A Sunday Update

I have been too busy to post recently and I am finding it quite frustrating. I have a concert coming up and the music I have been given to prepare is fiendishly difficult! This has meant that I have been putting in several hours of practice every day, just to learn the notes. That is just one piece, which is a wind and piano quintet and in addition to this I have several accompaniments to learn for the soloists, who don't usually give me the music until a few days before the concert. Add to this the project I am working on with a jazz saxophonist, who wants to do a gig in April and also to put down a CD and my time is fully taken up. Such is the lot of a pianist - everyone wants a bit of you!

I have now been given my work schedule for this year and I will be away overseas in May/June and October/December, I shall be glad to get away for a rest!

I am not happy with the infrequency with which I post my blogs, so I am going to try and post once a week on a Sunday and see how it goes.

On the boating front, much of our time has been taken up with keeping warm in this icy weather. The canal is frozen on most days and looks very beautiful:

The ducks slip and slide across it in search of food:

We have nearly run out of burnable wood, although we have two wood stores full of unseasoned wood. We have spent many an enjoyable hour chopping the wood we have collected along the tow path. There is much tidying up of overhanging trees going on at the moment and every time we hear a chainsaw, we follow the sound and usually are rewarded with a pile of wood kindly left by the Canal and River Trust! Our new chainsaw has proved to be very easy to use and is efficient at cutting through even quite thick trunks, but splitting them down further has been problematic. The axe doesn't always work, so we have bought a log splitting 'grenade' from ebay and will see how that works:

We are now in urgent need of wood we can burn and the best place for that is the estuary, which is only about 2 miles from the canal. One of our fellow boaters on the marina works at the local tip and had an old bike trailer which had been dumped. I bought it off him for £20 and Phil has done a great job of turning it into an attractive wood collecting chariot!! Here are before and after pictures:

On the wildlife front we have heard the otter swimming about between and under the boats on many occasions in the middle of the night but still haven't captured it on camera. I have now moved the camera to the end jetty after we found a half eaten fish there the other day which could only have been left by the otter.

The kingfisher is also proving elusive and as his favourite perch is currently surrounded by ice, there is not much hope of catching him there and I'm too busy to stake him out at the moment. Here is the empty perch:

There is not much else to report, but I do hope that posting regularly on a Sunday will provide more information on a regular basis. We are about to do a calculation of costs this winter and also hope to have news on our council tax status soon, so that may be interesting and useful for prospective boaters.

All for now. I will leave you with a picture of a beautiful sunset over the marina a few days ago:

Al :)

Kingfishers

Last night was very cold and even though the wood burner was lit all night, we still felt the cold air, despite being warm in bed. Phil has a heavy cold, so I decided to get up early, get the fire up and running properly again, to warm the boat and to get out for a walk in search of a kingfisher.

I had heard that several had been seen south, but for some reason I decided to walk north up the tow path. It was a lovely morning and the colours were beautiful:

The views across to the Trough of Bowland were very special and made me want to get out on the hills for a walk, but Phil is not well enough at the moment.

A few hundred yards later I was rewarded with a flash of bright blue hurtling along the canal and I knew I had found my kingfisher. Unfortunately, he was always too far away to get a decent picture.

 I was pleased to get a shot of him in flight.

I met a dog walker on my way back who told me that she often sees him and she showed me his regular perch, so I resolved to set up camp there one day next week and to lie in wait for him, so that I don't have to chase him along the canal.

When I came back, Phil was up and about and was well enough to do some wood chopping, so we spent a happy hour or two stocking up our wood store with logs from a tree a friend had recently felled and given to us.

All in all, it's been a great day, reinforcing again our reasons for moving to the boat. The closeness to nature and the simplicity of the life is wonderful!

A very happy Al :)

Happy New Year!

I arrived back from a long work stint in India just before Christmas and am now well over the jet lag and tiredness having done two 'back to back' tours with only a few days in between back in the UK. I love India, the country is fascinating and the people are wonderful, optimistic and hospitable.

So far I haven't been booked for any work in 2015 so I'm feeling just a little bit twitchy. Being self employed is hard sometimes. We could just about manage without me working, but it would be a very much 'hand to mouth' existence. However, that is why we moved to the boat, so that I didn't have to constantly worry about getting enough work to pay the mortgage etc. on the house. I met a number of other musicians on my travels this time and it is interesting to see how so many of them work themselves into the ground, just to ensure they can sustain a reasonable lifestyle. I wouldn't recommend that anyone goes into the music profession as a career, it's too insecure.

