Remiss of me, we now have a State of Gracie Facebook page and so this tends to be updated rather than the blog. So much has and hasn't happened since last posting.
Gracie has now been out of the water, in dry dock; we have to have some welding done; painting the exterior has started and interior is starting to take shape.
We blacked her ourselves at Portland Basin Marina at the end of the Peak Forest Canal. It was reopened in 2000 as part of the Huddersfield Canal reopening. Lovely people, can recommend it as an excellent place to have work done.
The gas locker floor needs replacing, combination of water underneath in the water tank, a slight lip where the water should drain and gas bottles grinding into metal meant a small hole developed. So we are getting a new floor welded in, the lip removed and some hardwood strips to rest the bottles on. The welder says it has happened previously, so a design fault.
The dogs continue to love this life. We are travelling along the entire Peak Forest Canal and going down into Manchester, via Stalybridge, or StalyVegas, as it is known locally!
We are slowly getting to know boaters and organisations, we have joined the National Association of Boat Owners and Stella has attended the boater's meeting in Birmingham and the Manchester and Peninne AGM. We have also put our money where our mouth is and become Friends of CRT; meaning that we are sponsoring CRT as well as paying a licence.
Have a good summer everyone
