No Problem gets dressed and we cruise silently..

Moored Gt Haywood, Trent & Mersey Canal

Tim was back by 9am this morning and ready to put on the back dodger and the cratch cover.. Here the dodger..

And already things are beginning to look different.  As you can see, the buttons are not yet in the fabric nor on the metal work, this he will do in situ as he fits the material snuggly round the stern of No Problem.  The material used is not fabric backed like many seen on narrowboats, in fact Tim will not use the fabric backed stuff.  It tends to stretch over it’s life, and also attracts mildew.  We had the same material on BP and it was absolutely ace, it gave no trouble at all, never shrunk nor stretched and there was never any mildew forming on it… easy to clean too.. I wonder if I have earned my commission from Tim tonight!

Here is the tool he uses for putting on the poppers.  It does it all in one go, makes the hole and puts the popper in at the same time.  Once the dodger was done it was on to the cratch cover, and the same again as it was carefully fitted around the front of No Problem..

That’s a bit more like it, and suddenly the narrowboat felt more cosy with it’s ‘extra room’ at the front.  At last we could have the front doors open even in the worst weather.. it has transformed this boat.. amazing really how it can make that much difference, a cratch cover!

Lunchtime saw the arrival of Jen and Dave of NB Sophie-Jane No2 (If my memory serves me correctly naming the boat!)  It was nice to see you both and glad you enjoy the blog.. thankyou for stopping by you two!

This afternoon we were invited for a cruise aboard Waterway Routes, the unique narrowboat of Paul Balmer and his family.  This boat is unique because it can be cruised on either diesel engine or an electric motor run from a very large bank of sealed batteries that live under beds in cabins.  The boat will run for 15 hours continually just on battery power, but what makes it so good is that while waiting for locks, or in fact, in locks themselves, no power is being used.. power is only used when the prop is engaged!  The diesel engine will charge the batteries, and Paul has a sophisticated charging and power system working for him aboard.

I was offered the tiller, and not arguing about that, I took my opportunity to steer down a line of moored narrowboats.  It made me feel very aloof as I cruised by them with just a slight ‘whirl’ from the electric motor.. heads were turning and I had to try very very hard not to smile or glance a look sideways to see their faces at their total disbelief of this ‘silent’ narrowboat passing them!

Lucy was totally confused.. yes she was invited aboard too.. she couldn’t understand how the boat was moving with no engine!.. Then Paul demonstrated switching from electric power to diesel power.. and within 5 seconds and a couple of clicks, the electric motor stopped the prop and the 45/48 hp diesel engine fired up to take over the running of the prop.. Lucy suddenly jumped up, her brain thinking/realising that at last things were back to normal again!

A wonderfully impressive narrowboat for sure, and not only did I think that, but a couple of guys from Canalboat came over this morning to do a total review for their October issue.. they stayed for a good three hours and of course a test cruise for them too.. I think they were also well impressed with this very unique narrowboat.

So dinner aboard No Problem tonight for both crews, then a walk out late in the evening and yet again the Balmers found another geocache.. Ho hum, great day today!