2001
  BACK TO CALENDAR 2001

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         This Week's We're Here Map
 
 
 
 
 
April 23 Monday
 
In Roanne.
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Weather turned from filthy wet to "changeable"
In one of "Changed Spells" sanded bow half of cream roof, and cleaned.
Rain back overnight but it helped clean up the dust.
 
 
April 24 Tuesday
 
In Roanne.
 
Fine!- at last. Wind went round to the South, temperature soared!
Undercoat on front of roof, then 1st top coat in afternoon.
Dymphne and Andre for tea, and demonstrated joys of digital camera!.
Supper with Gordon and Gwen in Redquest.
 
 
April 25th Wed to April 29 Sun.
 
In Roanne.
 
Weather has turned warm, but there is lot of rain about - either off and on in short showers 0547.1_across_the_loire_dcp .jpg (58366 bytes) throughout the day, or just plain continuous.
 
By frantic bursts of work in the fine weather we have painted the roof - 1 X u/c 1 X topcoat only - done the blue on the roof runnels on the outside (best to do this on the side of the boat away from the shore hanging out over the water, then idiots can’t grab the wet paint when leaning on it while stopping to gossip), painted the stern deck, 2 X top coat, painted the bows deck - 1 X u.c. and endless top coats as the u.c. went wrong and had to hide the c.u. Painted the side rhs. Had already varnished part of loo, shower, and hatch doors.
(All this is not of interest - but is useful information to us for next year)
 
Happenings of interest during the week - our social life is livelier here - then ever in England, we have been out or had people in more than the total number of social occasions at Devizes or Chalford.
 
Quite a few boats have computers and the attendant wizz-kids to go with them
It appears de-rigueur to give the impression that one knows a great deal more than one does. The idiot Dutchman 2 boats along made and gave me a copy of Office 2000, warning me that bits of it were in Dutch, but nothing material. Being of a trusting nature, and curious, I had a go. Idiot! It wouldn’t work - showed a sign that it was an illegal copy, and to get it’s revenge it tramped all over my system changing all sorts of things that had nothing to do with it, into Dutch. Hence my "Paint Shop Pro 7" (not even a Microsoft Programme) instead of asking me if I want to save a file says "Wigsengingen opslaan". Helpful. It has also abolished the "Help file" of Frontpage 2000 (but I have found another one that is directly relevant, almost as good, but has gaps, and has changed a lot of the little boxes that programmes use to tell or ask you things into Dutch.
Anyone any ideas? Yes, even though it didn’t work I de-installed it properly, but there are still lots of strange bits and pieces in my system that0550_s_water_filling_at_night.jpg (37925 bytes) haven’t gone. There are also 2 items in Dutch on my Control Panel, one of which - the one with the field glasses in front of the Lightning Flash - was there before, and seems to refer to the Frontpage 2000 disc, which I have never had nor needed before. The other calls itself ODBC gevensbronan (32 bits), and produces total Dutch gobbledy gook.
It even changed the whole of my Internet Explorer 5 into Dutch (it probably changes my e-mail into Dutch, as well) but I got that right and changed it back..
 
Back to normal - S had just finished her shower, and, being the perfect gent I waited. She said the water had gone yellow, and there wasn’t any, anyway. She was right, we were out of water - 11.30 p.m.
As a result of our mooring shenanigans we are out of normal hose reach of a water point and normally borrow a hose from 2 boats along. but one can’t knock people up at 11,.30 to borrow their hose, so we hand hauled the boat about 20 yards onto the next door private mooring, connected up, having re-dressed in clothes over our pyjies and nighties.
Turned on water and coupling blew off (colossal pressure here), vertical jet about 30 feet into air, via me, now very wet and cross.
Sense of humour returned when realised disaster was too great to worry about, and anyway our fault.
Re-filled, re-moored, settled down, all well.
 
Talking of private mooring, initially we sat on it - very comfortably - until capitaine begged us to move off it, as owner coming. He moved us back about 10 yards so we just overhung, but now out of reach of water, and electricity low amperage. Owners are apparently 2 full sized restaurant/trip peniches.
0542.1_close_moorings.jpg (88190 bytes)One arrived one morning, and youth (English) left in charge in Capitaine’s absence, asked us rather brusquely to move out. Refused on basis that Capitaine had moored us and it wasn’t up to youth to run around giving contrary orders.
Peniche arrived, attempted to moor up, but obviously short of jetty room. It’s boss also remonstrated, but told him the same!
Came in, tied up very uncomfortably (for him) with his bows breasted up at strange angle against ours, and gang-planked passengers ashore more or less over our bows.
Capitaine arrived later in snow storm and state of some distress, and by moving boats on moorings beyond peniche, and moving us back about 3 feet got peniche into jetty side and everything to-gether. Pretty chaotic, and quite funny, at the time.
Something up with electrics - suspect low amp switches installed into dock-side witches in summer, so ran 2 long electric cables from 2 outlets, thus able to run everything properly - albeit with a bit of planning - and settled down.0557_ducklings_roanne_1.jpg (45077 bytes)

The first 2 boats left this week - Redquest, Gwen and Gordon from Yorkshire, and Mitzy, Granville and June.  The odd hire boat has come in, as well, so the season must  be starting. Also, it is quite clearly a lot warmer - we seldom have the blow heater on, and when we are working outside, it is shirt and overall only!

First Ducklings - feel like the wandering rat in Wind in the Willows, chapter "Wayfarers All".