Bagpipes, Engines and Jobs

Saw a curious sight in the park adjacent to the towpath today.
I think it might be a new North London safety initiative.
Well who in their right mind would hang out in a park where people practice the bagpipes?
(BTW, that is the park railings, I am not posting from my cell on a Blackberry…)

Jasmine seems to be on the mend, her engine seems to be holding water in and her hull seems to be holding water out, which is good and it makes me happy. There is nothing worse than a boat with a broke engine, trust me, I know.

Jobs, jobs, jobs… What’s at all about eh?
I’ll be this guy in about a month.

If you see me, please give generously.

Heads, welding and jobs

Apologies for not updating the blog for a while, but I've been a bit busy with Jasmines engine.
She’d blown her head gasket due to a warped head. The engineer at Walsh’s Cylinder Head Services reckoned it had been on the way out for some time and was probably down to bad installation last time it was done.I’ve still got to re-install the head, should be doing that tomorrow if it’s not too cold and wet!

Had to get some welding done too, My skin tanks (bit like a radiator on a car) were leaking into cabin bilge. This is due to a lack of antifreeze in the cooling system over a long period.

Here’s a pic of Gordon melting my boat via electricity

And onto jobs! I need one because I’m skint!

Internet restored!

I once again have internet access! A small thing to you land lubbers, but trust me, a big thing to me.
Not that I'll be doing much surfing mind you, Jasmine needs a bit of TLC, hopefully just a head gasket.
I say 'just' a head gasket, because thats the least it could be.

Wish me luck...

Aquanomad

Fire & Ice

It's bloody brass monkeys out there!

Thankfully I have my crap stove to keep me warm.

It's a pretty rubbish stove, but better than nothing!

Stoppage on the Lee navigation

Here's a few pics of a lock that being refurbished.

Very geeky in a Fred Dibnah kind of way, but hey...

I got my (M)TV

I now have a TV again! After just finishing a 12 year stint of working 'in tv' the last thing I should want to do is watch the damn thing, but after spending the last month living in a stripped out steel tube, in a ditch, getting my TV back is the light at the end of the tunnel (or steel tube).

I've also made my desk, a rather nifty fold up one that virtually disappears when folded, which is pretty handy on a narrowboat.

Galley, highwire and haggis

The galley is nearly finished! All of the woodwork has been done (except the floor) and i've just got the cooker to connect and some (more) painting to do.

Saw some engineers working from a cradle attached to electricity lines, these things were really high! Rather them than me...

And onto the haggis!

Marc, the man with the knife, is Scottish and invited me round for a St Andrews Day meal, which was rather nice!

I think it was just a meal to him though, I'm sure it's haggis at every meal, washed down with buckfast.