Mobile connection update

I tried to connect this morning sitting in the car on Bexhill sea front but it didn't work. I have spent over two hours either speaking to or waiting for a member of the Orange technical support team to ring me back, all very helpful and kept me up to date in regard to the wait for the level 2 technical support staff. I am now on line via a new mobile connection which seems to be OK- stay tuned for the first update from the boat!

Mobile connection,BSS and inside BB

Forgot to mention yesterday the most important thing this week besides the Internet connection problem was that BB passed her Boat Safety Scheme and is cleared for the next 4 years.

I am posting this via my mobile phone connection at home which although it came up with the same error message first of "subscribe to data package" when I tried again it worked. The plan is to take it out tomorrow in the car somewhere and test it again on battery power, b....y thing( I'll post something if it works), and hopefully it will be alright on the boat next week. So if there are no posts by the end of next week we do have a problem Houston.

A picture of the saloon looking from the galley towards the bow for Anne's work colleagues who asked what BB looked like inside. Very cosy in the cold weather at Easter watching satellite TV. The stove is alight but I had just put some more fuel on it.

Easter

The plan was to go up to the boat early on Good Friday so that we could get all the jobs done and then take the boat out for a few days to make sure everything is working ok and also to try out the mobile phone connection. The trouble is no matter what you plan boating is affected by the weather even on canals. It was blowing a northerly gale with snow showers and therefore was flipping freezing. The photo above was taken at 07.15 on Easter Sunday, my first picture of BB in the snow, it had all gone by 10.00. We did manage to get all the jobs done but only managed a short trip out on the boat.

The only thing I didn't manage to do was test out the mobile phone/laptop/internet connection.The Orange signal around the marina is not very good at all and therefore on our way back from buying yet more bits in Northampton we stopped in a layby that had a good Orange signal. It logged on to Orange verified password but then fell over, after a lengthy call to Orange no progress was made I have to ring them again with access to a land line. Hopefully I can get this problem resolved before next week.

Start getting BB ready

We cannot wait for the off, this time of year is fantastic for plant and animal fife around.One of my long term aims was to photograph the kingfisher. Its vivid blue flashes brings even the dullest day alive. We must have seen about 20 since we have had the boat but so far I have only managed to take one picture. It was on the Oxford Canal at Sommerton meadow, I had gone to watch a barn owl hunting across the fields when I returned to the boat Anne had been watching a pair of kingfishers who were nesting in the bank 15ft from the boat. We then spent the evening till dusk watching them fly around - better than tv any day.

Somebody asked the other day why a Stowe Hill boat. Well its a long story but for us it was style, good quality builder, people involved, value for money and within a reasonable travel distance as we needed to check on build progress on a regular basis. They really look good when you get a group of them.

This weekend is time to get BB out of her winter hibernation, the last time on her was Christmas. We will get her ready for the boat safety examination on Tuesday and probably go for a cruise towards Braunston but stay out in the country somewhere as it will be like the M25 with all the boaters out over the Easter weekend, but there is no rush as we do not need to be back for work on Tuesday.

Three men and a boat

Now that spring is on its way we are both getting the call to go boating. There are many things still to sort out before we set sail on the 1st April the major one being to renew the boat safety certificate. Black Bess will be 4 years old in May (the time has gone so quickly). I can arrange for the survey to done 2 months before the date it's due so I am making arrangements for it to be carried out by Napton Narrowboats after Easter.

Thought I would try and upload a picture which shows BB on her maiden trip with the 3 boys playing on or near the boat whilst Anne and her 2 sisters struggle with the very heavy gates on the Buckby flight