Once the required plating was done on the hull of Toad, a couple of coats of blacking and it is looking better Next, the engine was removed and stripped down. The oil drained was a 50:50 ...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2019/12/polishing-toad-part-2.html
The engine looks to be in a "challenging" state. Once cleaned up I started to strip it down. Surprisingly, especially as this engine has spent many years in a river, nothing was seized on the ...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2019/12/achilles-last-stand-part-2-bottom-lift.html
I have often walked past this boat which seems to be abandoned. I wonder what the story is, why it has been left. Then one day, Sam and Jay walked into the boatyard, "We need a boat painting...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2019/11/polishing-toad-part-i.html
The cabin roof was too badly damaged, so we built a replacement. First steel bars were notched, then bent and welded to form curved beams. These were then welded to a sheet of steel, forcing...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2019/10/achilles-last-stand-part-i.html
Twitter is a convenient way of posting messages, photos, or almost anything from wherever you are, from your phone. No computer, little typing, formatting, etc. The trouble is, this is so con...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-trouble-with-twitter.html
While at Tewitfield, I thought I should go and have a look at the locks. This is the northern side of the road which blocks the Lancaster canal. The locks are all still there, but mis...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2017/05/out-with-grown-up-ships.html
As this is a last minute idea, to come over to the Lancaster canal my return Ribble crossing is in two weeks, so I don't really have much time, I decided just to have a quick tour, and stop in so...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2017/05/whistlestop-tour-to-top.html
I've come across another picture of Achilles when it was first refloated The first step in fixing Achilles was to look at the engine. This engine has been underwater for 7 months I ...
Bad weather, cold, grey days. This time of year just seems to drag on. Woken in the middle of the night by heavy rain hammering on the roof of the boat, I can't get back to sleep. I get up ...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2017/03/perils-of-browsing-net-when-you-cant.html
The weather wasn't too bad, so I set off to the Lakes at random, and ended up in Coniston. The weather was perfect for walking, and the snow didn't look too bad from down here I followed ...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2017/02/5-down-150-to-go.html
We had a day out in Hebden Bridge. This was the first time I had been there for a beer since the floods last Christmas. The town has made an amazing recovery, and the pubs, food and beer...
I've finaly got round to buying myself a new camera, since my Canon film camera died a couple of years ago. So I can now take better photo's than just using my phone. Kier rang, "as the sun ...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2017/01/alcoholinspiredresolutions.html
I have worked out why my blog posts are not visible to anyone I blame operator error. Idiot! It does help when you read the small print aka instructions
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2016/12/read-instructions.html
I moved on to Wigan top for a pump out, water fill, and prepare for winter. I had to wait two weeks, as this is how long it took for CRT to post me the pump out cards. While I was waiting, ...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2016/11/preparing-for-winter.html
While helping a couple of boats up the Johnson flight, I tried to get some "publicity" shots of the Navvygator. Of course, by the time we got to the top of the locks, the bottle was empty!...
In the morning I sailed the mile and a half to the bottom of the Bingley flights. Bingley is a typical Pennine town, with the Railway, Road and Canal all following each other. I walked back...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2016/10/car-shuffling-and-learning-to-swing.html
It was time to leave Leeds. I had several choices. I could go down the Aire & calder, and accross to the Huddersfield cabals over to Manchester. The shortest lock on the Huddersfield is 57'6"...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2016/09/full-steam-ahead.html
With the journey to Leeds it seems as though I have been on the boat for ages. Now it was time to abandon the boat at Leeds for a few days. Time for the annual trip down to the Hop farms.�...
Saltaire is well known for Salts mill, very tidy looking But there are industrial units just next door that don't look like they are in quite the same state of repair. Some places have bee...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2016/09/giving-bird-lift.html
I left Skipton on a grey morning, though the forecast said sunny. There are several boatyard at this side of Skipton, including one with a floating paint shed. I called in at Snaygill for ...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2016/09/bingley-to-saltaire-and-no-beer.html
Now I was at the highest point of the canal, there was only downhill to go. I have now gone further towards Leeds than I have been before. Through Barnoldswick, and down Greenberfield locks, ...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2016/09/downhill-to-yorkshire.html
The last SIBA meeting I missed because the train I took broke down. This time I would take no chances, I would go by boat. I headed off to Burnley in reasonable sunshine and moored up just be...
All the canal festivals were over now, so I decided it was time to continue my plan to do the whole Leeds Liverpool canal. So, off I went, back up Johnson Locks., 47 Miles from Liverpool, 80 to...
It was Botany Bay canal festival, so I headed back to the Boatyard Passing Simsons Fold, Eendracht was back at Kiers mooring, looking great in the water, but in need of some paint. I ...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-white-boat.html
I hitched a lift on nb Good Times down to Mill Hill for a bit of a carnival they were having. Part of this was some mad guy who had built a boat out of the rubbish collected out of the canal...
http://duck-n-diver.blogspot.com/2016/08/float-like-battleship.html