From owner-canals@blacksheep.org Mon May 5 21:04:59 1997 id AA14125; Mon, 5 May 97 21:04:40 EDT Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 18:01:05 -0700 To: canals@blacksheep.org From: sdorward@marin.k12.ca.us (Sandra Dorward) Subject: First days with Zephyr Hello Everyone, Decided it was time to get on with the job of sharing our recent nb purchase and first days out. I should have started this job a week ago while the dreamlike state of mind was still present. Now I am almost two weeks back in the classroom and just finished the end of year parent conferences -- I can't (we) wait to get back to cruising. Jack feels the same as he is now dealing with trees in our backyard that have to come down plus house painting. We left California March 31st. By April 2 we were on the cut giving Zephyr a run. We've been working since last summer by post and telephone on boat possibilities. Andy Burnett worked with us and was great. By April 4 we had worked our way through all our lists of questions, etc., and were attached to Zephyr in a big way. Judy and Stan popped in at this point and gave us pats on the back. We took a deep breath and said she's ours. Our Marina neighbors have been so welcoming and great with hints, etc. Because of my rheumatoid arthritis condition I knew I had to come up with something to sit on if I was going to drive this boat. Two berths over there was a grand rusty stool sitting on the dock. I "borrowed" said stool to experiment with and found there was a way I could squeeze myself and stool in the right spot so as to be able to steer without problems. Zephyr is a trad style. So, I put the stool back at its home spot and we, with directions, took off for a shopping spree in Derby and Nottingham. My ability to zip around a roundabout is improving - I can almost stay in the correct lane for exiting. However, as I explained to the constable who pulled me over for a discussion about my "driving hesitancy", I'm not sure how long it will take me to get use to the speed with which you all attack your roads. Back on topic - we shopped till we dropped as they say and found everything we needed except for a stool. The following morning Jack was introduced to the owner of the stool. When Jack asked where this type stool could be found the owner told him that as he now has two new seats (permanent type) on the boat's stern he had set the stool on the dock to see if anyone would take it. Well... So much of this wonderful adventure has fallen into place in this manner. On April 5 we took off for a week's worth of cruising. We just took off and decided to not plan too much and see where we landed. First night we spent at Fradley Junction. Everything seemed to be moving along smoothly and to celebrate we visited The Swan for beer and supper. Good food and people. Slept well until the frig warning system went off at 2 a.m. Seems the Batts frig turns on this warning system when the power reserve slows down. We turned it off three times before we finally got to the real "off" position. The system we have worked out at this point is to turn the thing off when we go to bed and on again in the morning. You know we Americans can't make it without our ice cubes - so - this summer we will have to get to the bottom of this problem. We have two 90amp cabin batteries. Do we need to go to three? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It was really cold in the a.m. so we decided to launch our coal fire. Many tries and much smoke later we had heat and glowing coals. The art of coal fire is awesome! We continued on the Trent and Mersey. So many lovely sights and animals. The look and feel of Spring green is something I can never experience enough of -- It comes and goes in California so quickly because of the heat. Yes, we were cold. Yes, we had to wear hats, gloves, etc. However, when the sun peeked through and you could feel it on your back for a bit of time you truly felt the gods smiling. Our second night was spent at Great Haywood. Because the phone would not work we decided to get out and find a pub/phone. We walked about a bit and settled in at the Fox & Hounds. Good food/good phone. Oh yes, forgot to mention that during the afternoon Andy Burnett turned up canal side and got on board with the request that we meet up with he and the editor of " Canal Boat " on the following morning for a interview, etc., regarding the purchase of a used nb. We settled on meeting at Sandon Lock at 11:00a.m. We were up early the next morning and off for Sandon Lock. We arrived in good time and just enjoyed the surroundings while we waited. They arrived, cameras in tow. Many pictures and much talk later we continued on our way. So, don't be surprised if you see Zephyr in the next issue. Our third day of cruising brought us to just beyond Stone and full of new awarenesses. We would get the hang of taking on water, it was possible to come along side the canal without bumping, scraping, and grinding our teeth, and the new metallic ping, ping, a ping was indeed secured to our boat -- the weed hatch revealed a rather long thick wire to be wrapped around our drive shaft. Jack worked a long time on the problem. However, taint much you can do with a Swiss Army knife and kitchen utensils. We went to bed early and slept well. Jack sat up the following morning and announced he had solved the problem. He proceeded to take the shoelace out of one of his shoes and headed to the weed hatch. After 37 years of marriage I've learned a lesson or two and I announced I would make tea. His solution -- scrunch the wire together, tie one end of the shoe lace to the scrunch, pull tight, and lower the lid of the week hatch on the lace to hold it taught. We cruised an additional four days and it is still holding! Needless to say, we have purchased a mean looking pair of bolt cutters and will now be prepared. The following day we cruised to Barlaston and the Wedgewood Factory. We had such an enjoyable time there. They present the canal history in a grand manner and our understanding increased many fold. I also had a copy of RAMLIN ROSE and was deep into reading and identifying with all the women of the cut by this time. I did not want to turn around at this point and head back. We managed to turn, however, and head back. When we arrived at Fradley Junction we were lucky enough to moor right at the junction. John and Gill Watson drove over and we enjoyed lunch and the afternoon visiting. We arrived back at our mooring in due time and spent two days organizing to leave the boat until we return June 23. We are so looking forward to that return. We will put the newsgroup sign in our window -- please give a hoot and a holler if you see us as we would love to put faces to names and have a chat. Regards, Sandy PS - I can't believe that we are the only people on the cut who've managed to bend their engine key to a fairly neat right angle. Has anyone ever had their engine key copied or had a locksmith come and create a key??? ************************************* Jack(KD6 ZUF) and Sandy Dorward *PO Box 135 *Woodacre, California *94973 USA * *Phone: (415) 488-9795 *Email:Sandy: sdorward@marin.k12.ca.us Jack jdorward@nbn.com *************************************