Its getting better

Well what a better start to the day than yesterday, My partner pulled back the curtains this morning and let a stream of sun light straight into my eyes, that woke me up pretty sharp, not wanting to waste a minute of that rare thing called the sun I shot out of bed and have been enjoying the sun all day long, long may it last!

We all knows what happens when the sun shines, yep it brings out the people and Norbury has been a bit busier than yesterday, loads of people on the wharf for diesel and the usual services, the tea room has been busy, loads of people around, a nice vibe to the place, we have been a bit thin on the ground staff wise this week, partly due to the weather and partly because of staff holidays and days off, Simon has been busy today finishing off a few outstanding jobs, fitting anodes and engine servicing, Fred has been blacking and looking after the boats on the wharf as well as doing pump outs and diesel on the fleet boats, Ange, Lorraine and Charlotte have looked after the tea room and shop, I have been answering phones, seeing customers and I had a surprise visit from the health and safety executive, I haven't had one in about two years so was a little surprised to have someone turn up out of the blue, it was a different person to the one I am used to dealing with , this one is a young lady, the last one was a bit of an old crusty bloke with no sense of humor, lets hope that this new one has one, anyway no issues raised and she went on her way, lets see what the follow up letter says!

That's it from me for this week, not around now until Monday, I have heard that we are in for a hot weekend, I hope so, enjoy what ever you are up to.
Simon

What must you think

Well I laughed when I read Angela's posts over the last few days, and yes we also Laughed when I put those magnets on my tongue, I wasn't laughing afterwards when a piece of my tongue came away, Ouch! What must you lot think of us! We are normally very hard working souls but you have to have a Laugh at work other wise it would be a dull place! Anyway I wouldn't suggest that for one minute you consider putting strong magnets on your body parts, it hurts!

What a start to the day today, I opened my bedroom curtains this morning to a grey and overcast sky, as I open the door to get in to my car it started to rain, not heavily and I was hoping that it would blow away, WRONG, it got heavier and heavier until it became torrential, I was sent a link to a weather report that says that we are in for a heatwave starting this weekend and lasting trough September, I am on my hands and knees praying that they have got it right this time.

Not so busy today, although we did have three day boats out today, poor buggers, they all turned up in great spirits and went off in the pouring rain, fortunately for them the rain stopped at about 10.30 but it has remained grey and dull all day; when I used to boat on Empress and we had a time schedule to keep to I could end up standing steering the boat anything up to 15hours a day in the pouring rain, I remember one particular day I had to change my clothes three times and I was wearing waterproofs, it doesn't make for much fun in those circumstances, although I am not a fan of pram hood covers on days like today or them I would have loved one, the old boatmen of yesteryear used to do a makeshift cover to try and give some protection for the elements, how things have changed as now you can get all sorts of purpose built covers.

The wharf has been quiet today as you can imagine and the tea room and shop have been like a ghost town which has given Joyce the chance to catch up on some outstanding jobs in the shop and Angela has caught up with all of her paperwork, Fred has been busy with docking boats and pressure washing,but I did give hem the afternoon off as it was quiet, Simon has finished off servicing private boats and fabricating rnew rear doors and Steve has been doing some repairs to the shower area on Python and pumping bilges out while everyone else has been trying to dodge the rain and stay in doors.

That's it from me until tomorrow.
Simon

busy, busy,busy

we have been soooooo busy today you wouldn't get your breath, we are all worn out.

it has been the sort of day that you would expect at this time of the year, sun out all day, blue skies and passing hire boats stopping to buy gifts from the shop.

we had 3 day boats out this morning and they all had a great time.

when i arrived at work this morning denise was already there, she was busy putting out the brollies ready for the sun and she also had a pot of coffee filtering through, well at least she thought she had, i said "denise why have we got hot water filtering through the coffee machine", her reply was "cos i forgot to put the coffee in mrs warrrrrrrrd" in her loverrrrly curly accent. denise and joyce have been very busy in the tea room today, so much so that i had to go and help them at times with the washing up and collecting the dishes from outside, it makes a change from sitting in front of the computer.

we almost ran out of diesel today, checked the tanks as normal only to find we were really low, we only had a delivery on friday,another fresh lot has just been delivered.

