It’s the time of year when we have more time to think about what we are going to eat, maybe plan a little more and enjoy the thought and preparation that goes into our meals, especially over the festive period.

Food gifts and decorations hand made with love are so much more personal and meaningful than those shop bought ones which involve a lot of packaging and plastic. Although, my guilty confession during November was buying and consuming (I did share) two of boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates, purely to keep the boxes to give my home made chocolate truffles as gifts later on!

The smell of orange peel drying over the warm stove top and clove studded orange decorations mingling with cinnamon and star anise are a favourite. Dried orange zest is a wonderful addition to casseroles and bakes. Add the peel of a tangerine with a few cloves, star anise and a cinnamon stick to a small pan of water and leave to simmer over the stove to give your boat a lovely hint of Christmas.

CRANBERRIES Although I always like to keep dried ones in for baking etc. I have in years gone by bought fresh or frozen and done little with them, the convenience of a shop bought jar of cranberry sauce is simple and easy. There are lots of ways to use these plump little colourful berries and they marry so well with orange, walnuts, sausage, soft cheese and of course poultry. Add them to a salad of roasted squash, sprouts, red cabbage slowly simmered over the stove top with apple, orange, brown sugar and mixed spice. They are also a tasty addition to homemade bread and stuffing, even if you don’t make your own stuffing from scratch, just add them to shop bought along with some extra herbs and nuts such as walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts.

SAUSAGE ROLLS are so rewarding to make and can have much more flavour than shop bought. A pack of shop bought puff pastry can go a long way. You could split the pack and do half and half with savoury sausage rolls and a sweet mince pie roll. As long as you have a rectangular shape, brush down one edge with beaten egg, place the filling down the middle in a sausage shape, fold over, seal and brush the top with the rest of the egg (or milk) before baking. Remember to make a few slits in each one after cutting into individual rolls, sprinkle the top with a little sugar if doing the mince pie version, or finely grated cheese, sesame or poppy seeds if savoury. Instead of cranberry sauce you could use mango chutney or any other fruit chutney with the sausage meat, add a bit of dried stuffing for extra texture if you like. A vegetarian version would be to use very finely chopped onion, peppers and mushroom fried with lentils, sweet potato and Moroccan spices with which dried apricots or prunes work well.

Bay, sage and rosemary are the woody herbs we love to use at this time of year. They marry perfectly with tray roasted potatoes and vegetables, compliment meats and stuffings and add a wonderful flavour when infused in milk for any white sauce or gratin recipe. The spices of nutmeg, star anise and cinnamon are equally wonderful.

I’m sharing a few one pot fuss free festive dishes, which may be cooked over the stove (instead of in the oven) on those cold days when the fire is in all day. I’ve also got with some little extras and tips along with some sweet delights.

TURKEY ONE POT WITH RED CABBAGE AND APPLE This would serve four and will freeze or keep in the fridge for a few days, the quantities can easily be halved for less. This recipe would also work with pork steaks.

6 tsp vegetable oil
2tsp balsamic vinegar
4 turkey breast steaks
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove crushed
500g red cabbage, finely shredded
225g raw baby beetroot, peeled and cut into wedges
2 red apples, thinly sliced
finely grated, zest and juice of 1 orange
1½ tsp light muscovado sugar
400g tin green lentils, drained
4tbsp chicken or vegetable stock
1tsp wholegrain mustard pinch salt and black pepper

Mix 2 tsp of the oil with 1tsp of the vinegar and lightly brush over the turkey steaks, season with the salt and pepper, set aside to marinate while you make the braised red cabbage. Heat 3 tsp of the oil in a flameproof casserole dish (approx. 3 litre capacity) and gently fry the onion for a couple of minutes, add the garlic. Remove from the heat and add the cabbage, beetroot, apple, orange zest and juice, remaining vinegar and sugar. Lightly season and stir everything together. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook in a moderate (170/gas3) oven (or over the stove) until the cabbage is just tender, stirring half way through.

