Multitasking

The weather has been a bit changeable here at Norbury today. Bright sunshine to heavy rain and then the sun comes out again – don’t you just love good old British weather?

Anyway, the sun will be shining from tomorrow evening as I am off boating again after work for two days J. I shall be heading from the Northampton area down into North London, so if you are on the Grand Union, keep your eyes peeled! It’s in my blood – I can’t help it…

We had two dayboats out this morning, who both pottered off down to Wheaton Aston and arrived back by the required time of 4.30 this afternoon. There is a good reason for the boats returning before the end of the day. The girls have to go onto the boats upon their return to clean them and the lads to check the engines and equipment over you see.

Mick and I docked Bukittinggi this morning, which is one of the boats that we have had up for sale. Following this morning’s survey, the sale is now complete and the new owner is over the moon with his new purchase. Mick has been doing bits and pieces on all manor of boats today. Unfortunately one of our regular customers forgot to leave his keys behind for the work that should have been completed on his boat whilst he is enjoying Wales!

Ange, Jay, Jack and Lorraine have been kept occupied in the shop and tea room today and Lorraine has also finished off the last of the washing from the turnrounds over the weekend.

I’ve been trying to get the four boats advertised that we have had come in for sale. The advertising is now all done and I will make it go ‘live’ tomorrow – so keep your eyes peeled for some REAL bargains!

I’ve been multitasking as I write this blog. I’ve been talking to my Mum and Dad on the phone who live in Spain – it’s alright Simon don’t panic, it is nearly 6pm…

Well back to Simon tomorrow, I’m sure that he will find plenty of interesting topics to keep you all religiously reading each day.

Until next week.

Best regards,

David.

A busy day

It was a cooler start to the day this morning, but by lunchtime it had warmed up nicely. We had two day boats booked to go out this morning, but unfortunately one party couldn’t make it, so only Defiant has been out today. Victory has been sat on the end of the Wharf attracting a lot of interest.

We have turned thirteen boats around today. Bernard, Mick and Graham have been checking the engines over and have completed four services. Billy, Ralph and Becks have checked the internals and have showed the boats out this afternoon whilst Lorraine, Amy, Nat, Cheryl and Jean have cleaned the internals of the boats. Pam has been wading through the washing in the laundry. The shop and tea room have been manned by Jay, Ange, Lorraine and myself. Everyone has worked really hard today as this is the biggest turn round that we have had this year and it has gone without a hitch. It has been a very satisfying day for all concerned, although I think we are all ready for a sleep now!

Carolyn and Ira who are residents here at Norbury Junction on their narrow boat Albion managed to get a picture of me getting my hands dirty a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I do still get my hands dirty from time-to-time, but quite often now it seems to be when I’m not at work! So here you go, a picture of the fleet lined up prior to leaving for the National. We were in the process of loading pre-packed coal onto Clover and Fazeley in Tamworth. They also have a very interesting blog of their boating events here.



The line up from nearest the bank is Clover, Fazeley, Emu, Kangaroo and Australia. The Emu won the Alfred Ritchie trophy for the best turned out (working) boat at the National Waterways Festival 2011. I think that you will quite rightly agree that she along with her steerer (Michael Pinnock) deserved the award. In just under two years Michael has transformed her from this



to this... Well done Michael!



I’ve just looked back through this post and noticed that I haven’t mentioned Fred! Now how could I forget to him? Fred has been flat out today, pumping boats out, dieseling them up, changing gas bottles, filling water tanks and last but not least applying a final coat of bitumen to the boat on the dock. He seems to be getting a bit stressed recently with the pump out machine as he believes that it taken longer to pump the toilets out, but to be honest I think it is just down to the fact that he gave up smoking recently! Thanks for starting work at 8am today though – it is appreciated…

That's it for today folks.

Regards,

David

Firstly I'd like to let everyone know that I'm back after a very enjoyable trip to the National at Burton on Trent with Clover and Fazeley who are owned by a good friend of mine. It was great to see so many of you there and also out and about. This blog seems to have more coverage than the good old "towpath telegraph" now!