We are now in our fifth year of living on the boat and I am still absolutely besotted with the lifestyle. This is a common theme on the marina. Everyone I talk to who is moored here, just loves living on a boat. Currently, most of them are like very similar to us in interests and aspirations, so many a happy hour is spent chatting away on the jetty about recent wildlife sightings and fell walks we have done.

I remember the scepticism with which many of our friends greeted our decision to live aboard. Some kind people advised us to at least give it a year before we threw in the towel! I don't think many thought that we would still be so totally content with the lifestyle five years on.

We have learnt a lot in that time mind you and our existence is much more comfortable as a result. Within days of first moving on we had the harshest winter in living memory and it was difficult to keep warm. Now we have double glazing, a curtain at the door, which helps with insulation, canopies at front and back which provide extra space and keep the rain out, a dehumidifier to get on top of the condensation and a wall panel heater which keeps the chill out. We also are now quite expert at keeping a good fire going and keeping it burning all night. All of these things have made a huge difference to our comfort in cold weather.

This winter, the weather has been quite mild. The canal has only frozen over twice and then with only a thin layer of ice:

We have heard the otter splashing about under the boat in the dead of night, but so far we still have no sightings on camera despite having it positioned at the end of our boat. I'm hoping that our patience will one day be rewarded. I'm also planning to capture a kingfisher on film this winter. We have quite a few on the canal and the marina at this time of year, outside of their breeding season.

On the domestic front, most of the fruit gin which has been steeping over the last few months has been decanted. The sloe gin was rather bitter, so I have added more sugar and left it for another few weeks, but the plum brandy, blackberry whisky and cranberry gin all came out well. What was most successful was the raspberry whisky made with raspberries from our allotment. This tastes absolutely gorgeous and I will definitely make more next year.

The allotment is mostly dug over now until the spring, although we still have some leeks growing for making soup.

On the negative side, Phil has been diagnosed recently with an immune deficiency illness which affects his thyroid and makes him quite weak and weary. He has to have vitamin B12 injections every few weeks which perk him up a bit, but he is finding it increasingly difficult to do the heavy work which is part and parcel of living on a boat. I am very happy to chop wood, empty the toilet etc, when I am here, so for now we can overcome that obstacle, but we are not completely sure how much longer we will be fit enough to sustain the lifestyle.

In addition we are finding it disproportionately expensive at the moment, with the mooring fees probably the most expensive in the country. This is because we have residential status, but our local council has jumped on the band wagon and is charging us full council tax and has back dated it to when the planning permission for residential status was first agreed. Currently they are taking £330 per month from us. Don't get me wrong, we don't mind paying an element of council tax, but when the marina owners are paying business rates and we are also paying them council tax within our mooring fee, it would seem that we are paying twice.

For the moment though, we are battling on and hope to spend at least a few more years living our dream.

I'll leave you with some lovely sunset pictures I have taken over the last few days. The light at this time of year is very special:

It just remains to wish you all a very happy New Year!

Al :)

Off to sunnier climes for a while

The weather has suddenly become cold and raw and we have lit the fire for the first time in ages. It is currently sending a warm glow through the boat as I write this, which is very comforting and cosy.

One of the main questions which people ask us, is how we cope in the cold weather. Everyone assumes that it will be hard to keep the boat warm. In fact we are warmer on the boat than we ever were in a house, which was often draughty and expensive to heat because of the high ceilings, typical of a Victorian terraced house.

We have three sources of heat on the boat so we know we will always be warm if one of those should fail. We have an electric panel heater which gives out a very low heat and is very cheap to run. Our central heating, which goes on for an hour in the morning, also provides hot water for the morning chores. This uses a small amount of diesel. We light the wood burner in the evenings, which is completely free, because we forage all our wood. It is also really cosy and cheering to sit in front of.

Shortly, we will also be fitting our back canopy onto the stern. This provides an extra room in winter and protects the stern deck from the elements. It enables us to kick off muddy shoes and also adds another layer of insulation. We always wait until we know that we are not going to go out cruising again until the spring, because the boat is very difficult to sail with the canopy up, especially when going under bridges. Many boaters do, but they are much more experienced and confident than us.

I have come to the conclusion that we are perhaps a little over cautious. We won't go out in windy weather, we won't cruise with the canopy on and we hate sailing in the rain, even if we wear full waterproofs. Maybe we are rightly protective of the boat because we live on it, but there are times when I do think we are a bit too careful. Unfortunately this impacted on the Saxophone project. We had a very good dry run, but on all of the days put aside for the real thing the weather was wet and windy. There was one small window of opportunity, when the sun was supposed to come out and the wind drop for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but we would have had to cruise up to the meeting point in pouring rain and stiff winds, so we decided to back out.

