Here we are in Kings Cross again. Slightly nervous as Sava, our cat, disappeared from here a year ago. We’ve chosen a different mooring though, Battle Bridge Basin, what a location!

Et voilà, our view towards the basin:

And Natascha’s view towards the kitchen area:

Gosh, the area has changed so much – all the grubby corners are gone, so are the clubs where we used to go out. Instead the Granary Square looks sanitized, on the one side there is Central Saint Martin’s (CSM), opposite is a plush Waitrose where wealthy students buy their plastic wrapped food. Google UK is about to open their HQ too, who knows what the consequences for the area will be. One thing is for sure, it doesn’t necessarily help the local youth from less well heeled backgrounds. What is offered or available in this area is all very much out of reach for them. This creates cracks in society and the outcome is ugly: social segregation of the worst kind, ghetto vs swanky. One next to each other.

On a windy night, we were watching a movie, our barge was moored on the tow path and we had two other boat moored on ours, we could feel that somebody was jumping on our boat. This is unfortunately an occurrence every now and then but we didn’t pay much more attention. There was a second sudden jump and that was it, Natascha went to see what was going on. There they were, young kids probably from the council estates near by, really young children around 10 – 12 years old, brandishing a rather large knife and cutting the ropes of our boat! Luckily we used three ropes as one was severed already and they were just about to cut the second one, it was half way cut. So we lost two ropes, that’s about £50. Fortunately we had a spare one. And fortunately too, we were on the boat, this would have been a really annoying situation, finding your boat on the other side of the canal and not being able to reach it.

On the way to Angel, we had to stop at the water point near City Road, Panayotis from Mazi was having a stroll along the tow path. Adnan discussed with Panayotis how to integrate the MAZI research into the boattr project, innstalling the first MAZI toolkit on Quintessence when it becomes available.

Angel/Islington moorings are rather beautiful, located just before the tunnel, but it is a 7 day stay only. We were lucky and found a spot next to Adam a fellow boater whom we’ve seen before. Shortly after we arrived his carbon monoxide alarm went off and he stormed out of the boat, there was a problem with the gas cylinder or pipe or something. And he had to go away, abroad, as in now! Natascha agreed to look after his boat and wait for the Calor gas mechanic to come and have a look. So, Mr Calor Gas arrived later that evening from quite afar to find out that the gas cylinder was in fact – empty! The very last gas squeezing itself out stinks and can increase the carbon monoxide… we learned something new and very useful, indeed!

‘Angelic’ spring light coming through the window…

Boat neighbours having fun with cutting wood, most probably annoying people from the posh houses above… but hey, work has to be done.

We arrived in De Beauvoir Town, where our dear friends from Urban Upholstery have their shop. The time has arrived for the interior renovation of the boat. There was a lot of work ahead of us – carpets had to be ripped out, cladding put up, new solid wood flooring to be laid etc. One week, many tasks.

The downside was, that Natascha was diagnosed with lyme’s disease and wasn’t exactly in ‘renovation’ shape. Adnan on the other hand was in top form, cutting and hammering like there was no tomorrow, just at the paint job he wasn’t excelling. Well, that was Natascha’s task then, quietly painting the cladding. And our friends from UU upholstered the sofa, made cushions – all in all it went smoothly and Quintessence looked transformed, that stinking awful carpet was finally gone, she looks much brighter, finally a boat to live in, see for yourself:

It’s a privilege really to moor up next to “The Village Butty” the community boat for bargees and non-bargees alike. Step into the magic world of bargees, where game nights, concerts and “how to toilet composting” events take place. All very necessary, insightful and great fun. On special days you even get oysters – what a treat (for those who like ’em).

It was Adnan’s birthday and we headed to Ombra Bar for delicious food, one of our all time favourites, like in the olden days when we lived in Hackney. On the way back we went for a game night to the Village Butty – what a lovely way to celebrate a birthday!

Herdford Union really is one of the nicest canal stretch to moor up in East London. Right next to Victoria Park, this side is quiet and really handy for the cat, a huge garden to explore. And ducks to chase… And to hang out in the huge boat kitchen…

Lunch or dinner? Or both, there are three. So maybe breakfast too…

It was also time to think about the refurbishment of Quintessence. The boat painter was arranged, the wet dock booked for later on in June. The photo of the writing was for our friend to figure out how the new one could look like. A simple and neat font is what we had in mind and no scrolls, for sure. It’s a matter of taste, we think, traditions are here to challenge or transform, which doesn’t mean we don’t respect them. But if things need to be the same old way all the time, it becomes dogmatic.

