nb Bridge Street

Saturday 28 th September 2019 Gareth refitted the sliding hatch. This had given problems from new build. Initially, it had to be shouldered open but, after being adjusted by the yard in Braunston, it became freer but still stiff. Gareth had the hatch on, and sliding very freely, within 15 minutes. Brilliant, this will be so much easier on my back. I refitted the front cratch cover, painted the chimney flue plate and blew the dust off the boat. The solar panels were refitted and more touching up was done to the paintwork between the roof and handrail, after which we were finished. The job had taken almost 4 weeks and we were looking forward to leaving the yard. We visited the office to part with our money. The job cost us £2,950 but well worth it we thought. However, had the paintwork been done properly in the first place, it would not have been necessary. We also spoke with Gareth and booked the boat in for a repaint of the cabin sides, blackening out of the water and ...

Friday 27 th September 2019 A very busy day today, with much further progress and the end at last in sight. The fittings were replaced on the roof and the front cratch boards refitted. The mushroom vent bases have been painted in the Graphite Grey and the contrast between the bases and the mushrooms themselves is quite stunning. The coal shelf cannot sit on the roof for 6 months and so it has been dissembled and stored on the gangplank holders. We gave a case of beer to the guys in the yard that had worked on the boat which was well received.

Thursday 26 th September 2019 Brenda again, walked into Lichfield to mooch around the shops. When she returned I went back to Wickes for a new, waterproof tool box. Work progressed further on the boat but largely it is a case of allowing the last coat of anti-slip paint to cure.

Wednesday 25 th September 2019 Adam and Jacob puta further coat of anti-slip on the roof. Hopefully this one will dry better and the job progress. The front cratch boards and the coal shelf were each given a further coat of varnish and Danish Oil after which I walked to Wickes for bits and pieces, very few of which they stocked however. On the way back I started to feel unwell so went straight back to bed for a few hours, feeling much better when I woke. Adam returned in the afternoon to remove the masking tape and reveal the finished job. It looks great, a marvellous improvement on the original paint job. As expected, some of the red hand-rail paint did come off with the tape, but not as much as anticipated. The primer beneath is smooth and does not look as though it has been prepped at all, giving a poor key. Gareth took measurements of the thickness of the paint in various places. Apparently, one c...

Tuesday 24 th September 2019 Adam and Jacob turned up before 8am and applied what should have been the last coat of anti-slip paint. However, after an hour, blemishes started to appear in the drying paint. They do not seem to know for sure where these have appeared from, but another coat will have to be applied. This will mean another day here. I spent the day sorting through our US holiday photos and working on the boat. The coal shelf is being treated with Danish Oil and the cratch board was drilled out to fit over the cable gland when it goes back. Also started to varnish the cratch boards. Brenda was suffering from cabin fever. She did a wash, so much easier using the yards machines, and after working on an Asda home delivery, and dodging the rain, she walked to Tesco’s in Lichfield for her prescriptions. Already we are looking at our next holiday to India, probably next year. We have to do something to take our minds off our predicament.

Tuesday 17th until Monday 23rd September 2019 The time away in the caravan was very restful and seemed just what we needed. Initially, we were booked until Friday morning but managed to extend until Sunday night/Monday morning. We largely spent the first few days resting, watching TV and dozing. One day we had a long walk along a deserted sandy beach north of Great Yarmouth at a place called Winterton-on-Sea. This was exactly what we had wanted from the time away and we both thoroughly enjoyed the walk.                                                  Deserted beach at Winterton-on-Sea Another day we booked combined tickets for a ride on a miniature steam railway and a trip on a Broads trip boat. The train journey was good fun and we enjoyed the trip boat. The Broads are beautiful but we would imagine that holidaying on them for a week would maybe get bo...

Monday 16 th September 2019 We were awoken before 7am when the yard started moving boats around. Bridge Street was then given a third coat of undercoat. Initially, Streethay were to give both the roof and the handrail a repaint as they reckoned that it would be very difficult to repaint the roof without doing the handrail. The boat was given an all over test of the thickness of the paintwork with very disappointing results. Overall the paint is very thin and there is no undercoat, the top, gloss coat has been applied direct onto the primer and, according to Streethay, the paint job will not last. We have no reason to doubt them, their reputation precedes them. The handrail was tested with a small piece of masking tape and, when removed, patches of the paint beneath, came off, a sign of poorly prepared and applied paint. We have decided to have the cabin sides and handrails repainted by Streethay either next year or the year after, and live with patchy hand rails unt...

