As a result, life has again changed beyond all recognition and without a moment’s notice.  My main way of dealing with the pain has been to keep myself busy and to that end I spent a bit of time back in Kent where we used to live in the company of friends and family.  I also managed to spend time in Buckinghamshire, London and Dorset in the weeks that followed.  Since then I’ve been kept busy with a steady stream of visitors coming to the house and lots of evenings out doing various things, including lots of boating. Lots of boating.

The most notable bit of boating was last weekend when myself and my friend Rick attempted to take Bandicoot to sea.  With my expected friends unable to make it for the airshow Bandicoot remained on her moorings but a last minute call from Rick, who had had to cancel plans to go to the Edinburgh Festival, some hasty arrangements were made which saw Bandicoot slip her moorings and head down to Oulton Broad, locking through Mutford in the late afternoon and taking up a position rafted to the visitor’s pontoon at the RNSYC in Lowestoft while he crew proceeded to get extremely merry with Steve and Barbara (and many others) aboard Sensation.

Sadly Mother Nature had no plans to allow us to proceed to sea and after a bumpy night and with no prospect of change any time soon we locked back through to the Broads on the Sunday and headed back down the Waveney before putting in at Herringfleet Marsh overnight - for one of the most utterly horrible nights I’ve ever had a on boat.  The storm was hell battered the moorings, the considerable chop on the river looking more like the sea and throwing Bandicoot around all over the place.  The constant slapping of the chop on the hull hit with such force it sounded like repeated sledgehammer blows pounding away and echoed throughout the hull.  The force of the wind roared through the vents with such ferocity that it would not have been possible to hold a normal conversation for anyone sitting near one.

Aside from that, regular trips from Brundall to Brammerton have kept her busy and thankfully there has been time to finish off some of the mechanical work as well.  I have also had the opportnity to spend on time on other boat’s as well, including a nice trip out which allowed me to take this picture of a sunset over Barton Broad - just on my humble point and shoot as well!

Now with my operation just over a week away, there is just time to tie up some loose ends and see as many friends as possible before several months of being largely stuck at home.  I can’t wait!

Pics from my time in Kent, Bucks, London and Dorset are here.
Pics from my evening cruise down the River Ant are here.
Pics from our trip to the RNSYC are here.

On the Sunday it was off to Banham Zoo, our first trip this year and only second trip ever.  Last year the weather had not been kind and it was brilliant this year either, but it was better (relatively speaking).  That was the opportunity to dig out the proper camera and see what poses I could grab from some of the animals.

A week later our guests were friends (and former neighbours) Nathan & Jo from before we moved to Norfolk.  We followed the usual formula whenever they visit of Mini Golf at Wroxham Barns and day boating from Wroxham.

On this occasion we decided to do the boating on Sunday and when we did we also headed in a different direction too - not down to Salhouse Broad this time but the other direction, under Wroxham Bridge and up to Coltishall.  Again the weather was very overcast and dull, raining at times, but it was a good trip on the boat and Nathan & Jo’s three young children certainly seemed to enjoy it.  The rest of the time we spent just chatting in the house.

The following week finally saw the carpeting on Bandicoot finished off but still work remains on the headlinings and on the mechanical issues.  With it looking unlikely that we would be able to get this work done in time for the holidays we planned to cut our week out down to just the initial weekend to attend another forum meet, this time at the Waveney River Centre, and then head off for a few days in The Peak District.  However a few days before the holiday a sudden and dramatic change in personal circumstances forced a complete change of plan.

Pictures from the week I had instead will be posted once I get a working computer on which to process them!

Pictures from the coastal walk to Caister and Happisburg are here.
Pictures from Banham Zoo are here.
Pictures from day boating to Coltishall are here.

Two weeks after the Dragon Boat racing at Oulton Broad it was the NBN summer BBQ at Salhouse Broad and a great evening was had by all with the usual high standard of BBQ food and good beer.  The following day, fortunately not hung over, I joined up with friends John & Lucy for a wander around the Strumpshaw RSPB Reserve in some gloriously hot weather.  I did not even know this place existed so it was something quite different for me and provided some opportunities to use the camera.