mick has been working on a private job, trying to find out why the rain leaks in someones window, bit difficult when it's not raining but we've had enough of the wet stuff but he did find out where and why and is now sorted.

engineer simon has done an engine service on a private boat that has now headed towards llangollen for about 5 weeks which gives me loads of time to make the curtains for his boat while he is away, i have got 9 pairs to make and 2 door curtains so i will be busy with that :)

boss simon has a sore tongue from messing about with the batteries yesterday, i say serve him right but he was still messing about with them today, he said to me "here ange stick these on your ears"............yeah right

steve has been working on the moorings killing weeds and also doing freddie things again as fred has had a days holiday today.

anyway you've all probably heard enough from me for this week so until next time, byeeee.

some bank holiday

well what happened to the weather again!!!!.......supposed to be a bank holiday and "sunny", we haven't seen much of that yellow thing in the sky this year so why would it shine today, it plays havoc with the ice cream sales and also the amount of customers who visit norbury just for a day out.

we had 3 day boats out this morning, they all headed towards wheaton aston and haven't had a drop of rain all day....until they got back to norbury, all had a great time and returned without any issues. windsor returned back to us this morning after being out on a short break from thursday, 4 guys out on a work related holiday and had a good time.

the shop has been quite quiet today although the tea room has seen a few customers in for breakfast goodies which has kept lorraine occupied for most of the day with the help of joyce.

simon and david were out for most of the morning launching a boat, all i could hear was the tractor outside with simon enjoying himself inside moving this boat around the yard which eventually made it into the water, he's like a big kid where anything like this is involved.

don't tell him i told you but we have sourced some magnets for the doors on opal 2, don't quite know what the true purpose of them are but they are tiny little magnets and they are sooooooo powerful. he has been sat at his desk this morning playing with them, blanche, the lady who delivers our newspapers for us was mesmerised watching him, he had them doing somersaults on the top of his desk whilst moving one of them underneath his desk. he then decided that he wanted to see what it felt like to have a tongue piercing...........ooops.....he removed the magnets from his tongue and they took a bit of skin from the end of his tongue and made it bleed....twit. he then proceeded to put them either side of his nose and even tried them as a pair of ear rings, i tell you, you wouldn't believe what we have to put up with, and he calls us numpties, i rest my case.

steve has been doing freddie jobs today, we have actually seen quite a lot of boats on the wharf today for diesel and pump outs, i have been catching up with the washing, all done now and i have also been measuring up for curtains on "tom bombardial". this boat was here back in the winter having internal works done and i went shopping with him for some curtain material, they didn't have enough of the fabric that he wanted at the time so he said he would collect the rest on route and find someone to make them for him........guess what.... he never found anyone so i will be doing them after all, simon you will have to buy me a new sewing machine cos mine is in the bin...been working too hard...lol...the sewing machine not me..ha ha, til next time byeeee ange.

Yesterday was the first day since I've worked here at Norbury that I have managed to escape early. It was a very special occasion and I just had to be there! The wedding of two of my friends - Calum and Kat. Calum was one of the first people that I met when I moved to Norbury over eight years ago. He took an instant interest in the canals and has been on a number of trips with me when I owned Hyperion. On one occasion we picked his Mum up from a nearby canalside village so that she could have a few ours out on the boat with us. It soon transpired that Calum's uncle actually worked for British Waterways in Northamptonshire and infact I knew him quite well - It's a small world isn't it. Calum and Kat began courting after Calum and I were tied up in Gnosall one night on the way home from a gathering that we had been to with Hyperion.

Anyway, I managed to get to the church just as Kat was about to walk down the isle. A brilliant reception and evening party continued into the early hours. All the best to Calum and Kat!

The weather has been quite pleasant here today. We had three dayboats out first thing and we have docked one of our moorers boats to repair their bowthruster and fix a problem that they have had with the rudder. It's also been busy on the Wharf today with pumpouts, diesel and gas. The tearoom has had a steady flow of customers and the phone has been quite persistent - after all it is bank holiday weekend!

That's it from me today.

Until tomorrow.