Pat the turkey steaks dry with kitchen paper, heat a frying pan with the remaining oil. Add the turkey steaks and cook on one side only for a minute or so until browned. Stir the lentils into the red cabbage, then place the steaks on top, browned side up. Combine the mustard with the stock and pour over the top. Cover and return to the oven or stove for a further 20 minutes until the cabbage is tender and the turkey is cooked through.

SPICED SAUSAGE ROLLS

1 tbsp oil ½ onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
½ tsp each chilli powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric
100ml red wine
squeeze of lemon juice
400g sausage-meat
pack puff pastry (approx 320g)
1 egg beaten

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, cook for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes until soft. Add the spices and cook for a minute or two to release the flavours. Pour in the red wine and let it bubble for a few minutes to reduce, remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, then allow to cool. Combine the sausage-meat with the spice mixture and mix well.

Roll out the pastry onto a floured surface, cut into two rectangular oblongs. Brush one long edge with the beaten egg. Then with floured hands make a long sausage shape with the mixture and place over the pastry. Pull the pastry over the filling to seal the edges over the beaten egg side by pressing firmly together, carefully roll over to make sure the edges are stuck together. Cut into individual sausage rolls and place onto a lined baking sheet. Make two slits in each roll using scissors to snip v shapes out of the pastry. Brush with the rest of the beaten egg and cook in the preheated oven for about 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack, this helps keep the bottom of the roll crispy.

SWEET POTATO AND CHICK PEA HARISSA ROLLS (Makes 16)

1 pack ready made puff pastry
2 small sweet potatoes, very finely diced
1 tin chick peas, reserve the liquid
½ red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 heaped tsp harissa spice mix
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp poppy or sesame seeds

Toss the potatoes in a little olive oil and salt and pepper, then roast in the oven for about 15 minutes. Gently fry the onion with the garlic and spices, add the tomato puree, sweet potato and chick peas. Combine everything together. Add a little of the chick pea liquid and then use a potato masher or fork to squash the mixture a little. Roll out the ready-made puff pastry on a floured surface and cut into two large rectangles, place the filling mixture in a sausage down the middle about 2cm from the edge, roll over and seal the edges. Brush the top with the chick pea water and sprinkle with the seeds. Bake in a 180 oven for about 20 mins until golden brown on top.

FESTIVE SIDES

• For glazed root vegetables, use equal quantities of (about 2 tbsp) of vegetable oil or light olive oil with honey or maple syrup.
• Roasted sprouts and shallots marry well with finely paired orange zest and juice with oil and a sprig of thyme. Use 2 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp honey and the juice of 1 orange. Or use balsamic vinegar instead of orange.
• For any tray roast veggies, ensure they are cut into equal sized pieces to ensure even cooking.
• Add a few finely chopped rosemary or sage leaves to your Yorkshire pudding mix for extra flavour.
• When seasoning your roasties, ditch the table salt for Malden sea salt flakes, they are the best and make all the difference! Use freshly ground black pepper.
• Crispy roast potatoes give better results when par boiled, dry the moisture and steam off wrapped in a t towel, then make sure the roasting tray is hot before they are tossed in oil, herbs and seasoning to roast in the oven. It’s not essential to par boil and sometimes can make one pan too many, but it will give nice rough edges to your roasties and they will be crispy on the outside yet fluffy in the middle. We know not to waste the water and re use it for other veggies, soup or stock.
• Carrots and parsnips cut length-ways and roasted with 2 tbsp honey, 1tbsp oil and 1tbsp wholegrain mustard combine well together for a tasty twist. Swap the mustard for fennel seeds for another alternative. It’s not necessary to par boil carrots and parsnips, for best results toss in the oil and roast until just tender then mix the honey, orange, fennel, mustard or whatever you’re using and toss through the vegetables to glaze and cook for a further 10 minutes. They can be cooked in advance up to the last step.

