Penny's post!

Hi, my name is Penny, and I have been working here at Tooley's since March '08. I work part-time due to being the proud mum of baby Liam (although not so much of a baby now!). Prior to joining the boatyard, I had been working as the Manager of the Cafe Quay, a canal-side eaterie which Tooley's also used to run.

Along with helping in the Chandlery and in the office, I recently completed the Inland Helmsman Certificate with our instructor Martin, so hopefully I will soon be able to get out from behind the desk and maybe start running some of the weekly boat trips! I also keep track of all the different courses we run here, ranging from Blacksmithing to rope-work and traditional 'Roses' & Castles' painting.

Oh, and if you ever want a rope splicing, I'm a demon with the 'fid' (no complicated ones please!).

Penny

Hole in the Hull

One of our regular customers is Dave. He moors his boat ‘Rumpleteaser ‘ south of Banbury. I will always remember the time that he brought his boat into the dock here at Tooley's.

Narrowboats are normally flat bottomed but nobody knew that Dave's boat had a 1" wide fin on the bottom of his boat and when we drained the dock the boat was perfectly balanced on the fin and it looked like his boat was floating 10" above the ground.

Well we have all been working long hours recently, so Matt M and I decided to get off early at 4pm (as we both travel in the van together). Then the phone rang. It was Dave off of NB Rumpleteaser. He told us that he was worried about some water in his bilge.

When someone says that they are getting water in the bilges it’s normally from rain water, a leaking water system or a leaking stern gland, but when we got to his boat we realised that it was far more serious. There was water trickling down inside the boat from just below the waterline.

We advised him to move everything to the other side of the boat to create a list to get the hole out of the water. We then contacted the next customer and managed to squeeze Dave in for an emergency docking.

We found that there was what looked like a 8” crack, and the metal in that area had thinned to around 1.5mm thick. So we welded a plate over the area to stop the immediate problem. We were still worried about a crack a behind the rubbing strake, so we re-booked Rumpleteaser back into the dock at the earliest time that we could arrange for the hull to be inspected.

So we booked in Marine Surveyor Barrie Morse to inspect the boat in the dock. He found that the problem was restricted to just that area behind the rubbing strake. This had to be removed and the area welded.

Now that his boat is watertight, we reckon Dave was lucky (he may not think so) that he spotted the problem before it was too late. It highlights the importance of trying to keep your bilges as dry as possible- not only does it stops the boat rusting from the inside but you can also see when you have a problem.

Adrift in time...

As my description reads on the right of the page there, I am also a RYA (Royal Yachting Association) Inland Helmsman Instructor. This is generally a one-day course (though two days can be accomodated), teaching the basics of safely skippering a vessel on our canals and rivers. Usually, the course is run from our boatyard here in Banbury, on our sweet little 'Dancing Duck' training boat, however I am more than happy to run the course on customers' own boats.

And so I found myself yesterday back on the beautiful Thames (I say 'back', as it's where I 'cut my teeth' so to speak) at Sandford, in the company of two wonderful ladies on their wee 19ft cruiser. Having owned the boat for a few months, they fell in the love with the idea, yet found the actual moving of the boat a tad traumatic (which most people do), especially on the often fast-flowing Thames. So, armed with 'lucky' wet-weather gear (to maintain the warm sunshine), tea, coffee and cake, off we motored - firstly heading upstream through Ifley Lock and then down through the very pretty (and deep) Sandford Lock (pictured).
To cut a long story short, the day was very successful, with both ladies coming away with bags more confidence, and a more thorough understanding of moving a boat. There was also one additional lesson learnt during the day which was most definitely not on the syallabus and very much related to the importance of ensuring there is enough fuel in the tank - how to deal with a boat spluttering to a halt mid river and slowly beginning a downstream journey entirely of it's own accord. The trick is:

a). Don't panic.
b). Hope that there isn't a substantial flow in the river.
c). Pray that a Salters trip boat isn't just 'round the bend.

Anyhow, the boat did drift gently down towards the tow-path, and with some help from a convenient on-board paddle, it wasn't long before we were safely moored alongside the bank. There was an anchor on-board if needed (an essential bit of kit for river cruising), and indeed if there was a substantial flow I may have used it, though in this case it was unnecessary.

It was a fun day, and the river looked glorious in the September sun, and it's not often you can recreate a breakdown mid-cruise!

MARTIN