Cold comfort

Browsing through G2 on arriving home this evening, my eye was caught by an article about people giving up their fridges in order to reduce their carbon footprint. Oooh, I thought, no fridge. Just like me on Andante. I wonder if there are any hints I might have benefited from.

Well, what a swizz. These people who have oh-so-greenly unplugged their fridges still, it transpires, have a 'small freezer' in their basement. Plus a 'cool box' upstairs. And this is still treated as an enormous deal. This despite the fact that within living memory, most people didn't have fridges (surely in fact, the electric fridge was invented within living memory). I mean, Jim isn't that ancient, but he remembers his family getting their first, second hand, General Electric model. People had larders, and meat safes. Hmm, and daily deliveries from the milkman and the butcher's boy.

Admittedly, I had a fridge on Andante - one of those little brown gas ones - but it didn't work. We took it all the way to Sowerby Bridge (we got as far as Brighouse by boat, but then had to turn round and come back and go by car. No, we had to buy bolts, turn round and come back and go by car) to get it decoked or whatever it needed, and oh the excitement when we finally (with much lying on the floor squinting into its little mirror) got it to light. Cautiously, I put the CO detector in close - possibly, with hindsight, too close - proximity to its workings, and watched and waited. Unbelievably, it seemed to be working. A few hours later I was wondrously poking at the thin film of ice that was forming on the top of the ice cube tray, when off went the alarm. And that was the end of that little experiment. Subsequently, Jim bought a 12v fridge - a full size one - on ebay, which was wired in just before I sold the boat.

So, all the time I lived on Andante, in short, I was fridgeless. When it was very hot, I would buy a bag of ice in Sainsburys, and put it in a tin tray on the top shelf. But mostly I just kept stuff in the gap under the foredeck, sitting on top of the pig iron ballast, where it was a bit wobbly, but always cool. This in fact was the original beer cupboard, and never bettered.

Here are my top tips for living without a fridge:
1. Don't eat meat
2. Don't eat fish. Unless it's tinned.
3. Eat up everything you've cooked so that you don't have any leftovers (the main reason, I think, that I left Huddersfield a stone and a half heavier than I arrived. But it might have been the pie and peas).
4. Take your milk to work with you every day and let it chill out in their fridge (cheat! cheat!) Or you could buy fresh every day.

Whither Andante?

Before I went to see Mike yesterday, I got an email from him drawing my attention to this. Thanks also to Michelle, who emailed me about it from North Carolina. Andante is for sale again - apparently already under offer. So when Mike saw her go through Newbury the other week, it looks as if she was on her way to Whilton.

What a bastard, my first thought was, changing her bloody name - then getting rid of her! The chances of a new purchaser realising her real name and changing it back are pretty slim, but I hope that might happen. There's nothing wrong with Saxon as a name, but it's not Andante's name.

I grudgingly concede that he's tidied the engine room up quite nicely. Very impressive actually. And the ad gave Mike his first opportunity to see the changes I'd made - most of which are completely unaltered, down to the china duck, and he thought they looked nice (I think).

I hope she finds someone who'll keep her this time. Keep an eye out for her everyone....

Mind you, Sebastian was always pointing out that those quavers ought to be tied.

The Standedge Tunnel Experience

No, not this Standedge Tunnel Experience, but our very own experience of the 'longest, highest and deepest' canal tunnel in Britain, when we went through on August 16th in Andante.

Someone asked me 'was it worth it?' - to which the answer has to be yes, as it costs nothing (if you are a long term licence holder), and it's got to be worth the time and trouble if it means you end up where you want to be. It is, of course, an experience not to be missed: the preparation, the excitement, the sense of achievement, the awe and wonder at the building of it, and even greater awe and wonder at its restoration.