ONE POT BRAISED DUCK BREASTS WITH POTATO CELERY AND ORANGE

Pork steaks would work instead of duck and the dish can be cooked over the stove or in the oven.
3 oranges
2 duck breasts, skinless and boneless
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 celery sticks, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
250g new potatoes, halved
75ml vegetable stock
1 star anise
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

Finely grate the zest from two of the oranges. Arrange the duck breasts in a single layer in a dish and sprinkle over the zest, then squeeze the juice from the two oranges over the duck. Turn them over a few times and then cover and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour or overnight. Allow to come to room temperature before cooking and preheat the oven to about 180/gas4. Peel the remaining orange and cut into 8 segments.

Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole and add the onion and celery, fry for a few minutes and add the garlic and star anise, continue to fry for a minute until the onions are soft but not brown. Remove the onions and celery from the pan and set aside. Lift the duck breasts out of the marinade and place in the casserole, spoon the onions and celery mix over them and then pour over the marinade. Add the potatoes and half the orange segments, scattering them around the duck breasts. Pour over the stock and add the chilli and bring to the boil. Cover and cook for about 35/40 minutes until the duck and potatoes are tender, season to taste. Remove the duck breasts from the casserole and slice them. Spoon the other ingredients into a bowl and top with the sliced duck, then spoon the juices over. Garnish with the few reserved orange slices.

CRANBERRY BREAD PUDDING

This is a deliciously satisfying pudding, full of chocolate fruitiness with a hint of spice and quick and easy to make.

6 thick slices of white bread, cubed
½ cup fresh cranberries
10 squares of dark chocolate
¼ cup toasted almond flakes
¼ cup sugar
2 tbsp butter
4 cups milk
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 small stick cinnamon
3 whole cardamon pods, bruised
3 eggs, beaten

For the topping beat together ½ cup melted butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract ¼ cup cream

Preheat the oven to 180/gas 4.

Cover the bottom of a shallow tart or pie dish with the bread. Scatter the cranberries, chocolate and almonds among the bread cubes and sprinkle the sugar on top. In a saucepan, heat the butter milk and coconut oil with the vanilla, cinnamon and cardamon, heat to lukewarm until the butter has melted. Remove the cardamon pods and cinnamon stick. Whisk the eggs into the milk mixture and pour over the bread allowing to soak in. Bake for about 40 minutes until cooked and slightly set. For the topping, beat the ingredients together and spread evenly over the pudding as soon as it comes out of the oven, return to the oven for a further 20 to 25 minutes until nicely browned. Serve with a good thick custard or ice cream.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING TRIFLE This recipe uses warmed up left over Christmas pudding and cold custard and cream for a quick and simple rich dessert. These quantities make two and can easily be doubled for more.

150g leftover Christmas pudding
200g tinned prunes in syrup
1½ tbsp sherry (optional)
250g ready made custard
150ml double cream
whole nutmeg for grating

Warm the Christmas pudding up in the oven with a splash of water for ten minutes or so to heat through. Meanwhile, drain the prunes and reserve the syrup. Remove the stones from about 8 prunes (if not pitted), the others will keep in the fridge in the syrup for another day.

Roughly chop and combine with the sherry and about a tablespoon of the syrup. Break the warm pudding and arrange over the bottom of a dish (or individual tumblers), add the prunes to each one, pushing them down into the pudding, spoon over a little of the boozy syrup to moisten the pudding then spoon over the custard. Whip up the cream until forms soft peaks and spoon over the custard layer. Finish with a finely grated dusting of fresh nutmeg and serve with any remaining syrup.

CHOCOLATE ORANGE AND CRANBERRY ETON MESS

This is quick and easy to prepare, combine all the ingredients and top with whole pieces of chocolate orange and a fresh orange segment. Use whatever quantities you prefer, whether you like more cream, meringue or fruit, you can’t go wrong.
Ready bought meringue nests A handful of fresh or frozen cranberries Tinned and drained orange segments (or fresh orange) Freshly whipped cream Broken chocolate orange pieces and whole segments to top
For a little extra festive indulgence add a splash of brandy!

