We spent our first nights aboard Wils at the weekend, which was great, even considering that we were without running water, heating and toilet facilities! We had the lanterns burning brightly and some very strange jazz on the tape player (yes, we DID have a little power in the batteries!) courtesy of Mr Herbie Hancock, as we whiled away the evening in furry hats and scarfs and many layers of clothing, plotting heroically the deciding moves in Escape from Colditz the board game! It's a great game in fact, and looks set to become a regular feature onboard, so those who come and stay can look forward to a good ol' fashioned round of Colditz, and no mistake! All the efficient fun of the Third Reich!
A few photos:
Our advanced water system!
We have been carefully analysing our options for licensing, and for a long time we were tempted by the trading license, in the catagory 'shop or workshop' or something like that, because it would enable us to sell what we make directly off the boat. But of course, in true headlock-capitalist spirit, if there's any chance of one individual making money, then a whole slew of other people are legally entitled to make some too, as a result. The trading license in question, which bizarrely is relative to the size of the vessel, was more than twice as much money as the standard license. And them licenses ain't cheap to start with! All for selling the occasional handmade rug onto the towpath...
In all fairness, there is a 55% discount for traders that make less than £65,000 a year, which we would qualify for by a gazillion miles, but the very idea of keeping the books, and having to deal with that kind of business mentality is, frankly, repulsive. So we shan't be selling directly off the boat for the time being, because we can't afford to. We can't afford to make money, apparently. We'll put up a link on here to our Etsy shop as soon as it's open!
We have made many, many journeys by car to the marina in the last week, now most of our stuff is onboard. Just a little logistical juggling to do in order to bring the remainder of Jem's things up this way from down south.
We managed to find an insurance company that were willing to insure us without a BSC, given that we don't actually cruise her until the work is done to bring her up to BSC standard. Waiting, waiting, waiting...
I'm trying every day to learn something new about our engine, our electrics, our plumbing, and I have two books on the way on those very topics, so that there might be at least a small chance that we can maintain Wils in top condition, and fix the bits that (will) go wrong (eventually)!
In an attempt to rid ourselves eventually of water pumps and electrical plumbing systems, we're hunting around for second hand beer pumps, the kind that get discarded from pubs quite regularly apparently. One day I want to have beer pumps instead of water taps in the galley, and perhaps one pump next to them feeding from the cask-conditioned homebrew! That might be a long-term plan! The pumps that is, not the homebrew, that's priority number one!
We're also looking at paint colours for the inside, we're siding on a dark red and cream for the saloon and possibly something different for the bedroom!
Scrubbing the algae off the roof goes on a little bit at a time, as does investigating the electrics to try and get the tunnel light and the horn working again! We're going to have emergency backup horn and light in the form of a handheld air-horn and a powerful torch too! Advanced stuff!
As we're hoping that our first trip will be southwards down the Grand Union, we're hoping that the stoppages at Buckby Lock will be cleared up soon. Officially they are due to end tomorrow, I don't know how often BW manage to stay on schedule.
It seems like every day we get a bit nearer to our new life on the water, here's hoping it won't be too much longer!
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