The tunnel itself? It's a very long tunnel, and you go through it very, very slowly. (Three and a quarter miles in two and a half hours.) You can note that some sections are brick lined, some sprayed with concrete, and some (the best bits) bare, red, stone. You can see the drill marks where the blasting powder was inserted, and count off the leggers' plates on the roof to see how far you've gone and how far you still have to go. You can (upon donning a hard hat) sit outside at either end of the passenger module, which is a better way of seeing things when the windows get steamed up.

Because it is such a feat of engineering and restoration, and so many people are going to so much trouble to get you through, you feel as if you ought to find every single yard of it fascinating, and it can't help but fail to live up to that. Much of it is not fascinating, just tunnel. Number One Son has always had a low boredom threshold, and he was catatonic by the time we emerged.

And because you're never alone, and to a degree isolated in the passenger module, it's harder (at least it was for me) to really feel the excitement, awe and magic; I felt that much more in the Harecastle Tunnel, where, when steering your own boat and especially if leading, as we were, your relationship with the tunnel is much more direct, and your ability to see it as it was is much greater.

None of this is to say though that the Standedge Tunnel is not worth navigating; it is, it is, it is. The effort that's gone and continues to go into it should be rewarded with use and appreciation. If it's not used, the temptation will surely be, come the next round of budget cuts, to abandon it again. It is interesting, notwithstanding everything I said before. I would do it again, given the chance. And it is, of course, an integral part of navigating the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, which is most definitely, in my humble opinion, worth doing.

Lovely little narrowboat for sale

All good things must come to an end, and two narrowboats is a bit of an indulgence, so, very very sadly, we are looking for new owners for Andante. She is a lovely boat in every way - comfortable to live on, nifty and reliable to cruise in, and lovely to look at, with the sort of lines and detail very rarely seen on a small boat.

Some of Andante's vital statistics:
Length: 31'4"
Beam: 6'10" (was actually measured at slightly less at the Standedge Tunnel, so no danger of being oversize)
Draught: Recorded as 27"

Built in 1986 by R&D - well regarded builders - Andante has recessed panels and portholes to the engine room, and large windows elsewhere.

From the trad stern, with hardwood seat rails, you enter the engine room which is neat and tidy and, most importantly, dry. The engine is a 2-cylinder Kubota, which is very reliable and sounds good. There is a new start battery plus two 110 amp-hour leisure batteries, a landline (supplying a 240v socket in the engine room) and a 350 watt inverter. There is also a large and efficient calorifier, providing for all your hot water needs while cruising.

From the engine room you enter the separate bedroom which has a fixed double bed with storage under, plus cupboards and shelves, and a hardwood parquet floor. After that comes the toilet/shower on the left, and more storage opposite, and a very efficient solid fuel stove for heating. The toilet is pump out with a remote tank. Next is the kitchen, with Flavel four burner cooker, sink and solid wood worktop with full size Lec 12-volt fridge below on one side, and cupboards and Welsh dresser style shelves the other. There is a brand new Morco instant water heater which supplies the sink and basin/shower. Finally, inside, comes the dinette - two comfortable seats with a variety of table options, which converts into a second double bed. Andante is panelled throughout in pine T&G complemented by hardwood doors and shelving, and enhanced with lots of brasswork and traditional painting.

Out through the front doors into a well proportioned self draining well deck with cratch board and removeable cover, bench seats and storage space. The water tank underneath is very big. The gas locker right in the fore end is dry and spacious, taking two 13kg cylinders easily.

More photos of the inside here, and of her exterior among these.

If you think you might be interested in buying Andante, or know someone who might be, or would like more information, do please leave a comment.

A brief history ...

Of how we got into this lark and came to be the proud owners of Warrior.

I'm Sarah, and Jim and I have been together fourteen years - but it was only about four years ago that we realised that we had a shared interest in - even a passion for - boats and inland waterway related things. For Jim it went back to his childhood, where he lived for a while at Berkhamstead and watched the working boats on the GU; for me (some years younger!) happy memories of childhood holidays on the Broads, plus a bit of a thing for gipsy caravans and showman's wagons. Add to that a keen interest in industrial heritage and old engines (yes, both of us!).