Sunday 15 th September 2019 Neither of us woke until late and we stayed in bed dozing until almost midday. We then walked the mile to Huddlesford Junction and had Sunday dinner in the Plough. Nice to have a proper meal with vegetables and gravy. After returning to the boat, we filled with water and settled down to watch TV. We are both feeling very tired and Brenda seems to be contracting an ear infection. Early nights await. It started to rain in the evening and got progressively heavier. Lovely to listen to snuggled in bed on the boat but it was quite loud with the boat being confined in a poly-tunnel.

Saturday 14 th September 2019 We were woken just after 8am by the guys arriving to sand the roof. While we were away, all the fittings have been removed from the roof, the roof stripped back to bare metal and so far has had three coats of primer and two of undercoat. There are still a number of coats before the job is complete, but despite the sanding, no further coat was applied today. Brenda left at 10am to retrieve Harvey. He has been living with a dog sitter and has, from all accounts, been thoroughly spoilt. The lady he has been living with had been sending us regular updates and video clips and Harvey has seemed well at home. The rest of the day was taken up continuing to clean the fridge and removing the fridge and adjacent kickboards to clean the dried blood properly, it had flowed right beneath the galley units. The yard were devastated to hear of the oversight not switching the inverter and so allowed us free use of their laundry facilities, four washes and t...

Friday 13 th September 2019 After an exhausting overnight flight, we landed in Heathrow at 04:40. Neither of us had slept. We caught the TFL tube to Paddington and then transferred to Euston where we had to wait an hour for a train to Lichfield. It was not until after 3pm that we arrived back on the boat. We were both absolutely dead on our feet. It had not been a relaxing holiday, but well worth the effort. We had seen and done so much and it will take some time to digest it all. The state of the boat brought us both to earth with a bump. The solar panels and wooden coal platform had been stored on the bed and, while the electric shore power cable had been connected, the inverter had not been switched on. This caused the batteries to drain and the fridge/freezer to trip. All the meat in the freezer had defrosted and the boat was stinking. We had to set-too, change the bedding, dump all the food from the fridge/freezer and then clean both it and all the dried blood ...

Tuesday 3 rd September – Thursday 12 th September 2019 Bridge Street was moved first thing on the morning of 3 rd into the poly-tunnel. A delicate manoeuvre, but at least we saw her into the dock before we left. All the removable items from the roof were put inside the boat, Harvey was picked up at 10am and we were picked up by taxi at 13:30. We both enjoyed the train journey from Lichfield to London Euston, but then had an endless tube journey to Heathrow where we caught a shuttle bus to our hotel. The tube had many stops and was hot, muggy and crowded. The following day, we flew out of Heathrow at 11am bound for Washington D.C., arriving at just after 2pm, local time. There are many horror stories of American Immigration, but, although we queued for a long time, we passed through quickly without any difficulties. Once the tour group was assembled, we had a 1 ½ hour coach journey into Washington itself and the hotel. It was becoming dark when we were settling in, ...

Monday 2 nd September 2019 The port side hull was blackened, after which Harvey was showered, while Brenda cleaned inside the boat. We then had a slow cruise to Streethay Wharf where the boat will be for the next 3-4 weeks in a poly-tunnel having the roof repainted. The tunnel is still occupied by another boat so at present Bridge Street is alongside a pontoon waiting. Brenda went with Harvey to visit the lady he will be staying with. He is going to be spoilt rotten so no worries there. Tomorrow we leave for our holiday in the US. We catch the 14:13 train out of Lichfield for London Heathrow, where we spend the night in a hotel before flying to Washington DC at 11am. The holiday is an organised tour, with Riveria Travel, taking in Washington, New York, Niagara Falls and Toronto, before flying home from Toronto. So, no blogs until we arrive back on or about 13 th September. Day Total: 0 locks; 3 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; D...