Tuesday, December 01, 2015

I'm sure friends think we're mad...

In the guest blog post I did for the CRT website a while back, I talked about the need to have on board all of those things which would be part of your life wherever you were.
"But life on a boat, just like life on the land, is more than just essentials. There are those things you'd 'really like to take'. And that list keeps growing the more you think about it. Books, CDs, photo album, DVDs... Oh, the DVD player, laptop, footspa... And the clothes! Are 'boaty' clothes enough, or do you want to be able to smarten up for the odd outing?


And don't forget the stuff of 'ordinary' life. When the day's cruising's over, or when you're moored for a couple of days in some remote spot in torrential rain, what do you do? Sadly, I've met some very bored boaters, whose only enjoyment is in the travelling. In a house, you'd have hobbies, games and other pastimes, and these bits and bobs are needed on the boat, too. The guitar, the easel and paints, the sewing machine, Scrabble, playing cards. Shame about the piano, though!"
All of which is true. The biggest problem, Grace and I concluded today, is that most of those very same things have to return with you to your house if you choose, as we have now for five years, not to stay on the boat over winter.

We returned to Kantara today. We tried yesterday, but first the M1 was in gridlock, and we avoided it, then the A5 was, too (because of the M1 problem) and we'd already turned onto it. We did a U-turn after about 15 minutes, when it became obvious that we were doing the wrong thing. Today was very much better. The weather, however, was cold and very windy.


On the face of it, we didn't really have much to do. Most of the clothing we wanted to take back, we took on Friday. All of the perishable foodstuffs. My exercise bike. Computers. But when it came down to loading up the rest of the stuff, it just went mad! And I'm sure various friends and other boaters on the marina must have thought we are mad when they saw me making numerous trips to the car, carrying sundry bags, boxes and heavy things.

And these were just those things I meant in my CRT post... Guitar, sewing machine, exercise stepper and kettle bells, artist's painting materials (for canvas and for the boat cabin), the winter clothes and footwear, Grace's best pots and pans and cooking utensils (because the ones back in the house are not the best ones!), cameras, boxed games, plants. Stuff! We even had to bring the TV with us this time, because it's gone wrong and needs to be returned whence it came. Each year, the temptation to stay over winter gets stronger!

Phil and Jackie from Archenar were a bit peeved this morning when they found water had leaked through from their galley sink into the cupboard below. They thought it had probably dripped through where the drain leaves the sink - the plug-hole - which hadn't been tightened properly.

The same sort of thing recently happened to friends of ours, but their problem was in the shower base, and the leak had gone undetected for four years. The accumulated water over that time rose in the bilges until it reached the underside of the flooring, and then soaked into it. It seems that much of the floor will have to be ripped out and replaced, and the cleaning up job in the bilges will be quite considerable, too. It's a terrible shame. Phil and Jackie were lucky to see their leak when they did.



Now I have to get the stuff from the car into the house. And find room for it! We must be mad!

No comments:

Post a Comment

I'd love to hear from you!