Regards, David.

barmy, balmy day

well, where do i start ?

what a mad busy day we have had here today at norbury.

we had 2 day boats out first thing, both of which have returned without any issues.

we had 7 hire boats return to us this morning all of which have turned round and gone off again for another week. this has kept fred and will busy with diesel, pump outs and watering them all up and finally washing them all off. all the girls have been busy too with cleaning the boats and wharf cottage, i have also done some work today for a change (not a word simon) i made all the beds on all the boats, i'm gonna give myself a gold star i think, especially as simon (engineer) told me to stop chuntering to myself as everywhere i turned we had deck boards up on the back of the boats and i needed to get on with clean bedding and towels, come on ange you can step over that gap he said, if there are only 2 engineers why do they all need to be up i said, oh stop chuntering and get on with it, charming, i can just see myself stepping over the gap and disappearing down it. we've just got all the washing left to do now and that will take us a couple of days. simon and bernard have done all the engine checks and bill has been dong all the internal checks and then the guys showed all the boats out.

some have headed up towards chester, 1 is doing the black country ring and 1 was going to do the 4 counties but changed their mind when they got here as there is only 2 of them and didn't realise how much hard work was involved, you do really need 2 weeks to enjoy the 4 counties.

lorraine and charlotte have been busy in the tea room aswell today, at one stage lorraine was cooking 16 breakfasts, i don't know how she does it, if i was faced with that i'd be in a blind panic, it's a good job we have a griddle to cook everything on, makes life so much easier.

the sun has shone for most of the day today and it has been really hot, at 12.30 the guys went for their lunch break and the heavens opened so out i shot to close all the slide hatches on the boats and collected up all the soggy paperwork that had been left on top of the boats, they were all on the naughty step as i had to write everything out again before the customers arrived.

david went off to a wedding at 4 o'clock this afternoon and left me in charge, well as you can imagine the guys all thought they would try to pull the wool over my eyes, not a chance, day boats all done for tomorrow, advertising boat fetched back, gas cage filled up, i just hope i didn't miss anything out or i'll be on the step aswell.

well until next time, byeee ange.

canal would be faster

I had the misfortune of having to drive down to Gloucester today, I say that as it involved using the M5 and M6 which was so slow that I reckon that using the canal would have been quicker, it does make me wonder if in the future the canal could actually be faster to move goods around, If you think about it, if the goods were non essential then they could sort of stay in transit for quite some while, a bit like a floating warehouse where the goods get there eventually, its a nice though but I cant see it happening.

Thanks to Graham for an excellent reply to my blog yesterday, it has given me lots to think about and there was a lot of great ideas to consider, watch this space as I dredge up some of the funny stories from my past boating history, like the time that I gave mouth to mouth resuscitation to a infant squirrel that had fallen in to the canal from a tree, it didn't have the desired effect and as its little eyes were shutting, I gave it some rum, that sparked a little bit of life in to it, the poor thing was a bit cold so I popped it in the back cabin range, I think that saw it off as when I took it out of the oven it was as stiff as a board! I could tell you about the monk jack dear that I tried to save, but I will leave that for another day.

Its been a busy one today so they tell me, I have only just arrived back at base and all of the boats that had returned this morning have all gone out of the basin and the day boats are all tied up so things must have gone fine in my absence, to be fair things usually do.

I hope you all have a cracking bank holiday weekend, I know David and or Ange will keep up with the blog over the weekend.
Simon

inspiration required

It is really difficult to try and find interesting things to write about on a daily basis about our work here at Norbury, to us it just seems the same day in day out, I am aways looking for inspiration and new things to talk about other than breakdowns, docking boats, the wharf or the tea room, so if anyone has any good ideas or anything they think we should be talking about then please feel free to give us some ideas, keep them clean!

Thursday has been just like any other day, except the sun has shone all day which has been nice, three day boats out first thing this morning, Freddie blacked a boat on the dock and then did the services on Windsor that was returned to us this morning, David turned the boat around and Sarah gave it a good clean and generally got it ready to go out this afternoon, we don't normally do funny day starts but this year we are prepared to let a boat out on any day, Fred has been busy on the wharf all day and we have certainly sold some diesel so another load has been ordered for Friday as its going to be a busy weekend, Loraine and Charlotte have looked after the tearoom all day although that hasn't been that busy, even though the sun has been out, Becks arrived back on the wharf this afternoon with a boat that is to be sold on, more details about that later on, the day boats are just crashing in to the wharf so I must go and try and see what can be salvaged from the mess.

that's it from me today
Simon

very nice day

When I awoke this morning the sun was streaming through the crack in the curtains, I still had trouble peeling my self out of the bed at 6.45 this morning but none the less I did and pulled back the curtains to reveal a lovely golden sun in the sky, dew on the ground and a bit of mist rising, I can honestly say that I thought that it wouldn't stay like it all day but I am glad to say that I was proved wrong and it has been a stunning day all day long.

