This is "Onbekommerd"!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween

Although Halloween is really an American 'event', it appears to be quite popular here as well. For several weeks now, aisles in the supermarkets have been full of Halloween 'props', stuff to make kids look 'scary' and pumpkins have been selling well (although by Saturday afternoon they were giving them away!).
So Gwilym and I manufactued a proper Halloween pumpkin with a tea light inside, which this evening as it got dark was put outside as an indication that 12 The Avenue was open for 'trick-or-treating'. In no time our supply of treats had run out, we went to the little convenience store down the road for more supplies and when these were also finished, we decided to extinguish the pumpkin light and close up shop. The kids are mainly very small, and are accompanied by their parents who watch from a small distance. Some have very nice costumes!

Talking about getting dark, we put the clocks back on Saturday night (well, actually early Sunday morning) and now it gets dark around 5!

Here are some halloween pictures. But the first one shows Melody, the neighbour's cat who often comes and sits on the windowsill here, hoping for a treat...


Melody is waiting for her 'treat'


'Planning' the pumpkin


It actually looks quite a 'friendly' pumpkin!


These witches and one wizard also got their treats.


Some costumes are more scary than others!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Drought or flood?

Here in London, it is still dry and people are talking about a drought in SE England. Elsewhere, in Wales and in the SW, there are floods! So one cannot talk about 'the UK weather', at least not at the moment. I am sure we'll get our share of rain soon!
In the meantime, we still walk quite a bit. On Friday along the left bank of the river up to Teddington lock and then back via the right bank, a total of about 11 miles. On Saturdat we joined the Central London Outdoor Group for a walk along some of the Surrey commons, starting in a village called Ashmead and ending at the Claremont gardens, both about 45 mins away by train.

Yesterday we delivered the police clearance to the Embassy, so now we wait again. There are a few steps in the process that we dont have any influence on, it has all got to do with formalities. The final naturalisation may be done in anywhere beteen 6 weeks and 4 months.

Below are some walking pictures.


We thought this was strange: the leaves are gone, but the apples are still there!






The roots of this tree are almost completely exposed through erosion of the soil.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Autumn starts

Although the weather is still very good, it is clear that autumn has seriously started. For me it is 32 years ago that I had autumn start in October and for Lyn it of course is the first time! The trees, which were in blossom and light green when we arrived here in early April, are now rapidly loosing their leaves and the streetsweepers (yes, you have these here!) have quite a job keeping up. The last few days, it has - although nice and sunny - been pretty cold in the morning, down to around 5C today! Last weekend was very nice and on the first picture below, you will see people still in short sleeves. That picture was taken at the riverside in Kingston. Kinsgston is about half an hour by bus from Kew, upstream on the Thames. We passed it when we took our boat trip some time ago and it seemed attractive so we went to see the riverside and the shops.
The other pictures show the changing colours quite nicely. Lyn has taken to photography in quite a big way and now has her own camera. So expect more. On Saturday we plan to go walking with the 'CLOG's. That stands for 'Central London Outdoor Group', they organise walks, often in the countryside just outside London, on a very regular basis, usually a choice of more than one on weekends. We went on a walk in the Chiltern hills a few weeks ago and on Saturday it will be the North Surrey commons.
Otherwise all is well. Still awaiting police clearances, both for the naturalisation and for Lyn's work. Should be not too long now. Will that be the end of the paperwork? Probably not, I think: they always seem to want something else...
Sean got the invitation to the company's Christmas function, which is in a castle. Look for 'Hever castle' on the internet!

Late news: The police clearance for the naturalisation arrived this morning. I immediately tried to phone the contact at the Embassy to make an appointment to deliver it, but no, she only takes 'phone calls early in the morning... A whole new way of slowing things down has just been invented!





Sunday, October 9, 2011

Back in London

Operation maintenance has been completed (except that the anodes wich protect the hull from galvanic corrosion still need to be fitted, they are in Den Helder for sandblasting and Ed will put them back later). Here are 2 pics of the boat all shiny and with the kabelaring and the leguaan fited!



I caught a flight to London on Saturday afternoon and was glad to be back with Lyn, almost 2 weeks is a long time to be apart (at least for us)! We will see Sean later today too. Pity that South Africa was beaten by Australia in the Rugby Worls Cup quarter finals. Now we need to think who to support. Wales probably...?