A week later and it was our summer holiday out aboard Bandicoot.  However, chaos rained in the build up to the holiday.  Bandicoot was still waiting for new headlinings and new carpeting.  It quickly became apparent the new carpeting was not going to happen so we resigned ourselves to bare floors.  But the headlinings were more of a problem - without them she is pretty much uninhabitable.  Fortunately our supplier managed to deliver them a few days before departure but when we started the process of fitting them on the Friday night it quickly became apparent this would not be a 5 min job.  Eventually, after several hours and too little light left to work in we gave up having put one of about 16 linings back in position.  It wasn’t looking good.

Saturday we took the morning off but came back in the afternoon and got cracking with much greater success.  By 1900hrs we had all of the main roof linings in place which meant the wires were gone and the lighting re-instated, plus we had space to move around the saloon.  As a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision we started her up and headed down to Cantley to join up with Mark & Sharon on Serenity, Phil & Carron on Binky and Gav & Ann on Namaste.  We were on a standing invite to join them at The Reedcutter for some live music provided by local man Tosh.

The night was excellent from start to finish, the company great, the beer good and the entertainment and music from Tosh top stuff.  After that finished we retired aboard Binky and continued to keep the neighbours awake until  0330hrs!

The arrival of Sunday brought with it the realisation that in our haste to leave the marina at 1930hrs the night before Bandicoot was in no state to take on a week of travelling.  We returned to Brundall to stock up properly, fill with diesel and be pumped out.  Unfortunately the weather was so bad (very high winds) we were unable to put into our usual mooring for much of the day.

We headed out again on the Monday and took her up to Breydon to open up.  However things did not go so well - the engine ran okay but one of the pipes on the raw water system spring a leak again and the trim tab system failed with one tab fully down and the other nearly fully down.  The result was the boat could not be allowed to attain her proper cruising attitude which made cruising extremely uncomfortable (significant starboard list) and uneconomical (two huge trim tabs dug in the water slowing us down).  Combined with that the leaking hose meant the engine could not be run at high revs.  After a disappointing trial we headed down to Somerleyton with the intention of waiting overnight to clear the failed swing bridge on the morning tide.

As it turned out we already had clearance when we arrived so, after a brief stop for dinner, we headed on down to the Waveney River Centre and again met up with Mark & Sharon from Serenity, Gav & Ann from Namaste as well as Wayne & Tracey from Sea Gem and another good evening was had.

The following morning Serenity, Namaste and Sea Gem headed to Oulton Broad to lock through and out into the salt.  There they would rendezvous with other boats two large to get under the stuck Somerleyton Bridge who were instead putting to sea through Yarmouth Harbour.  The fleet would then head down the coast to Southwold.  Unfortunately Bandicoot was in no condition to undertake such a journey so we put into Oulton Broad Yacht Station for a few hours and then headed down to Beccles, stopping a few times on the way.

After a night in Beccles we headed back to Oulton Broad YS and took up a position on the outer floating pontoon. An excellent evening was had when friends Claire & Mark joined us for an Indian and then drinks aboard Bandicoot - Susan honing her G&T swilling skills very nicely.  The next day we spent cleaning and continuing to put Bandicoot back together before friends John & Lucy joined us in the evening.

On the Friday late afternoon we pushed off from Oulton Broad YS and headed back to the WRC again where, after an unpleasant incident with a less than helpful neighbour, we again met up with the Southwold fleet - all but one of the fleet boats being there this time.

Come Saturday and it was time to return to the marina and we headed back all the way to Brundall, getting there early evening, bring the holiday to a close.

Pictures from the NBN BBQ at Salhouse Broad can be found here.
Pictures from Strumpshaw RSPB Reserve can be found here.
Pictures from the Whitsun Week out boating can be found here.

Of course, she’s been in pieces for a long time and it quickly became clear there was little chance that she would be finished in time.  So instead, rather than miss yet more of the season, we chose to halt work and stick her back together in something of a rush.  And so it was that last Sunday we set off along the River Yare in convoy with friends Mark & Sharon on their boat Serenity.  Timing had to be precise because Somerleyton Bridge had failed, problems with the main bearing apparently.  So swinging was not possible.  Fortunately Bandicoot and Serenity are just short enough to get under the bridge on a good low tide, hence the need to precise timing.

