At long last most of the snow has gone, the ice is melting and we have even seen a boat come through today which has broken the last of the lingering ice, its been two weeks since we had the first snow fall and the low temperatures started, it seems like months! we can now try and catch up with the backlog of work, we will be able to free the boats from the docks over the weekend.
Thanks Karen, sorry but you have missed my blue knees knocking but I might give you a special viewing if you ask really nicely!
Nothing exciting has happened today, it has been quite bust as Angela didn't come to work today as her dog died in the night and she was really upset, he was quite old but it came as a bit of a shock as he died in the night in his basket so she had a bit of a shck this morning.
I'm off this weekend to do some Crimbo shopping so its over to David to keep you up to speed with what's going on over the weekend.
Simon
NORBURY WHARF LIMITED
Shop front in the summer
Friday, 10 December 2010
Thursday, 9 December 2010
apologies
Let me apologise for my lack of attention to detail. it is not that I cant spell or that my eyesight is poor, it is because I work so hard that by the time I get home I am that tired that I don't always see something obvious, so for all of you that are in the same position as me and missed it yesterday, it should have said sunny and not sunnt! Thank you to Angela and David for pointing it out to me today!
Well the sun came out today and the temperature reached a massive 5 degrees, I nearly got my shorts out, Hey girls I bet you would have been rushing down to Norbury to see that? Has the thaw finally arrived? no chance, the canal is still well and truly frozen over, I broke the ice again today and what I broke yesterday had frozen last night and was very difficult, it doesn't help when the ice is in layers from the ice breaking the day before, I didn't go as far today, just around the basin, hopefully it wont freeze tonight.
Its been another quiet day again today, the motor home came back, Bernard has had to get a boat ready that is going out the weekend, Fred has been helping Lee with the painting of Silhouette, painting the water tank on a couple of boats and generally mooching around the yard doing odd jobs, Jay has been painting the kitchen, David has been doing what ever David does (when someone finds out what he does will they let me know) There are plenty of other people here but i don't tell you what they do as its things like cleaning and paperwork.
Thanks John and Brenda for your email and kind words, i know what you mean about being "technophobe" i am still getting used to this computer thing!
Sorry no pictures today, nothing exciting to take any pictures of, so until tomorrow, Simon
Well the sun came out today and the temperature reached a massive 5 degrees, I nearly got my shorts out, Hey girls I bet you would have been rushing down to Norbury to see that? Has the thaw finally arrived? no chance, the canal is still well and truly frozen over, I broke the ice again today and what I broke yesterday had frozen last night and was very difficult, it doesn't help when the ice is in layers from the ice breaking the day before, I didn't go as far today, just around the basin, hopefully it wont freeze tonight.
Its been another quiet day again today, the motor home came back, Bernard has had to get a boat ready that is going out the weekend, Fred has been helping Lee with the painting of Silhouette, painting the water tank on a couple of boats and generally mooching around the yard doing odd jobs, Jay has been painting the kitchen, David has been doing what ever David does (when someone finds out what he does will they let me know) There are plenty of other people here but i don't tell you what they do as its things like cleaning and paperwork.
Thanks John and Brenda for your email and kind words, i know what you mean about being "technophobe" i am still getting used to this computer thing!
Sorry no pictures today, nothing exciting to take any pictures of, so until tomorrow, Simon
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
sunnt day but cold
Its been another quiet day at Norbury but work goes on as normal, well as normal as can be under the circumstances! I have braved the sub zero temperatures and managed some ice breaking today, broke all the ice in the basin, got right down the arm and all the way up the moorings to free the stuck boats so they can get down to the water point to get some water, they have been without for two weeks.
Lee has been busy removing the grit from the roof of Silhouette, Fred has been helping and doing the water tank while Bernard has been doing the winter engine service on another shared boat.
David did take a couple of pictures but the internet was down most of the day so im typing this from the comfort of my arm chair at home.
Until tomorrow
Simon
Lee has been busy removing the grit from the roof of Silhouette, Fred has been helping and doing the water tank while Bernard has been doing the winter engine service on another shared boat.
David did take a couple of pictures but the internet was down most of the day so im typing this from the comfort of my arm chair at home.
Until tomorrow
Simon
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Very quiet today
Its been a very quiet Tuesday here at Norbury, we have seen hardly anyone except for a delivery of paint and a delivery of new batteries, i have decided to start stocking 135 AH batteries, they have the same foot print as the 110's but are taller, needles to say that they are more powerful than the 110's and more expensive but i do think that people living on boats might just see the benefit of fitting them
Not to much to report today as i think that the ice has finally beaten us and we have now had to cancel a couple of surveys as we cannot get the boats in to the dock because the ice is just too thick, who said running a boat yard was fun!!
As promised yesterday i was out first thing this and have taken a couple of shots of the place, only a couple of shots as it was -11 at 8.30 this morning, enjoy
Until tomorrow Simon
Monday, 6 December 2010
Getting fed up now!
There is no let up in this weather and as much as the country side around us looks lovely covered in a blanket of snow and the trees have a most impressive frost on them, i am now really fed up with it! the canal freezes as soon as the ice is broken, the boats are that frozen that it doesn't look like they will ever defrost,the car doors wont open as they are frozen shut, the toilet waste pipes are now freezing and i cant feel my fingers! It is a real shame that we have had our camera stolen as i could get some cracking photos, if the freezing fog has lifted tomorrow i will take some on my phone and post them on the blog.
The place has been put back in order after the break in on Thursday night, we will have to have a new door though as the blighters have made a right mess of the old one.
