Christmas in lockdown

Like many folks on the planet, we enjoyed a locked down festive season, ate and drank too much and sneaked out during the nicer weather for some exercise. The highlight was an Xmas morning walk around the local country park, in the sun, seeing Steve and Bron the spaniel there too. Yup - we did try to warn you that this was not going to be a tale of wild parties and drug induced fun.

Over the Xmas period we had to say farewell to a faithful servant. One that we inherited too. When we bought the boat a Bodum kettle was left on board and it has finally given up with bits of black coming off the element and into your tea. We said a fond and sad farewell after nearly 12 years of service to what has been a galley feature from day 1:

As you can see, we gave up trying to keep the stupid black finish clean and free from water stains ages ago. However, this equipment failure continued the "nothing is ever simple" game because it used a continental two pin plug. Hence we had one pair of sockets in the galley with the original continental style fittings in them:

Replacing that with two UK style sockets is no fun as the originals have two nice terminals on each pin, allowing you to put a bridging wire over to the second socket to feed it power:

Of course the UK version does not, so you have to try to cram two 50 amp cables into one little hole which is not keen on such a violation. Some bad words ensued but it was beaten into submission:

The crooked fit of the electrical bit into the wooden surround is original by the way, before anyone starts commenting on it.... The captain might have a go at straightening it one day but the aesthetics of a plug socket in the hidden corner of the galley come low down on the to-do list.

Xmas itself brought some nice presents from Anne and Izzy. The captain was especially happy with this one:

and the crew loves the new tea towel which is so so apt:

Izzy must have modeled for it. 

Nikki, the master baker (somehow mistress baker sounds very wrong on many levels) had provided some typically continental home-made biscuits too:

They took quite a beating, being so good..

After all that fun, some domestic bliss was needed so the genset got a workout:

running the washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, immersion heater and oven. For those that are interested, it can produce up to 52 amps so it had its own version of a full workout that day.

Post Xmas things went back into lockdown routine with the highlight being collecting shopping from the nearby Asda again. Things on the boat to-do list got parked until the new year thinking that we are in for several more weeks of lockdown and so we can amuse ourselves with them in the run up to Easter when, hopefully, more jabs will have been administered and people are not being so stupid in their behaviour. Pigs might fly.

And then it was nearly Xmas and we had a little landslide

Back in Penarth we "enjoyed" some windy weather which rather interfered with the fur on Izzy's nose:

Despite this, walks and ball fun were enjoyed before Izzy's long holiday with us came to an end.  The Welsh Covid numbers were growing steadily and going anywhere that was busy was not at all tempting. So, we went into "lockdown" mode again, before the Welsh government imposed it, and contented ourselves with click and collect food shopping, on-line orders for anything we needed and generally keeping ourselves to ourselves. A handy excuse for anti-social types like us really.

Maintenance news:

A local engineering shop made up a couple of sturdy stainless steel brackets for us, so we could fit the new extractor fans in the engine room. For those of you sad enough to have read about it and even worse, to remember, the replacements had a different body to the originals so the old brackets were no use.

After some "interesting" antics, the two fans are now properly fitted and are unlikely to become loose or break away in a storm. It is equally unlikely that we will be out in a storm of course. Here is the one that blows air up the exhaust stack to keep it cool as it  passes through the galley cabinetry:

The most annoying thing is that because you are screwing into perforated metal, the screws like to go in at funny angles making it look messy. They get a great grip though!

This little bracket was fun to fit - hidden in a locker area.:

It involved plenty of full stretch holding up a heavy bracket, screwdriver and then a heavy fan. The captain earned a post work gin that day. On other days he has less of an excuse.

On the crew's birthday we had one of "those" phone calls. Hugh from the marina called to say that there had been a landslip above the marina car park and that we ought to move our car. Naturally it had happened after a day of torrential rain and high winds. So, togged up the brave captain headed out. The "landslip" description was quite understated, here are some pictures from the next morning:

Had there been a car parked on the other side it would now be written off. The ones opposite looked a bit hemmed in:

and the rather nice Porsche looked a bit sad:

Apparently the Porsche and the van next door are owned by the same guy who they could not contact as the number he had left with the Marina office didn't work. He is in for a nasty shock. We were so lucky - our car was parked about 15 metres away and escaped any damage. There were trees left up in the air that had been uprooted by the landslip and were just held in place by other trees which still had their roots into the cliff and were holding. The captain happily drove out of the car park (luckily we were on the exit side of where the trees had fallen) and found a new spot well out of the way.