Its been a busy one today, three day boats out first thing this morning, Simon saw two out and I saw the other one off, Simon then went and finished the side door modifications that he started yesterday,Fred and Steve docked a boat for survey, then after that they docked another for blacking which he then pressure washed off leaving Steve to also look after boats on the wharf I have looked after the wharf aswell and several boats that have come in that have either broken down or fallen apart, Simon then came back from the dock and did a repair on a broken down boat, the day boats came back with out incident, Reflection came back with out issue and we all went home!
Simon

Where is the year going?

Today is the 21st August and I can honestly say that I don't know where the year is going, it is flying by at a what seems like a rare rate of knots, it wont be long before it is the end of the cruising season and we start to put boats to bed for the winter, we have already started to consider what winter fuels we will be ordering for this winter season, we order a large quantity at this time of year to save on the winter price increase thus allowing us to keep our prices at a very competitive rate, this year we reckon that we might be selling even more as I heard the other day that Orwells the coal merchants at Market Drayton have now finished, they used to have their wharf right next to the canal just outside of Drayton but it is now empty according to my source, I must go and have a look and verify it for myself.

Not a busy day again today, three day boats out first thing, a few boats on and off the wharf for services, Mick went off to a breakdown on one of our hire boats that had a broken control cable, once he sorted that out he then went to another boat to remove the gearbox, fortunately this was a private boat! Then he went cross country to another one of our hire boats that had broken down, although I do think that it was a problem that the person on board had caused! The phones have been busy today and seem to have rung all day long which has kept Ange, Denise and my self busy as well as looking after the customers in the shop and the tearoom. I have had the chance to do some stock reordering, at this time of year that in its self can be a full time job, even though it has been a quietish year the stock still sells just not at the same rate as if times were normal, when the climate changes for the better I think I will have to employ someone just to stock the shop in the summer!

The day boats have started to return now so thats it from me for today, I need to go and rescue them all again.
Simon

Monday morning blues

The trouble with having a really lovely weekend is that come Monday morning you end up with the blues, well I have today anyway, The weather has been exceptional today and it has bought the folks out to enjoy the wharf, the tea room and of course the ice creams, it has however been a quiet day in other respects, the wharf has seen a few folks on it for services but not many considering the time of year, we have had three day boats out today and two hire boats which Mick has sorted out, we have been down on staff today because of days off etc but it hasn't been a big issue as not a lot going on, it does go like this when the whole fleet is out, and the basin is empty, the basin being empty has given me and David the chance to get the tug launched and it went in with no trouble at all, the engine started too and we soon had it doing cart wheels around the basin, That made me smile! There are some funny noises coming from the hydraulic drive system so that needs some Simon attention when he has got time.

the day boats are just starting to return so I must shoot off and give them a hand tying up as if we don't it will look like they have just been dumped in the basin.

If you are at all interested click on this link to see a short video of the tug being launched.



Enjoy your evening
Simon

After hearing the weather forecast last night I was surprised to see the sun making an appearance when I was getting ready to venture to work this morning. Mick and I got the three dayboats ready and we don't seem to have stopped since!

Mick's had to attend a breakdown in Gnosall, which luckily didn't turn out to be anything major. Steve gave me a hand to undock a private boat that Fred finished blacking yesterday and then dock another which is in to have it's cabin top painted this week.

By lunchtime it had become overcast and we have had a fair bit of rain, although it has remained humid.

Lorraine, Ange and Joyce have been busy in the shop and tearoom and have had the assistance of Ange's mother-in-law who has done a sterling job of keeping on top of the washing up - thanks Olive!

We've been listening to the V festival in the distance which is on at Weston Park this weekend. It's seems incredibly loud this year - or it's just that the wind is carrying the music in this direction? It will be bedlam on the A5, A41, M6 and M54 later - so avoid it if you can...

Until tomorrow.

