Queenborough to Teddington - through London

Woke early this morning, even before the alarm - we were going to pass through the centre of London today….!! It felt like such a milestone for us.
I put the kettle on for a quick coffee while Patrick checked to see if our neighbours alongside had seen our note. If not, they were in for a rude awakening and I didn’t want to be the “grim reaper”. He found a note on our door saying they would be awake and ready for the move at 04:45 (phew). I stowed away much of our “loose” stuff as I was still partly traumatised by yesterday, although Patrick assured me today was not going to be anything like yesterday. We left our mooring at 04:59 after a quick thank-you to our neighbours, who were very sweet and understanding. Patrick was correct, the water was much flatter, with the occasional wake from passing ships. We passed through a lot of industrial areas for a while and then it became more residential. The river was really wide so we couldn’t get a good look at the houses / snoop.
I was just settling into a comfortable state when Patrick said to prepare for a very large wake from a carrier ship, “Pauline” heading towards us. We couldn’t avoid it and I was tempted to ask Patrick if we could turn around and “out-run” it! (I didn’t ask because I suspected he would say that was ridiculous – even I knew that). So I just watched it approach us, I didn’t even reach for my camera - honestly you could surf on this. While I am writing this retrospectively and there is the risk of my overactive imagination contributing to this, we both agreed that this was the steepest wave we had climbed with the deepest drop and then up again into the next wave! We could not avoid it and for a few seconds we were looking down into a deep trough.
Deux Poissons handled it like a champ and Patrick and I were silent for a few minutes after that. We had no words (even my overactive brain went quiet).
Fortunately that was the only one like that for the rest of the trip, although I kept an eye on every wake behind approaching ships, until we were in a “no ship” area.

We got a little chatty again once we passed under the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, recalling Patrick having spent years either crossing the bridge or just sitting on it in traffic (more the latter).
We had a chart (map) of the Thames and Patrick used a headache tablet as an indicator as to where we were – fairly useful on all counts and I was tempted to grab that tablet a few times.
And then a little after 09:15 we saw the Thames Barrier ahead and Patrick radioed for permission to cross. At 09:26 we passed through the Thames Barrier. If surviving “Pauline” hadn’t made me want to reach for a celebratory drink, this really did make me want to celebrate. We were on the Thames River heading towards London!
The water was really flat now, so I popped out onto the foredeck and was so disappointed to find that the camera I have put up on the mast (thankfully after the “Pauline” incident) wasn’t recording. It had been giving us trouble anyway but I had hoped it would have recorded some iconic first moments for us.
We are going to be passing back down this way in a few weeks, so I will have another opportunity to record then. And more importantly, “Pauline” will hopefully be docking in some far away land.

We passed Greenwich and Patrick pointed out that we had effectively crossed over from travelling in the East and were now travelling in the West. He clarified with the words “hemisphere”. I wasn’t sure if I should be feeling any different.
A little after 10h00am we saw Tower Bridge ahead. It was surreal to see it from this angle after having been on the banks of the Thames so many times. It really is magnificent. The span is 61m between the two towers and is split into two equal parts (I have been told they are called bascules). These bascules weigh about 1,070 tons each and are counterbalanced to minimise the force needed to raise them. They open completely within 5 minutes, which is crazy to think, considering their weight. Traffic on the bridge needs to stop for less than 10 minutes to allow ships to pass once the bridge is open.
It did occur to me that less than 10 minutes wasn’t very long for practically all of London traffic to stop and that we were important enough and big enough for the bridge to open for us – get the real London Bridge experience. Patrick reminded that we were neither all that important nor that big (I think with reference to Pauline). So I was happy with the experience of slowly going under her, real close up and personal with the towers.

