I’ve spoken to a few people recently who’ve expressed surprise that it’s possible to get from the East of England to Llangollen by inland waterways. If you want to check out just how extensive the network is, click here. That map is provided by the Canal and Rivers Trust that took over from British Waterways. … Read more »
Category: Boats
Seren has IT Onboard
Blogging last year’s Crick trip was a pain. I took an old Galaxy Tab and cheap Chinese keyboard that got more and more dodgy as time went by. In the end I did a few notes using the on-screen keyboard then gave up. This year I need better IT. Apart from the blog I have … Read more »
Seren 2019
Over the winter 2018-19 I’ve done a lot more work on Seren, fitting new propshaft bearings and couplings, replacing the rear deck, finishing the WC/Shower, installing a proper hot water system and recycling a daughter’s old kitchen units. There was a plan to take Seren out of the water in the spring for a thorough … Read more »
Seren (more backstory)
Once on the Great Ouse we had to register the boat with the Environment Agency who control the various Anglian waterways. We took the opportunity to register her under a new name ‘Seren’. One day I’ll get around to making new name plates. We did few local trips on Seren in 2017 then I set … Read more »
Coralita 2017 (more backstory)
I looked at a lot of boats online. We like canals more than rivers and many of them are narrow so a narrowboat would suit us very well. Unfortunately new-ish ones are expensive and old ones need a lot of work. Narrowboat-style cruisers are built of steel and steel rusts. Boats old enough to be … Read more »
Voyage to Llan (the backstory)
During the late 70s and early 80s we lived in Blackburn, Lancs and we (I) wanted a boat. So I built one. It was cheap and rough and intended to be upgraded as time money allowed. Then we moved to Cambridgshire where a cheap, rough home-made boat stuck out a bit amongst the floating gin … Read more »
Decking Seren part 4)
I’m a bit late posting this as I actually finished it more than a week ago. It took a while because the gas locker sits on the deck but the gas pipe goes under it and once the deck is in place you can’t get to the pipe easily. So I laid the deck boards … Read more »
Decking Seren (Part3)
I shouldn’t be so cynical, Amazon is still not my favourite retailer but Dino Decking is OK. It’s taking a long time though due to delays caused by weather, family commitments and laziness. The framework is made from Dino’s joist material. As you can see from the end nearest the camera it is rectangular with … Read more »
Decking Seren (part 1)
It appears that the Trentcraft 25 was available with outboard or inboard engines. The outboard version just has a well at the stern and a door for access to the engine only. Seren has an inboard engine (in the front cockpit with a long propshaft in the keel). In this version the well is decked … Read more »
Amazon-azing
I try not to deal with multi-national tech giants if I can help it, but sometimes Amazon seems to be the obvious choice. Until it all goes wrong. My boat, Seren, was built in the UK about the time UK industry was shifting to the metric system, but the design predates that and so do … Read more »