I did feel bad, but the chap managed to find another boat on the day, so did successfully record, although I don't think it went quite as well as he had wanted.

Tomorrow I am flying to India for five weeks work. I then return to the UK for a week of other work commitments. I will hardly be over the jet lag before flying back to another part of India for two more weeks work. This is the way my work pattern is, weeks of intense work and then long periods off. It works well for us, but it is draining when I am in work mode. The people in India are wonderful, I get well looked after and it is an amazing country, I feel very lucky and privileged to have the opportunity to go there.

Last week we spent a couple of days in the Lake District, having some 'us' time which was lovely. The weather was poor, but it didn't dampen our spirits and we managed to get out for a bit of a walk.

Here are some pictures from our walk:

That only leaves me to bid you all goodbye for a while. I will be posting when I get back in December and hope to display the results of the fruit gin, which is currently steeping away under the bed.

Bye for now ...

Al :)

Silt in Residence

After over a year of complaints to the company who run our Marina about the amount of silt sitting under our boats, they have finally taken action to deal with it. Over the last year, we have had great difficulty in getting out of our berths and into the cut, because we have literally been stuck in the mud on the bottom.

The dredger arrived two weeks ago, but has had to stop work before getting to our berth, because the amount of silt which has been extracted is already over the limit which has been agreed can be dumped in the delegated spot in the nearby fields.

Here is the dredger being lifted into the water

Here it is in the water

Dredging commences

Consequently, we are still stuck on the bottom and had great difficulty getting out of our berth on Friday, making us nearly late for our dry run of the Saxophone project. I was really angry! We have been campaigning for over a year to get the silt removed and it has only actually happened when the company decided to build some more jetties and needed to dredge that area. I suspect that the dredging of the remainder of the berths, including ours will now be abandoned.

Overall, I am becoming extremely disillusioned with the company who run the Marina. They seem very keen to take our money, but are hardly proactive in providing facilities to match what we pay. At present, they are the only providers to offer residential status and the security which comes with that, so they are calling all the shots. I just cannot wait for other marinas to start offering the same terms at competitive prices.

We have been fully residential for over a year now, but still the issue of council tax has not been resolved. Currently we are paying full council tax for the boat and this includes arrears for a time when we were not officially residential. Everything is hanging on our marina operators and the valuation office coming to some agreement about what we should pay, but very little seems to be happening. In the meantime, we are left paying more than we should. I don't mind paying council tax, I think it is quite right that we should contribute, but the amount needs to be a fair reflection of our situation. For example, we pay for refuse collection as part of our mooring fee, so currently we feel that we are paying twice.

I love living on this Marina. Every single other boat owner here is lovely, without exception and it is very well situated in a great spot, but I am becoming increasingly disillusioned and cross at the cynical attitude that our landlords have to their customers.

I know that this has been a long whinge, but it is only right that I present the downsides of boating life as well as the good things!

One of the nice things that has come out of this work is the huge amount of wood which came from the jetties, which they removed and the caretaker made sure it came on our direction.

Another recent positive experience is that the dry run of the Saxophone trip went well. I was a little aghast when he asked if we could stop for a couple of minutes under each bridge, so that he could play a whole piece to properly demonstrate the change in acoustics. The idea is, that as a physics lecturer he can demonstrate to his students how sound changes over water and under bridges. In addition he is using it as an advert for the launch of a CD he is producing. He is quite a good amateur player and seems to have a number of gigs set up for the near future. He will be uploading the final video to Youtube, so I will provide the link when it is done.

Friday was quite windy and we did explain that boat handling in windy weather can be tricky. The canal is also very shallow at the moment, so there was also the possibility of us grounding if we lost control. However, we had a successful trip and he seemed pleased with how it had gone. The only problem was when we were mooring up at the end. All the cameras and instruments etc. were in the bow preventing access, so when I brought the front of the boat in to the tow path, Phil could not get access to get hold of the bow rope. The wind took us side on before he could get to it and the next thing we knew we were right across the canal. This was in the town centre where many people come to watch the boats, so it was particularly embarrassing. Our guests seemed completely oblivious to our difficulties until I called upon them to get on the end of the central line and help us pull the boat in!