By now I didn’t know which side of the boat to sit and look out of – London Eye, Houses of Parliament. It was so amazing. I was equally amazed at how many residential houses are along the Thames, not just flats and apartments and how green it was. There were so many huge old trees in gardens.
We moved through some beautiful areas – Chelsea, Richmond, Twickenham and passed under some stunning bridges – each one different. We agreed that our favourites were Tower Bridge and Hammersmith, although the Albert Bridge was really pretty. Albert Bridge was pastel green for years and then repainted yellow. Now it is pastel pink, blue and green, apparently to make it more visible during foggy weather (95% of the time in London). Over 4000 LED lights were also installed to illuminate the bridge at night – but we were not hanging around to see that.
Once we were through the centre part of London, Patrick and I reflected over the experience. Overall passing through London was not as challenging as we thought it was going to be (except for “Pauline”) – maybe sometimes a little rough and choppy with the water taxis and tourist boats. This is what the crew from the Little Ships of Dunkirk had said last night, so we were glad we took their advice.

We finally reached Teddington Lock quicker than we thought we would and overall the whole trip had been about 7 hours. Once through the lock we were officially on the Thames River proper – which is more like a canal. Slow moving and no tide. We got through the lock easily and tied up on the bank not too far up the river. We popped into the office at the lock and purchased a license to be on the river for a month.
What an amazing experience!
We had some lunch and then took a stroll into the town which was just over the river. It was such a hot sunny day and we felt we needed a moment to sit and enjoy what we had achieved. A cocktail and a beer was exactly what we needed! We then headed back to the boat for a BBQ on the front deck and to set our bodies into “slow-mode”.

Ramsgate to Queenborough

After such a lovely trip over to Ramsgate, I was looking forward to another calm, sunny day on the water. This time I would sit out longer on the foredeck and enjoy the moment when we finally enter the Thames Estuary. We have talked endlessly about this – going up the Thames on Deux Poissons – I wanted to experience it in the moment.
It was another early start and we were out of the harbour at 05:00. This time, heading away from the sunrise. It was a little windy compared to yesterday but Deux Poissons handled it well.
Then it got really really rough.
We had expected the wind to be North-North-East but it turned and came from the West – over tide. So we were heading into waves, peaks and troughs – for hours. Both Patrick and Deux Poissons handled it so well. I supported them both silently and in prayer (unable to reach the vodka, as it meant moving from my seat).
It must have been exhausting for Patrick as it was a case of predicting the peak of the wave and steering her into it, rather than let it hit us side-on and cause that horrible rolling. Everything was “locked down” (including the vodka) on the boat so we didn’t have things flying at us but it was still heavy going. Although the autopilot was set up and in good working order now, Patrick had to do almost all of the steering through the waves. The water was almost always over the deck, occasionally splashing right up against the windscreen and at times right over the roof. At this point we realised that the hatch on the roof was not entirely watertight. But, to be fair, “waves over the roof” wasn't something we considered during our restoration.
We were (slightly) amused to see a ship behind us called “Danube Highway”. It felt like this was all part of the trip to finally be on the Danube-this was the road to be travelled.
There was a sense of relief when we turned into the Thames Estuary heading towards Queenborough, the sea state became a little calmer.
Patrick was due to work that day, so as soon as he could, he joined a meeting via his phone, just to say he was due to tie up in Queensborough shortly and would join meetings then. I, however, was planning on having a very stiff drink !
Queenborough offers moorings between the Thames and Medway and most boats moor up waiting for the right tide for the Thames. We asked, over the radio, for the All Tide Landing, which is a pontoon, isn’t restricted by tide and we asked to stay overnight. The alternative is to pick up a buoy, although there is a RIB “taxi” for those on a buoy, so we could get to land. We were lucky enough to get a space on the Landing. It is pretty basic, but it had both electricity and water, which we hadn’t expected, so we looked forward to a hot shower and fill the water tanks. A colleague from Patrick’s work, who lived in the area, stopped by for a work “meeting”, which naturally involved a couple of beers, out on the back deck.
Two Little Ships of Dunkirk tied up behind us, which was such a treat. They were both in such good condition considering they were part of a 1940 rescue operation in World War II. Patrick had a little chat with them, while I still remained in recovery from the trip over (aka: another gin and tonic). I did wonder if the Little Ships of Dunkirk would have considered Deux Poissons trying to make her way to Queenborough similar to what they had undertook in 1940 - probably not !
Patrick came back from his chat with news that our plans had changed!! The original plan was to leave Queenborough tomorrow and stop overnight at Greenwich. The crew of the two Little Ships had done this route a few times and their advice was to NOT stop at Greenwich or anywhere along the Thames as it is really busy and the water is rough and choppy from all the water taxis and tour boats. It makes for a really uncomfortable stay and not cheap. They suggested to just keep going until we were through Teddington Lock and onto Thames River proper. Then we would be in canal-like situation and so much slower, calmer and nicer. All I heard was slower, calmer and nicer.
It did mean a 5:00am start (of course).
We had a yacht rafted up on the outside of us and the crew went out for the evening, so we were unable to give them the bad news - We would need them to move off at 05:00am to let us out. As I wrote a really apologetic note, I hoped they were not having a heavy session in the pub nearby as this would really spoil their evening.
Then into a very welcome bed with the alarm set for 5:00am. I am beginning to think this is the default setting of the alarm by now.

