Changing the name of a boat

Sue on nb No Problem commented about the name of the boat that was our pick of the week - Grumpy Git.

It got me thinking about changing the name of a narrowboat.  At least two of the people we've been in contact with have said they'd change the name of the boat they bought.  I'm not superstitious but there's a small part of me that has to wonder if it would be a good thing.  I recently saw part of a segment on a tv show that was talking about superstition and how ridiculous it sometimes is.  They were asking people to smash a mirror and then telling them to slap themselves on the shoulder with a dead fish to counteract the bad luck they may receive for breaking the mirror.  The dead fish thing was total fabrication.  Everyone who agreed to smash the mirror also did the fish on the shoulder thing.  Not one broke the mirror and then declined the dead fish.

So is it really such bad luck to change a boat name?  There really are some that I simply wouldn't be happy cruising around in with the name emblazoned on the side.  I've read of some little ritual to be done if you change a boat name to prevent the bad luck.  Here's a couple of websites with instructions!


http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/rename.htm
http://www.boatnames.com.au/boat-naming-renaming-ceremony.htm

I'm thinking of that dead fish and wondering if it's all a lot of rubbish.  But.... if we did fall in love with a boat with an awful name I might just have to come back to this post to check out those websites again.

Pick of the week : Grumpy Git

Here's one from Great Haywood Boat Sales : GrumpyGit

Positives : we would really like a reverse layout and the solar panel is a good extra.
Negatives : the water tank is smaller than we'd prefer.


54ft Semi Trad
£55,000
2007

Boat specifications
Plating specification : 10/6/5
Flat, V-Hull Or Keeled : Flat bottom
Built by : GWV Boat Builders
Fitted out by:  GWV Boat Builders
Source Of Hot water : Calorifier/Webasto/Immersion heater
Central Heating : Webasto
Solid fuel stove : Bubble stove
Water tank capacity : 90 Gallon Stainless steel water tank
Engine make : Mitsubushi 42hp
No of cylinders : 4
Keel, water, air cooled : Keel
Gear box make : PRM 1:50
Bow Thruster
Diesel tank capacity : 36 Gallon
Additional Notes : Twin alternators, battery management system
12 Volt : Yes
240V landline : Yes
Inverter : Victron 2.5kw inverter & charger
Batteries : 1 Starter, 4 leisure
Type of toilet : Techma pump out
Bath/Shower fitted : Shower
Vanity Basin : Yes
Fixed Berths : Double
Extra berths : L shaped dinette converts into a double
Cooker : Caprice Spinflo
Fridge : Shoreline & freezer
Gas, 12 Volt or 240 volt : 12v
Additional systems : Washing machine & side hatch
Vessel History
BSS : April 2011
Maintenance : Full service history
Recent Survey
Mooring Available : Yes
Additional Notes : Reverse layout. Front and rear cratch covers. Solid oak fit out. Hull
coated with epoxy two pack. 800w solar panel on the roof. Two side hatches. Lots of storage.

Daily in OZ

I've decided I'm going to start a second little blog to record what it's like each day at home.
Some days I stand outside and listen to the cicadas and think how much I'd miss that Summer sound.
But then..... with our recent wild weather I think I won't miss it!

One day when we're in the UK on our narrowboat and complaining about the English Winter I'll be able to look back at that day in OZ and maybe the Winter won't seem so bad. :)

I'll try and include a photo whenever I can as I've had a couple of requests for photos from Australia.
I've added a page at the top of this blog or here is a link :

Daily in OZ

Reading blogs

We have learnt a lot about the narrowboating life from reading other peoples’ blogs.  There is a variety of different type of narrowboat blogs from people hiring a boat for a holiday and keeping a log of their trip to those for whom their narrowboat is their home.

Here’s a selection of some of the ones I’ve stumbled across and enjoy reading.  There are many more but there’s only so many hours in the day for reading blogs.

English retirees (continuous cruisers) – nb No Problem, nb Epiphany

Boat sharers – nb Debdale

Building a boat – nb Chance, nb Waiouru

People living on a residential mooring – nb Lucky Duck

Continuous cruisers from afar – nb Northern Pride, nb Gypsy Rover NZ, nb Gypsy Rover AU

Holidays – nb Kelly Louise

Business on a boat - nb Hadar , nb Tia

Now, about the business run from a narrowboat, I’ve also read of a fudge boat, a cheese boat and a lady who runs a hairdressing salon from her boat.   If you have a link for these or other interesting businesses on a narrowboat, leave a comment and I’ll update this blog entry to include them.

