NarrowBoat 'QUIDDITCH'

Great Escape

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:12:46 PDT

During the recent heatwave Dee and I decided to escape the full sunshine we normally encounter at the marina for the relative coolness that comes from mooring under a large willow tree! With temperatures on board reaching a staggering 37C we decided to take action on Tuesday evening, living aboard a steel narrowboat does have the occasional downfall!

We moored at our favourite bridge 101, about an hours cruise from the marina towards Braunston and only a 7-minute walk to the nearest road bridge. This allowed us to have transport at our disposal, having strategically positioned our cars prior to departing. With Dee not rostered off work until this weekend this is an ideal location and also enables me to attend my voluntary duties at Brandon Marsh.

As coincidence would have it, friends of ours who we met when moored at the Thames & Kennet marina several years ago, and who live aboard their narrowboat NB-Nesta, were also in the vicinity and so for the duration we've enjoyed their company alongside. It was great to see them once more and we literally spent the few days together just chilling out on the towpath in the shade of the willow and barbecuing on the Wednesday evening. As Dee pointed out, last year we only managed to barbecue the once due to the poor summer but this year year we're already up to three!

The plan was to return to the marina today, Friday 3rd, due to other commitments and as luck would have it the weather finally broke, producing cooler conditions after heavy rain in the early morning. Having said our goodbyes to Graham & Hazel I took the cruise back to the marina single handed as Dee had left for work in pouring rain around 8am. Leaving at around 1.15pm the weather cleared nicely and the cruise back was a pleasant one arriving back at Wigram's at about 3pm in lovely sunshine.

French Weekend

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:03:12 PDT

We arrived back aboard Quidditch at around midnight on Tuesday after our Ryanair flight from Poitiers, unusually without complaint!

We've just spent an excellent long weekend with Dee's mum and dad who live near Chavigny, France. This was obviously our first visit since getting married in May and so for me a first visit to the in-laws, they'll thank me for that one! Having retired to France several years ago Susan and Graham have been converting their house, which is now in the final stages of completion and looks really stunning. The house is set in beautiful grounds with a good number of fruit trees and I'm missing already my stroll around eating those delicious cherries prior to dinner.

Having arrived on Saturday evening we were treated to Champagne in celebration of our nuptials and as per usual an excellent dinner. On the Sunday Dee and I drove the two hours to La Rochelle (pictured) and spent the day sightseeing. La Rochelle is situated in south-western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, looking out on to the Atlantic Ocean. We enjoyed excellent weather with a temperature around 25C and after a long walk along the quay we took the little ferry across the bay and enjoyed some good food and beer in a bistro overlooking the harbour. In the evening we barbecued.

After breakfast on Monday we had a drive out towards Archigny but because of my usual birdwatching exploits, a drive which should have taken 10 minutes took well over an hour! You can read my thoughts on this by clicking on my birding blog in the side-bar. We took a diversion from our initial destination when we noticed a sign to Pinail Nature Reserve and were delighted with our discovery. The reserve, a result of millstone quarrying, has given way to a mosaic of over 3,000 ponds which are surrounded by moor and heathland rich in rare flora and fauna. Although the birding was fantastic the highlight were the Common Green Frogs, which have an incredible mating call, indescribable in writing. We had a brilliant couple of hours in showery conditions touring the reserve before moving on to our original destination of Saint Cyr Lake, a magnificent natural environment over 300 hectares, which includes a 85 hectare lake you can walk around. In the evening we barbecued once more and after an excellent dinner retired inside to inaugurate the new pool table which had just been installed, well done Graham on your win!!

Tuesday, our final day, started with a walk around the local area where we heard Nightingale singing and came across great numbers of butterfly, including one of my favourites, the Marbled White. The remainder of the day (28C) was spent out and about once more and this time we took a drive out into the Brenne National Park and after stopping on many occasions to take in the wildlife came across Reserve Naruralle Cherine. The main entrance to the reserve incredibly appeared to be closed but we did discover 2 hides we managed to visit. The first was notable for the many European Pond Tortoise which Dee really enjoyed and the second hide appeared to be the main one, with great views of a number of excellent species such as Great White Egret and a colony of noisy Black Headed Gulls. After returning to the house and packing for the flight home we enjoyed a lovely buffet dinner with some excellent home-made ginger beer.

Thank you to Susan and Graham for looking after us so well (as usual) the great food, wine and conversation and as ever the use of the car.

Rocky Mountaineer

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:57:48 PDT

Our return to the UK on Sunday as a married couple begins a new era in our lives but we leave Canada behind with some vivid memories and an immediate passion to return. As yet I've not posted anything on one of the highlights of our trip The Rocky Mountaineer. The problem lies in the amount of information needed to describe such an incredible journey, the sights we encountered were altogether breathtaking. Below is the most briefest of descriptions.

Having spent our first couple of days sightseeing in Vancouver we arrived at the Rocky Mountaineer Station at around 6.30am on the 10th to board the train for our dream journey. Having received the traditional call of “all aboard” we took our seats as Gold passengers in the observation deck and enjoying bucks-fizz left for our first stop of Kamloops, which was approximately 10 hours away. We could not have asked for better weather, 20C and cloudless skies.

The Kicking Horse Route named for the pass over which it crosses the Canadian Rockies takes you between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Banff, Alberta. This route traces the historic transcontinental rail line that united Canada's East and West and includes, amongst other highlights, the legendary Spiral Tunnels.