Eastbourne to Ramsgate

I prepped the boat/stowed away most things before bed but we still woke up with a sense of urgency – at 03h15am. We needed to be in the lock by 04h00am. I mean, this wasn’t the only time the lock was was working that day, 04h00am was not the only slot available. We could have gone in at 04h30am– but anyway, we made it, along with a HUGE, smelly fishing boat. Nice for us on an empty stomach.
It had been a while since we had left any mooring in what felt like the middle of the night and it felt quite surreal, there didn’t seem to be anyone around. At a little after 05:00am you could start to see pink sky and we were heading into the sunrise – so lovely. The sea was absolutely calm and flat and no wind – such a pleasure. As the sun rose, it got warmer and was a perfect summer day. We also made good time as Patrick planned the tides right. We had planned to stop at Dover, but the conditions were so good that we agreed to go onto Ramsgate. We had the time and the tide and the only time we really had to pay attention to what was going on was at Dover. It is such a busy harbour and also with the Dover-Calais (UK-France) Crossing, we had to be conscious of all the large ships coming and going. I settled down into the sunshine to spend the next few hours onto Ramsgate, relaxing and dozing and loving life. That was until Patrick disturbed my peace with a request to come and take the helm, the steering didn’t feel right. It felt a little tight and he wanted to check the steering gear, that nothing had got caught in the gear. I mean, we were right in the MIDDLE of the crossing – seemed perfect time for something to go wrong. There were two areas he needed to check – the steering gear in the galley; in a cupboard, behind a cupboard, behind a fixed bin! And the chain in another cupboard in the forepeak, above a cupboard. As neither I, nor the autopilot wanted to be held responsible for a cruise/cargo-ship incident, I suggested I dismantle the cupboards in the galley and then take the helm so he could check. Our galley has been designed and fitted for this exact kind of need – to quickly check steering gear or bilges. So it really was just two screws to release hinges of the bin cupboard and then 4 screws to remove the front of the other cupboard. Patrick was down on his knees, head in steering gear, within seconds. The other cupboard just meant opening the door. He found nothing stuck or trapped. He thought it might be that everything just needed a good greasing !. The rest of the trip was uneventful. I went back to dozing in the sunshine, and missed the dolphins. We made good time and into Ramsgate with no problem. We tied up and set off to explore what turned out to be a really pretty town. We visited the Royal Temple Yacht Club for a beer and after a wander around stopped at the Mariners Pub and had a pizza for dinner. Once back on the boat, we (again) checked Navionics and planned tomorrow. We will be leaving early again (05:00am) and will finally be entering the Thames Estuary. We plan to stay over at Queensborough once we are in the Thames and then plan the next few stops.

