Week in Dry Dock at Stafford Boat Club (Staffs & Worcs Canal)

Monday 10^th to Sunday 16^th August

Our Friendly Winch Crew

We have been in dry dock (well on hardstanding under a cover) this last week at Stafford Boat Club.

Coming into the Boat Club

Being Winched up

Stafford Boat Club is on the Staffordshire & Worcester canal. It is situated in the old Hazlestrine Canal Arm which in years gone by had been used to carry clay and bricks from the Hazlestrine Brickworks and was derelict until the Boat Club took it on and the members have made it what it is today.  It is a lovely place and everyone is really friendly and helpful.

Up She Comes

We had to wait for two boats to go back in the water and then it was our turn to be hauled out of the water and onto the slipway. Kev brought the boat to the bottom of the slipway and you get pulled over onto the bogies and then winched up the slipway, it was all very exciting. The boat rests on the bogies out of the water. Another boat was coming out of the water as well so when we were in place, they did the same to them.

Our Home for the Week

We have proper steps to get on and off the boat and it was all done very professionally.  They even have their own little road sweeper that they use to sweep the hard standing clean in between the boats going back into the water and the next two coming out.

Pulling her into place under the covers

Before and After Pressure Washing

You have to pressure wash the bottom first to get off all the grime, barnacles, etc., and the one they have here is very powerful.  Kev soon got the pressure washer going and it made light work of all the grime, it certainly is very powerful and works a treat.

Being Winched Up

It was a very hot day so the boat didn’t take long to dty, so in the afternoon Kev put the first coat of the blacking on.

Going onto the Hardstanding

Over the week, Kev put another 3 coats on and also tidied up the paintwork at the front and back of the boat and painted the gunwales.

First Coat On

Sometime ago our propeller got bent on something under the water and caused vibration.  We were just going to see if we could bend it back into shape but speaking to other people they said you could but it might need balancing and could cause a bigger vibration, so we decided to go for a new one and a bit bigger as we always felt that the one we had put on when the boat was built was a bit small.

Using the Blow Torch

Pulling Tool on Propeller

Banging it with lump hammers

Gemma Panda Supervising!

We found a chap called Mark who works at Great Haywood marina to do it for us.  He came Tuesday evening just to have a look but then said I might as well do it now while I am here, I bet he wished he hadn't as usually it only takes about 20minutes to get the old one off, but not ours, Kev and Mark both banged it with lump hammers one from each side, but it wouldn't budge. 

Mark brought a tool with him called a puller that he had borrowed from the local boat hire company which has bolts and you put it over the propeller and you tightened up the bolts and it will pull the propeller off, the bolts were too short but fortunately Mark had some so he put the longer bolts on but it still wouldn't come off.  He had to use a blow torch on the shaft as well and after about an hour it eventually came off, it didn’t help that it was very hot and humid, not the best weather for a job like that!

Our Shiny New Propeller

The new one went on a lot easier and Mark had a large spanner with an extension handle on and he put all his weight on to it to do up the nut so I'm confident the new propeller won’t come off when we go back into the water.  So now we have a shiny new bigger propeller, it’s a pity it has to go in the dirty canal water, it won’t be shiny for long then.

She's Looking Good

Mark came back on Wednesday afternoon to do another job for us, we needed the stern gland repacking and he soon did that. He is a really nice guy, very competent and certainly knows his stuff and gets on with the job in hand, he did a great job for us and we won't hesitate to use him again in the future or recommend him.

Our Old Propeller finally off

When Kev repainted our boat a while ago, he only managed to do the name one side, so while we have been here this week, he did the other side so now we have our name on both sides.

On the Slipway

The weather forecast for this week was not good, but we have been very lucky as during the day it has been hot and sunny so we have been able to get the paint on in the dry.

Lock Feature at the Club

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we had thunder storms each evening with spectacular lightening and torrential rain but not much thunder and they were gone by the morning and it was hot and sunny again..  Monday evening the lightening was continuous and lit up the whole sky.  Tuesday evening there was a lovely red sunset before the storm came later on.

Stream That Feeds the Arm

There is a lovely open green space here with trees and a lock feature in the middle.  It’s great as when the work was done each day, we sat outside and there was lots of shade from the trees when it was very hot.  We had our tea outside a few times.  There is a strange looking tree and it resembles Tree Beard from the Lord of the Rings, just hope it doesn’t start walking and talking!

All Done

Apparently the Hazlestrine Arm is private water as it is fed by a stream, so we went to see the stream, if you can call it that, god knows how it feeds the arm but we have been told it does!

About a 10 minute walk from the boat club is a Co-op, a Chemist and a pub called The Wildwood.  We walked up to the Coop a few times during the week.  Also from there you can get a bus to Stafford or Cannock so on Friday we got the bus to Stafford to do some shopping. On the way back, we went in The Wildwood pub and had lunch, it is a sizzling pub and the food was very nice.

Sunset before the Storm

Tree Beard

We have been hearing the ice cream van all week so on Saturday we decided to walk up to Wildwood Park and see if the ice cream van was there so we could have a 99.

We got to the park but guess what no ice cream van to be seen, just our luck.  We sat on a bench for a bit then just as we were leaving, we heard him, he was parked at the top of the park, so we walked up and got a 99 with a flake and raspberry sauce.  We had been waiting all week for one and lovely it was too!

IceCream in the Park

Nice Shiny Side and Bottom

We walked along through the park and back onto the road and back down to the boat club.

Our week in the dry dock has now come to an end, it seems to have flown by.  Tomorrow (Monday) we will be winched back into the water, they usually start about 8.30am to 9am so we had better make sure we are up bright and early.

Boat All Done