Leaving the outskirts of Vancouver it wasn’t long before the snow-capped Coast Mountains came into view, soaring majestically to heights of over 9,000ft. After a breakfast of salmon, scrambled eggs and caviar, served in the lower deck, we continued our journey alongside the fast running Fraser River with breathtaking views, passing the famous Fort Langley en route. Continuing on we had great views of Mount Baker (10,778ft) which lies across the border in the USA and by this time we had already had sightings of several Bald Eagle and Osprey.

After lunch we left the Fraser River and began to follow the Thomson River that would accompany us through to Kamloops. Indeed the name Kamloops is an old First Nation word meaning joining of the rivers. Here the landscape took a distinct change, being slightly more baron and filled with Ponderosa Pine. It was shortly after this we first sighted a Black Bear, who was foraging alongside the river, an astonishing site! We arrived in Kamloops at 5.14 pm with vivid memories of some breathtaking scenery, incredible wildlife and were taken by coach to the Thomson Hotel after what can only be described as a most incredible day.

We were picked up at 6.15am the following morning and returned to the Mountaineer for day 2 of this inspiring journey. A short while after leaving we bid farewell to the Thomson River and joined the Eagle River which would accompany us for a short while. Later we passed the stone cairn of Craigellachie where the last railroad spike was driven linking Canada’s railway from coast to coast. The landmark is named after a large rock in Banffshire County, Scotland where Donald Smith, who drove in the last spike, had grown up.

Still enjoying stunning scenery we crossed the Columbian River, the 3rd largest in Canada climbing a further 2500ft where we encountered two more Black Bear. Shortly after, we crossed into Rocky Mountain country and incredibly the scenery became even more stunning. We eventually arrived in Banff, our chosen wedding venue, at around 5.30pm having had one of the most amazing experiences of our lives and one which will live forever.

Our route is perhaps the most scenic & certainly the most historically-significant route to choose, as it travels over the famous Canadian Pacific Railway, Canada's first trans-continental line opened in 1885. It's the original 'Rocky Mountaineer' route on which the company first started in 1990, when the last regular passenger trains on the line were discontinued. You'll pass Castle Mountain, the pretty station at Lake Louise, the continental divide, the much-photographed Stoney Creek bridge, the site of the 1885 'Last Spike' and the wonderfully-scenic Thompson & Fraser river canyons.

First Photos

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:52:26 PDT

Hi everyone, managed to get a few photos uploaded! More to follow on our return.

Back @ the Hotel and the Ceremony on Bow River.

Mr & Mrs Yates

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Mon, 25 May 2009 06:35:22 PDT

Just a quick update on things in Canada as posting from my IPhone is a real chore!

Well I'm delighted to report that the wedding day went off without any drama and we are now a happily married couple. The weather leading up to the day was certainly a worry with a major snow storm only two days prior and the locals telling us that it's the worst May for many a year.

However, someone up there must have been watching and as by magic the temperature on Saturday went up by an astonishing 18c from Friday to 20C for the day, with a beautiful sunny sky.

We were married at a secluded spot we had chosen some days earlier next to the Bow River with the amazing Mount Rundle as a backdrop. The ceremony was informal, just as we'd wanted, and was performed by the local marriage commissioner, Patricia Compton, who was an absolute star! During the ceremony we were joined by two White Tailed Deer who had come to the river for a drink, an incredible sight and one that will live on forever.

We'll post lots of pictures upon our return but would like to thank everyone for their cards, emails, flowers and even phone calls wishing us well on the day and for the future.
As I write this post from the Fairmont Hotel, Lake Louise, looking down from our bedroom window I can tell you that the lake is frozen, the snow is once again falling and the temperature is 0C, which makes Saturday even more astonishing!

Best Mans Blog

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:02:31 PDT

Our Best-Man Dave has produced his own personal blog for our trip to canada which can be viewed Here

Banff T-Minus 3 days!

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:34:05 PDT

Greetings from Banff, Alberta (pictured), T-minus 3 more days to the wedding!
Well where do I start, our 2 day trip on the Rocky Mountaineer exceeded all expectations. Leaving Vancouver on day 1 of the rail trip the weather could not have been better. Clear blue skies and a temperature of around 15C left us with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, but more on this later.

On arrival in Vancouver we were upgraded to a Premium Room which meant the 27th floor overlooking the Harbour, the nearby Seaplane jetty and the Cruise Line Terminal. Once we'd dealt with the jetlag we spent our 2 clear days sightseeing using the city tour bus, which your able to hop on and off. We toured the excellent Granville Island which is a large harbour area hosting the cities market.
During our 2 days in Vancouver we also spent a good deal of time within Stanley Park, a huge area of woodland and sea views which boasts over 22 miles of nature walks. We were lucky enough to see Black Squirrel, Belted Kingfisher and our first Bald Eagle.

To sum up Vancouver it is a quite unremarkable city boasting the usual highrise office blocks and hotels but the harbour and surrounding mountains make it a wonderful place to spend a couple of days and the people are friendly too.
I'll post our experiences of the Rocky Mountaineer later as were now about to leave in our hired SUV for a tour of Banff, this will be to select the actual spot of our marriage on Saturday! Lets hope we dont get a similar days weather as yesterday when we had 3 inches of snow!!!

Our Big May Day

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:31:02 PDT

May has finally arrived and what a month it's going to be for the Quidditch household! After almost 9 years this month will see Dee and I officially tie the knot in Banff Canada.