Regards,

David

I'm sorry that I didn't blog yesterday evening, but the time just seemed to run away. The weather was very mixed- one minute the sun was out and the next it was throwing it down with rain. What else can we expect - we do live in the England!

Today's been another mixed day, but as I write the sun is shining down on us. We've had a busy weekend so far. Two day boats out yesterday and three out today. Two of the boats are in convoy with one of our long term moorers who are celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary this weekend - Congratulations to Mo and Sid on Terhou.

We turned five shared boats round yesterday along with three hire boats that went out. We've had seven hire boats go out today and by Monday the remaining two hire boats and Wharf Cottage will be out meaning that the entire fleet will be out and the basin should; in theory, be empty.

Everyone has been kept busy - Fred has been on his normal pumpout, diesel, gas and water duties, ably assisted by Will. Simon and Bernard have had their heads in the depths of the engine bays whilst Mick and Billy have been checking the internals. Joyce and Sarah having been cleaning along with two girls that Ange had recruited. Ange, Denise and Lorraine have been looking after the shop, tearoom and answering the phones.

It looks like it is going to be a nice evening, so enjoy yourselves.

Until tomorrow...

Regards,

David.

so changeable

You cant believe just how changeable and unpredictable this weather is, yesterday was like something out of the doomsday book with hell and damnation being unleashed over Norbury and today it has been totally the opposite and it has been like a day in paradise with the sun beating down for most of the day.

Its been a busy one today, two day boats out first thing a boat docked for a stern tube repair, once that one was done we docked another one and Fred pressure washed it ready for blacking tomorrow, Bernard had to go out this afternoon to a private boat that was broken down, Simon had to go out to one of our day boats that had decided to produce a bit of smoke from behind the control panel, it worried the people on board a little bit, it turned out to be nothing serious and they were soon on their way, the shop and tea room have been busy today and the wharf has also been busy, I reckon that everyone had stayed put yesterday so was out and about today instead.

That's it from me for today.
Simon

Black and dismal

It all started off quite nice this morning but it soon looked like it was going to change, everyone kept saying the rain is on its way, I thought naa not today, well I was proved totally wrong and at 2.30 the heavens spilled their guts right on top of us, I don't mean a light fluttery shower with a few spots, I mean a full on down pour accompanied by rumblings of thunder from far away, it slowed for a while and then came down even harder, that was pretty much the end of the day on the customer front as it went like a ghiost town from that point onwards, the phones have also been quiet today which has enabled me to crack on with a couple of big quotes in relative peace and quiet.

we had three day boats out first thing this morning, poor sods will have gotten drenched today as there is nowhere to hide when steering one of them, Fred went and blacked a boat and Steve disappeared up the moorings to do some work, the pair of then soon wandered in to the office when we had a light shower earlier on, seeing as I was in a good mood and didn't anticipate it being busy I gave them both the rest of the day off, Simon was cracking on with the last couple of jobs on the plating job until a call from one of our hire boats took him off to Penkeridge to sort that out, Jake saw the day boats out first thing, did all of the checks on a hire boat and has been tatting around the yard the rest of the day on different jobs.

That's it from me for today.
Simon

Loverley day!

Sorry about the lack of blog yesterday, I started to write it and then got distracted by some body, it was a bit of a day yesterday so to speak and by the time I got around to finishing off the blog I had lost interest and hadn't got the heart to finish it off as it would have been a half hearted attempt! Today on the other hand has been wonderful, nicely busy, nice people, and the sun has been shining, no day boats out today so it was quiet first thing, in a way I am glad as Angela is off, David is off, Lorraine is off, Jake is off and Fred is off, it feels like everyone is off except me, I have to say though that it has been a great day working with Sarah, Denise, Charlotte and Jodie, That's why the title is Loverley day as Denise came back after a two week break and she talks with a curly accent and today that's all I have heard from the tea room!

Not really much to report about today, the lads have all been busy, Steve fitting new front doors to a boat, Mick doing several jobs on boats in and around the yard and finally Simon has been finishing off the welding on the boat on the hard standing, I have been in and out all day, but it was grand to speak with our old friend and good customer Sue with the boat No Problem who is currently on the river Thames but she is on route back to the midlands and will be popping in to see us in the autumn for us to look after her and Vic and also give her boat a bit of a re vamp, watch this space.

