Norbury Wharf Limited: E-bay

Well as yet no one has identified where the picture was from yesterdays blog. Come on guys and girls, one of you well travelled folk must know what lock it is... I'll wait to see the responses flooding in!

Well it was another cold night last night. I believe the temperature dipped down to about -5°C which made the roads around here a bit slippery first thing. One of our moorers had a bit of a job to get her car up the drive in front of the pub and onto the road this morning. So, Steve and I; armed with Landrover and rope, pulled her well up onto the road so she could head off to work. Soon later the surveyor who was surveying the boat on the dock got his van stuck on the bridge over the arm. All hands on deck again and we soon had him over the bridge.

Mick (Mr. Handbag) and Steve undocked Summer Wine first thing and soon had Galadriel on the dock for her pre purchase survey. Mick has jetted her off this afternoon ready for blacking during the early part of the week. Steve has been doing some internal work on Summer Wine and headed off home early.

Mick and I moved one of our regular customer's boats down onto the embankment this afternoon ready for their return. The wind was howling across the embankment and it was snowing hard, but we soon reversed her down and tied her up safely. Good job the boat has got a powerful engine!

There's white stuff falling from the sky again now. I've just heard the weather forecast and it sounds like it set in for the night.

We've decided to make the most of our E-bay shop that we have had for the past three or four years. Previously we have only advertised discounted hire boat holidays, dayboats, batteries and Ecofans on there. Following the success of this we have decided to make more items available. I'm not confident we have got it right at the moment but I am sure Simon will prove me wrong in the long term... Tell us what you want to see for sale and we will see what we can do! Don't forget to ask if you can't see what you're looking for - I'm sure we will have it hidden away here somewhere or can order it in within a couple of days. Our aim is to have everything advertised that we sell in the shop (and more), but as you can imagine this takes time - so visit regularly for updates.

Visit our E-bay shop by CLICKING HERE.

Have you booked your narrowboat holiday for the February half term yet? We have got some fantastic discounts on offer on our website. Out of your budget? All sensible offers considered!!! Call us now on 01785 284292 or email bookings@norburyhire.co.uk.

Search, view availability and book a hire boat or dayboat by CLICKING HERE.

Anyway, to brighten up your day and remind you what those summer days look like, heres a picture that shows the butty boat Cedar (steered by Karen Parrott) being pulled out of the top lock at Hillmorton by Clover (steered by yours truly) on the afternoon of Sunday 26th June 2011. It was a glorious day that was. We were returning from the annual gathering of historic boats at Braunston Marina.

The paired locks at Hillmorton let the motor and butty pass through simultaneously, thus saving time. The procedure is as follows: As the locks empty the butty's mast rope is passed over the mitre in the bottom gates and taken to the steps below the motors lock. As the motor passes out of the lock the steerer picks up the line and takes a turn on the motors dollies. Once the slack has been taken up in the line and the butty begins to move forwards the line is made fast and the motor pulls the butty down to the next lock. In theory you ensure the next pair of top gates are open to allow both motor and butty to enter.