Mike Stevens' UK Inland Waterways Pages

ABOUT ME

OUR CURRENT BOAT

FELIS CATUS III : THE STORY OF HER BUILDING
PART 5 -THE FINAL COMPLETION

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WE MOVE ON BOARD

Our move on board began on Friday 16 December, when Wendy travelled up from London. Richard helped her move Felis Catus II alongside Felis Catus III so that she could start moving some of our gear from one boat to the other. Meanwhile I was back in London packing all the stuff we were bringing up from there. Next morning I came up with the gear in a hired van driven by a mini-cab driver I know. We started getting things stowed in their right places.

At this stage the inside of the boat was finished, but the completion of the outside paint-job and signwriting was yet to be done, which would happen at a covered dock in Oldbury run by Ian Wright who was to do the paint job, and who also was buying Felis Catus II from us.

We'd decided not to bring the cats up until we'd done most of the unpacking and shifting. I was due at the London Canal Museum for a couple of days at the beginning of the following week, so Wendy would join me there and we'd bring the cats up together. I went back South on the Monday afternoon and Wendy came down on the Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, after I'd spent part of the day at the museum, we put the cats in their travelling boxes (with quite a struggle in once case) and took them to the station and on by train and mini-cab to the boat, getting back something after 22:00. Meanwhile Phil, who had been working on some of the last-minute details one only discovers the need for when one starts living on board, had kept the cabin stove alight for us.

The next few days were very busy, as we were determined to get the inside of the boat fully equipped in time for Christmas. There was still a lot of stuff to be moved from Felis Catus II, some of it replaced by stuff we'd brought up from home. Wendy had a long trip into Stourbridge to do the provisioning in the pre-Christmas crowds, and the taking down of our collection of rally plaques etc from the older boat and re-installing them on the new one cost me nearly a day.

On the Friday evening we invited everyone who'd worked on the boat so far for a thank-you drink on board. Not everyone could make it, but the principal players were there - Richard, Steve and Phil. Ian came a bit later and we arranged when we would move the boats in the first few days after Christmas.

At first the cats were still sulking after their journey. They really hate their travelling boxes, and this was probably the longest journey in the them that they'd suffered. But gradually they relaxed and started exploring, first inside the boat and later through the cat-flap and outside in the boatyard. Tilly in particular went for an extended walkabout for a couple of days.

By Christmas Day all was ready and we were able to have a traditional Christmas Dinner on board.

THE PAINT-JOB   

Because we had been delayed (by being iced in) getting to the paint dock, and there was a further delay when Ian & Dave thought the weather too cold for painting, Dave Moore wasn't able to complete the job for us before he was booked on a job for somebody else. He finished the main side panels but will have to come back at some future dates to do the front & back bulkheads and the hatch and locker-lids.