Meeting Aussie narrowboat fans

Yesterday we had coffee with Neal and Marie, another Aussie couple planning to buy a narrowboat.  They had left a comment on the blog saying they were also from central Victoria and that they also had an elderly dog to consider before they could head off to the UK.  We couldn't quite believe it when we discovered that they lived just 10 minutes down the road!  What a small world it is.

It's always nice to talk narrowboats with someone who is as enthusiastic about them as you are.  We chatted about other bloggers, and about the difficulties in planning from so far away.  We all just wish we could go browsing narrowboats on the weekend but we have to be content with pictures on the internet. 

I wonder which of us will get there first?

How our pipe dream became a plan

On our return home to Oz from our 2007 trip, I began reading narrowboaty things on the internet and one day stumbled across a blog about a retired couple who lived on their narrowboat : Sue and Vic on nb No Problem.  Goodness!  Now I had something to read on a regular basis, and reading I did – every single weekend. Our neighbours down the road shared a subscription to Canal Boat magazine with us and we waited eagerly each month for the magazine to arrive.

I daydreamed of us buying a narrowboat and cruising around the English countryside.  Mick must have thought I’d lost the plot.  We live on the other side of the world!  It took him some time after our return to get over his first overseas holiday.  He’d been homesick at the end and although he’d thoroughly enjoyed the trip (especially the few days on board the hire boat) he wasn’t thinking about the next trip like I was.  When I mentioned my narrowboat daydream he laughed it off.  Eventually he too started talking about our next trip

I kept showing him photos from the blog and reading him interesting entries.  We especially loved the fact that No Problem was also home to Lucy the border collie.

One day I clicked my way to another narrowboat blog and to my amazement the bloggers were from New Zealand!  It was Derek and Dot on nb Gypsy Rover.  I went right back to the beginning of the blog and read every single entry.  So there were actually people from our side of the world who were in England on their narrowboat.  If they can do it, so can we.  If I wasn’t addicted to reading these blogs before, I certainly was now.  Somewhere through 2008 Mick came round to the idea of spending a year in England on a narrowboat.  It would be our retirement plan. 

The start of 2009 saw us talking more and more about it.  Just like 10 years ago as our plan of retiring to our weekend home had turned into a two year plan to move out of the city, we started thinking of making our narrowboat dream a shorter term plan as well.  

Mick has worked like a Trojan for as long as I’ve known him (24 years now).  He does everything in a hurry.  I’m sure part of the reason he so much enjoyed narrowboating was the forced slow pace.  He now looks forward to his "long service leave", although being self employed he won't be paid for it. 

I was increasingly dis-heartened in the job I’d worked at for the better part of the last 20 years.  Amazing how one unpleasant work mate can change your entire feeling for your work.  Although I’ve learnt to deal with her regular put-downs and trouble-making, I certainly don’t feel as dedicated and enthusiastic about going to work.  I either need a good rest from the place (taking extended long service leave) or to get out altogether. 

So here we are, on a mission to achieve our next dream.

Our favourite boat is still for sale

Our favourite find when we looked at what was for sale during our trip in October 2010 was nb Pukeko.  Every week or two we check if it's still for sale - you never know, we might win lotto and be able to buy that boat.  :)

Pukeko was on our list of boats we liked before we left for our holiday and I think had been for sale for at least a couple of months before.  I wonder if there's a problem we don't know about - it seems a long time on the market!

We loved the interior of the boat and didn't mind that there was a little work to be done outside.  At this price we'd splash out on a new paint job!

The price has dropped to £42,950.  Here's a link again : nb Pukeko

A friendly boating community in 2007

We were introduced to narrowboating in 2007 when we hired a boat for a few days.  We were amazed and very pleasantly surprised at how friendly boaters were – even to a pair of inexperienced Aussie hirers.

Our first evening we moored at Stoke Bruerne and wandered down to the Navigation Inn to have dinner.   While standing on the towpath deciding where we would sit, Mick bent down to pat a gorgeous border collie that was stretched out at the end of one of the tables.   The owners said hello and when they heard our Aussie accents we got chatting.  Before we knew it we were sharing their table and ordering our dinner.  

Their names were Ann and Alan and were a lovely couple (we've since lost touch with them - I wonder if they'll ever see this blog).  They were heading in the opposite direction to us to take their narrowboat back to the marina where they kept it.  After dinner they invited us for coffee on their boat – the first privately owned narrowboat we’d ever been on and the first we’d heard of semi-trads.  We felt like we’d had our first narrowboat lesson.