We later learned that the offending big tree had been earmarked by the council for some attention by the tree surgeons during the year but nothing was done because of Covid safe working rules. OK, call us cynics but working outdoors lopping chunks off trees from a cherry picker is unsafe yet 10 guys refurbishing the interior of the burnt out restaurant opposite was safe? Perhaps that is because one job was being done by private sector employees who would have been furloughed if they had no work and the trees are "looked after" by council employees who are safer than a safe thing in their positions? Well, the council will have a nice big damage claim on their hands soon - Porsche body repairs do not come cheap. 

The boxing day forecast is for more heavy rain and then even stronger gales. We wonder how much more of the cliff will come down then.

More North Norfolking

Our exploration of the area continued with a trip to Sheringham. The memories of it were those of an elderly (in both buildings and inhabitants), slightly elegant seaside town where the Victorians came to take the water. Some of that is still true - you can work out which bits. The local preservation society seem to put their blue plaques on the strangest of things: 

I guess that a German pilot who found his way across the North Sea in a 1915 aircraft armed only with a map and a primitive compass was happy to drop his bomb on the first town he saw, hoping he had enough fuel to get back. 

The crew had been convinced that Norfolk was pancake flat. So, she was horrified to have to climb this:

The good thing is that it gave lovely views back over the town and out to sea:

We needed some fuel for the car and a bit of shopping too so, despite knowing that the place was rather "downmarket" we made the short journey into Cromer. Sure enough, it was still more "kiss me quick hats and candyfloss" than Sheringham but it does sport a lovely church in the town center:

A late lunch, courtesy of a local cafe with this sign made us worry about the calorific content of their paninis:

Quite a nice wish though.

Out of kindness to Izzy, we took her back to the beach at Wells, so she could chase the ball, get all sandy again and bark to her heart's content. Our ears were less content:

A walk through the common area at Brancaster and then along the Norfolk cost path ensured that she was suitably muddy and a bath was much needed. Izzy was not in agreement but took it all rather well, keeping a careful eye on what we were up to:

She looks way smaller when wet.

We finished off our stay with another local walk, around the staithe area where local fishing boats old and new were moored / abandoned:

We had to be kind to the newly bathed dog once more too:

To give you an idea of how gentrified the area around Brancaster has become, the pub next door to the cottage we stayed in has this in their car park:

and for the poor people driving a Nissan Leaf or similar:

The rest of the area was for the Porsche, Aston Martin and Range Rover brigade. We did see one slightly down-market car in there. We think the cleaner had arrived.

North Norfolk beckoned

We had booked a week in the lovely Brancaster Staithe some time ago but had to cancel it thanks to the Welsh "Firebreak".  (BTW The famous Welsh government firebreak didn't do enough to beat back the Covid numbers once folks were released to go mad again and so now extra rules are being introduced such as pubs cannot serve alcohol just food??)

Luckily for us, we had re-booked it for just after the English full lockdown finished so we knew we would have a nice cottage to stay in, which had been empty for 4 weeks. The only downside was the drive across in horrid wet and windy conditions. 

All worthwhile though, The cottage (look at Pump Cottage ) was lovely and ideal for a little dog with wooden and tiled floors. Trips out and about included to Wells where we could continue our gallery of old lifeboat pictures:

 

both afloat and resting on the mud / sand in half-tide berths:

The closets of the three has a connection for the captain - she was built as the Caister-on-sea independent lifeboat and called the Bernard Matthews (yes, those hated turkey twizzlers did help fund her). Caister was the captain's "born and bred" spot.  After the RNLI withdrew their lifeboat, a local charity was setup and operated the first (and then only) all weather lifeboat outside of the RNLI in the country. Have a  look at  Caister lifeboat website .  The history of the 1903 lifeboat disaster is here and again, worth a read.

It seemed cruel to "park" the older timber boats on the mud somehow:

Wells has become very trendy compared to the town that the captain remembers from visits made when he was significantly younger and lived in Norfolk. There again, so has most of North Norfolk with Burnham Market becoming "Chelsea-on-sea". The roads are no bigger or better maintained though. This brings the usual list of plusses and minuses with it. The best bit is that the London second-homers were not in residence so we didn't have to wade through streets full of little Camillas and Rodericks being indulged by their noisy and self important parents. OK, not fair we know but based on prior experience in the Solent, not far from reality.....

In Wells, the weather decided to play up a little and treated us to a stunning full rainbow over the marshes:

but as we only had the phone camera, you get it in two parts:

Once it cleared up we could enjoy the typical North Norfolk coast scenes again:

Izzy loved the beach at Wells, as did we:

and she followed the instructions on the sign perfectly (for once) before turning into a sandy monster:

Walking back into the town from the beach as the afternoon sun was dropping low into the sky gave some lovely views over the patterns left in the sandy harbour area, again the phone camera struggled to do justice to them but here is a flavour:

Almost "other-worldly".