We fly out to Vancouver for 3 days before catching the Rocky Mountaineer for a 2 day rail trip to Banff, here we'll be married in the open air overlooking the Rocky Mountains. From Banff we set off to Lake Louise for our 4 day honeymoon, before driving up to Calgary for our return flight home!

April has been a more hectic month as you can imagine with both of us celebrating our final days of being single and completing the many tasks required to plan the trip. Dee spent an excellent weekend at a Hotel with friends enjoying food, wine and more wine, plus the usual facilities on offer at a spa hotel.

I on the other hand spent the weekend visiting my life long friend and best man in Holland (not Amsterdam!) enjoying some good food, conversation and plenty of cycling. Dee has made an amazing effort in planning the whole trip and wedding and I watched and listened in admiration as she went through a step by step itinerary yesterday evening.

April has also seen a continuation of my conservation work at Brandon Marsh. The fact that Dee has made things so painlessly easy over the month in the planning of the trip has meant that I was able to spend a considerable amount of time down there, as you may be aware if your a regular reader of my birding blog.

Finally thanks to P & D who'll be boat sitting for us while were away, watch my paintwork and keep an eye on the blog for updates while were in Canada, were very grateful to you both.

Done and Dusted

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:10:33 PDT

Well we arrived back from our hull blacking this evening (April 7th) at around 5.30pm, having moored overnight at Bridge 100, in windy and tricky conditions. Fortunately we managed to back Quidditch on to our pontoon unscathed!

The return journey from Welford was uneventful, and we actually managed to complete both the Braunston and Crick tunnels without any oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, at the Watford Gap Flight we were held up, for what seemed an eternity, by a painstakingly slow hire boat coming up the locks! The hull blacking was completed according to schedule and as expected we also had to replace the tiller bearing, as it was absolutely shot.
As ever Les did an excellent all round job and when we arrived back from our hotel, having enjoyed excellent food, jacuzzi, sauna and swimming, Quidditch had already been re floated and was ready to go.

I also have to make comment on the cruising conditions of the Leicester Section of the Grand Union, which was literally a pig to navigate. With the water levels a good foot below what I believe to be the normal level, I found myself making constant tiller adjustments to stay in a straight line, on several occasions we were almost grounded. No one's fault, simply due I would imagine to the recent lack of rain.

Also a big hello to Del and Al, NB-Derwent6, who we passed coming through Braunston. Having had a brief hello in passing it appears they are both readers of our blog. Both Dee and I thought your boat was absolutely beautiful and good luck on your travels.

**Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday emails, cards and text messages, there very much appreciated.

Welford in a Day?

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:11:02 PDT

With the dry dock booked for hull blacking this Thursday at the Welford Arm, we set off from Wigram’s yesterday evening and moored at our favoured bridge 100, this would give us a good start this morning.

Setting off at 9am under a cloudless blue sky we managed to complete the Braunston Flight of six locks in less than 90 minutes. Although the flight are double locks we went through alone as the canal was remarkably quiet. The next step of the journey was the Braunston Tunnel. Opened in 1796, to bore through the Northampton heights, the tunnel is 2042 yards long. Its construction was hindered by quicksands, and a mistake in direction whilst building has given it a slight S bend, so navigation is intersting. We almost managed to make it through without any oncoming traffic until literally 100 yards from the end, when two boats headed in.

We made a steady pace and took the turn at Norton Junction onto the Leicester Section of the Grand Union Canal around 11.30am, and headed for Watford Gap Locks. Here we have to contact the lock keeper before proceeding as the six locks consist of a staircase of four, and the traffic either way is alternated.

We passed through without delay and then took the Crick Tunnel around 1.30pm, note to self: put a brolly up! 1528 yards long, this tunnel was opened in 1814. All tunnels built in this area suffered great problems in construction. As with the Braunston Tunnel, quicksand’s caused the route to be changed and greatly affected work. Stephenson also found similar difficulties when building the nearby Kilsby Tunnel for the London to Birmingham railway.

After emerging from Crick we made steady progress and finally moored for the day at Bridge 27, Mountain Barn Bridge, at 3.30pm. We may even have continued on, were it not for a lack of power, this due to the propeller having a substantial weed build up, probably due to this stretch being quite shallow at present. After mooring I took a nice walk through a local wood, and Dee had a nap, having worked most of the locks alone she deserved it too!
Anyway, only six miles to complete in the morning, and a great effort to get this far in such a short time!

Another Month!

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:12:45 PST

As another month passes by and the daffodils and crocus are starting to appear are we in for another cold spell to the beginning of March? The much milder second half of February that we are experiencing continues through to the end of the month before the new month brings a pattern change. Even some significant accumulations of snow are on the cards once more in a very unsettled start! In like a lion and hopefully out like a lamb so the saying goes.

Anyway for the first time this year we've been out onto the system having been unable to travel due to the icy conditions of previous weeks. I took the cruise out alone on Sunday as Dee was working but now she has her own set of wheels things are much simpler. Mooring up around bridge 101 enabled Dee to drive over afterwards, parking at a spot which is a 10 minute towpath walk to our 3 day mooring. We had an excellent 3 days with only about a dozen boats passing us during our stay. A pleasant change to the hoards of weekend traffic that now appear on this particular stretch. What was striking is the amount of work now being carried out by British Waterways (pictured) in relation to tow path repair. The banks looked in far better condition than on previous cruises and a lot of armco metal protection was being installed. However, no room for complacency as a lot more work is still required.