I was back at work yesterday and since then it has been non-stop. We've completed on four boats over the last couple of days and we have more ready to go on the books - I just need a moment to get them advertised now. Things are certainly a bit different here, than when I went away twelve days ago. The wharf has a steady stream of passing traffic and the phone's are constantly ringing - which is a good sign.

Graham has started working on the next boat that we have got to fit a cabin to. In actual fact this one suffered a fire last year and it required the majority of the cabin to be removed, the hull then needs to be straightened prior to a new cabin being fitted and is on the hard standing in our yard. Here is a picture of the cabin following removal. The next job is to cut up the old cabin and straighten the hull - then the cabin can start to be formed.


Fred, Bernard and Mick along with Amy and Lorraine have turned the fleet around today whilst Ange, Jay, Cheryl and I have manned the tea room, shop and the office whilst Simon has been out shopping!

Well that's all from me today. Until tomorrow :-)

Regards,

David

Worth reading!

After my post yesterday all about FAME and how it will affect boats I decided that it would be a good idea to start stocking a range of additives that will help to stop some of the problems arising, we now stock a range of products called 'Exocet' from reading the information supplied it looks very good indeed, I have used it in my own boat, I have had no problems at all since using it! They supply 6 different products;

A fuel conditioner which inhibits microbiological contamination, prevents water pick up, improves power and smooth running, protects fuel pumps and injectors.

An anti bug additive which prevents bugs at maintenance dose, will kill bugs within 24 hours with a 'kill' dose, which will avoid blocked filters.

A power restorer which restores maximum power, removes injector lacquers.

A fuel store additive which keeps fuel fresh for up to two years, reduces varnishes and deposits, prevents bugs.

An anti wax additive which will keep engines working down to -18 degrees, changes the wax structure, inhibits filter blocking.

A fragrance additive which enhances the atmosphere of accommodation, inhibits impregnation of gas oil fumes in to furnishings and clothing.

We are not stocking every product as yet but we are stocking the most important ones, I can order the others and get them the next day if so required, I can tell you that we will be using them in our fleet of boats and especially the 'fuel store' come the winter months.

I am a bit sceptical of the Perfume however but then that may be a case of a product designed specifically for the lady boaters? I will try some and report back when I have trialed it.

It has been an amazingly busy day today, just like it was back in 2005 and before the recession kicked in, I have never seen so many boats on our wharf, it has kept Fred flat out all day, we had to have two deliveries of fuel last week, and early one this week and we will be having another one tomorrow, that's how busy we are! We have had also an amazing run on boat sales, I sold two boats yesterday, one in the afternoon and the other one at 5.30 just as I was about to go home! We desperately need more boats to sell so if you have one that you are thinking of selling give us a call.

That's it from me for today, David will probably do the blog tomorrow as I should not be here, but you never know!

Simon

FAME at last!

The title is not what you would expect, it is about FAME but not in a good way and not about being famous, its all about the FAME additive that is now being added to red diesel, For those that don't know, FAME stands for fatty acid methyl ester and it is basically a BIO fuel, a small percentage is being added to some red diesel that you are now buying, this started on the 1st January 2011, no one really knows what the long term affect will be on diesel engines but it is reported that some engines will experience problems if they have been using the diesel with this additive, The reason for this post is this; We had a boat in a few weeks ago with a fuel leak from its injector pump, it was an older Kabota engine and the seals had all gone in the pump causing the diesel to leak straight in to the oil sump, this can have a devastating impact on the engine if left and not rectified, the engine can ultimately blow up, I had a phone call from a friend who has a large hire fleet and he is now reporting that several of his boats are now starting to suffer with these same symptoms! I must that at stress at present that WE DO NOT SELL DIESEL WITH THE FAME ADDITIVE, I can not afford for our hire boats to start developing problems! There are also other long term problems that this additive will cause and that is it is reported to breakdown if left in diesel tanks for any length of time, we have been informed that if you use a fuel additive such as fuel set this should help with this problem, needless to say that we do sell it and this year we have seen a massive growth in the sales of this, I would strongly recommend that it is used ever time you fill up with diesel, Its only about a tenner and it should save you having problems.

The day started off with brilliant sunshine and it has remained so all day, in fact it is reported to be the hottest day so far and I can really believe it, its been glorious today!