Somerleyton Bridge was a bit of breath holding moment for us, the rivets passing over our radar array by less than 5cm.  Even so, we made it and continued on to Oulton Broad where we took up an excellent position at the yacht station, directly beside the start line for the Dragon Boats.  All was not well with the hastily re-assembled Bandicoot though.  Our new canopy top leaks along the stitches, there are a couple of very minor but annoying and as yet untraced leaks in the forward cabin and, for good measure, the rev counter packed up.  The weather was suitably atrocious as well - somehow our very presence on the river causes the heavens to open.

A nice evening was had in Oulton Broad at the Balti Raj, followed by some time in the Lady Of The Lake where there was a live band.

The next day more boats from the NBN appeared to watch the Dragon Boats and we all retreated to the Lady Of The Lake for lunch, though Susan and I could not stay for long as we had to set off at 1400hrs in order to be sure of getting back under Somerleyton Bridge.  The weather on the run back was rather better and on board Bandicoot things were functioning more happily too (including the rev counter).

So a good weekend (at times) but now another long layout as we have no other scheduled outing until early July.  That should give me some time to get some more work done!

On Bank Holiday Monday I managed to get out with my camera (finally) and do a bit of photography.  The light wasn’t always at its best but overall I was pleased with the results of the day.  I’ve also posted a few shots online from a couple of weeks before when I was down in Bristol on business.  I didn’t get much chance to go out and I only had my (very cheap) pocket P&S with me, but I was impressed by Bristol.

Pictures from the Dragon Boat racing are here.
Pictures from Bank Holiday Monday are here.
Pictures from Bristol are here.

Heavy rain confirmed that the new roof vents are watertight but unfortunately the window over my berth still is not.  Further investigation required there.  The boat is to be re-carpeted and all the roof and wall linings re-covered in a new high quality white vinyl.  Unfortunately the coverings are still weeks away and with the Dragon Boat racing coming up in Oulton Broad we took the decision we would have to draw a line under what we were doing otherwise we would be missing large amounts of the season.

The lack of carpet we could cope with, but no roof and wall linings or soft furnishings and with wires hanging out all over the place she wasn’t really in a usable condition so we have cleaned up the existing linings and put them back, for now at least.  I’ve also wired in new main lights so we’ve had a complete change of all light fittings in the interior now and she is looking much more up to date - a situation which will be improved still further when the new linings are done in a few weeks.

This week will see the soft furnishings and curtains returned and next weekend, finger’s crossed, we’ll be out on the river again!

On the Monday the engineer who had rebuilt the outdrive for us put the drive leg back on and I was then able to get on and anti-foul it on the Monday afternoon.  She was now ready to go back in the water and a lift was booked for the Wednesday at 0900hrs.  The one potential fly in the ointment was the missing after cooler bung on order for over 6 weeks from the Volvo dealer.  Taking no chances I ordered one from well known marine suppliers Keypart which arrived Tuesday afternoon.  Wednesday morning as I went on board to secure things for the lift and check everything over ahead of going back in I discovered the after cooler bung was already fitted.  An engineer from the Volvo dealership had fitted it for me the previous afternoon.

So, in she went (after a long ride on a tractor and trailer) and the first good news was that she didn’t sink.  The second bit of good news was that, despite not having run in 7 months the engine struck up instantly and sounded as smooth as ever.  The new sounder fired up but didn’t like the slipway, however it quickly cleared as soon as we started to move, painting a nice profile on the screen, thus providing a third bit of good news.  And the fourth bit came as I backed her out of the slipway and forward gear engaged with a satisfying clunk.  We were on our way.

In fact Wednesday continued to go well as we stopped off at Freshwater Cruisers and had the 8 month overdue pump out of the toilet tank finally done and later in the afternoon I fitted and sealed two brand new roof vents which will hopefully be the end of our leaks!  And it doesn’t end there - yesterday saw the horn working again, new wiper arms and blades fitted and the wiper sweeps altered (corrected), refitting of the manual bilge system, satisfactory tests on the operation of all water, toilet and drainage systems, some light fittings upgraded and a previously blocked vent in the heads re-instated.

So, all-in-all, progress is being made, albeit slow in some areas.

There is still much work to be done but she’s nearly ready to go back in the water and once that is done the next phase of work can be started.  With a bit of luck by the end of April she will be fit to use as a day boat - it might take a little longer to get her ready for longer periods of use but we’ll see.  For now the goal is just getting her back in the water and for that I need the drive back - hopefully I’ll have some news about that soon.  A couple of other odds and ends need finishing off too - fitting a new depth & temperature transducer as well as getting a blanking plug for the after cooler drain (ordered 6 weeks ago, still waiting).