For me my conservation work is still continuing in earnest at Brandon Marsh and I find myself spending more and more time on the reserve. I'm now looking forward to the coming months as the other team members tell me that as Spring arrives, naturally so do our Summer resident birds. I look forward with great anticipation.
We made our annual jaunt to the National Boat and Caravan Outdoor Show at the Birmingham NEC on the 18th and were not really surprised to find a somewhat smaller show. Having said that the displays of narrowboats on offer seems to have increased, a sign of hard selling in difficult times maybe!

For those of you subscribers to our blog who are interested in how the heating is going (Johnny for one) I can report that a breakdown of 2 hours is the only hitch this winter. A choked up glow plug and wick being the downfall on this occasion. The Kabola however is another matter with regular cleaning required, even though I fully serviced it in October. A real fire installation draws ever closer.
A far as Red Diesel is concerned and the loss of our rebated price last November we are not suffering as yet. Currently we are using all purchased supplies for heating, with the exception of last weeks cruise and in fairness to our marina are getting a further 10p a litre discount as a moorer, 57P the current price for heating. To avoid any confusion and not having a second fuel tank I've safely rigged up a double jerry can system into the engine bay compartment and am using this solely to feed the Mikuni central heating system. It works perfectly with a weekly top up.

Well not much more to report for February, the wedding plans for Canada in May are on track and Dee is flying off to Scotland for the week so It will be birding all the way for me next week. That's the feathered kind of course!!! Talking of which I'm delighted to have completed my new birding blog which can be accessed here or from the side bar.

Time Well Spent

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:30:34 PST

Just prior to Christmas I was lucky enough to discover a group of individuals who give up there time every Thursday and spend the daylight hours maintaining the excellent Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve(pictured).

Located on the banks of the River Avon near Coventry the group are known as The Brandon Marsh Voluntary Conservation Team. I decided to give it a go and join up and I have not been disappointed! Every Thursday since mid December I've reported for duty and given up my time along with the other members to tend the woods & marshes of the reserve. I've met some wonderful people over the weeks and have been literally inspired by the commitment & enthusiasm of the members. I was shocked by one member today who informed me that he was just about to turn 70. Another of the long term members & founders of the team is an amazing 82 years young. Looking at the before and after photographs of the reserve and seeing it first hand its plain to see what an astonishing difference the team have made over the years. Quite literally extra land leased to the reserve by Warwickshire council known as Newlands has been turned from woodland into a thriving marshland. This has allowed species such as Bittern, Cetti's Warbler and Barn own, the latter of which bred last year in the newly placed Owl boxes, to flourish.
I joined with an open mind and with the intention of learning at least 3 new things every visit. I've already lost count. Being an enthusiastic birdwatcher I also join a number of the members every Tuesday for a trek around the reserve and have so far been lucky enough to see Bittern and Water Rail, two species not on my Life List. Over the weeks I've re-established my love of birdwatching and thanks to other members can now identify more species by call. This post is a thank you to the team for allowing me to be a part and being able to make a difference.
I'm now joined by another member of the boating fraternity who decided to accompany me last week and has also got the bug.

Big Freeze Continues

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:46:35 PST

Well we're now almost 7 days into the new year and still waiting for the temperature to struggle above freezing at night.

The ultimate was last night we're the on-board weather station recorded a temperature of -9.8C. As you can see from the picture the marina currently resembles a scene from the Arctic. The ice in the foreground was churned up by one of our 'Ice-Breaker' boats and I measured it at almost 2 inches thick!
Always one for a challenge I took the opportunity to break out myself and plough through the 250 yards to the marina office for water & diesel, the jetty water points are naturally frozen and currently switched off so we were getting desperately low on water. Probably just as well that Quidditch is due for hull blacking in the Spring as the hull took a total battering during the short voyage! I have to say that being literally frozen in is quite an experience and one we've encountered before but not for such a sustained period. Things literally do go bump in the night.
Around 4am this morning we we're woken by a loud bang that seemed to vibrate through the whole boat, almost as though someone had ploughed into us. I can only surmise that the ice has somehow compacted around us and then crushed under the pressure. It happened again around an hour later.
Anyway I'm delighted to report that our central heating is performing beyond expectations, last year the system literally failed once a week but since I completely rebuilt the thing in November it's not failed us once. Our Kabola Diesel fire literally runs 24/7 and sustains an on-board temperature of around 23C, dropping to about 18C in the early hours before the heating cuts in.

Wigram's Xmas Dinner 08

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:46:42 PST

A good time was had by all at the first Wigram's Turn Marina Xmas Dinner.

Is that 2 bottles of wine or 4 Michael?

Having now been part of marina communities for a little over 4 years Dee and I thought it was about time we sprang into action to arrange our first Wigram's Xmas dinner. Having had a successful BBQ at the marina this summer hosted by the management and the hope of possibly more events arranged by the moorers, things seemed to come to a grinding halt.
Wigram's is home to nearly 200 narrowboats and is split into 2 main sections, the 'East Side' and the 'West Side'. Located on the West Side it's normal for us to meet other's who are located nearby however, the East Side remains a mystery!! We often see mysterious figures silhouetted against the full moon shuffling down the East pontoons wondering "Who the hell is that" or "What are that lot up to over there". Of course we do class the West Side as the upper crust of the Marina!
But seriously though such is the build of the marina that you can literally go a whole year without meeting other moorers. What better way to get to know them than to arrange a little get together. So on Thursday December 11th the very first Wigram's Xmas Dinner was held at the Boat Inn, Stockton. A big thanks to Tina & Paul the landlords of the Boat and their hard-working staff and & big thanks to Brian our excellent marina manager for laying on the transport. Notable absentee's were James & Claire off NB-Radish who unfortunately were unable to join us. Get well soon chaps. I've put a montage of photographs, at least the one's that weren't blurred, into our album. You can get a bigger version of the photo's by clicking HERE. and then just click on the image you want to resize.