That's it from me for tonight

what a day

After I finished work last night I took Annie out for a walk across the field and we came back to prepare for a BBQ that I had invited some friends over to. No sooner had I thought about striking the match, a call came through on the callout phone. So I was off down the towpath to jump start Phantom. Unfortunately the domestic batteries didn't have enough life in them to start the engine either, so I had a brisk walk back to the yard and collected Victory. Minutes after arriving back to Phantom I had the engine running, checked the charging rate and explained to the customers how the electrics on the boat operate. My guests were somewhat surprised to see me travelling down the arm on a dayboat to get the party started! We had a fabulous evening and were joined by two more guests who just popped in on the off chance of us being in.

I awoke this morning (without a stonking headache I must add!) listening to a local radio station. It wasn't until I opened the front doors to let Annie out that I heard the shop alarm sounding. On with a pair of shoes and a quick dash over to the yard to find everything intacked although the alarm was still sounding. The alarm panel showed that it was one of the sensors in the shop that had activated it. I had a quick glance around to find a spider had happily weaved a web right across the sensor!

We had three dayboats go out this morning and we have had one hire boat go out. it's been busy today, although the weather has been very changeable, one minute it's raining, the next the sun is beating down on us!

Ange is now off on holiday for the week, so if you see her pass on her boat - give her a wave.

Back over to Simon in the morning.

Best regards,

David.

Its been another warm day here at Norbury, although the sun hasn't been as over powering as it was yesterday. Although saying that it has still been very humid.

We've had a busier turn around today with three dayboats out first thing this morning and seven boats and Wharf Cottage out this afternoon. Fred has been busy with pumpouts etc. prior to going down into the depths of the dry dock to apply the last coat of Comastic to the boat in the dock which will be floated off tomorrow. Mick has done some jobs on the private boats and shown some boats out this afternoon. Simon checked the engines over on the hire boats and has shown the boats out this afternoon. Kim has been kept busy in the kitchen and has been helped by Lorraine as and when needed. Sarah and Joyce have been busy cleaning boats. Ange has been busy in the office and checking boats.

Until tomorrow.

David.

whooooooooooooosh where did today go

wow what a barmy day it has been here at norbury today, i just don't know where the time has gone. we had 2 day boats out this morning and both enjoyed an excellent day, the weather has been absolutely fantastic, i even got a sun tan taking the new hirers across the car park to their boat, i do hope the weather holds for them all.

we had 4 hire boats return this morning, 3 of them have turned round and sphinx has also gone out for a week.

fred has had a quiet day today with turn rounds as we had only 1 ex ownership return, all the others have had been lucky and gone out for 2 weeks..........wait till next friday fred :)

the tea room has been very busy today and kim has coped with help from lorraine and joyce at times. we had a massive delivery of ice cream delivered today as we are hoping for a busy weekend, i've struggled to find room for it all but we got there in the end.

billy showed all the boats out today, it is nice to have him help us, he polishes the tillers and tiller pins and they glow, thanks bill, they look good x.

i sent simon out shopping this afternoon and as usual he returned late and expected everything on the shelves yesterday.............2moz simon............well that's all from me today......byeeeee ange.

will it last

Wow what a stunning day it has been and it makes me wonder just how long it will last for? the weather forecast is pretty good and it looks like we should be in for a nice weekend, I certainly hope so!

As you can imagine with the sun out it has been a busy day, and a day frought with problems, everything that someone has touched has either broken or has gone wrong in some way, I wont bore you with the details, except I will say that most of the issuse are as a direct result of people not listening or not using thier initiave to sort out a simply problem,I will add that I am glad its time to go home!

Seeing as it is such a nice evening I am going to slope off to the pub for a quick beer on my way home.