Brancaster Staithe was a frequent little walk. With the usual detritus left dumped pretty much anywhere by the local fishermen: 

We were amazed to see an old Fordson tractor still "in harness" with a very modern attachment that had been fitted quite recently based on the rust levels:

Somehow it seems cruel to still be working the poor old tractor when most of its siblings will be restored and attending vintage tractor rallies.

The beach at Old Hunstanton was a great hit with the dog. It seemed that she had acres of space all to herself:

and plenty of "lows" (shallow water patches on the beach) to paddle in. Happy happy (if a bit soggy) dog time. Hunstanton gave us the chance to expand our library of lighthouse images too, only this one is converted into holiday accommodation - like so many places in the area:

Built in 1844 it was retired in 1921 and has been a dwelling since. The coastguard lookout building nearby has also become a holiday let, just way less glamorous: 

At least the furniture should fit against the walls better than in a circular lighthouse tower.

Hunstanton was great off-season. So unlike many towns now, the shops were mainly local individual offerings and they seemed to be doing OK. Long may it continue.

Back to the reality of semi-lockdowns and man overboard rescues

Coming back from a lovely week away to the wet and windy marina was not the best welcome home we've ever had. 

Remember how we said that we would have to go into battle with Xylem about our misbehaving fresh water pump? Oh, never was a truer word spoken. The lovely folks at Marinescene who obtained it for us contacted their Xylem technical rep who then sent something rather annoying back:

The 42755-0394 requires a constant voltage supply and if the batteries on board are low in charge or there is a voltage drop, then you will get some of the symptoms that you have advised.

Please check that the batteries are charged to around 27 volts.

Ever seen a boat battery bank that offers a constant 27 volts?

Anyway, we replied to his rather unhelpful email and waited. And waited. Then we waited some more, then we chased him. Still nothing. Then we sent a snotty "if you don't want to give us warranty support, who in Xylem will?" email. Still nothing. Finally a call from the Marinescene lady jolted them into some action. 

The action was to offer a different range of pump that needs changes to the boat plumbing as it is a constant pressure model, not one that works on a sensor. Great. So glad that our emergency replacement for the dead Marco pump during the Covid lockdown had a Jabsco label on it and was from a range with some BIG reliability issues......

Oh, guess what, the replacement pump is way cheaper than the one we bought and Xylem (Jabsco parent company) ignore comments about refunding the difference. Luckily Marinescene are going to sort that out.  The saga reminded us why we should not buy Jabsco pumps even in an emergency supply situation.

What else did we get up to? Well, the "goddog" needed some attention to her fur and claws as she was getting fluffier and fluffier. A groomer visit was booked (she just loves those....) and a very cute and tidy dog reappeared:

She was rewarded for her good behaviour at the groomer with a share of a rather nice pie filling we had for dinner:

even if the label they printed was a bit mixed up. The cooked game pie smells resulted in one very happy doglet.

On the maintenance front, we finally got around to swapping the domestic battery alternator on the main engine. We have had a new one in stock for quite a while, waiting to source a new pulley for it so that the old (still working happily) one can be checked over and cleaned internally then be kept as a spare on board. Any failure of the bearings or regulator in this effectively kills the main engine as it is driven from the same belt as the coolant pump. 

After waiting ages, we finally got a new pulley and so the old alternator could be removed for overhauling and checking. Here is the slightly naked engine before cleaning up the normal belt dust:

You can see the heavy battery cables that have been taken off the alternator and insulated so the domestic 24v power could be switched on again. 

The new alternator needed the securing nut for the pulley to be tightened and a special tool helps lock the alternator when doing this. So, we took the old unit and the new one to a very good auto electrician operation in Swansea - look at Shorts Auto Electrical. A proper old school auto electrical shop, old style stores counter, people who know what they are talking about and a real no frills service. Loved it! The old unit was left for disassembly and overhaul (not that the bearings seemed to be bad). The Shorts folks kindly tightened up the securing nut on the new alternator; we didn't have a suitable (big) torque wrench or anything to lock the alternator with whilst tightening it:

With the new alternator fitted the engine started to look more normal again:

Guess what, as the new alternator had been in store for a while, it refused to self excite. For the non tekkies who are even vaguely interested in what that means, go and Google it (other search engines are, of course, available.) That meant it needed a little piece of cable had to be briefly attached to the ignition terminal from the battery positive terminal to get it going nicely. The cable we made up for the job was left secured to the otherwise empty and bored ignition terminal just in case it is ever needed again:

For the non tekkies, this is the little red cable that loops back onto itself and looks / is rather pointless in normal running.