Brighton to Eastbourne

Woke up to no wind and warm sunshine. No whistling and smacking ropes, what a pleasure. There is probably a nautical term or definition for ropes smacking yacht masts (??). I have a number of personal definitions as well as remedies, but at the risk of incriminating myself in a crime I haven't committed, I will keep them to myself.
We planned to leave at about 12h00 and while there is very little wind, we will be motoring alongside the shore and cliffs the whole way to Eastbourne so we expect it is going to be a bumpy ride. This is normally the case with the water rebounding off the shore. Patrick went off to the local chandlery to “get his fix” and I started to prepare the boat for the trip. I am getting quite slick at this now and can stow away all the moveable bits pretty quickly. We took a quick walk to the marina office to pay for our stay and to throw away the old ladder. This ladder and I have had a love-hate relationship since we bought Deux Poissons. It folds in an awkward way, which I never got the hang of - the handles hooking me almost every time I try to move it. It also ALWAYS seems to be in the way. So I was happy to get rid of her, but still a little nostalgic as I threw it deep into the wheelie bin – I think this was the last of the original boat bits we would be getting rid of.
Patrick sat in the galley and did a little work. Sounded more like chatting to his colleagues about the trip so far…..
We left our mooring at 11h55 and out of the mouth at 12h00. It is about 2.5 hour run. And as predicted – lumpy and rough. But Deux handled it all like a pro although the autopilot decided it had had enough and changed course. So Patrick had to switch it off and do all the steering himself. The chalky cliffs, which ran along the whole way, were so impressive. We saw a number of para-gliders jumping off the cliffs. Patrick said they were motorised gliders, so it felt like cheating but still crazy scary I am sure. Once we got round the point, Beachy Head, the sea state was calmer. Eastbourne Marina (Souverign Marina) has a lock which operates on a half hour cycle. We missed the 14h30 so we had to wait for 15h00. Patrick took advantage of the time and fiddled with the autopilot and then recalibrated it. This involved going round and round in circles. This was while I was on the deck putting down fenders both sides and getting lines ready!!. We were not sure what the lock was like inside, so “be prepared”. Finally they radioed to say proceed and we approached the lock in calm water. 4 boats went in and we rafted to an interesting couple who dive shipwrecks (for fun). It took about 20 mins to get through the lock, so we we had a good chat.
We were onto our mooring by 15h30. Semi-unpacked the boat as we are planning on leaving at 04h00am for Dover. We had a walk around the marina and a drink at the pub. Then back to the boat for dinner and a shower. Patrick did some fuel “tinkering”. We have two fuel tanks of 400 litres each. They are not connected but fuel can be transferred via a pump/filter system. We have had the delightful experience of diesel bug before, so now we keep our fuel tanks separate. For now Patrick set it up that the engine draws from the starboard tank, so he ran the pump to transfer some fuel over from the port to starboard tank, to keep the boat balanced. Lights out by 22h00 with alarm set for 03h15 - yuggggg.

A day in Brighton Marina

We waited out the wind, staying in Brighton Marina and filling our time with boat jobs. It is a bank holiday, otherwise Patrick would do a days work - his other work, not boat work. The easy work. We wrote a very short list as we wanted to achieve as little as possible. Mine included laundry. There is a laundrette at the the marina with large washing and drying machines, and it worked really well. Also a trip to the supermarket. By trip, I meant a walk. Oh and clean the bathroom. Patrick agreed to refit a fairlead we lost a few weekends ago, do the final fitting of the ladder attachment and check the engine. I am pleased to say all was achieved and my lesson of the day is not to over-shop until I buy one of those shopping trolley/bags.
We sat and relooked at our plan/tides/weather. It feels like this is going to an hourly exercise until we get up into the Thames River. So we plan to set off to Eastbourne tomorrow at about 12h00. Patrick will do his other work and I will find a way to keep myself busy. Probably research shopping trolley/bags.

