Bartimaeus

The weather this morning was grey as forecast, so we again set about projects on the boat.  By the end of the afternoon I had made considerable progress with the tandem storage.  I used a process that in computer programming terms might be termed “agile”.  My understanding of this is that you look at where you are and try to move a bit nearer where you want to be.

I started off by taking the TV off the wall.  This allowed me to complete the placement of the rear part of the tandem.  It rests on its wheel and one handlebar.  For additional security I found I can also use a bungee to part of the TV mount – result!  The front part also rests on its wheel and a handlebar.  Additional stability is provided by inserting the top tube in to a shaped slot.

I put the telly on its new mount (I brought that with me) in a temporary location and tidied up.  There’s still some work to do to hide the innards, but the basic function is complete. I even made a small shelf to house the Raspberry Pi that provides music etc. on the boat.  There’s a lot of space, especially above that I’m determined to put to good use.

We were getting low on water and high on the waste tank, so we set off for Lancaster in what was, by then, a beautiful sunny evening.  On the way I got three brief sightings of a kingfisher flying ahead of the boat – I was thinking it had been a while since we’d seen one.

By the time we’d done the boat servicing it was nearly sunset.  There was a mooring spot available on the other side of the canal, so it was the obvious choice.  Several folk (fellow boaters it turned out) tried to help me get moored close to the bank and were surprised at just how far away we remained.

When the pub is this close, and serves food, and its dinner time, another choice is pretty obvious.  We both had “home cooked” fish and chips and some local beer.  We were practically “at home” anyway – so close I was able to use the boat WiFi from the pub table.

The important thing to remember when we returned to the boat was that we are still several feet from the bank.  But that is starting to feel normal by now.