fending them off

I tend to get quite a few emails about my bike powered sound system, normally asking how to build one, despite me putting a fair amount of information on the web already. I generally reply as comprehensively as I can, often having to explain the laws of physics to them about why they can't run a projector/kettle/microwave from one bike. I try to be as polite and enthusiastic as I can, but often I don't get as much as a 'thanks for your time' in reply.

Two emails yesterday were quite noteworthy. The first was from some kind of PR/events company, who 'needed' me to build them two bike-based sound systems that generated the power for the music as they cycled, at the head of some kind of parade for a tv show on Sky, and can I have them ready by the 24th July please? I tried to call them but 'weren't in the office', so replied as clearly as I can - that

1) there's no way they can power loud music directly from a slow moving bike anyway
2) there's no way I could do it in the timescale
3) there's no way I'd work for Rupert Murdoch

I must admit I'm not expecting a reply to that one. ;-)

The second one was from Will Golding who is part of the Treehouse gallery, an arts/spoken word project based in Regent's Park over the summer, launching July 20th, would I liek to take part? There's not much on the website yet but the provisional schedule I've been sent as a prospective contributor is pretty impressive - Jay Griffiths, George Monbiot, Benjamin Zephaniah and many, many more, with lots of creative sessions for adults & children too. I'm not quite sure how I will be involved, but it looks like an amazing project. There's some constructional photos here, I doubt I'll get a chance to look myself before mid August at the earliest, but do so if you're passing...

more non-Tortoise boating

I may well end up spending more time traveling on other people's boats than my own this year, but I have no complaints about that. Iver moorers Kingfisher had been away on a ten week adventure (including meeting Richard busy painting Happyhome) and came through the final stretch of the Thames this morning into Brentford, so Tortoise Lockingwheeling Limited sprang into action (and the photographic division had a good workout too). Here's Kingfisher turning into the Grand Union/Brent:



the previous pair of boats out of Teddington didn't have enough collective braincells to work the automated Brentford Gauging Lock (despite arriving about half an hour earlier), so I ended up working their lock too, whilst getting Kingfisher & companions Dream Two through the second chamber. Then onwards up through the Hanwell locks; just before the flight itself, I got slightly over excited about spotting Leviathan and her new owner Steve, and getting to see that amazing interior for myself as blogged about previously. I took a couple of photos inside too, but failed to ask if it was OK to post them, but the outside is public enough:



You see, sadly enough, lost animal signs, but rarely are they followed up:



An excellent day out, despite a a general failure to find anywhere alongside the canal for lunch, as the Fox was passed far too early. Cycling hoe I stopped to chat to a woman in a green polo shirt and wellies, with ruibbish bag & rubbish picker thing - no, she wasn't from Thames 21, she just did it because it needed to be done. Yes, I'd picked up a bit of rubbish near (and in) locks while waiting, but I certainly wasn't going equipped. Such people's existance more than makes up for the louts who leave the mess in the first place.

congratulations

I'm a day behind, but a new resident at the Iver moorings is Lilian Rose, a new daughter for Geoff & Laura on Lady Elgar - and the reason Lady Elgar gained an extra bedroom, and I gained their old stove... ;-)

Jack de Crow

In 1990, I had three months with nowhere to live (or at least anywhere I wanted to live, to be fair), no income and no inclination to get a job (as I was due to start the job I am indeed still in). So I spent two week volunteering at the Centre for Altrnative Technology in Machynlleth, then cycled through Wales & southern england, visiting people I knew, and when I failed to find a floor for the night, camping. Income came from lunchtime busking on a mandolin, which otherwise shared the rear pannier with a tent, sleeping bag and a change of clothes. When I found myself at Ramsgate I got a ferry and crossed Belgium, Holland and Germany (largely along the Rhine & Neckar rivers), reaching Tübingen, south of Stuttgart to visit a travelling acquaintance, before getting the train home in about 18 hours (reading Jilly Cooper's 'Polo' I recall, being the thickest of the books in english I could find in a fleamarket.



A very kind recent loan of a book written by Sandy Mackinnon brought that all back (and made it seem all very pedestrian). Transport for him was a mirror dinghy, the instrument was the penny whistle, and he did Ellesmere to the black sea (without the aid of a cross chanel ferry, too). I do hope some of the situations are exaggerated, as he seemed to risk his life about twice a week - but a lovely human adventure, and make me glad I've had my own experiences, too. I was going to say 'current reading', but I finished it at about 1.30am last night. ;-(

There's a nice article about the trip here, which also includes a couple of photos - the book itself is lovingly illustrated by the author's own line drawings, making it even more like a Swallows & Amazons adventure. Recommended.

escape from Iver

It did feel a bit like that; getting past the weed on the mooring stretch of the Slough arm is a bit like reaching escape velocity, only you have to stop and clear the weed hatch every so often. Once I'd got passed Mansion Lane Bridge, of course, a boat in the distance seemed to be taking a very long time reaching the next, archless, bridge. It turned out to be Minerva of this parish, with a failed engine - so I turned around (because I can) and towed them back to the boatyard, and started again. I also discovered the weed had got into my blessed seacock cooling water inlets, so the engine would have overheated even if I hadn't been towing a 50' boat... ;-)