So four or five years ago I started noticing waterways magazines appearing in the house, and then Jim suggested we celebrate his birthday by going to the IWA festival, at Pangbourne. After that we decided that we had to have a boat - but a narrowboat was out of the question on the grounds of cost: I was a newly qualified university lecturer just about to start my first full time job and Jim was sharing himself between the paid work, research and jointly looking after my son, who will be known as Lockboy and is now sixteen.


Helyn
So we started looking for a little fibreglass cruiser. We looked at a few Freemans, but in anything like decent condition they seemed disproportionately expensive. Also, boats (Shetlands, Vikings etc) from the 1980s were horrendously expensive, even in dreadful condition. We eventually found Helyn, which was to become our first boat, at Penton Hook Marina at Chertsey, on the Thames. We only dropped in on an impulse as the marina looked really to be out of our league, stuffed with half million pound gin palaces - but there she was, the second cheapest boat there; we took her out, were very satisfied and eventually bought her for £4,000 - guided through the process by a splendid young salesman called Darren for whom nothing was too much trouble. We couldn't have been treated better if we'd been spending a hundred times as much. Helyn - currently sitting on a trailer on our drive - is a Callumcraft, 22 foot, dating from around 1970, and is a great little boat. It is such a different experience from a narrowboat that we're very loath to get rid of her. As there was over a month of mooring paid for, we had some great weekends on the Thames with Helyn, and took her up the River Wey - but there was no way we could afford a permanent Thames mooring so we started to look around the country for alternatives. We settled on the Fens - cheap, remote, peaceful, and just a little bit creepy. Ever since, Helyn has had a berth at a nice marina near March and we have had some great times there.

Andante
My first job was only a one year contract, and in the autumn of 2004 I was job hunting again. One interview took me to Huddersfield, where the Huddersfield Broad (Ramsden's) Canal runs right by the University. During a break in the proceedings I took a walk along the towpath to Aspley Basin and got chatting to one of the liveaboards there. An idea started to develop that if I did get the job there - or anywhere near a waterway - perhaps we wouldn't have to move house and disrupt Lockboy's schooling. I could live part time on a boat and go back home at weekends. Well, I didn't get that job - but another one came up about six weeks later, which I did get! So the detailed plans we'd made for that contingency were put into action. We'd already looked at a lot of narrowboats (with no intention of buying, sorry Whilton Marina!) so had a fair idea of the state of the market. We had also spent many happy hours browsing apolloduck, and that's where we found Andante. The main consideration was to find a boat that would be comfortable and pleasant to spend a lot of time on, at the right price. When we went and saw Andante at Newbury for the first time, in February 2005, it was clear that she would fit the bill. A 31 foor trad style boat, built in 1985 by R&D, she has lovely lines and was in very sound condition. And indeed, she has proven to be a very good billet. Last summer we took her for a cruise along the Broad canal and onto the Calder and Hebble. It felt so different from cruising in Helyn and we knew that it was a narrowboat for us. But, we decided, for extended cruising we would need a bigger boat. Andante has a double dinette and a fixed double in a separate cabin, but isn't really big enough for three on a long term basis.

and finally, Warrior
So, the financial situation having improved a bit, we started looking - just out of casual interest of course! - at bigger boats. We knew we didn't want anything longer that 56 foot as that is the lock size of the very canal Andante is on, but as near to that as we could get for maximum space. We also wanted, ideally, a vintage engine, traditional controls, and, definitely, a traditional back cabin for Lockboy to hide away in. We thought it would be a very long time before we found all this at a reasonable price, and we weren't in any hurry. But you know how it is with these things! We did look at a couple of boats in the meantime, and gave them some thought, but neither was quite right. Then we saw Warrior - again on Apolloduck - and that's the end of the potted history and the start of this story.