Quidditch First?

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:27:53 PST

Is Quidditch the first Narrowboat in the UK to be equipped with Radar?

Being a real flight enthusiast and if the truth be known a bit of a 'geek' I couldn't resist the purchase of the latest in new technology.
AirNav RadarBox is the closest you can be to real world aviation without leaving your chair thanks to next generation Radar decoding. By decoding *ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) radar signals I'm able to see on my computer screen what real Air Traffic Controllers see on their screens and in Real-Time. Flight number, aircraft type, altitude, heading, speed are all updated each second. Included is the award winning software interface developed by the world's leader in flight tracking and monitoring solutions, Airnav Systems. If you click on the screen shot above you can see the information as it's displayed on my computer.
You'll notice in the centre of the screen a + sign denoting the exact position of Quidditch which I'm able to obtain from my on-board GPS. By coincidence our mooring appears to be almost in the exact centre of England! I's amazing how busy the skies are above us. The right hand screen shows all aircraft in 'real-time' who are equipped with *ADS-B that are within the range of my aerial, which quite frankly is astonishing considering where actually in a dip. Then again these aircraft are anything between 1,000 & 40,00ft.
The left hand screen has the information for each aircraft in more detail, this also includes all aircraft that are not equipped with *ADS-B but are within range. Uniquely too the program actually downloads a photograph of the specific aircraft and adds it to my database. In the example the highlighted aircraft is Continental Airlines which as you can see is travelling from Houston to Paris. I was actually able to locate and see this aircraft through my binoculars.
On to other matters and just a quick thanks to Johnny & Pat who joined us at Dee's holiday cottage last week to celebrate Dee's **th birthday. Great to see you guys as ever and were already looking forward to New Year Eve. By the way the pictures are on the way.

Red Diesel

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 04:01:22 PDT

Well as November 1st looms ever closer and the world as we know it for us narrow boaters changes forever I thought it would be worth putting the official word on Red Diesel pricing!

The final announcement on red diesel has been greeted with confusion from some boaters but the authorities are hoping owners will act responsibly to ensure the new system runs without hitches.

The system requires private boat owners to declare, every time they fill up, what percentage of fuel they will be using for propulsion and what for domestic purposes, such as heating. The retailer will calculate the duty according to each declaration. The system is clearly open to abuse but confirming the new rules at the PSP Southampton Boat Show the British Marine Federation (BMF), RYA (Royal Yachting Association) and Inland Waterways Association (IWA) warned HM Customs & Excise do have powers of investigation if they hear of dubious claims. The authorities also said the system might be tweaked after the first few months if necessary.

The new system comes into being on 1 November 2008, after the European Commission decided last year that private leisure boaters in the UK could no longer use low-duty diesel. Ironically, since that decision was made, the price of waterside diesel has rocketed at many marinas to a point where the new full-duty prices will be barely noticeable for some. However the change in price could force some owners to seriously restrict or change their boating habits, as a litre of red diesel for propulsion purposes will now cost at least the same as a a litre of roadside diesel. Red diesel for non-propulsion purposes will be sold at the current lower-duty rate.

The statement released by the BMF, RYA and IWA reads as follows.

"Following extensive cooperation with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), private pleasure craft owners will be able to continue to use red diesel for propulsion use, but at a modified duty rate. Red diesel at a rebated rate will still be available for domestic purposes, such as heating and lighting. Recreational boaters will declare the percentage of fuel to be used for propulsion and domestic use respectively. HMRC have provided advice on calculating this percentage spilt which includes the following: 'It is for the purchaser to declare the percentage of fuel used for propulsion. However, analysis by both the industry and HMRC suggests that a split of 60% for propulsion and 40% for domestic use (heating, cooking etc) probably reflects most people's use and it is therefore likely that many users will declare such an apportionment. 'Registered Dealers in Controlled Oils (RCDO) will need to account to HMRC for any additional duty they receive from recreational boaters. RCDOs already owe a general duty of care to ensure that they only make supplies of controlled oil for legitimate uses. Howard Pridding, Executive Director of the BMF said: "While no-one is going to pretend that the duty increase on red diesel is a good thing, we are pleased that HMRC has provided a simple and user friendly framework for suppliers and boaters. Availability was a key concern so we are particularly pleased that recreational craft users and fuel suppliers can continue to use red diesel. "HMRC has listened to the concerns of industry and boaters and has produced a manageable solution to an unwelcome but unavoidable change in the law." Gus Lewis, Legal and Government Affairs Manager at the RYA added: "The UK Government and HMRC have consistently supported us on the red diesel issue, including seeking (albeit unsuccessfully) an extension of the UK's derogation for the use of red diesel that expired on 31 December 2006. "We hope the framework will reduce disruption for boaters and suppliers and help mitigate the impact of the change in duty."

Well there is is! We shall see as the months progress how the new system pans out.

Autumn Arrives!

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:56:36 PDT

Well after our mini India Summer the Autumn finally arrives with it's usually wet and windy blast!