For now, here is a comparison between the front cabin before and after.

Last weekend a change of plans was required at the last minute when one of my oldest and closest friends, Phill, was kept in hospital in London over the weekend.  So I jumped on the train and went down to see him on the Saturday, battling as I did with sweeping closures on the London Underground which eventually saw me having to get a bus from Nottinghill Gate to Victoria - and experience I would be happy not to repeat.  But with Phill being discharged on the Sunday I had some time to kill in the afternoon and went out with my new, but unfortunately somewhat rubbish, compact camera.  Still, it was small and light and definitely better than no camera as I slowly made my way along the Central Line (the only line running into Liverpool St Station) as I wandered around on Sunday.

Bandicoot (the boat formerly known as Grenick, but not officially yet known as Bandicoot either) is still stuck on the hard standing.  A sterling effort from Susan has gone a long way to restoring the interior and she’s now looking a lot more like Silver Dream did, though still in pieces and still with leaking vents and windows.  On the outside, the names are all gone, the hull washed and cleaned but not yet polished, the underside scraped ready for repainting and a series of bits of damage to the gel coat and nicks out of chines have been repaired.  The transom drive mount has been cleaned up and ground back to primer (bare metal in some places) and is waiting for painting.  The drive itself should be largely finished (though I haven’t heard from the engineer for a while) but it can’t be refitted until the shield is painted.  Both the shield and drive will also need to be anti-fouled (as will the hull).  We also still need to fit the new transducer and I am still waiting on the blanking plug for the raw water system.  It seems to me that she will remain where she is for a while yet!

Pictures from London are here.

I’ve been meaning to update this blog for some time but not managed to get around to it.  Continuing poor weather has  been a significant deterrent to getting on with work on the boat, of which there seems to be plenty.  Hardly a day seems to go by when we don’t find another problem and each problem we start work on becomes like a domino toppling event where every few minutes you find the issue becoming bigger and bigger.  The drive leg is now off and away for a complete rebuild and we’ve pulled a huge amount of the interior out as well.

Unfortunately we found the roof vents had been leaking which has all but ruined the roof lining in the front cabin.  It has also made the carpet very wet and it has slowly gone rotten.  No matter, we intended to replace the carpet anyway, but unfortunately a previous owner had decided to carpet all the walls and bulk heads as well as the floor.  As we have gone around pulling it down we discovered practically every fixture and fitting had gone on top of the carpet meaning everything has had to be removed to get it out.  As a result the interior is now almost entirely stripped out and the mess left behind by the glued carpet is something else.  Bringing the interior gel coat up to spec is likely to take most of the season but, fortunately, will not prevent the boat being usable in the meantime.  She won’t look very presentable though!

In amongst the snow / rain / storms we also managed a weekend in Lincoln.  What a fabulous city - all the history you could want together with some well preserved old streets and buildings, plus the odd Steep Hill or two.  Our hotel even had a wonderful view of the cathedral, which isn’t surprising since it was exactly opposite!  I didn’t quite get the photographic opportunities I wanted, owing to the weather in Lincoln being just as bad is in Norwich, but I was sufficiently impressed that I think we will be returning when time allows.  Before that, however, we’ve just got a keep cracking on with the boat if we are to have a boating season to speak of.  Pictures from Lincoln are here.

Allowing myself a little time off for the evening I went out on Saturday night with a few friends to a pub in Wroxham, The Shed.  Don’t be fooled by the named, it’s actually quite posh inside, but the main attraction of this place is the 50 real ales on tap.  If you’re a lager drinker, this is probably one to miss - then again, you might end up drinking something decent!

I generally only talk about the accident if asked because I don’t want to be defined by it, but I’ve quietly enjoyed the horrified looks of people when they see the scans.  But I’ve had my fun with that  now and I’ve got plenty of challenges ahead of me to be getting stuck into.  I’m now entering the 6th month since becoming the head of department at work and much has been achieved already but there is so much more to do.  Then there’s the boat, no longer named Grenick (or indeed anything at the moment) but still sitting up on the chocks awaiting a whole load of work ahead of the spring and it’s also about time we got on with the job of updating our house, work started but never finished by the previous owners.  Too much to look forward to so no time to spend looking back!