First thing we saw two day boats go out, what a superb day they have picked! the boat on the dock has been refloated and another one has been put on for blacking and anodes which Fred has pressure washed off, Bernard has been engine servicing and Graham has been making a new instrument housing for a boat, fitting anodes and also cutting off a cabin that needs replacing on a burnt out boat, the wharf has been much quieter today but the shop has seen a fair amount of traffic which has kept the girls busy in the tea room. I have been busy today, aswell as the usual day to day stuff I have had two boats craned in to the water that are to be put on to brokerage, here are a couple of photos

David Is back tomorrow so I will be off this weekend for a well earned break, well apart from having to go up to Yorkshore to look at a boat and loads of stuff to catch up with at home.

Thats if from me for today.
Simon

Trying Tuesday

Well I tried my hardest to convince Angela that knowing all about things at Norbury would be beneficial not only to me but also for her but she saw straight through my smooth talking and refused point blank to be shown how to do pump outs! (I will keep trying) Sorry folks you will just have to put up with Fred and all the others doing your toilets.

Not only do I have to deal with a lot of customers but I also have to oversee everything that happens within the company and at times that can be rather trying, hence today's title, some people would like to think being the boss of a company is a cushy little number and yes of course it has its advantages and benefits but it also comes with its fair share of headaches and pressures! All that said I wouldn't want to swap my position and I do love doing what I am passionate about and that is boats and messing about on water.

Its been quite a busy old day, two day boats out first thing, in fact we Have two day boats out every day through out August and on the weekends we have three out, so a very good month for day boats! Its also an amazing month for our regular hire boats, out of around 50 available weeks across the whole fleet in August we have filled over 40 weeks so if you are looking for a break on a boat, don't delay, get it booked before they have all gone! Several boats have been on the wharf for pumpouts and diesel and we have several boats in for different jobs, (peter Underwoods new batteries We had to attend a breakdown on behalf of RCR this morning and Bernard has been engine servicing for the rest of the day on private boats, Fred has been blacking and clearing a boat out and Micky, well I am sure he has been asleep in the back of a boat as he has been very quiet today!

I did mention in an earlier blog about Matt's (our painter) dad and his lovely gypsy caravan, well I have managed to obtain a photo and it is a cracking photo of Matt, his dad Alan and Matt's little girl Heather, shame the picture is not completed with Matt's wife Natalie, what a lovely family they are! I am very pleased indeed that we now have Matt as our painter (he is bloody good) and Natalie helping out in and around the wharf.

That's it from me again for another day, until tomorrow.
Simon

Thanks Ange!

A big thank you to Angela for taking the time to write up a much better blog than I did yesterday, as she said we were very busy all day! I do think that Angela should learn much more about the whole job at Norbury and that includes pump outs, LOL I feel a training session coming up LOL

It started a grey day today, it rained in the night which will make my infernal garden grow like mad again, I could easily just concrete the lot over and put some potted plants on it, I do love a nice garden however I hate the time and commitment that is involved with its up keep! The sun did start to shine first thing this morning which gave a nice mist over the woods and fields but it was short lived as the clouds soon blocked it out, this has made it a humid day today at Norbury!

Things got off to a busy start, three day boats out first thing, that kept Micky and Ralph busy for a while, a few boats on the wharf for diesel and pump outs, a boat valuation and a boat that wanted a diesel filler cap fitting, It has remained busy all day, I have had several customers in to either collect boats or drop boats off for work to be done and I have had the owner of the 70footer in to discuss the paint scheme for his boat that we have just started striping down, Matt will be working on that for the next few weeks, I will try and get some photos of the boat as things progress, Talking of Matt his dad has a rather nice horse and gypsy caravan that has been on display on the wharf over the weekend, he is collecting for the first responders charity, sorry no photos as yet, there might be some coming soon as I suspect he will be back.

Peter Underwood is back with us for a wee while, Peters boat if you don't know is called Blackberry way, he gets all over the country on his boat and he is a regular contributor to many waterways press releases, we have him here as a guest and we will no doubt have some work to do on his boat while he is here.

That's it from me for another day.
Simon