I'm a great believer in 'sods' law so it was no surprise to us when one week into the need for warmth our Mikuni central heating unit did it's usually dieing act. I'm close to giving up on the useless piece of **** and it now sits stripped out on the engine room floor. Having only purchased the thing slightly over 2 years ago for just over £1,000 and fitting it myself it's been nothing short of a complete waste of money. Especially since we've now spent over another £400 in the last 6 months on a burnt out control box and numerous glow plugs! I really don't know what to do with it next. The plan now is to take it down to Justin at Braunston, who although a Mikuni specialist, will tell you quite openly that their a load of crap anyway! Once fully serviced, again, I intend running the damn thing directly from a jerry can on white diesel. This will at least dispel or prove the theory that their just as crap on red or white!! Mikuni will always argue that they should only run on white diesel despite selling hundreds to us poor unsuspecting narrowboat owners. I use the usual ongoing argument that I have 2 friends who both run their units on red and have no problems whatsoever, one of those also uses the same diesel supplier as me. Good job I fully serviced our Kabola fire during the summer or we really would be up the creek without a paddle this coming winter.
On a more astonishing note Dee surprised us all by declaring that she now wanted to get herself back behind the wheel! Having passed her driving test some 10 years ago she has never driven since or even expressed an interest in owning her own car. I can feel a Quidditch banking crisis of it's own looming. Not withstanding, off we went in search of a car, the plan being for something small & economical! As luck would have it we found just the thing in the shape of a Deawoo Matiz (pictured above) a cute little car with a 3 cylinder 1 litre engine, air conditioning and one of those things that bleep just before you reverse into the car behind! Very handy. The only thing I can't believe is even though it's a tiny engine the road tax still sets you back £135!
Well for me the season is almost over for my 'Saturday Job'. Since July I've been working for the marina and Black Prince Holidays looking after the customers on show around and tutoring those who've never been at the helm of a narrowboat before. It gives me the opportunity to have some input regarding the behaviour of a minority of holidaymakers we've witnessed using our waterways. Speeding, environment, courtesy and so forth. I've enjoyed it, not the very least for some of the antics of the workforce either! enough said.
Well in general the marina is starting to fill slowly with winter moorers however, it's still only around 2/3rd's full, mainly I think due to the price hike last year by the new owners, a decision which in my opinion has damaged the marina's reputation. It'll be interesting to see what happens to Ventnor Marina now the same consortium has purchased it.
For Dee and I it still is the best marina around for the outlook, wildlife and accessibility to the local area, not to mention the 3 options being on a canal junction provides, Braunston, Oxford or Warwick. In fairness things have settled quite nicely down here now with our new manager Brian settled in. We even had a barbeque this year paid for entirely by the management. Quess who was chef?

New Feature

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:04:39 PDT

Ahoy shipmates, it's been a while since our last confession! Well I think August 4th was our last post so I thought it was about time I gave the blog a little boost.

As I was wondering about the marina earlier today I noticed a couple of Ravens overhead hawking a poor old Buzzard who was simply trying to enjoy his well caught breakfast nestled on his usual roosting spot. Having not yielded his prey the two Ravens finally got fed up and departed noisily to the East.

Having considered recently my disappointing lack of blog entries this year due to us not travelling out this Summer I was looking at ways to revamp slightly and starting a new regime of regular posts. Being a keen twitcher (Bird Watcher to you non UK viewers) and having spotted my first Red Kite to this area recently plus a brief visit from a passing Wheatear the other day I had a brainwave. Quite often I'm asked by other moorers who are aware of my keen interest in wildlife if anything interesting has been seen or heard on or around the marina. So, as the title suggests I decided to add one of my hobbies to our blog. Wigram's Twitcher is a simple record of the various species I spot on or around the marina grounds. It will also ensure that I don't neglect our blog as I intend to update the list quite regularly. You can hopefully view the scrolling records and pictures in the right hand sidebar.

Also I would be very grateful if any of you guys could email me anything you see of interest if your in the vicinity.

Update

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:52:53 PDT

Hi everyone, I'll have to stop leaving our blog updates for so long but because we're not out and about this summer there really isn't that much to report.

Our little mini tour ended up at Somerton deep lock on the Oxford Canal before we turned and headed back. The weather wasn't friendly to us at all! We took a couple of disposable BBQ's with us and there still in the locker. In fact we got wet every day of our trip and came extremely close to turning the heating on on a couple of occasions. I'm not going to complain about the weather at all though because the sheer fact that we were back out on the 'cut' was in itself fantastic. I think the most difficult part of the trip was getting Dee to go back into the marina :) As she always says to me "Better a bad day on the river than a good day in the office"

Did any of you remember to take a quick peek at the eclipse on Friday? unfortunately only a slight chunk out of the corner for us in the UK but nevertheless always fascinating to see. A quick rumble through our cupboards and I was able to retrieve my total eclipse glasses from the 1999 event here in UK.

In the evening we took one of Dee's colleagues Laura and her sister Zoe and mum Mandy out for a quick jaunt to Braunston and back. It always fascinates me to see the reaction on peoples faces when they climb aboard Quidditch for the first time. To discover we actually have hot and cold running water aboard always comes as a bit of shock!! When we do the tour and they also see SkyTV, broadband and central heating, they get a better picture of what todays narrow boating is all about.