Simon

Beer O'clock

It gets to that time of day when the sun has been beating its rays out ALL day long on our nearly Lilly white skin (well it is after this years poor weather) when you get that dry taste in your mouth and you look at the clock and realise its nearly beer o'clock time, well that feeling just happened to me, so a very short blog tonight as I'm going for a pint with the lads, talking about the lads, Jake has been changing propellers today, servicing engines on the day boats (someone missed out on a fantastic day today as non of the day boats went out) he helped Fred dock a boat, Simon attended a nasty breakdown this morning, I wont elaborate but involved blocked toilets! He then double checked the engine installation that Jake did last week as that was collected today, he then nipped up to a boat at Shebdon to fit some window finishing strips that didn't turn up with a new set of Windows we fitted last week, The girls have been rushed off their feet in the shop and tea room and I have also been nicely busy, not too stressed and not to rushed, so on that note I am off for a beer to round the day off.
Simon

mini heat wave

Wow what a busy day it has been here today, the sun has been really hot today, 27 degrees! long may it last. The phones have not stopped ringing all day long and the tea room and shop have seen lots of people in, bookings on day boats and boats on the wharf for diesel non stop, we ran out again toady but managed to get the tanks filled pretty quick so they are full again, we only had two day boats out today and one hire boat which Simon soon sorted, Mick has had his head in the bilges of a private boat all day sorting out its generator, Simon has been plating a boat, Fred has been up the moorings tidying up after Steve had cut the undergrowth back, it grows really quick at this time of the year, Joyce and Jodie have looked after the tea room and Jodie has managed to do a bit of cleaning on the boats and poor old Ange has been run off her feet today doing just about everything, she is golden! David is on his two days off and I have been manning the phones and looking after customers, I still have some work to catch up on so it looks like i will be having a late one, now that the phones have stopped and the customers have all gone it is nice and quiet and i can get on and do some catching up, so until tomorrow

Busy busy busy!

Well given the state of the economy and the poor weather over the weekend I didn't expect this morning to go as it did, Monday mornings can be a bit busy but this mooring was as the title says, I know we are doing some superb deals at the moment and I reckon that people are taking advantage of that as first thing saw three of us with the phones glued to our ears taking bookings like they were going out of fashion, this was at the same time as seeing some boats back in, and trying to see the customers who had arrived for the day boats, the day has been pretty much full on since then.

Jake has showed the three day boats out, turned three hire boats around and has showed them out as well, he has also done a bit of finishing off on the engine that he installed last week, that's all done now and ready to go, Mick has been refitting the boat that has just come out of the dock and stripped the one that has gone in to the dock for painting and then went back to another private job, Steve has been plumbing all day, David mentioned yesterday that we had a burst pipe so Steve has been on that all day, Joyce has done a good job of looking after the shop, Jodie has been cleaning hire boats most of the day while Kim has done a sterling job of looking after the customers in the tea room, Me and David have sat with our feet up on the desks all day chatting, I wish!!

That's it from me for today.
Simon

It's been a busy day today. Mick is busy with work on private boats at the moment, so I helped Bernard undock the boat that has been on the dock for blacking, then dock a boat for survey, followed by Sue's boat. Sue has her boat blacked every year and is a regular visitor here at Norbury. You can certainly tell the difference when a boat has regular dockings as there was no rust or pitting evident.

We also had three dayboats go out this morning, all returned this afternoon without a hitch.

I thought that you might like to see a picture of Tom, which is the last boat that we painted. Here you go.


We've completed on Moonshine today and we have also sold Opal II. I'm in the process of advertising our latest arrival. She is a57ft traditional boat built by Pro Build boat builders in 2005 to a high standard. She has a traditional feel and layout but with out having a traditional boatman’s cabin, instead there is a rear cabin with a permanent double bed. The boat is powered by a four cylinder world famous Gardner engine which are renowned for their build quality and reliability. The engine is situated in its own engine room which also contains a massive specification of electrical equipment, from the engine room you have a large shower room with full size corner shower, pump out toilet and modern hand wash hand basin and a porcelain macerator pump out toilet. Next comes the large galley area with all of the modern equipment that you would expect to find in a high specification boat. There is also a small breakfast bar, forward of this is the saloon with fixed seating, solid fuel stove and cupboards for TV etc, wooden front doors lead out on to the front deck which is covered by cratch cover. The boat benefits from having diesel central heating to period radiators in the saloon area. The boat is lined throughout in solid oak tongue and grove and also has a solid oak floor which gives the boat the feeling of being a solid built boat. As already stated the boat has a huge specification which also include a 6hp bow thruster, 2 Victron phoenix inverters/chargers which are linked together giving 5kw of available power, twin banks of gel batteries and the list goes on, offered at a very reasonable price of £44950.00. Further details will be available on our website tomorrow.