That is my only worry about this project. The requirements do not completely fit with ease of manoeuvring a narrow boat! We will see how it goes. The proper run is next week, weather permitting. They are concerned that it will be wet, which would ruin the equipment, so would make it impossible. We are concerned that it will be windy and are not sure that they fully understand the difficulties associated with that and may insist on going ahead.

We had a lovely night out after the rehearsal, moored up in the town centre, which made it all worth while!

And to end on another positive note we have just spent a couple of nights in the Lake District having some proper R and R soaking up the scenery and doing some walking:

Al :)

A Party and a Project

We have had three significant birthdays on the Marina recently, so decided to have a barbecue to celebrate. There have been a number of new people arriving recently and the Marina is now nearly full. These are mostly leisure boaters, rather than residential, but they have all fitted in really well. The barbecue was a good opportunity for everyone to get to know one another and I have to say that it was a great success. It was heart warming to see so many people enjoying themselves and getting on so well together. The Marina is now a place where I really enjoy living and want to be, in marked contrast to a few years ago when there were some very difficult people living here. Everybody now, without exception, is decent and pleasant and it is a wonderful little community.

The bunting was put out especially for the party:

The dogs were all aware that there maybe some titbits of food for them and were looking expectant:

The birthday cake was magnificent, complete with sparkler:

I also discovered something on the Marina which I had never noticed before. Hops!

A boater who has now left, planted them a couple of years ago and they are thriving. I don't think I will use them to make beer as I have so much fruit gin on the go, but I'm going to make a hop pillow with them. I have some lavender in our little garden at the end of the boat, so should get a good nights sleep with a combination of hops and lavender!

Yesterday I had an interesting meeting with a physics lecturer from the University. I had met him a few weeks ago when he wandered onto the marina in search of a narrow boat to take part in a project he was planning. We got chatting and found that we had much in common. He is an amateur saxophonist and is looking for a pianist to accompany him. I found it quite spooky that I happened to be the first person he spoke to. His explained his project to me and I instantly agreed to participate as I think it will be great fun.

The idea is that he and a drummer will be filmed while they play at the front of the boat, which I will be sailing along the canal. He wants to demonstrate the changes in sound when a boat moves under bridges, so it is partly a video for his students, but he also is using the footage as an advert for a gig he is doing locally and for a CD he has produced.

There are many logistical problems, not least fitting a set of drums into the small area at the front and getting a decent angle for the video. He also wants me to stop the boat for about a minute under each bridge and when we arrive at the popular town centre canal side pub, he wants me to hold the boat mid stream for 10 minutes while they play a few pieces. I think it is going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it ..... watch this space for progress on this.

More news on residential status and work on the Marina in the next blog.

Al :)

wildlife and mellow fruitfulness

We have had no success with our wildlife camera. We have heard the otter splashing around under the boat on many occasions in the night and it has been briefly seen launching itself into the water from under the jetty between boats. We set the camera up where it has been spotted the most, but after two weeks, all we got was floating debris on the water. It did come in useful last month though, when I discovered that something was eating our apples at the allotment. We thought it was a mouse, as the only apples which were touched were near to the ground. We set the camera up and look who was the culprit:

This year has been fantastic for fruits with an abundance of sweet and juicy blackberries all along the tow path and hedgerows. The good thing is that everything is about a month early, so that I can gather it before I go overseas for work in October.

I have made Blackberry Whisky, Plum Brandy, Redcurrant Gin and Damson Gin so far, as well as several jars of pickled Beetroot and many Rhubarb crumbles. We have so many Raspberries growing on the allotment that we are sick of eating Raspberry fool and Eton Mess, so I think I shall also be making Raspberry Vodka too. My next job is to collect Sloes to make gin. These benefit from a sharp frost before they are picked and with the Indian summer we are having, it is unlikely that they will be ready for a week or two. However, I have recently discovered a number of new bushes, many of which are off the beaten track, so hopefully I will be able to harvest them before anyone else gets there. I took the canoe out yesterday and found a whole row of bushes on the offside from the tow path. These being only accessible by boat is a bonus!!

This afternoon we went for a lovely walk. I love the Autumn colours and picked up this beautiful leaf:

We discovered a Badger set as we walked through the woods, so have now set the camera up there. I think we have concealed it well, so hope it doesn't get nicked!

Hopefully we will finally get some wildlife footage. Watch this space ......

I had planned to do the coast to coast cycle ride next week, but a little project has got in the way, which involves a physics lecturer and amateur musician and our boat, which will lead to a fun boating adventure. More about that in the next Blog.

Al :)