We must also say congratulations to our friends Julian, my old boss and Katherine who's wedding we attended in Burnham on Saturday, a great time was had by all and it was good to see a lot of my old colleagues again and for Dee to meet up with them for the first time.

Pictured .... Laura, Zoe, Mandy & Me!

Summer my Arse!

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:56:07 PDT

Ahoy everyone! Well we’re now 5 days into our mini voyage and amazingly have reached Somerton.

32 miles from Napton and 27 locks later, not bad considering the appalling weather, summed up well I thing by our post title!
I’m a great advocate of global warming but I’m beginning to believe the so-called experts have got it the wrong way around. I seem to remember the treat of bone dry summers, crop failures and people falling like flies from heat exhaustion. All we can say is we’re glad we live on a boat.
Having got all that out of the way it’s just fantastic to be out once again on the system. The South Oxford Canal still remains one of our favourites, it’s just unfortunate that this year we haven’t got time to go any further South. Today we’re moored up for the day in heavy rain just short of Somerton Deep Lock and will make the turn for home tomorrow. Mind you with all the rain forecast over the coming days it’s probably just as well we’re not proceeding any further. When we were here last year in August the River Cherwell, which forms part of the canal further down, was close to flood and the Thames was on the red.
The canal is surprisingly busy for this time of year we think, considering the school holidays are not yet upon us. Another surprise considering the recent rainfall is that the canal appears to be at least 6 to 8 inches below it’s normal level which can quite clearly be seen by the water mark along the Armco. I also notice that when moored waiting for the locks our gunwalls seem to be below the metal which has resulted in some nasty scratches.
We’ve noticed on our journey a marked increase in the Moorhen population with birds and there young suddenly appearing out of the undergrowth, Dee feeding them furiously as we go. I can't think of any reason for the increase in numbers but we still think they make the best mothers around. Unlike last year, due to a poor Vole population, Barn Owls seem to be doing better. Whilst moored up at Cropready on Monday we were treated to some excellent views of one hunting in the field opposite.
We've also noticed with interest that British Waterways still seem to be cutting back on tow path maintenance as we have passed some seriously overgrown moorings on our short trip. One mooring just after Aynho Weir Lock where we moored for a couple of days last year had a least 6ft of growth! Another bone of contention for us and indeed all legitimate boaters is the several unlicensed boats we’ve also passed on our route, one of which we clearly remember from last year. We're glad Kevin's not with us from NBEnigma as he would be furiously noting all the offenders and phoning in to BW!! :)
Anyway guys that’s our news for now and so tomorrow we begin our return trip. Oh! and thanks to the guys who have posted on our notice board and emailed, it’s good to here from you all. K&D

Were Back!!!

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:10:04 PDT

Ahoy family & friends, thanks for all the emails asking how we are and where we are?

The fact is we haven't been anywhere! Well, not on the canals and rivers anyway. As you will probably know this year is our year off the system, due to certain commitments and my writing of Johhny Monarch's memoirs, he knows who he is!! We're not even spending our annual month in Dubai with Davey boy to add to our utter frustration!
For Dee, International Jet setter that she is, work is a terrible bind, (he says tongue in cheek) Portugal and a Cruise Liner to name but two distractions for her. We did to be honest get to spend an excellent weekend in France recently enjoying some superb weather, home cooked food and excellent French wines.
Having said that the summer so far hasn't been much to write about, although today is probably the hottest day so far with the current temperature a balmy 24C.

I must say Hi also to Carl and Carla who we met on the Llangollen Canal last year and according to your email guys you had an excellent holiday this year too, completing the Four Counties, anti-clockwise. Sounds like you've also mastered a few difficult locks as well.
Now to our good news....
We've managed to scrape together 10 days on the system from this coming Saturday. WooHoo. The plan is to venture as far south down the Oxford Canal as a leisurely cruise will allow. So naturally I'm spending the best part of this week preparing Quidditch for her departure.

So that's our quick update guys, keep tuned in for our updates whilst were out cruising. Oh and P.S. we look forward to seeing Johhny & Pat tomorrow for Pat's big 70. Pictures to follow :)

Heartbeat & Steam

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:30:51 PDT

I thought this would be a good opportunity to post, not having done so for some time!

As a birthday treat for this year Dee took me up to the North Yorkshire Moors for a nostalgic look back at the sixties.
For those who know the popular TV series Heartbeat, Goathland is the real name of the village where the series is filmed. We stayed in an excellent B&B which was actually used as the doctors surgery in the early series.
What was a bonus for me also was the LNER Festival 2008 taking place on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway over the same weekend. This was also the first ever line-up of all 3 working LNER -built, Gresley designed A4 Pacific's in preservation, Bittern, Sir Nigel Gresley and Union of South Africa. Among the other highlights was the unique Green Arrow in what is expected to be it's last working gala for the foreseeable future, as the loco's boiler certificate will expire at the end of April.
A further bonus, being Harry Potter fans, is the fact that Goathland Station was also used as Hogwarts Station in the Harry Potter movies. Pictured above is me standing outside Berny Scripps garage. Below are some of the scenes over the weekend.
We spent all of Sunday with the other anoraks travelling on the various services terminating at Pickering, Whitby and Battersby. On our final journey of the day back from Pickering the snow had really hit hard and coming up the final embankment as we neared Goathland the old loco was really struggling. I have to say that snow falling heavily over the moors and the sounds and sites of a steam engine as we approached our destination was an incredible experience. The village was actually snowed in for a short while later in the evening.
Despite the appalling weather over the entire weekend, around 3 to 4 inches of snow we had a great time and once again I find myself congratulating Dee on another one of her brilliant ideas!