MINCEMEAT LOAF CAKE

225g self-raising flour
150g light brown soft sugar
150g butter or margarine
425g mincemeat
2 eggs
50g blanched almonds
A small handful of glacé cherries

Lightly grease and line two small loaf tins and preheat the oven to 160/gas 2. Combine the flour and sugar, add the eggs, butter and mincemeat. Beat together until everything is mixed well. Divide between the two tins and arrange the halved blanched almonds and glacé cherries over the top. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 mins, cool on a wire.
Finish by brushing with warm marmalade melted in a pan and a sprinkling of sieved icing sugar.

Hopefully we will all enjoy this season of goodwill and look forward to bright and promising 2025.

The season of Family Gatherings is upon us and as the clock ticks closer to Christmas, many people will find themselves among relatives who they don’t see all that often. And sometimes with good reason; a few sherries in and old Aunty Martha starts trotting out the family stories, “Back when I was a child, my grandfather used to tell me we came off the barges…”

But this is actually a very good time to start researching your family history and sorting out whether Aunty Martha is on to something or talking a load of baubles. With Black Friday adverts still ringing in your ears, you might find yourself clicking buy-it-now on a bargain genealogy subscription and a few clicks later you’re astonished to find that your ancestor does indeed appear to be a boatman. But now what?

Boaters are notoriously difficult to track, so here's a few tips and tricks to help you navigate the murky waters of canal genealogy.

Start with the basics:

1) Talk to people
Still got some older folk in the family? Go ask them for details. Them, their parents, their siblings, their spouse, their in-laws, their grandparents, their cousins, everyone they can recall. Get names, birthdays, places, weddings, occupations, deaths and (this one can be vital so don’t skip it) nicknames. Write it all down, and consider this your shoe-box full of clues, a clue-box if you will.

2) Check for old paperwork.
In a perfect world, you’re looking for Birth, Marriage or Death certificates. These are goldmines of information, as they’ll give you names, dates, places and occupations. They’ll also tell you whether or not your ancestor was literate, and in some cases can give you a specific boat name, which will open up another line of research.
But other papers can be helpful too; newspaper clippings, insurance papers, even receipts can point you in the right direction.

Birth Marriage and Death certificates ©Bill Pearson

3) Check for bibles.
This one is a rare occurrence in boating families, who were often illiterate, but you may find that a family bible has a section in it wherein the owner has noted down names and dates. Sometimes they’re highly specific; the writer of my family’s bible made a point of noting down times and places as well.

Once you’ve got your basic clue-box, put together a rough family tree. You may find it helpful to have a hard copy that you can carry around with you and scribble notes on, as well as making one online. The main genealogy sites have tree inbuilt, which then allows their own technology to suggest relevant information. This leads me to my first word of caution:
Don’t trust the internet!

Don’t get me wrong, the algorithms these sites use to trawl through records and find potentially useful records is very clever, but it is not foolproof. Always check what it’s telling you before you accept it.

‘Ancestry’ in particular will try to link your family tree to other members trees based on matching information, which is fine if that tree owner has got it right. However, I’ve seen trees where people have clicked “accept-hint” on everything and ended up with an ancestor whose first child was born when they were 6, who was buried in 6 different cemeteries and whose mother had died before they were born. Very messy.

Parish Register

So you’ve got your basic family tree and your boating ancestor is Frederick James Bloggs of Braunston, Northamptonshire, but you can’t find him online. Now what?

1) Think laterally
What diminutives come from the name? Start with the obvious, look for Fred instead of Frederick. Adjust the spelling- Blogs or Blogges for example. Sometimes the extra letter is all that’s needed. Then move to the middle name if there’s still no hits; try James or Jim Bloggs.
This is where the nicknames come in, did granny mention a Great Uncle Jemmy?
Especially the further back you go, the more likely you are to come across boaters using by-names. I once spent weeks trawling through records searching for a chap everyone recorded as Harry, but it turned out his name was actually William; he’d gained the name Harry as a young man because he harried the ladies!

