28 weeks later, I made it! Katona is permanently moored for the first time in a year, what a trip. I spent a few evenings hopping up the river, reaching Stratford on Wednesday. I called a taxi to get back to the car — Tom’s taxis, in Bidford — and told
My neck, my back… happy June! As of writing I am nursing some herbal tea after a long day of sanding, painting, and re-floating Katona for a cruise: The last few days have been a crunch, but it all started on Monday with a 12-hour sanding sesh, stripping back another
There are many things where in order to do the thing, you spend a lot of time doing another thing in prep for the main thing. Painting is like this, just like welding, or sales. Eventually you need to pick up the phone, or a brush, yet this week I
Hallo! This week I finally unpacked the welder, to then find it was plug-less. The manual insisted you find a qualified electrician and only use a 16 amp circuit, so I wired it up to a 13 amp lead and hoped for the best. And it’s a wonder. But
Hallo! After the cleaning sesh last weekend, Monday morning felt light; it was satisfying to pressure wash again, although the engine oil was stubborn. Even with a few degreasing rounds it was truly soaked in, but everything is spick compared to last week and I’ll go over it with
This week I took a hiatus from Katona for a few days to pootle up the east coast on another red boat that’s joined the Goodall family: Que Sera, which my brother Tim bought last month. Besides a diesel engine and the concept of a “hull,” they couldn’t
There’s a twist to Murphy’s law for the clothes you wear while renovating, and a lesson I keep re-learning: no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you will become dirty. Every time I’ve thought “I’m only tootling up the river,”nope: regret.
This week the lights were green, the river was open! Then on Tuesday I got an email asking me to move, and fair enough: it was a 2-day mooring, and I got there 2 weeks ago. So today, dad and I took the the boat southward to Tewkesbury at an
“The waiting is the hardest part.” – Tom Petty With the Severn still closed, le boat waits quietly, patiently, until the river is ready for careening. But that didn’t stop some progress! This morning I went over to clear things, run the engine and make some measurements for dry dock
Hello! This week was exciting like I’d hoped for on the canals: uneventful. Monday I went to the boat for more carnage clearing, and to take photos for insurance. I also started the engine, right away, delightfully — it starts quicker and runs smoother than pre-dunking. Here’s Henry: On
Oh buoy. This week Katona sank, but let’s back up. Last Sunday ended with the boat wedged on some debris in a lock, CRT inbound on Monday morning. I got there at 0750 to meet Joe & Simon, and after hatching a plan to un-wedge it I went to
You’re not gonna believe this, but first: happy Sunday! Moving the boat on weekends is normally quite chill: cruise a little, do some locks, cruise a bit more. Yesterday I plodded along for about 8 miles, through 1 little tunnel: And did 10 locks, until I reached one that