News on Electra...

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:22:29 PST

Hi again... For those of you who remember the post from our Isle of Mull camping expedition you'll remember that during our stay we discovered and rescued an injured Golden Eagle.

While out in the early evening on a search for Golden and Sea Eagles up at Glengorm Castle we watched in horror as a Golden Eagle, being stalked by a group of Crows and Raven, was unceremoniously blown by strong winds into high voltage power cables! Having rescued her around an hour later along with Dave Sexton the Islands RSPB warden she was delivered by Dave and the local police to the 'Wings over Mull' sanctuary where it was discovered that she had some serious eye injuries. Not good as you can imagine for a hunting Eagle! The sanctuary which is run by Sue & Richard Dewar looks after numerous raptors and Dee and I visited the following day and met up with Richard to check on her progress. Unfortunately we were unable to see Electra as Sue had taken her immediately to the mainland for assessment.
The Island takes her Eagle population very seriously and a few days after our return to Napton I was contacted and asked to provide my personal details to DEFRA. Any person handling an Eagle is required by law to have a licence which I naturally didn’t possess.
Having kept in close touch with Dave as to the welfare of our Eagle now called Electra we were given some excellent news yesterday as was reported on the BBC news last night. Although Electra will never be released back into the wild her quality of life at the sanctuary has been greatly improved by some ground breaking eye surgery. When we visited the sanctuary at the time we were introduced to another male resident Golden Eagle called Laggan who we are now informed has taken a strong liking to Electra and so what the future brings for her, who knows?
We also received an email from Dave last night informing us that by a coincidence today he watched what he believes to be her old mate with a new love! They were nest building at their old site - just in time for Valentines Day. Life goes on and both seem content with their new arrangements.
We look forward to visiting Electra ourselves in the near future.

Oh and by the way with reference to my previous post (Technically Stressed) my attempts to have my permanent weather station linked to this blog have been abandoned. Until microsoft sort out thier rubbish operating system Vista from all the bugs I've given up trying :)

Technically Stressed

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:20:31 PST

Well it's been one of 'THOSE' weeks technically speaking!

Finally we've got the Mikuni Central Heating back on line after purchasing a new Electronics Box for a staggering £300. I could probably have made one for £10.
My advice to anyone thinking of buying diesel central heating is to steer well clear of Mikuni. The unit was only purchased in 2006 and although it worked perfectly well after I fitted it for the first year, it's been nothing but trouble ever since! Good job we have the Kabola to fall back on plus shoreline hook-up!
On another technical note my attempts to have our on-board weather station linked to this blog showing up to date weather information, similar to the picture above, have been somewhat thwarted by difficulties with Windows Vista. If you've read the previous post you will know that the station will only link to a computer by Serial Port. Our on-board system is brand new and only supports USB connection. So firstly I purchased a Serial Port/USB adaptor which when connected only crashed the computer. Secondly I installed a Serial Port PCI Card and have literally spent the first half of the week trying to configure it. Plug and Play my arse!! Still not to be defeated I continue my attemps to get the damn thing working.
Wish me luck....

Weather Aboard!

nbquidditch@hotmail.co.uk (Keith) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:21:10 PST

Ahoy everyone and a Happy New Year to you all! It's a good while since our last post, in fact we haven't done much on the blog since our return from France.

Hope your Christmas and New Year were as pleasant as ours. We spent our Christmas in a lovely wooden chalet in Wales as has become our routine now for the past few years, picking my lovely mum up from Liverpool enroute who spent the week with us.
Our New Year was spent for the 3rd year in a row with our dear friends Johnny and Pat, NB-Hoddydod, (now on the French canals). We took Quidditch along the Oxford Canal for the night mooring at bridge 100 a short distance from Braunston. Fireworks at midnight, champagne on the tow path and an excellent meal cooked by Dee, so a good night was had by all. I myself cooked a Full English Breakfast on New Years Day morning which is a tradition of ours, sending Johnny and Pat home deleriously happy!
It's always been a plan of mine to extend my hobbies of meteorology and astronomy and to have an external weather station aboard Quidditch and this Christmas I was granted my wish, thanks to Dee x
Having now set my new La Crosse WS3600 station up with Wind Meter etc via the excellent base station I then proceeded to install the software to my new vista desktop computer. One of the reasons I'd like a weather station aboard is to be able to show live data through this blog, thus having Wigram's Marina's very own weather station. That unfortunaley is when my problems began.
The station comes with a serial port lead for connection to your PC, the problem is that new computers now only use USB leads and not serial ports. No worries I thought so off I trot to Maplins in Banbury and pick up a Serial/USB adaptor. Upon my return I install the driver and reload the software for the station. Success!! But only for a matter of seconds as immediately the computer communicates with the base station I get the dreaded Blue Screen and my PC completely crashes!! Well having trolled the forums and the La Crosse website, which offered no advice whatsoever I eventually got answers to my quest from the excellent MidlandsWeather.Org. Turns out it's known issue as data is currupted when it passes through the USB adaptor. So the next option left now, as Dee bought the unit off eBay and as ever I've thrown the box etc away, is to install a serial port to my computer. So in conclusion I'm awaiting delivery of said item and hopefully we'll have weather aboard Quidditch come midweek!

Happy New Year.

Pictured above:- Tornado over West Midlands taken last year!