2) Sound it out
When faced with an odd name, be it place or person, try saying it out loud to see what else it could sound like.
Always remember that many boaters wouldn’t have been able to read and write, so rarely would they be able to correct any miss-spellings a clerk may have made in their name; for example a vicar recorded William Stirrup, while William himself spelt his name Strup
By the same token, the writer may not be familiar with the dialect the boater is speaking and have gotten it completely wrong – Hardings Wood becomes Arden Wood, Saint Helens becomes Senelen.

3) Follow the waterways
If your elusive ancestor is a boater, there’s a good chance they’re on the move. Follow the canals where you last found them and widen the search.
When you’re searching the censuses particularly, don’t be too alarmed if your ancestor has been missed entirely- their inclusion relies solely on whether their boat was close enough for the census recorder for the area to get to, and whether both the recorder and the boater wanted to speak to one another.

Some censuses and certificates note the name of the boat your ancestor worked on and even the company name, and this will open up a whole new field of study. Post 1877, you may be able to find your ancestor and their boat in a Canal Boat Register. These are absolute goldmines of information, telling you what the boat was carrying, how many people she carried, her cargo, her master and her owner. Toll books too will flesh out the work (although be suspicious to a degree, many records were falsified!)

Canal Boat Registers ©Yorkshire Waterways Heritage Society

Unfortunately, these records are not digitised as a rule and you’ll have to either go to the archives where they’re held or get the archivist to pull the details up for you. Many of these records are held at Ellesmere Port, but some council archives still hold their own registers.

Narrowboat Magazine is a canal-history specific ‘zine with a vast back catalogue of articles covering many companies and canals, as well as waterways subjects (including genealogy), so you may find more tidbits through there.

The newspaper archives can be a source of information too, but keep a level head if you find a juicy story - journalists haven’t changed much over the years – and always be certain that the subject is your ancestor before you get too excited; one lady was extremely disappointed to realise that the subject of a scandalous article wasn’t actually her ancestor, they just shared the same name. Alas, she had already told all her family, which in turn sowed discord among older relatives!

Social media will also be your friend; there are a number of very good groups on Facebook with immensely knowledgeable members willing to help point a newcomer (and sometimes a cousin, for many boat families were inter-related) in the right direction. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, even if it’s just for reading old writing. As a rule, historians love a challenge and will invariably grab new ones with both hands.

So there you have it, a rough guide to researching your boating ancestors. And that just leaves me to wish you all a very merry Christmas!

Last night brought the first deep frost of the year. With the morning sun, our surroundings shone with an ethereal beauty. Jack Frost had been busy overnight.

Jack Frost has an unclear history. There are numerous stories of his origin, but all agree that he brings the frost and ice of winter. In some he is also responsible for colouring the leaves in autumn. The term ‘jack’ was once used similarly to ‘lad’. ‘Jack the Lad’ was used for a brash young man, a bit of a show-off. A jackanapes was a mischievous, impudent rascal. Jack o’ lanterns were lights flickering over a bog, perhaps to mislead travellers. So, Jack Frost’s name would seem appropriate to the stories told of him.

Although drawn in the shape of a person, the character is always ‘other-worldly’, fairy-like, elvish or a sprite. There are frequent crossovers to other personifications of winter such as Old Man Winter.

The earliest printed reference to Jack Frost is a brief mention in a 1734 leaflet called Round About Our Coal Fire, or Christmas Entertainments.2 The author describes the winter season as “when Jack Frost commonly takes us by the Nose”.

In stories, poems and pictures, his age can be young or old, and his character ranges from fun, through mischievous, to being a prankster and occasionally darker and more mysterious. His portrayal is not generally one of kindness.

The 1875 poem 'Little Jack Frost. A Rhyme for Flossie', by Charles Sangster (3) creates a vivid picture of Jack Frost:

‘Nobody saw him, still he was there.
Nose-biting, prank-playing, everywhere,
All through the houses, out in the street,
Capering wildly through storm and sleet.’

