Mermaid’s Meanderings

[Lulu]

17th February 2024

Well the big day finally arrived, pick up Mermaid day. We had an easy drive to Horning and got there about 8.30. We were a bit worried about the road being flooded. It wasnt too bad and I came equipped with wellies. Desmond isnt a fan of water but he sloshed his way through.  We got the keys and I hastily put blankets on the sofa. Desmond got on board with ease, found his spot on the sofa and went to sleep. Not phased at all.  Graham took the car to Stalham.  Chris from NYA brought him back and after handover we set off back to Stalham. We cannot fault NYA. The team are absolutely brilliant to deal with.  
 

The river levels were high but we knew we wouldn’t have to worry about Ludham bridge. We both took it in turns to helm to get used to the different handling and being aware of more boat behind us and the bow being only a few feet away.  I decided to be brave and took her under Ludham Bridge. I couldnt see the path either side as it was under water so but we got through safely …phew! 
 

We waved at Pipedreams who suddenly seemed very high up and had an absolutely delightful cruise up the Ant. It was such a treat to be sitting whilst helming. Heating on. At one point we did see what it was like with the roof back but not for long. Cannot wait for the warm weather.   Graham took over to put her back in our mooring. It was a bit tricky. We are used to a bow thruster and Mermaid does like to crab to starboard in reverse but he did brilliantly and after a couple of attempts got safely in. I then drove to Wroxham to get another set of keys cut while Desmond helped Graham sort things out on the boat.  I also bought some new boat slippers for both of us along with much needed sustenance in the form of sausage rolls. 
 

It was a long day but we are so happy. I knew she would be a game changer for us. I know it was really hard for Graham saying goodbye to Luna but we were getting more restricted with our back and knee issues so a ‘bungalow’ boat was the way to go.  
 

I didnt take many pictures. There was a lot to do and also a lot of concentration learning how she handles but now really looking forward to settling down and off on our meanderings. 
 

[Lulu]

Lo and behold, here she is on our maiden voyage along with Pipedreams!

 

[kpnut]

On first watch, I thought Mermaid looked rather a strange shape. Then I realised the first boat on the video wasn’t you!

[astonsong]

We passed you near Istread we were on Robinsong Mermaid looked very smart

[SwanR]

Congratulations again Sam. Great to hear that you’ve already been able to get afloat and start getting used to her.  

[gancanny]

have a look at this

[gancanny]

didnt realise it had already been posted,  doh 

[Bikertov]

18 hours ago, kpnut said:

On first watch, I thought Mermaid looked rather a strange shape. Then I realised the first boat on the video wasn’t you!

You should have gone to SpecSavers 

[Bikertov]

It is lovely to see Mermaid on the river, and I wish you all the best in your many hours, days and years of boating on her 

[Lulu]

We’ve made a few visits over the last few weekends to the marina to get jobs done, including fitting a new water pump as the pressure valve wasnt working, and a Victron battery charger which Graham is loving as he can monitor things from an app on his phone. We measured the holding tank and water tank as we had no idea of capacity and will be fitting gauges at some point. We put up a cupboard on the wall for extra food storage and basically a lot of sorting out finding places to put things.  We are absolutely determined not to have so much on board.  We ended up with a ridiculous amount of stuff on Luna for those ‘just in case’ we need it times. 

I will admit downsizing has been a lot harder than we thought but we are getting there. The main issue is trying to keep out of the way when Graham is pulling things apart!  Desmond and I sat in the bedroom until order was restored.   The BSS was done a couple of weeks ago and passed with flying colours.  

We are in a debate about the loo. We feel its using way too much water and we dont know how full or empty the holding tank is at the moment unless we pull the wall panel off and tap the side of tank.   We are going to see how things go on our week onboard that’s coming up then maybe go for an electric one which I believe uses less water?    
 

[Mouldy]

What type of loo do you currently have, Sam?

[Lulu]

7th March 

Graham was owed some hours so left work at lunchtime and we both booked Friday off as we decided we needed a proper shakedown weekend  and actually stay onboard before our week’s holiday to make sure we had everything or needed to change anything. We arrived at the marina mid afternoon after following a very slow police escort from Acle and it was too late to go out so reluctantly stayed in the marina.  We had our first meal on board using what Kate told me is the magic table. Ingenious design how it just pulls out from the bow.   The new cupboard proved invaluable in storing all the dry goods and things we use all the time.  An Amazon flatpack purchase for £37. Bargain! 8th March

Woke up to a beautiful day and set off early. Destination Ranworth. Had the most lovely cruise. I dont mind being so low down. As I think Ray said, you see the wildlife up close. The Ant was quiet. No one about at How Hill. The bridge marker was measuring a lot different to a few weeks ago.  The wind was increasing though as we got to Ranworth. There were a few other boats when we arrived. Graham reversed  and Mermaid did her crabbing to starboard thing. This is our main worry. We are used to a bow thruster but know its just a matter of practice and getting used to the different handling.   I took Desmond for a walk before I gave Mermaid a good clean.  We then spent the rest of the afternoon lounging about watching the very choppy water.  The wind eventually died down a bit. 
 

9th March

Woke up after a bit of a disturbed night. Desmond didnt want to sleep in his new ‘donut’ bed so ended up in the saloon with me and the geese woke us up having some sort of party when it was still dark and a lot of rope creak which we just couldnt resolve but it was quite breezy and choppy on the broad. Think I’ll swap Desmond’s bed for his old cave bed which takes up less space anyway.  This was the whole point of the weekend, to see what was working and what wasnt for us.   The sun was shining again , beautiful blue sky and we set off quite early as we had a family celebration in the evening at home.  Graham and I practiced stern mooring at Ranworth island for a while before setting off for another stunning cruise, heating on and sitting comfortably. I cant say how much this has changed things for the better. Standing for hours with no heating in the helm on Luna wasn’t doing our old bones any good!    We got back into our mooring better than last time! It was nice to visit Ranworth while its still free.  Some more tweaks to do, little stuff like putting up some hooks, changing the tv aerial, putting down some more treadmaster pads and adding caravan step in the stern well.   The other thing that has been brilliant is how dry Mermaid is. Hardly any condensation both mornings.  
 

