Much ado about nothing

While I was on the boat this week and without wanting to spend much more time on my life belts, I just added a small carabina to each one so I can either use the belts with or without the rope as the need arises. As I have said before, there are probably lots of other ways to do this but this seems OK to me.

The upper reaches of the river are still quite quiet... 

...but Ely is bustling with boats. This week, probably because the weather was hot and summery, the waterfront reminded me of a heaving South Devon harbour during the school holidays. As I've been used to having the river much to myself for the last 4 months, this really does come as a shock to the system.

To get a bit of peace and quiet, on Thursday, I headed down the Cam to take a quiet walk along Burwell Lode. Lots of birds about. I could hear a Cuckoo in the woods around Wicken Fen. Saw my first brood of Great Crested Grebe chicks. And nearly trod on a hairy caterpillar. It's a jungle out there!

Back to the boat, I decided to wash the roof and cabin sides. I used an extendable aluminium broom which makes it easy to wash the whole roof from the bank without having to climb on top but during this I broke the broom in half when I put too much pressure on it. I guessed it's main purpose is for washing house windows rather than boats! Anyway, not wanting to relegate the two bits to the bin, I put it back together with a couple of bolts. It's no longer extendable but it still works well.

I only mention this because it meant I could put into use my tapping skills - not foot-tapping but bolt-tapping. Quite early on in my boating trips, I bought a set of 4mm taps with a tapping handler (above), ans a couple of boxes of 4mm brass and stainless steel bolts. I bought much of this little kit from eBay for next to nothing and it has paid for itself many times over when I've needed to fix handles, locks and clasps, brass folding steps, small cleats, cabin hooks, tv aerial fixtures, etc to the metal parts of the boat. It has also now extended the life of my broom. For fans of Only Fools and Horses, this could be the start of  a 'Trigger's broom' saga; I say no more.

Now we're planning a trip to Northampton. Under any other circumstances, taking 2 weeks to get to Northampton would seem a little odd. After all, why would anyone want to go to Northampton? But in a narrowboat, the it makes more sense. Doesn't it? 

Yes, of course it does!