Exploring Brighton

It rained most of the night (of course) and a leak (of course) with the water pooling along MY side of the bed (naturally). The rain stopped by the time we woke up but not the wind. If fact, it felt worse. We both agreed that it was a good call to cancel Eastbourne for today and re-calculate our next few days.
While there was no sunshine, I was happy with no rain. We decided the leave boat jobs for today – except find the leak and patch it. As we are likely to be in Brighton for today and tomorrow, we decided to explore. We left the bedding to dry with open portholes and we put on our walking gear (not actual walking gear … standard flip flops and shorts for Patrick) and we wandered over to find the bus station and, a few minutes later, we were ready to be tourists. We started at Brighton Pier, iconic tourist sight. We were able to look over the water and we agreed that staying in the marina was definitely the best thing to do – it was wild out there. After about half an hour on the pier we were ready for coffee. I mean, we were really ready for a beer, but even we thought it was too soon. We made our way to The Lanes, which is a popular area in Brighton. A small area of tiny streets all lined with independent shops. We spotted a huge crowd with cameras and could hear music, so naturally curious (nosy) we made our way there. It turned out to the band The Specials, one of Patrick’s favourite bands. How special. What a treat. We found a cute tea shop and had scones and tea – delicious and worth postponing the beer. Then more wandering around, there are some beautiful buildings and architecture. Also, Brighton is much hillier than I thought it was and I am definitely more unfit than I thought too. Finally a we had that much needed beer in a cute pub and after a few hours we grabbed a takeaway lunch and enjoyed it in the gardens of the Royal Pavilion. It is an impressive building, built in an architectural style seen in India, with beautiful domes and minarets. According to history, it was built in late 1700s as a seaside retreat for King George IV. According to the historian, Patrick Mckenna, King George entertained way to many single ladies here and so Queen Victoria decided that Osborne House should be the royal seaside retreat – on the Isle of Wight. So the Pavilion was sold to the city of Brighton and no more parties for King George! (*disclaimer – none of this is fact verified).

We caught a bus back to the marina and stopped in at the Brighton Marina Sailing Club to check it out and have a quick drink and then back to the boat. Fortunately with no rain, plenty of wind and some sunshine, the bedding had dried. A quick shower and then we planned our next few days. We use Navionics app as a way to plan routes as it gives us all the information we would need. We will stay in Brighton tomorrow and head to Eastbourne on Tuesday. The tides will work for us midday and there is no strong wind predicted (yay). We planned only one night in Eastbourne and then onto Dover.

Portsmouth to Brighton

It was an exciting and early start today, not that either of us had slept much. Alarm went off at 05:30. The first part of the morning felt like any morning when we set off for a weekend away. Coffee, moan about it being too early, start engine, slip the lines and set off. But this time WAS different. This time we were not coming back to Fareham. This was the start of what we had been discussing and working towards forever - and we both had to scars to prove it!
It was a miserable day, raining and overcast but we didn’t care. Anyway it is the UK - we were used to it.
We left the mooring at 06h09 and got to Portsmouth Harbour at 06:45. I was thrilled to find that the wind had died down and the sea looked calm. So off we set. Deux went so well. The water got a little choppy as we approached Brighton but it was a good trip over. A little over 6 hours and I even got a little snooze in. Until Patrick tapped me on the leg to wake me - Dolphins. How special!
We got to Brighton Marina at about 12h00. I do keep a log so perhaps I should check it and be more specific. We called up the marina office to confirm our arrival and to ask where our mooring would be. They responded by asking if we were the gentleman’s yacht coming into the marina? I don’t think we have had a gentleman on this boat for years, but we still responded “yes we are”!
It was an easy mooring. We tied up, paid for shore power, unpacked a few bits that we had stowed away. We plan to leave for Eastbourne tomorrow, so we called and made a booking for 12h30. We then decided to stretch our legs and have a look around. It is a huge marina with a large number of clean toilet/shower facilities and also a laundrette. Surprise surprise to find ourselves in a pub/cocktail bar. Then it was back to the boat for dinner on board, shower and a very welcome early night.

We did it ... we are on our way

After more than 8 years of restoration, planning (and some playing) we finally said our goodbyes to Fareham and our mooring at Portsmouth Marine Engineering and started our trip.

Well sort of…. In true boating life style, the weather and/or tides never want to agree with your plan. We had hoped to leave this morning at 05h30 to catch the tide and get to Brighton early afternoon. However, the wind was predicted to gust to 42knots and this was not the way we wanted to start out new life. So we motored for about 10 minutes to the next marina and moored up there overnight as the wind was expected to die down.
So it felt like we had started our trip. Also it was 10 minutes closer to Portsmouth Harbour mouth and most importantly we got to spend the evening with our good friends for ANOTHER goodbye evening.
We called it a night early enough to be considered sensible and after a few tears we climbed aboard our boat and tried to get some sleep.
They were not joking about the gusting 42knots, never mind the rain!