It’s January 2016, a cold but sunny day and the cruise yesterday was supposed to be nice and easy towards Mile End. But it wasn’t. We were already on the Regents Canal when the rattling started all over again, until the engine went silent. We were right in the middle of the canal and the only thing we could do was calling pedestrians on the tow path for help. One guy was kind enough to stop so we could throw the rope and he pulled us on to the canal edge. Thank you sir! Really, a very big thank you.

What the heck was wrong with the engine now? We pulled Quintessence to the spot we intended to moor, it wasn’t that far away and we managed easily. And then we remembered what Dominic said about the filter, it might be full of sludge, hence no fuel going through to the engine.

A new filter had to be ordered online, it arrived and Anton came around to help Adnan with exchanging it. Upon starting the engine Quintessence started rattling, shaking, coughing vigorously – we all thought she won’t make it but hey, she did!

The new and shiny diesel filter:

Finally we went back to normal, we could charge the batteries, we had hot water again and could shower on the boat. Though not having hot water was a welcome excuse to go over to friends to have a bath. Luckily we were in their neighborhood.

It’s post Christmas, which we spent back in Switzerland in central heated homes, that was quite a treat. On top we received a very suitable present from Adnan’s brother, the treat of the treats! Le mini Raclette, candle powered. We both love this typical Swiss cheese dish, especially on a cold winter day. Thank you Nils & Amy!

We headed to Limehouse Basin and were lucky enough to find a spot overlooking the basin. As Natascha said in an earlier post, cruising through London is full of joys and that one definitely is. Easy to reach friends and work and the view is fabulous.

Then one night we wanted to charge the batteries by running the engine. Well, the engine simply ‘died’ after jolting for a minute. Adnan tried again, full throttle, nothing – nada, nichts, niente! What on earth happened?! We needed the energy as during winter our solar panels don’t produce anything, of course, so quite frankly: What the fuck?

We went out for a meal nearby and, whilst charging our computer in the restaurant, Adnan had an ‘enlightening’ moment. Diesel, maybe the tank was empty. Though we filled it up to the brim in November and that should last for a good six months if not longer. So, we went back and we took out the measuring stick and there was the result: empty tank! Somebody must have emptied our tank at some point, there are also pirates on the British Waterways, no doubt and somebody had a little refill for his/her boat.

We called Dominic, the owner of the coal, gas & fuel barge whether he will come down to Limehouse any time soon. Luckily enough he did, the following day he had to come down to refill the barge with supplies for us boaters. We got our tank filled and Dom’s advice was to get a lock for the fuel tank – we will for sure! This was perfect timing as in fact we had to move on, else, the CRT enforcement team wouldn’t have been happy.

The joys of London cruising is unlimited and when you end up in a place like Three Mills, you either love it or hate it. There is nothing in between. Adnan loves it, Natascha hates it. There you go, a proper relationship dilemma.

It’s a hyper industrialised location where the visitor moorings are and on the other side of the canal is the Blackwall Tunnel Approach, meaning: cars, cars, cars – the air pollution is, quite literally, breathtaking.

Below some photos from the view of our mooring spot:

On 2 December it was time to move on despite strong winds. Adnan wasn’t around and it was Nat’s turn on the tiller and with those strong winds it wasn’t exactly the best moment for a ‘first time alone cruise’. Luckily it was really a very short trip, and not conform to CRT rules, but hey, sometimes you have to break them.

She crashed into the already moored boat, of course, choosing the beginning of Hertford Union canal proofed not to be suitable, the winds got properly channelled and Nat lost control. On top the neighbour complained that she doesn’t like if boats double moor on hers… well, that’s boaters life in London, darling. But it had to do for the night. We don’t like it either but as the boats increase there isn’t any other solution. Unless CRT would install more mooring, but that is another discussion.

Adnan came back and we moved the boat near to Anton’s. We ended up opposite where hot tubs were installed along the canal. On the one side this is our view:

On the other side, that strange Arcelormittal Orbit, which illuminates the misty Londoner night sky somewhat nicely.

But if you know the story behind this steel sculpture, then one wonders whether it was really necessary to built it in the first place. Anish Kapoor’s sculptures are usually sublimely beautiful, but something went wrong here. Maybe because Boris Johnson was involved?

It was getting cold now as can be seen in the photos above, nights were nippy. Still during the day the sun managed to come out and did light magic inside the boat:

The birds gathered and discussed it seemed. Was there another storm on its way? Was this the sign? Autumn at its best with a number of storms criss-crossing the UK.

And so it was, the second storm coming down on us. It’s a different matter to experience wind on a boat, even if it’s on a narrow water way, it pulls on the ropes, things fly through the air if not tied down, even to keep the camera steady is a little bit challenging.