Quotes

I have had the quote for the repairs, and subject to a phone call this evening with the gas man I think I will go ahead with getting it all fixed up. There is a chance he can do it next week!

I am getting very restless and I am keen to get out to do some cruising - at this rate I will have to have an imaginary cruise with a daily report of my antics!

The hire boats along the way from me are in good business at the moment, the last couple of weeks have seen a steady flow of holidayers - but hardly any actually move the boat away from the mooring for the duration of their stay!!! Quite amazing - a narrowboat holiday without going anywhere - what is the point of that?

Gas leaks and repairs

I have learnt many things whilst doing my boat and the lesson I keep learning over and over again is whatever was installed before simply isn't up to standard. I plugged in my new cooker and it has failed its gas test. How the previous cooker passed with the previous owner is beyond me! The current system has too many joints not all of which are classed as accessible, and generally would be stamped with a fail mark. As a result, I need to rip the whole lot out and start again. Why didn't I just do this in the first place? I probably thought I would give the system inplace the benefit of the doubt. Why I did that I don't know - it isn't as though the electrics were ok - and I have certainly improved the water system. Why did I think that the gas system would be ok - just because gas is dangerous it doesn't mean it has been treated with respect in the past!!!!!

I am going to run a single length of pipe with no joins from the gas locker to the cooker, through 2 bulkheads. I am going to get rid of the aged automatic changeover unit which should have already been thrown away or reconditioned, and replace it with a single system.

The question is, do I do this myself, do I do part of it myself, and get someone to do the final bit, or do I pay someone else to do the whole lot (sharp intake of breath). After the initial shock, I think I am swaying towards getting someone else to do the installation.

Whoever thinks people who live on boats are weathy needs a check up from the kneck up! We all say we aren't, yet all work seems to cost the wet and soggy end of an arm and a leg.

New cooker

There is a limit to how much salad one can put up with. I was doing rather well, but on saturday I decided to raid my somewhat sparse savings and buy a new cooker. The old one was a complete and utter hazard and unusable by all accounts!

Out with the old:



and in with the new:



All I need to do now is get the connections checked by a professional and I am well away!!!