Our toilet-shower-wet room upgrade is finally complete

All good things come to those who wait ….We have been working and improving this space from the moment we bought the boat! Each step first needed another AND another step to be completed, but it has been worth it.

We have run out of time .... will try again next year

The rain has continued for days now. More rain days than not. We had hoped to get away and travel up river, possibly even to Oxford and back down to Reading before the end of October. We plan to winterise Deux Poissons at Reading Marine Services; the engineers and owner have been really helpful and winterising is a service they provide.
So we waited and waited (and waited) for the rain to stop, even for a while. But it didn’t and even when there was a break in the rain and the sun did come out, the river continued to rise and the force of the flow became stronger and stronger. It was quite astounding how quickly the river did rise – only a few weeks ago when we arrived the moorings, on a steel beam, across the river were high out the water and easy to see. Now they were under water.
We woke one morning and resigned ourselves to the fact that our travel for 2024 had come to an end. Firstly, the sunken boat across the river was an indicator of the amount of rain over the past days and the forecast didn’t look good. And the river was now on “red boards”.
The non-tidal River Thames is managed by the Environmental Agency, a government agency. They monitor and report on the river conditions, particularly any warnings. The warnings are displayed at the locks on boards and also can be found on-line at government websites as well as navigation apps and websites. The warnings/indicators will either be yellow or red. Yellow is a sign that the “stream is increasing” and red is “strong stream”. Red boards are an indication that the strong flow makes navigating difficult and possibly dangerous. The flow of water close to weirs and sluices are particularly risky. In effect, the river is now under flood.
While locks won’t be closed as such, there is unlikely to be a lock-keeper who will operate the locks for you. The bollards used outside of the locks, to tie up to while “working the locks” will most likely be underwater and inaccessible. There was a lot of debris coming down the river – we saw whole trees, fenders, logs, some identifiable objects and a chair, never mind what was underwater. All of this is either going to smash into the boat or get caught up in the prop and make the boat dangerous to manoeuvre, especially in a strong current and boats tied up alongside the banks. And your insurance will not cover you if you travel on red boards and possibly not yellow boards either.
So Patrick and I spent the less wet days exploring the parts of Reading that we hadn’t seen yet and on the really wet days (95% of the time) googling Cape Town, South Africa – our destination at the end of October and reminded ourselves that we will soon experience dry, hot weather.
As that time approached, we packed up / winterised the boat ….. if it can be moved, it gets vacuum-packed. It is an exhausting exercise but worth it; ten-fold. All the curtains get taken down, all the cushion and seating covers are removed, all linen and towels are laundered, all clothing except holiday clothes, even books and magazines – basically everything - is shoved into plastic vacuum bags. We have done this every winter and on our return months later, everything is dry and mould free – yes!!
We have a full cover for the boat which also keeps her dry and protected. Reading Marine services will lift her and keep her on the hard while we are away. They drain the water tanks and the calorifier. They fill these with propylene glycol-based solution which prevents any water freezing, it also prevents bacteria growth and is safe. They keep the batteries charged and will run a dehumidifier periodically to keep the boat dry. And just before our return, they drain the tanks, refill them with clean drinkable water, put the boat back in the water. As an extra they will check and change filters and impellers, They guarantee that she is “key-start-ready” on our return. What a treat.
So we packed up, said good-bye to Deux Poissons and the full river and look forward to sunshine and coming back to start out travels in 2025.

She quickly went from our comfy home to a bare boat … ready for winter storage.

A full walk through

We bought Deux Poissons in 2015 and have spent 8 years working (and playing) on her. Our website and other social media is updated regularly as we work on her, but we often get asked for an overview or complete view of her. Well we finally got to the point where we could do that …. so here is a complete walk through of the boat - enjoy. Leave a comment or any questions and we will respond.