Early next morning we were faced with the 7 locks leading out of Stoke Bruerne.  Having never worked a lock we thought we’d wait for another boat to be heading in our direction so we could share the lock.  We waited, and waited, and I walked across to ask the man on a coal boat if he was heading off that morning.  He said he’d gladly share the locks with us but wouldn’t be leaving for more a couple of hours.

Impatience got the better of us and we bravely decided we’d take our time and give the locks a go by ourselves.  The man from the coal boat saw us wave as we headed off and he yelled out that he’d walk down to the first lock and help us through.  We were grateful for his kindness and went on with confidence.

The following night I was in the galley preparing dinner when I heard Mick talking outside on the towpath.  I poked my head out to see a friendly face and another invitation for coffee on a narrowboat after dinner.  It was Leon and Rae on their narrowboat The Old Bovine.  They were the first people we’d met who actually lived on their boat and we went to bed that night thinking how nice it would be to have a long term holiday living on a narrowboat.  It was the planting of a seed in our minds although we didn’t know it at the time.

By the time we returned that boat to the base we knew those few days were to be the highlight of our trip.  We took every possible opportunity in the days following to lurk around locks and check out boats for sale.

The 10 year patchwork project

Not at all narrowboat related but something I plan to be doing while we cruise.
It is a project I started a year ago at my once a month quilt group.  I call it the Hexagon Star Quilt.

Alison, one of my fellow group members, and I saw this quilt in the book "Quilts of Virginia, 1607-1899" and fell in love with it.  It comprises approximately 25,000 hexagons and the original quilt is displayed on a bed at "Scotchtown" in Virginia, USA.

Quilt on the bed at Scotchtown

Close up of quilt

Alison and I excitedly began what we knew would be a very long term project.  These hexagons are small - the blurb beside the photo in the book says they are 1/2 inch hexagons.  When I first looked at the size of a half inch hexagon I faltered - it seemed insane to make a large quilt out of pieces so small.  But... carried along by the quilt group's enthusiasm I made a start.  Now I'm addicted!

A month ago I received a panicked email from Alison saying the hexagons we were using were too big!!  How could that be?!  Well, sometimes hexagons used in quilting are measured by the size of one of the six sides and sometimes they are measured across the entire hexagon.  There is a BIG difference.  The ones we are making are 1/2 inch along one of the six sides. We can't see the quilt in person and the pieces looked so ridiculously small it never occurred to us that they could be too big.

Alison and I held an emergency coffee meeting at my place and looked at her calculations.  If we made the exact same quilt it would be 5 metres long!  Hmmm... rather too large for our bed.  We are adapting the size to suit our respective beds (Alison is buying a bigger bed so she can make a bigger quilt!).  We decided to make one of the star blocks in the correct size hexagons and use it for a label on the back of our quilts. I'm going to write a message on the label explaining that this is the size pieces used in the original quilt.

The upside of our error is that I now only need to make 18,000 hexagons. What a bonus!

My first few blocks

The single hexagon has a paper of the correct size on top - much smaller!

The correct size hexagon isn't even the size of my thumb nail

Narrowboat Sponsorship

Before making the decision to sell our house to help finance our narrowboat adventure, we looked at other options for buying a boat.

We had been reading of the travels of Derek and Dot on  nb Gypsy Rover NZ and following their success with this option we considered a sponsorship boat.  The arrangement would be that you buy a new boat (some hire boat company’s have second hand boats for sponsorship) and a hire boat company “manages” the hiring out of the boat. The income is split between the boat owner and the hire company and there is usually a fixed term of 4 or 5 years.

The idea was appealing because the income would help pay for the cost of the boat.  We thought that by the time the sponsorship term was up we might be ready to take over the boat and spend a year or two on the canals ourselves.  We’d also get a narrowboat holiday each year in the meantime.  During a subsequent short stopover in the UK I visited Kate Boats  to investigate the sponsorship option and they were extremely helpful.  They had a sponsorship boat being built at the time and let me have a good look around it.  I was impressed.

Back in Australia we discussed the idea in depth.  But… with an elderly dog to consider we just couldn't predict when the time would be right for us.  The cost of the boat was more than we had intended to spend, and we also worried about having a boat built when we lived so far away.  The requirements of a hire boat are also not quite the same as what is necessary to live on a boat as a continuous cruiser.  We eventually decided the sponsorship option wasn’t for us.

Other hire firms that offer sponsorship :
http://www.aquanarrowboathire.com/boat_share.htm 

http://www.anglowelsh.co.uk/sponsor.htm