Anyway, the idea was to have a night away from the moorings, with the excuse of discussing stove work with boatyards as I passed. It's funny, Neil on Herbie has just blogged a very similar thought I was having - that some people with boats will just pop out for a couple of hours, to enjoy being out there, whereas others it's a three month cruise or nothing. I have a small boat I can turn almost anywhere, and may not manage a long trip this year - so yes, small wanders are the way forward, with possibly a quiet night on the water with a book for company. Of course the quiet night thing went straight out of the window when I passed NB Cossette and spotted Helen, so we arranged to meet in the General Elliot later. I've mentioned her before as a signwriter - she now has a website - http://www.handwrittensigns.com. Get in touch while she's still starting up and you'll get a great job at a bargain price. ;-)

Despite the pub, I made a relatively early start home in the showers of Tuesday morning, and was back at my home moorings by eleven. It was good to get away, and good to use the boat for what it is - access to green space and a little bit of peace & quiet. I may well have sussed out a quiet little spot on the arm itself for overnight escapes, I'll just have to see how shallow it is there... ;-)

Small Spaces II

One recent visitor to Brentford's eco village was Vinay Gupta, creator of the Hexayurt - an easily built structure designed for temporary housing and disaster relief. He's also in a wonderful book I found after my previous post:



It's full of small housing projects with a similar philosphy, genuinely inspiring. I guess that most of what we see conciously of arhitect's work are the big and/or whimsical projects - it's great to see imagination being applied to the real human issues.

This reminds me that I met a student (?) architect, a friend of a friend, a while ago, who was also interested in minimal living spaces, so I should really get in touch with him. We're hoping the eco village could well be pretty long term, and come autumn we'll need something a little more solid than we have at the moment.

extra links:

appropedia wiki
playatech sheet material furniture designs

In other news: RIP, Steven Wells.

local event

Brentford Dock is the housing estate built on the site of the old rail/river transhipment point - built as a council estate in the 60s, but very quickly largely in private ownership. Nice to see a bit of a historical celebration, though, and a variety of transport methods represented, including canal boats (although more wanted, by the sounds of it although access is directly from the Thames, not the canal). The railway long since stopped running to the dock itself, stopping at 'Brentford Town' station on the way, but it still runs just short of Brentford as a freight only line. I don't see any that this line have passenger services reinstated, although a direct train from home to the boat would be very nice, I admit.

More info for the event at brentforddock150.co.uk.

ETA - from their website - The 100 Years old steam narrow boat President will be going by Brentford Dock on Monday July 13. I bid them welcome to Brentford!

more Epping about

I have a tendency to like to see things in place, do a dry/dummy run before things are ready for the final install, just to see how it all looks - and this is a typical example. I was gluing in the hearth tiles for the new stove plinth, wanted to weight them down so the glue spread well and flatten out the tiles, so what better weight than the stove itself?



It doesn't look very pretty there, as there's no tiling around it yet (not that the masterboard goes all the way round, although it does show the greater width of the space required), there's no trim on panelling around it, and after all, it' sitting on a sheet of grotty old 18mm ply rather than the tiles themselves...

But - in reality, it looks & feels very natural, and when commisioned, will be a real focal point of the boat. I balanced in the old flue just to see how it looks; the stove/flue junction will need a little work, and I'm also considering not replacing the 'smokebox' part that nornmally sits at that point. Apart from the door for flue access for cleaning, anyone know reasons for or against (apart from tradition?).

Google maps updated

Last time I looked at the Iver moorings on google maps, the images were at least two years old, no evidence of my boat at all. This new image is pretty recent by the locations of boats up and down, particularly the brokerage boats - but Tortoise still isn't there - she should be alongside Benbulben in the middle of this image. So this one must be from last summer, or possibly this spring when I was away doing blacking/welding stuff.

If I get really, really, bored (unlikely) I'll have to follow my route to see if I can find her, but of course there's no guarantee she'll be there at all, obviously.

torn

... work progresses on the new kitchen & plinth, I may add a pic later. Typically the tile spacers I thought I had on the boat weren't, but I need my tile cutter anyway. I've taken my old peltier fridge home, I'm going to see how I get on with the hull bottom cool box idea - this will also free up a lot of space, too. Strangely, widening the worktop from 18" to 21" makes it look for elegant and proportioned.

Also lovely to see back around old mate Helen, currently staying on her mum's boat whilst hers is still rented out; she's been in New Zealand for two years; she's back in the UK to study carpentry, then hopes to head back south.

The thing is - much closer to home, there's an exciting land squat next to Kew Bridge, on a site that has been enmpty for more than a decade, and is currently believed to have no approved planning permission anyway. Although the original diggers encampment on St George's Hill was further down the river, St George's is the name of the developer, and approiate enough. I'm of course getting involved; the boat can wait, a little. One contribution is mentioning here - I took an old, cheap cordless drill (14.4v, but 12v would be better) who's battery would no longer hold a change, wired in a piece of cable to large croc clips, and supplied an old car battery - instant drilling power for building.