Check out the boat

Moving day

After many long and challenging years of planning and tireless work on the boat, the day had finally arrived. I don’t remember us deciding on 27 July 2023 but here we are, this was it. So after a challenging few weeks of halving our belongings and then halving them again, we managed to squeeze our lives into a four door car (which fortunately had a deep boot). I will admit that I watched more videos than necessary on how to fold clothes into tiny-tiny squares and it paid off.
It was bitter sweet packing up everything after living in our home for so long; leaving friends and family and more than once I asked myself if we were making a mistake.
While I am not one for celebrating “a sign that this was meant to be” - my phone (Facebook) felt perhaps this was one day to give me that sign …. so a photo popped up on my phone from 27th July 2019. It was the day emptied the whole boat into a van and we started the major restoration. So here we were exactly 4 years later taking everything back, just not in a van though……
So we bid farewell to the familiar comfort of our home and beautiful garden and began the next chapter of our lives.

More "stuff" to store... and where to store it. Working on our holding tank

Something we need to consider and fit is a holding (black) tank. We cannot pump out the toilet into the canals and rivers and we cannot be sure how often we will be able to access marinas with suction facilities for holding tanks. So we need to design a large tank, and also find space to fit it.

We did it …. one job completed !!

The plan ….

Since we bought Deux Poissons we have constantly been working through and adding to the long “To Do List”. Patrick had a vision of what he wanted for the boat and years of research to back it up. The electrics came pretty high up on the list of jobs for a number of reasons - Fire being one of them! This week we were able to say for the first time “THAT jobs done”. And it was a job !!

The wiring was mostly old household wire, from the 60s and definitely not suitable for a boat. It was a (dangerous) mess. Over the years the whole electrical system had to been added and added to and any wires that were not longer needed, or no longer functional were just left where they were (and not always wrapped in insulation tape or with any way of protection). Just a nest of melted and cracked cables and exposed wires!

We managed to persuade a patient and very experienced electrician, with a wonderful sense of humour, to come and have a look at the electrics, offer some advice and hopefully agree to the job. Which he did, and we will forever be grateful to him ! His advice was to rip it out, replace everything and he would do it in between his day job and on weekends (my hero)!

We presented him with a plan - which he approved, and he got to it. Patrick was on hand to assist.

Many months and a pandemic later, we now have a new distribution board for both our AC 230v and DC 12v circuits and a complete new working electrical system.

The 230v system receives input from shore, generator and inverter and connects to the domestic battery bank (separate from the engine start battery bank). This system powers all our sockets, water heater, battery charger, ice machine and appliances; dishwasher, induction hob and airfryer (oven). All the wiring is new, correct graded, flexible cable. All sockets are now on the correct circuits and feed back to breakers on the distribution board, with correct RCD switch.

The 12v system receives input from two battery banks. This system powers LED lights, navigation equipment, VHF radio, the pumps; water, fuel and bilges. It also powers the day fridge and fridge-freezer.

The battery set up comprises; two banks; for starting and domestic use. A third bank is dedicated to powering the (day) fridge and fridge-freezer and that is powered by solar. The fridge and fridge-freezer do not rely entirely on solar as we have a separate plug socket that sources power from the domestic battery bank, in the case of no sun/solar power. So we can choose to run fridges from either source.

Both fridges have sensing transformers plugged into 12v and 230v at some time. By default they run off 12v but when they sense 230v current, they automatically switch 230v and stop using the batteries.

Planning to make water....

Like all good trips, we plan to relax and enjoy the “occasional” sun-downer and good local food after a long day of sightseeing. We have also designed and fitted the boat with some necessities (ice machine, shower and dishwasher) to make this all as pleasurable as possible. Of course this all involves water and while we have water tank capacity of 346 litres, this is quickly depleted. So Patrick is working on fitting a DIY water maker.

see more plus the plan

Generator time

We have focused on the generator these past few weekends. We bought Deux Poissons with a Petter generator already fitted. It never worked properly and after a while it just gave up. We tried out best to “resusitate” her, but it seemed to be a compression problem from a possible crack in the head or damaged piston rings. Anyway Patrick found another generator which, with some small adjustments, fitted into the limited space available in the engine bay. I couldn’t wait to hear it start, but first there was quite a bit of work to be done (of course!)

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A weekend and NO work ??