We got home at lunchtime with the intention on tackling the garden on Sunday but rain stopped play. Cant believe how lucky we were with the weather while we were onboard.  More meanderings to come….

[Lulu]

49 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

What type of loo do you currently have, Sam?

Jabsco with what i think is such a complicated system (for me to remember anyway) - pump water in, do your thing, pump out. Im just used to a foot pump and its gone arrangement on Luna 😂

[Mouldy]

6 minutes ago, Lulu said:

Jabsco with what i think is such a complicated system (for me to remember anyway) - pump water in, do your thing, pump out. Im just used to a foot pump and its gone arrangement on Luna 😂

Yeah, I think you mean you have a Jabsco manual flush loo and you possibly had a Traveller (Thunderbox) loo on Luna.  Not sure if you’d be able to fit a Traveller toilet, as the holding tank is directly under the seat.  You could convert to a macerating one, similar to the one Paul fitted in NL, but we find that they use more water than a manual flush.

If conserving capacity in your black water tank is a priority, just remember Griff’s saying: if it’s yellow, let it mellow, but if it’s brown, flush it down! 

Fortunately, the waste tank on NL is massive - so much so that we’ve had to have a filter fitted on the tank vent, to try and stop the obnoxious odour that developed after a few days use.  

[Lulu]

Yep Traveller on Luna. Much more simpler arrangement!  We just want to know how full the holding tank is without having to dismantle the side panel.  Sounds disgusting but with the Traveler you could just look down the hole. Hope people dont read this while eating their dinner! 

[JawsOrca]

It sounds like you need a dipstick for the waste tank Sam ;)

Was the boardwalk up to Ranworth Broad open if you got that far.. strangely was shut the other week I fancied a wander.

[Lulu]

2 minutes ago, JawsOrca said:

It sounds like you need a dipstick for the waste tank Sam ;)

Was the boardwalk up to Ranworth Broad open if you got that far.. strangely was shut the other week I fancied a wander.

I’m not sure where the dipstick would reside after its first plunge 😂

I didnt go to the boardwalk. Im not sure you can take dogs but someone did tell me it had been shut, possibly flooding? 

[ExSurveyor]

I fitted an external sensor to my waste tank some years ago. It is a pair of wired metallic strips that lead to a digital lights guage.

It tends to be a guide rather than an exact reading. It shows E, 1/4 1/2 3/4 and full. We know we have a couple of days grace when the red light comes on.

All you need is access to one side from top to bottom.

We opted for this type rather than an intank sensor.

I have no idea what make it is but can check over Easter if it helps.

[Lulu]

16 minutes ago, ExSurveyor said:

We opted for this type rather than an intank sensor.

I have no idea what make it is but can check over Easter if it helps.

If you could , that would be great 👍 

Graham has just asked do you have a plastic or stainless steel holding tank. Ours is stainless steel 

[ExSurveyor]

Good point

It is moulded fibreglass.

[kpnut]

Excellent Sam. Enjoyed reading that. I too think that potentially the electric wc uses more but you can somehow learn to use minimal (and I follow Malcolm’s/Griffs words when on my own). The manual pump one is more difficult to get away with using less. 
I still reckon with the capacity of your tank you’ll be fine for a couple of weeks between you if careful. 

[Robin]

1 hour ago, Mouldy said:

Fortunately, the waste tank on NL is massive - so much so that we’ve had to have a filter fitted on the tank vent, to try and stop the obnoxious odour that developed after a few days use.  

Hi Mouldy

We had the same issue on Kingfisher as it has a 200liter tank, the carbon filter helped  however the easiest and best solution is the add about a liter of blue loo concentrate every time you have  a pump out. we have not had any smells since doing this. ( just add to the loo for the first flush) Boatyards only add enough for a small holding tank and some yards water that down.

[ExSurveyor]

I always add an extra litre of blue, direct down the pan. I was told to do this as the pipe from the tank to the pumpout outlet was quite long. We also put the yard blue straight down from the pan for the same reason.

[Mouldy]

10 minutes ago, Robin said:

Hi Mouldy

We had the same issue on Kingfisher as it has a 200liter tank, the carbon filter helped  however the easiest and best solution is the add about a liter of blue loo concentrate every time you have  a pump out. we have not had any smells since doing this. ( just add to the loo for the first flush) Boatyards only add enough for a small holding tank and some yards water that down.

Thanks on the tip.  I do know that Paul at the yard adds an extra jug of blue when he does a pump out, because the tank is big, but even then it was becoming a bit noxious as it filled.  We haven’t tried it with the filter fitted yet, but I’m hoping that it will help.

[YnysMon]

7 hours ago, ExSurveyor said:

I always add an extra litre of blue, direct down the pan. I was told to do this as the pipe from the tank to the pumpout outlet was quite long. We also put the yard blue straight down from the pan for the same reason.

When we were discussing loo ‘smells’ at a Moonlight Shadow AGM an year or so ago, one of our members (who also has a share on a narrowboat) said that putting blu directly down the loo was a bad thing, that it would rot the seals of our loos. He suggested putting extra blu down the pump out outlet instead. We have recently been using a ‘pink’ solution which is supposed to be okay for putting down the loo.

I’d be interested in other views on this smelly topic.