First impressions

It was Chloe and Curly's first time on a narrow boat and what mixed reactions we had. Curly thought it was brilliant and loved it, but Chloe's first words were "you couldn't swing a b****y cat in here".

                                                     Curly and Chloe

                                                  Carolyn unpacking

                                               Carolyn filling cupboards

               Chloe is not convinced 2 people can live in such a small space without major fall outs.

                                                 It's bigger than it looks ! . 

                                            Curly said "It even has a conservatory" .

If you look in the tree behind Inca you can see that it is full of mistletoe,I might try and pick some , You never know your luck.

Well it was a good day, We stored loads of our gear and were surprised at how much storage space we still have left. Mind you looking at what is left in the house i still don't think we can take everything.

 

First load

Some how i don't think everything is going to fit into the boat even though we have reduced what we are going to take. One good idea is vac bags  you fill them with clothes seal them then suck out the air with a hoover, we bought about 20 of them and soon filled them with clothes we will probably never wear again.



                                                      Vac bags in action

 

With the car nearly loaded it will be an early morning as it is a two and a half hour trip from Paignton to Upton upon Severn. Coming with us tomorrow will be Chloe and Curly ( daughter and granddaughter ) they have never seen a narrow boat before so their reaction will be interesting.

Booting it

With the move onto the boat getting closer it's all go to get everything sorted. After 35 years together we have so much clutter and rubbish to get rid of, and none of it worth very much. Whilst i am at home doing the decorating in readiness for the house to be rented out Carolyn attended the car boot sale at Newton Abbot racecourse. After selling most of the good stuff it was off to the tip with what was left.


Shame she didn't sell that silly hat she was wearing.
 

This Saturday it's up to Inca at Upton upon Severn to take the first load up. We seem to have so much to take that i don't think there will be enough room to store it all. Could be another car boot me thinks.

Good bye

After 23 years in my job i have now retired early to start our new life on Inca. In the years spent with the company the work has changed a lot. But the one thing that hasn't changed is the people . The best you will ever work with. Thanks to all at sww.

And thank you to everyone from Totnes for giving myself and Carolyn a great night out.

First trip

At 09.00 we left Saul junction on our journey up to Upton upon severn marina and with the temperature at 3 deg we wrapped up with plenty of layers.

After 2 hours and going through several swing bridges we arrived at Gloucester and our first lift bridge.A call on the vhf radio and the bridge keeper lifts the bridge.

Carolyn having a good laugh at my boat handling skills (or lack of them).
This is the lock that drops you down onto the river Severn.Getting in was no problem and getting the bow in against the wall was ok but the stern would not go in.You have to get in close so you can rope off to cables which run down the side of lock to stop the boat moving about when the lock fills and empties.Eventually we got the stern in and got through the lock onto the river.

Why is it when you mess something up people are always watching you. Still they had a good laugh.

The river was running very fast with plenty of debris floating by and with the engine running at over 2000 revs it was slow going.

Carolyn on the steering for the first time.

Didn't even have time to stop for a drink.

 Coming out of Lode lock the second lock of the day.No problems this time.That's because we didn't have any people watching us.

Approaching Telfords bridge at Tewkesbury.

At last we make it to upton marina.

After 7 hours of non stop travelling Inca is moored up for the next month.

Moving

It is planned to move Inca tomorrow from her present mooring at Frampton on Severn to the marina at Upton upon Severn. We should be there for about a month which will give us time to sort out renting the house and sorting Inca out.The river level is low and the weather looks ok. The journey should take 5 hours if all goes well and will be 26 miles in length with 19 of those being on the river Severn and it will include 2 large locks.

This is our first time on the severn and on our new boat so it should be a very enjoyable and intresting day.
 

The Survey

 

 After years of planning and months of searching we finally find the boat for us. A 58 foot semi trad narrowboat called Inca.

 

Inca in dry dock being surveyed at Frampton on Severn.

Looks small against the widebeam that is also in the dock.

Being only 3 years old the survey went ok apart from the hull epoxy coating which is flaking off in a few places. It was decided to have the hull grit blasted and then 2 coats of epoxy coating painted on.
Only problem with that was as there was another boat in the dry dock it could not be done because of the damage the grit can do. The decision was made to scrape all the flaky paint off and put on 2 coats of hard tar blacking to protect the hull then grit blast and re-epoxy at a later date. 

A view of the semitrad stern.

And a view of the bow.

Chris the surveyor.

With a satisfactory survey carried out and a price agreed with the owner we now have a boat.