Boat Shed

While taking the dogs for a walk around the marina we came across this narrowboat. We are going to get a new pram hood cover for the back on Inca, but i don't think we will be copying this shed design.

Not sure on how you steer it ? .

SETTLING IN

It was a long journey up to Inca on Thursday as there where big traffic jams at Bristol. It was a day later than we planned due to Carolyn having a tooth out a week ago then getting infected.She is now dossed up on antibiotics and the swelling is starting to go down.

Mean while on Inca as we thought there just is not enough room to keep everything we would like to. So we have to be very selective about what we keep. There should be a car full to go back to Devon when Chloe picks the car up next week (Should of said when she picks her new car up , which apparently i am giving to her).

Yesterday we had a trip into Malvern to pick up some shopping and i wanted some sterilising solution to treat Inca's water tank. Eventually found a very large Morrison's on a retail park which also has Argos, M&S ,B&Q and a few others, Carolyn was in her element so i guess we will be going back there again.

In this picture there is something missing. There was a stainless steel drinking bowl for Molly and Hamish on the pontoon,But Hamish saw a swan decided to chase it and the bowl went splosh. No problem said Carolyn just get your sea searcher magnet and we can get it back. (stainless steel is non magnetic).I did think about giving her the magnet and letting her have a go at finding it. Oh well  something else for the shopping list.

Back up to the car now with another load to go back, mostly my clothes for some reason then more sorting out on Inca.

FIRST NIGHT ABOARD

On Saturday we loaded the car with dogs and belongings and headed up the motorway to Upton upon Severn.

 

 

Introducing Mollish (Molly and Hamish) The crew

 

The level of the river Severn has dropped a lot in a week and the flow has slowed down .

Carolyn stood next to one of the pylons to show how high the river rises when in flood.

The first night didn't go that smoothly.We had problems with the electrics which was only producing 10 volts instead of 12 volts and this stopped the central heating working.Eventually we sorted it and the boat warmed up.

At about 01.30 Hamish decided he wanted to go for a walk so with Carolyn soundo off i went around the marina, with the temperature at minus 2 it was freezing.Then again at 05.30 both dogs wanted to go out.This time i gave them a good walk around the marina and along by the river.

Back at the boat it was more unpacking and trying to find places to store stuff.

At 10 o clock it was up to the marina cafe for a full English breakfast then back to Inca where we filled a couple of boxes with clothes and bits and pieces we thought we could live without.

We then headed back down to Devon for a few days to tie up a few loose ends then it's moving onto Inca full time.

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.