On Schedule !

Planning for the First Trip

The first trip is being covered in two parts. The first part is being drafted before the boat is finished and covers preparation for the first trip - from launch site to marina, a distance of 100 lock miles. The second part of the story will cover the journey itself.

Our plans are slightly handicapped because we don't know what time of day we'll be able to set off. We might be lucky to start cruising around midday if the boat is moved by lorry first thing in the morning. If not, we'll probably delay the start of the trip until first light the following day. Anyway, before we start we have to arrange a few things.

The plan is to take the car to the boat at the start of the day and cruise during daylight hours. When the light fades or we reach a suitable location we'll moor up and summon someone to take us back to our car, leaving the boat moored on the towpath overnight. We'll repeat the exercise each day until we get to our ultimate destination which we hope to reach after three day's cruising.

Even for something as simple as this we'll need to make some purchases. We need windlasses, mooring pins, ropes and a hammer. The journey entails two tunnels so we need to get a tunnel light and borrow a battery for it. We'll also need a horn, but one of the butane gas cylinder jobs will do for a start. Next we'll need a few creature comforts like a toilet. We'll borrow a Porta-Potti for the journey - we intend to buy one as a back-up eventually but if we buy it now we'll need to store it while we fit the boat out, so we'll just borrow one for the journey and give it back afterwards. We also need a chair so that, if it rains, the crew member can shelter in some comfort.

As we're leaving the boat unattended at night we need to be able to lock it. The front door and hatches are being secured from inside before we collect the boat and a hasp and staple are being fitted to the rear door, so we need a padlock. We need Nicholson's so we know when we're approaching a lock or sensible mooring space. A first aid kit and fire extinguisher will also be added to the list. We've ordered the front button and rear fender and we'll fit these before we set off.

We'll also take with us a means to heat something to drink and eat - we know what the weather can be like in mid October and, if it is cold or damp, we'll probably welcome something warm inside us. We'll take the water and other ingredients for tea making, plus a kettle and saucepan. Then there's the warm clothing and the waterproofs, hopefully only for use in the tunnels, but you never know. Finally, although we're not mechanically minded, we'll toss in a few basic tools and something to wipe and dry our hands with.

As soon as we have confirmation of the delivery date we'll also need to arrange insurance for the boat. That was another problem area. We contacted a number of companies advertising boat insurance. We told them what we were planning to do and asked for a quotation. Over 50% didn't bother to reply. Of the remainder, three supplied similar quotes and a couple asked some really silly questions. In the end we took the first and, as it happens, cheapest response that we got.

And we mustn't forget the licence. We'll pay a year up front as this saves us around 10%. We'll also have to part with the mooring fee, also payable in advance. And we haven't really started spending yet.

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