We also had some unwanted excitement. A big bang and shuddering when we were on board sent the dog crazy and the crew outside very quickly. A yacht was nearby, claiming they had not hit us, just the pontoon and the boat next to us. It was one heck of a bang! How they managed it is beyond us as the wind was taking them away from us. The lock office folks who had seen it all on their cameras said that we ought to check for any damage so we launched the RIB on the following day and luckily found nothing. The captain then took the RIB for a little run around the bay to "warm it up" and when returning, heard the sound of the bilge pump on a local passenger boat that was working quite hard. Looking at the outlet, he saw that someone was in the water, tucked in between the stern of the trip boat and the pontoon, in this gap:

He was clinging to one of the fenders on the boat and the top of the pontoon. No lifejacket, no yelling for help - perhaps the shock and cold were beginning to impact him. So, the stern line of the passenger boat that you can see in the picture above got used to pass under his shoulders to hold him up. Then the marina office was called on the radio for backup as there was no fixed ladder nearby and no way the captain could hoist him out alone. With the help of the marina manager's son who works on a Sunday we pulled him out, got him into the passenger boat with the heating running and made sure he was OK. 

He was very lucky that we had launched the RIB and taken it for a run as there was no other passing traffic, He was also lucky that the bilge pump was running or the captain would not have glanced over and seen him. Things could have ended rather badly.

Tywyn escape

As the Covid situation got messier and messier, we decided to take advantage of the Welsh government's decision to end their fire break as planned, despite England entering 4 weeks of lockdown. Seeing that the infection numbers in some parts of Wales were still grim, we booked a cottage in Mid Wales for a week, thinking that it might be our only chance for some new scenery before they are forced to introduce new and more draconian restrictions. So, on the first day of relative freedom, we headed up north, through mid Wales (lovely) to Tywyn:

The "3 hour" route through mid Wales is lovely, the only drawback is having to drive past Merthyr Tydfil which is a truly horrid place at the best of times (one of the most depressed towns in Wales so we heard with many social issues) and it was the Covid capital of the entire UK too with the very worst infection rates. We kept the windows closed and the aircon on recirculate until well clear.....

Mid Wales was as spectacular as ever with nice roads, vistas and little traffic so we enjoyed the drive up and a brief coffee stop in Brecon.

The cottage in Tywyn had good views from the kitchen and a sofa in there too so you could admire them:

and a beach in very close proximity which Izzy enjoyed:

with some interestingly painted stones in one area:

We think that Patrick has already visited Tywyn and quite some time ago looking at how weathered the paint was:

Some short excursions followed to Machynlleth, the claimed ancient capital of Wales, Barmouth and Dolgellau. All had rather wonderful coffee shops for us with excellent cakes and good walks to amuse the dog. Machynlleth has a real "Cornish town" feel about it, very alternative, very Eco friendly, loads of independent shops, beautiful old buildings and on market day a proper little town buzz. Such a contrast to some of the "little towns" we visited in Scotland that are, frankly, scruffy and sad. The housing stock here is way better looked after too.

Barmouth had the delights of a huge sandy beach to amuse Izzy:

and a lovely coffee spot (look up Goodies) with great staff, coffee, ciabatta and cake. Suitably fuelled we walked around the town and discovered that Izzy must have been here before and modelled for a pub sign:

Then we walked to the old footbridge that runs across the estuary with the railway line. A proper piece of Victorian railway engineering that the Railtrack guys have to live with and maintain now. Ouch. Have a look at Wikipedia entry

The views of and from the bridge are lovely especially as the sun came out for us:

The trip back was over the toll bridge at Penmaenpool. Here is a stock picture - kind of hard to get one when driving over it:

A proper wooden bridge and well worth the 80p toll. Actually, we gave them £1 and didn't wait for any change in these Covid times. Extravagant we know but safety first and all that.....

Back at base, the sous chef was ever hopeful that we would drop something:

with a stare that tried to force something tasty to fall on the floor.

The other day trips were to Dolgellau and Aberdovey, Dolgellau had a nice flat (for the crew's dodgy knees) walk along the river using an old railway line and another truly excellent coffee and cake stop with the freshest cakes we have tasted whilst "out" for ages. A quirky place, using an old hardware store and keeping the original shop counters and fittings. Again some borrowed pictures and from the pre Covid times too:

 Aberdovey was a big hit with Izzy, another large beach:

and the chance to do some digging:

which clearly was tiring. 

All in all a very beautiful area and one which we will happily revisit sometime. In fact, if England continues with a post Xmas lockdown and Wales stays a little more "open", the revisit might be sooner than we expect.