The undated poem 'The Frost' by Hannah Gould (1789-1865) (4) takes him one step further, when, in the last verse, frozen fruit and shattered crockery and glass are seen as revenge.

‘But he did one thing that was hardly fair;
He peeped in the cupboard, and finding there
That all had forgotten for him to prepare –
“Now just to set them a-thinking,
I’ll bite this basket of fruit,” said he,
“This costly pitcher I’ll burst in three,
And glass of water they’ve left for me
Shall ‘tchich!’ to tell them I’m drinking.”’

In the short stories of Jack Frost and Betty Snow; with other tales for wintry nights and rainy days, by John M. Chanter et al. of 1858, (5) Jack Frost and his wife are portrayed as even more impulsive spirits who freeze everything and even kill.

I’m hoping that this year, Jack Frost concentrates on his artwork!

References

1. Maxfield Parrish (1936) Jack Frost. Magazine cover for Collier’s.

2. Anonymous (Earlier editions) (1734) Round About Our Coal Fire, or Christmas Entertainments.

3. Charles Sangster (1875) Little Jack Frost. A Rhyme for Flossie.

4. Hannah Gould (undated) The Frost.

5. John M. Chanter et al. (1858) Jack Frost and Betty Snow; with other tales for wintry nights and rainy days.

6. Margaret Tarrant (1927) Jack Frost illustration from 'The Weather Fairies'.

I have been busy winterising a motorcycle engine. What really kills them is water creeping into the electrics either by rain pouring down on them or worse still, condensation, which eventually causes the copper wire to go green and then suddenly what is supposed to be 12 volts is down to 9 or 10, causing all sorts of anxiety on the side of the road.

I work outside for 7 hours a day in all weathers and have become quite used to dealing with winter.  But reading some of the “prepare your boat for winter" articles, one could be cruel and suggest that they are written by journalists that perhaps don’t!!

OK.  I’ve just covered the outboard (it’s the same as motorcycle engine) - a small tin of silicone grease over all the electrical contacts – spark plug caps, coil etc., goes an awfully long way to stopping problems, as does draining the fuel completely (modern corn ethanol fuel is actually Montana moonshine and extremely good at absorbing water, which doesn’t do fuel systems any good). I often wince when people lay up their bikes for the whole of the winter.  My advice is to start that outboard at least once a month or the oil seals etc. will dry out,  causing problems next year.  And don’t forget to grease the steering gear and control cables, if only because they will dry out without use and become heavy and unresponsive. It's worth using a penetrating cleaning fluid (the one that comes in yellow and blue can) to clean off all the old grease first as it hardens over time. If you have an out-board lift tilt and drain it, then bounce it a few times up and down. This does wonders for clearing the grill over the water intake. Inboards are slightly trickier mainly because of the prop shaft. Everyone is used to giving the greaser two turns in summertime but they duly forget it in wintertime and seeing as this grease is the only thing stopping water entering the shaft, plus a strip of greased soaked leather or rope, the results of neglect can be catastrophic. When Dawntreader was diesel powered, I used to drain the fuel tank in winter because the dreaded diesel bug loves the condensation which naturally forms as air heats and cools. So either drain it or brim it. Anything to stop this.

Bilge pumps!! Who ever thought that relying on an automatic anything was a good idea? I have three and only one is electric- the other two are very much manual. Your battery will naturally discharge in the cold and the chances of a failure are incredibly high. Also, nothing beats sticking your head down below the cockpit floor once a week just to double check. I read with interest that two boats went down on the Kennet and Avon after storm Bert, during which,although I don’t know facts, I can assume that 40mm of rain in 24 hours probably contributed.