Friday, October 7, 2011

Maintenance almost done

Again a quick update, but with a few pics this time.
By now we have repaired the rusty spots under the 'kabelaring' (see previous post for definition), have applied new antifouling (sounds simple, but as it starts with 'wiping the hull down with thinners' its not a pleasant job!), have replaced the kabelaring (this just fits, so a lot of tugging and pulling on a very thick and heavy rope!) and have done a few other paint repair jobs. I also polished the hull today, it looks nice and shiny.
Tomorrow we'll replace the 'leguaan' (the 'knitted rope bit' on the front of the boat) and disconnect the batteries for the winter. Its quite cold, wet and windy here in Alkmaar now so I am very happy that 'Onbekommerd' is nicely dry in the hall. Here are a few pictures of the last few days. No camera today, so I cant show the shiny boat. Will take a few pics tomorrow and post when I am back in London.


Removing rust spots on the kabelaring support rail.



Applying antifouling.



Ed (Onbekommerd's previous owner and now a good friend) was a great help with advice but also doing some of the work himself!


Antifouling done. That's the 'leguaan' lying in the front!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

On shore for the winter again

Just a quick update.
The 'Onbekommerd' is out of her element and back in the shed for the wniter season again. The lift was at 10 this morning. After having had the bottom high pressure cleaned, we went inside. Took the 'kabelaring' (therope around the boat) off and did some maintenance on the steel rim that the rope sits on. That area is wet quite a lot and tends to develop rusty spots. It was ot bad, but I still spent the entire afternoon with the power file. Tomorrow I'll apply the primer and later the first coat of paint. Then there is also a new coat of antifouling to be applied. A lot of work, until I get back to London on Saturday. Will try to post a few pictures tomorrow night.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Amsterdam - Alkmaar

My plan was to see the newly opened Maritime Museum on Saturday afternoon, but it was only being opend by the Queen that day and open for the public the next  (Sunday). I walked to the museum anyway, the queen was expected on the royal yacht (Groene Draeck) around 7 but as it was only 4, I was not going to sit around and wait for things to happen. We did see the fireworks from the yacht harbour though..
The harbour was very full, probably due to the fine weather. Can you find 'Onbekommed' on this picture?



This morning, Hans & Jet came on board. Jet left after coffee and Hans acted as 'deck hand' for the trip to Alkmaar. We went along the Noordzee canal, which connects the port of Amsterdam to the sea and saw a few big barges and also 2 big ships:



After a nice trip, along a (for me) new route (the Nauernaase Vaart), we got to Alkmaar by 4pm. On Tuesday, the season is over for the Onbekommerd. It will come out of the water and go into the shed. I'll try to update you on the maintenance work I'll do for the rest of the week.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Hoorn - Lelystad - Weesp - Amsterdam

We left Hoorn on Wednesday morning to get to Lelystad for the engine service. A completely clear sky and almost no wind made the crossing extremely pleasant:


Leaving Hoorn


There were a lot of 'charters' around. It looked like they were in convoy to Enkhuizen


'Deckhand' Gwilym having a rest on the foredeck. Nice conditions to cross the Markermeer!


On Thursday the mechanic arrived even before the agree time of 8am. He did most of the engine service but could not set the valve clearances as he did not have a spare gasket for the valve cover. Had he opened the valve cover and broken the old gasket, it would have meant a 2 day wait which was a problem. So we'll go back in the spring to sort that out. He also gave some advice about fuel treatment and - filtering. With the decreasing sulphur contents in diesel, combined with the increase in the bio-diesel content in the fuel (both are legislated), it is becoming increasingly difficult to stop 'diesel bacteria' from growing. The excrements of the diesel bacteria can completely block fuel supply systems.
By mid day the service was done and we set 'sail' again. First we thought about going to Muiden and then via the Markermeer to Amsterdam on Friday, but we then realised that a trip through the city of Amsterdam was more intersting so we went through the lock at Muiden and moored at the side of the canal (Smalweesp) in the town of Weesp where we treated ourselves to a beer 'ashore' after a long day:


Weesp: the unused lock and lock bridge


Yesterday (Friday) we did the final 2 hours to Amsterdam. Some bits of that are still quite rural:



We took a route through Amsterdam with very low bridges (well, low for us: 2.4m) so after the mast and the radar had already been dropped we also had to remove the searchlight (which is a 1 minute job). To be honest, my plan was another route, but I tool a turning too early. A new route for me as well!
In the evening we had a nice 'rijsttafel' in Amsterdam. The 'Sixhaven', the usual yacht harbour here in Amsterdam is quite busy as it is both weekend and nice weather. So it was good to arrive early (about midday) and get a nice comfortable box. Gwilym flies back to London this afternoon and Hans will join me for the final leg to Alkmaar on Sunday