While the work is slowly paying off and we are seeing amazing progress, another summer is slipping away. We are keeping our eye and focus on the future but with such lovely weather and autumn around the corner, we downed our tools, packed up a few provisions and took the weekend off. Our destination for the weekend - Newton Creek (River), Isle of Wight. Newtown Creek is a large natural inland harbour found on the Isle of Wight's north western coast, named after the nearby village of Newtown. It is so peaceful and is surrounded by nature - we love it there.
We left our mooring in Fareham (top of Portsmouth Harbour) on Friday evening on the high tide and picked up a buoy near to Portsmouth mouth and slept for a few hours waiting for high tide at Newton Creek. We woke with the sun, had a couple of obligatory Bailey’s coffee and set off.
The Solent was quiet and like glass and it felt so good to be out on the water again. We got there in no time, travelling on average 6.5 / 7 knots through the water and probably about 9 knots over the ground, with the tide.
There are limited buoys available once you are through the entrance to the creek, but plenty of space to anchor. We managed to get a buoy and this added to the relaxing mood as we settled down for the weekend.
I immediately made myself comfortable on the “new” back deck. With no wind and strong sun, the umbrella was a treat. The inverter immediately got to work on the ice machine and the lithium batteries we fitted kept the fridge going. Patrick even experimented with one of the solar panels, rigging it up temporarily so as to keep the fridge batteries topped up.
The cable from the solar panel still needs to be extended as the panels will be fitted to the top deck, so for the weekend the solar panel lay next to me on the back deck. I didn’t argue, as it was playing a very important role in keeping my wine chilled. It also kept Patrick busy while he checked on how much it was charging the batteries (this was the first time using solar power on the boat).
Friends sailed over and joined us for a BBQ and a few card games and fun was had by all as we watched the sun set in a tiny peace of paradise.
And Sunday we did it all again - why change something that worked so well !!
But sadly Monday morning came round and we had to return to “land life” and work. We know this is only for a little longer and this weekend kept our enthusiasm and excitement going and reminded us of why we are working so hard to get the boat finished.

Out for a survey

We had Deux lifted out for a survey, which itself is always stressful. We have had the whole aft section replaced with new steel but we did hold our breath a little as the surveyor measured the rest of the boat. The thought of sections failing the survey filled me with dread, but all was good. Almost all areas measured were between 2.9 and 3.1 mm thick. I think we can feel safe knowing there is about 3mm of steel separating us from the deep waters! As the boat was on the hard, we replaced the anodes and gave her a quick coat of antifoul. Patrick, with the help of a friend, fitted the rope cutter and she was back in the water ready for us to continue with the rest of the work.

Our marina has an old crane to do the lift out and I hold my breath the entire time while it lifts out and moves the boats.

Patrick always insists on being there to supervise and this time I was so glad he was there. The front sling was positioned too far back and the front of the boat tilted forward. We were assured there was no chance she would slip out, but Patrick was not taking any chances. She was lowered down, the slip moved forward and all was good. As usual the crane made me so anxious as it bounced and moved the boat, but all was well. She was placed securely on the blocks and we got on with the jobs.

An "exhaust-ing" problem

With the planning, designing and building of the galley underway, Patrick needed to address the on-going problem of the exhaust. The pipe runs from the engine, down the starboard side of the boat to the aft section and out. It will need to be boxed in as it will run behind all the galley cupboards. However, the end section of the exhaust pipe, that joins the outlet has always leaked. The leaked water has continually dripped onto the fixed block of the steering cable, causing rust and would also drip / leak into the new galley cupboards. Patrick gathered up the necessary bits - a new piece of exhaust pipe, a few new and improved clamps, some cutting instruments and a bottle of Baileys (for coffee).

It worked ……. successfully installed new exhaust pipe section - tested and approved.

Meet you at the bar?!

The discussions and plans for the galley have started! It seems like we have had this empty, unforgiving steel shell-aft-section forever but this is exciting and I can’t wait to see progress. There is a lot of preliminary and prep work still to be done, so I have to be patient, but we have also started planning the bar area and this has kept me distracted.

The aft section comprises both galley and guest sleeping area, so we are challenged in how much we can fit in there. We have decided to create a small bar area in the main saloon area by converting on old cupboard. This way we will have space for the all important piece of equipment - our icemaker. Also drawers for glasses and bottles. For more info and a view of what we have planned see the video below