Moored at Beale Park.
No Miles No Locks.
Saturday. The show opened at 10am and the first stand I headed for was the suppliers of our Batteries, Multicell, now and again we have a strange reading on our Battery monitor panel which measures the voltage in the Batteries, charging/discharge and the amount power in them which is shown as a percentage figure, the first 2 are OK but the percentage figure sometimes does not make sense, we decided that the Batteries were fine and that it was was down to a problem with the Victron monitor panel so we will be following that one up.
We used quite a bit more Diesel coming up the River than we would normally use on the Canals, mainly due to me trying to go to fast, after a while you realise that with the shape and weight of a 70ft Canal boat the extra throttle opening gives very little increase in speed, so now we will be cruising at Canal speed again, Jayne spoke to Tom Hill who runs a Coal/Diesel boat which is on display at the Festival and arranged for us to have a fill up before he leaves on Tuesday, his prices are a bit more realistic that some of the Yacht/Cruiser type Marina's we have past.
At 12 o,clock we started our 2 hours on the .R.B.O.A. stand, the first hour was very quiet, the second very busy, the rest of the day was spent Looking around the show, the organisers had built a mock up of an old wharf where working boats would have loaded/unloaded.
Crane loading at the Wharf
Sunday. We were on the R.B.O.A. stand between 10 and 12 o'clock today, someone (forgot his name) from One Chem brought some samples of there toilet fluid which were gratefully received. We also bought 6 side fenders from rope specialists outdoor escape, we have been using Go-Kart tyres but being rubber they squeaked when the boat rocked.
There were a few classic cars on display.
1951 Triumph Renown
1970 Morris 1000 Van
Jayne and I bought one of these Vans in April 1971 only by then they were called Austin 6 cwt Vans, XOG 796J, it cost £501.00, £12.50 for a heater and £7.50 for the passenger seat. (Jayne says she could still find the receipt but I think she's winding me up).
Aveling & Porter Roller.
Last night there was an open air get together of R.B.O.A. members on the grass area outside our boat, about 35 members turned up, it went on till dark when the illuminated boat parade came out of the lake and up the river turned and back down.
Monday. Today I had booked a 2 hour rope splicing course in the craft centre which started at 10.30, I can splice an eye on the end of a rope but it never looks very good although we have never had one come undone, we were shown how to splice an eye, how to splice 2 rope ends together and finally a back splice, now I just need to practice for a couple of years.
Whilst I was splicing Jayne had borrowed a small electric mobility scooter from a company who had them on display, we have been planning to get a small foldable scooter for events just like this Festival where there is a lot of walking to see everything, so it was an ideal opportunity to try one on grass, she had it for 2 hours, all the company wanted for it's use was a donation, I asked her later how much she had donated expecting it to have been £5 or a bit more, she had given them £2, mean or what, I'm glad I never worked for her. Comment from Jayne, I asked if the donation was for a charity, they said 'No for us', that is why I only gave £2!!!!
I did another hour manning the swing bridge this afternoon ( see Fridays blog), after that we had a final wander round the festival and watched the model boats on the Lake, not little models but ones large enough for the owner to sit inside and control it.
This is a Model, it's about 24 feet long, 3 feet wide and the owner is lying inside, it even fires it's guns
.
This is another of his models, a Nuclear Submarine.
This is called Water Zorbing, the child gets in, it is then pumped up with a leaf blower and the aperture zipped up. then it's pushed out onto the water, there is a rope attached, there was a long queue even at £4 for 5 minutes
It was then back to the boat, we were going to the entertainment tent tonight as it was "Sixties" night but Jayne was to tired.
We have planned to move off on Wednesday probably up to Abington .
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