Kim has been busy in the tearoom and has been assisted by Lorraine and Joyce during the busier periods although they have managed to clean some boats ready for tomorrow and next weekend. Ange has manned the office and the phones as I have been in and out most of the day.

That's it from me today.

Regards,

David.

Sunshine and showers

The weather forecast last night showed that today was going to be sunshine and showers and it certainly wasn't wrong! One minute it the sun has been scorching hot and the next the heavens have opened and it's been like a river running down the road.

It's been one of those days. We had a burst water pipe in the wet dock this morning, which has subsequently meant digging a 8 x 4 x 4ft hole just outside the dock. Steve and I have capped the supply off so we could turn the main back on which supplies the shop. The only problem being that the girls couldn't do any washing in the laundry, so we have now rigged a hose pipe up across the yard. We'll have to go to our local plumbing shop on Monday to get some fittings and pipe to do the job properly.

It's been a busy day here at Norbury today. Five boats have gone out and as I write Mick and Billy are still showing boats out.

The girls have all had their work cut out running the shop, tearoom, cleaning the boats and of course answering the phones...

I think we are going to retire to the pub for a well earned pint :-)

Regards,

David

dry day today for a change

it has been a much better day weather wise here at norbury today, we've had no rain at all although it has been a little bit overcast at times but for for the most part it has been a very pleasant day.

we had quartz, pippin and reflection return to us this morning, all had an excellent time and we have turned pippin and reflection around, sphinx has also gone out with a hen party on board, they don't plan to do much cruising, just having a girlie weekend with plenty to eat and drink, they did ask if there were shops on route just in case they ran out of alcohol........ha ha.

we have also had the ex ownerships boats go out today and most of them have gone out for 2 weeks, lucky people, i hope they all have a good time.

engineer simon has been welding a boat on hardstanding and bernard has been busy doing the engines on the boats going out and has made a start on the boats going out tomorrow. we also had bill in today to do the internal checks on the boats that have gone out today and he also done the show rounds.......at 5.45 this evening he was going down the moorings on sphinx with the hen party with a great big grin on his face.

fred has been busy on the wharf with diesel and pump outs this morning and he also had the hire fleet to do so was a bit grumpy as he was falling behind.

we had 3 day boats out this morning and all returned without issues.

the girls have all been kept busy today aswell, cleaning, cooking washing and looking after the shop and the phone has been relentless with day boat and holiday bookings, i have even had a couple of enquiries for next year, and we have actually taken a confirmed booking for may next year......if you want to book a boat for whitsun next year i suggest you get in now because as soon as christmas is done with the phones will be red hot and they will all be gone.

well that's it from me today, until next time...........byyeee ange.

Another nice'ish day

Its been another nice day apart from the odd torrential down pour, now the sun is shinning and its loverly (said in a 'curly accent'as Denise would say it) its been a very very busy day today, the wharf has been virtually non stop and we have also had several boats on the wharf with engine issues and battery issues, that has kept Fred busy, the pump out blocked up it had that much use, me and David soon sorted that out,we even ran out of diesel, not to worry though as the tanks will be full of fresh stuff first thing in the morning, Simon has been welding and dodging the showers, Jake has been fitting a new engine and he has cracked on well with that and it is in danger of being finished on time, the shop has been very busy which has kept Lorraine and Kim busy and we have had a lot of our boats return after their holidays.

We had a couple in today from Nottingham, they were viewing houses in the area and a lovely couple they were, the lady commented on the blog, I was amazed as they were not boaters but had read the blog, it just goes to show how many people read the blog and not just those interested in boats.

That's it from me for today.
Simon

lovely day

It hasn't been to busy in and around the wharf today but the phones have been non stop me and Ange have taken lots of bookings for the boats, it has been a productive day though and Simon me and Jake have put the new engine in to a private boat and Jake has cracked on with its installation, Simon has cut more plates for the re bottoming job, Fred has blacked the boat on the dock and painted its counter bands and then him and Steve has spent the afternoon on the moorings strimming and weed killing.

As I type the blog the heavens have just opened up and it is now throwing it down, Ange and Lorraine are taking refuse by the door, shall I be horrible and kick them out as I want to go home!!

That's it from me for today
Simon