The office and chandlery are 99% finished and in my absence over the weekend they have varnished my new desk, they do look after me! Just new carpet to go down now and that will be it.
I cant feel my fingers, my feet or any other extremities so I'm off home to sit in front of a roaring fire.
Simon
The place has been put back in order after the break in on Thursday night, we will have to have a new door though as the blighters have made a right mess of the old one.
The office and chandlery are 99% finished and in my absence over the weekend they have varnished my new desk, they do look after me! Just new carpet to go down now and that will be it.
I cant feel my fingers, my feet or any other extremities so I'm off home to sit in front of a roaring fire.
Simon
Sunday, 5 December 2010
It's cold again...
I was wrong about the thaw! Here's a low resolution picture that I took this morning.
I have since broken all the ice with the day boat, but there are still huge icebergs floating around in the basin! Since then several boats off of the moorings have come down to use the services that we provide. There was a method in my madness, honest. I wasn't just doing it for the fun of it, but we needed to swap the boats in the wet dock and also get one out from down the arm. So Paul, Mick and Jamie are now battling with frozen ropes and slippery gunnels to move the boats around.
Lee has now finished the paintwork on the boat that he has had in the wetdock and Paul's put all of her accessories back on. There's still a few jobs left to do, but they can now be down outside.
Silhouette's on her way into the paint shop under her own power! There is a fair amount of paintwork required, including baremetalling the cabin top and regritting it - oh and I forgot changing the colour.
I think it's going to be another cold one tonight, so we will all have to batten down the hatches and keep in the warm!
Back over to Simon again tomorrow, so more from me next weekend!
David
I have since broken all the ice with the day boat, but there are still huge icebergs floating around in the basin! Since then several boats off of the moorings have come down to use the services that we provide. There was a method in my madness, honest. I wasn't just doing it for the fun of it, but we needed to swap the boats in the wet dock and also get one out from down the arm. So Paul, Mick and Jamie are now battling with frozen ropes and slippery gunnels to move the boats around.
Lee has now finished the paintwork on the boat that he has had in the wetdock and Paul's put all of her accessories back on. There's still a few jobs left to do, but they can now be down outside.
Silhouette's on her way into the paint shop under her own power! There is a fair amount of paintwork required, including baremetalling the cabin top and regritting it - oh and I forgot changing the colour.
I think it's going to be another cold one tonight, so we will all have to batten down the hatches and keep in the warm!
Back over to Simon again tomorrow, so more from me next weekend!
David
Saturday, 4 December 2010
Has the thaw begun?
The thaws begun, its even been raining today, but how long for? The forecast is for another freeze tonight. There's still plenty of snow about and thick ice on the canal.
One of our hire boats has set out on an adventure today, although they have only moved a hundred yards out of the basin and onto the visitor moorings in the hope that the ice will thin over the next 24 hours. Lets hope that they get to enjoy their winter break!
Other boats in the vicinity have started moving too, to top up with water, gas, diesel and coal and to empty their elsans and pump out tanks. That's keeping Fred occupied, although I did wish I had the camera earlier when I caught him sat inside a water tank on one of the shared owned boats. It hasn't got to the stage where he has to hide from me, he was actually busy painting it!
The engine in Silhoutte that Bernard has been fitting is nearly complete, Mick is just wiring it up and then we can hopefully run it tomorrow. She's then going into the wet dock for her painting work to be completed.
Paul's been fitting a gate valve in line between the diesel filler cap and the tank on one of our customers boats. The idea is that it will act as an anti theft device as access to the tank can only be gained when the valve is open. We've fitted a lot of these caps to boats that are kept in rural locations or are left unattended for long periods over the last 18 months. They've varied in design from the lockable filler caps kept on the shelf to a simple hinged arm that passes over the top of the cap and simply locks with a padlock.
Amanda's busy taking stock of everything we have got in the chandlery, making sure it's all in order and priced whilst Jay's busily painting.
The blog is looking a bit boring without any pictures so here's one of the last pictures that I took with the camera. That's Sue on Thea breaking the ice and passing under bridge 38 and entering the basin at Norbury last Sunday on her way back from the Anchor at High Offley.
One of our hire boats has set out on an adventure today, although they have only moved a hundred yards out of the basin and onto the visitor moorings in the hope that the ice will thin over the next 24 hours. Lets hope that they get to enjoy their winter break!
Other boats in the vicinity have started moving too, to top up with water, gas, diesel and coal and to empty their elsans and pump out tanks. That's keeping Fred occupied, although I did wish I had the camera earlier when I caught him sat inside a water tank on one of the shared owned boats. It hasn't got to the stage where he has to hide from me, he was actually busy painting it!
The engine in Silhoutte that Bernard has been fitting is nearly complete, Mick is just wiring it up and then we can hopefully run it tomorrow. She's then going into the wet dock for her painting work to be completed.
Paul's been fitting a gate valve in line between the diesel filler cap and the tank on one of our customers boats. The idea is that it will act as an anti theft device as access to the tank can only be gained when the valve is open. We've fitted a lot of these caps to boats that are kept in rural locations or are left unattended for long periods over the last 18 months. They've varied in design from the lockable filler caps kept on the shelf to a simple hinged arm that passes over the top of the cap and simply locks with a padlock.
Amanda's busy taking stock of everything we have got in the chandlery, making sure it's all in order and priced whilst Jay's busily painting.
The blog is looking a bit boring without any pictures so here's one of the last pictures that I took with the camera. That's Sue on Thea breaking the ice and passing under bridge 38 and entering the basin at Norbury last Sunday on her way back from the Anchor at High Offley.
Best regards,
David
David
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