & Tonica’. Stopped and chatted for about 15 minutes before making our way back home.

Battery Monitor Display

Some time ago I bought a Victron BMV-712 Smart battery Monitor.

It is possible to see the various measurements

* State of Charge * Voltage * Current * Power

* Consumed Ah * Time Remaining & * Starter Battery.

by pressing the '+' or '-' buttons and scrolling through the display or linking, via bluetooth, the monitor to a smart phone and looking at the figures on screen.

Useful, but you do need to have the phone handy.






Recently I came across a couple of old phones (put in the back of a drawer when I upgraded) and it occurred to me that I could set one of them up as a permanent display. The only possible problem would be how to power the phone, fortunately the Solar Power MPPT controller came with a USB port.

Some double sided tape and feeding the USB cable behind the Eberspacher controller and the phone becomes a permanent display for the battery monitor. A very useful role for a redundant mobile phone.

Stove & Water

After the recent rain it is clear I have not yet solved the issue of water collecting on top of the stove.

However I was on the boat whilst it was raining very heavily and was able to confirm that rain water is seeping in from the roof and running down the outside of the chimney.

In the rain I looked at the outside of the chimney and think I can see where the water is penetrating.

On the next visit to the boat, if it isn't raining, I shall reseal & repaint the area.

Stove top re-paint

Slight water ingress caused top of stove to rust. Mainly light surface rust, but unsightly.

























I couldn't find anywhere obvious for the leak, but resealed where the chimney entered the boat roof.

I then sanded down the stove top and repainted.

As good as new.

Update to Installing Solar Panel - Extra Fans

When the solar panel was first installed a single fan in the saloon was also fitted.

Recently I bought two more computer fans and have now installed a fan in the galley and one in the bedroom.

PC Fans

         

I also used some switches I had left over from a 2015 job (on Notos)

Each fan now has an independent switch and can be operated separately. All three fans together draw less than 0.7ah and automatically switch off if the battery voltage drops to 12.5Vs and won't switch back on until the voltage reaches 13Vs. Whilst not on the boat they are only set to work during day light hours, thus effectively using surplus power generated by the solar panel.

Remote Battery Monitor & Boat Tracker

During the lockdown I have, like most leisure cruisers, been unable to visit my boat. It is moored about 30 minutes drive way from the house. Although since fitting the solar panel in November 2018 I have not had to worry about  the batteries draining, it would have been reassuring to know that there were no problems.

In this months (June'20) Waterways World a reasonably priced Remote Battery Monitor was advertised. It also has the advantage that it sends location information along with the battery charge.








I've ordered one from the manufacturer ChargeMetrix (£42.50 + a monthly connection fee of £3.99) and will install it once the lockdown is ended and I am able to visit the boat again.

Although it's too late for the Coronavirus lockdown it will be convenient to keep an eye on the battery charge in the future and if ever the boat is stolen be able to track it.

STAINED GLASS PORTHOLES

In 2018 at Crick Boat Show we met Catherine from Cut Glass Gallery and asked her to design a stained glass for one of our porthole windows.

Catherine spent some time making sure we were entirely happy with her design and once she was sure we were happy she produced this stunning window of Irises.

We were so pleased with this that we commissioned Catherine to produce a second glass for another porthole on the boat.

This time we wanted a picture of an animal associated with the canals. After thinking about it we decided upon a duck, and Catherine sourced this design from 'Narrowboat Glass'.

This is the porthole Catherine has produced this time. Just as superb as the first one. 

The glass is currently still in Catherine's workshop whilst we wait for the lockdown to end.

We have now asked for a third porthole glass, this time a structure associated with the canal. Catherine suggested  a bridge with a boat emerging. She asked for some photos of our boat and 'Narrowboat Glass' has produced this design for Catherine to work her usual magic.

Below is a picture of our boat. 

We are sure that once the design is made into glass the third porthole will be just as dramatic as the first two.

End of Year Stats 2019

Miles, Hours, Locks L/Ms per hour etc for third year of Hamwih

Jan to Dec 2019

Beta Marine 43

                                    

                                                                                                                                               

Year	Total Days	Moored Days	Working on Boat Days	Upgrade 2018 Lockdown 2020 Days	Cruising Days	Trips	Engine Hours	Cruising Hours*	Distance Miles	Locks	Avg Lock/Miles Per Hour
2019	365	224	45		96	10	570.3	541.7	902.25	747	2.89
2018	365	123	48	129	65	12	420.2	372.7	600.25	548	2.73
2017	161	99	22		40	2	189.7	170.7	308.75	157	2.46

* Cruising Hours are the total engine hours less those used for topping up the batteries, moving the boat to top up with water and/or fuel + winding in preparation for next trip.

Bata Marine AC Panel

The engine hours recorded in the table below are the accumulation of the total hours the engine has been used since the previous fill up. Therefore the hours recorded at the first fill up for each year includes some hours from the previous year, whilst hours completed after the last fill up for the year are not counted until the following year. This explains the difference in hours recorded in the table above, where the engine hours are counted on a daily basis.

Year	Engine Hours	Litres	Litres per Hour	Cost	Cost per Litre	Overall Cost Per Hour	Central Heating Hours	Litres Used  @ 0.5 per Hr	Cost Per Hour	Engine Litres Less CH	Litres Per Hour	Cost per Hour
2019	583.3	916.66	1.58	£777.93	£0.86	£1.33	167	83.5	£0.43p	833.2	1.43	£1.23
2018	430.2	624.02	1.49	£504.76	£0.81	£0.78	97	48.5	£0.41P	575.5	1.34	£1.09
*2017	159.8	353.90	2.21	£303.87	£0.85	£1.90	50	25.0	£0.42p	328.9	2.05	£1.74

* 2017 engine was a 38HP Beta Marine. Since 2018 the engine is a 43HP Beta Marine