It's been an extremely hectic "just over a month" too, until recently I was still under the impression that I was hemmed in by Winter Stoppages on all sides, but that appears to no longer be the case. So here I am, still in the vague vicinity of Milton Keynes, and starting to feel like one of the gang, I recognise nearly every boat that goes by! And on that note, there are noticably more boats moving on this part of the system now, brought out no doubt by the good weather in the last few days. Speaking of good weather, today marks a particularly auspicious moment in my career as a professional bilge rat, as it was the first time I've opened a window since about September! Epic times.
Jem has been to the boat on two seperate occasions for a total of nearly a fortnight, and we made excellent progress on the interior decoration we had planned. It's a work in progress, the list of jobs to do on Wils seems to get longer, not shorter! It was great to have her back onboard briefly.
The last few days have seen me feverishly throwing together the Spring Issue of the Buckingham Navigator for the Buckingham Canal Society, which I have been working on all day today while the sun shone outside... Nevermind.
I haven't quite been brave enough to let the stove die out for good yet... But, like I said to the lady at Milton Keynes Marina yesterday, I think that'll probably be the last few bags of coal I'll need this year. Although apparently I was about the tenth person to say so this week! To anyone considering using the services at Milton Keynes Marina, there's a nifty bit of manouvering to be done to get at the facilities! Plenty of room to do it in, but it's quite an interesting test of your 3-point turn abilities!Have fun!
Here is Wils against the backdrop of ubiquitous poplar trees that line the canal through most of the town, when we were moored at Campbell Park a fortnight ago:
And then moored around the corner, poplar trees still in evidence:
Yesterday I spent close to £800, which nearly brought on unfortunate medical repercussions, on coal, a pumpout, diesel, and another year's worth of insurance and licensing! Fortunately I only paid half what I paid last year for insurance, which is a blessing. I calculated my monthly outgoings for life onboard, trying to take every little thing into account, including license and a conservative guess at unexpected repairs, food, diesel, chocolate milk supplies, everything - which, for those interested, came to £325 a month by my reckoning, not bad methought, considering that's EVERYTHING I'm spending.
I've decided to stick with this boating lark until the coloured band on the BW license matches the paintwork, and then I'm off. Not really. Good old random decision making though, can't fault it, chaos might just be the best tool for deciding the big decisions in life in a chaotic world... I had a friend who travelled around Europe and based her next move on which way the stick pointed, or whether the coin landed heads or tails, I believe a pack of tarot cards sent her to North Africa in the end, but that's another story.
I plan to remain in the vague area of MK until the beginning of April when my old uni housemates from Lampeter are descending on Wils and I en masse! Ever tried to sleep 8 people on a 4 berth narrowboat?! We might have to! Luckily there are camping facilities along our planned route. It's going to be a mad Easter weekend... Oh, and it's amazing how you can live in one town for most of your life and never realise an enormous golden dinosaur lives just around the corner...
I discovered him today. His name is Philip.
Hey... great blog. I believe this dinosaur is called 'Triceratops' and was created by wonderful artists Bill Billings in 1979... although I quite like Philip ;-)
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