Next, the hull. We spend a fortune on car products to give them glossy and protected paintwork and we never translate this to anything else. So my advice is a good waxing of the paintwork whatever the hull construction; anything to stop water sitting on flat surfaces and slowly penetrating the base layers where it will freeze and blow. I’ve used this anti- green cleaner: it leaves behind a residue that stops the algae from forming and is exceptional on the canopy, which also needs a coating of silicone based cleaner to help shed the rain. The boat has to breathe, windsocks over vents allows them to be left open without the fear of rainwater pouring in – although storm Bert disproved that theory! Canopies are my biggest fear- ever been in a tent in a storm and seen it blow in and out? My main issue is the wind trying to lift off the pram folders (metal supports) so I have a cleat on the engine cover and a large mooring rope pulling it all down tight. This seems to work, as last weekend was horrendous. Forget the elastic fasteners in winter, they are ideal in summer for quick removal, but the idea is to stop it shaking about which means bolt rope (it’s a sailing term used for rope of about 10mm that strengthened a sail).

Finally chaffing!! Even if you are in a marina, your boat will move back and forth day in, day out. We all use fair-leads (the holders for ropes in the deck) to reduce this. On many tall ships I was on, they even went as far as sewing in leather protectors. Just check around where your lines cross the deck and especially around a cleat where this can go unnoticed.

The best thing you can do for any machine is to use it! We seem to have an inbuilt psychology which says that after November we must all hide away until March. There are some lovely days in winter, why waste them?

In a bid to reduce the number of cases of sticky fuel, River Canal Rescue is advising boaters to change their winter fuel storage strategies.  Sticky fuel is unrelated to the usual fuel contaminants and causes injection pump racks to seize, fuel injector and filter head plungers to fail, and return lines to block.

RCR says a common denominator in all reported cases is the use of fuel treatments. They in themselves are not at fault; but surmise there may be a link with fuel and chemical breakdown when they’ve been stored for a while.

With fuel suppliers advising diesel only has a shelf life of around six months and chemicals starting to break down after this time, RCR is urging boaters to take notice of this new information and take the following action.

Managing director, Stephanie Horton, comments: ” Over winter, where previously I would advise to fill tanks to prevent condensation build-up, best practice now is to leave them empty and upon return, drain off any water build-up, treat the remaining fuel and then add fresh.
“If using a fuel treatment, given we know chemicals start to breakdown within six months and we believe this is one of the contributing factors, use it within six to 12 months of purchase.”

Identifying sticky fuel

To help boaters identify a sticky fuel problem, Stephanie suggests they take a fuel sample and leave it in a clear glass jar on a window cill in the light. Initially, the fuel will be clear, but after a couple of days, if it is affected, it will go from clear to cloudy.
She continues: “If you are worried about your fuel or have symptoms consistent with sticky fuel, doing this test first may prevent you from having to dump what’s in your tank.”

cloudy sticky fuel (right) next to uncontaminated red and white diesel

Fuel removal

If there is an issue, RCR recommends fuel removal and disposal, using a franchise company that removes the ‘wrong fuel’ from vehicles, such as Fuel Doctor or Wrong Fuel etc. These companies have large containers in vans, long hoses and can attend the same day. The cost is £150-£180, with 20 litres of fuel delivered, and more can be requested. If accessibility is a problem, RCR suggests using a boat yard facility to pump it out.

Stephanie concludes: “Once the tank’s refilled with fresh fuel, leave any treatments for a while as fresh fuel appears to clean any residue in the fuel system. Winns injector cleaner is also good at clearing signs of sticky fuel in the system, however in most cases, the fuel will still need to be removed.”

Background

In December 2020, River Canal Rescue reported a rise in the number of call-outs across the UK for fuel-related issues, unrelated to the usual fuel contaminants.

Engineers found cases of seized injection pump racks with blocked nozzles, fuel injector and filter head plunger failures. The culprit was fuel that had left a syrupy and sticky residue in the fuel system, clogging components.

RCR said it was ‘contamination not seen before’, and fuel samples taken from boats were sent away for analysis. Bafflingly the samples were clear - it appears the only indication of contamination is a smell of turps/paint thinners.  This is due to any residue in the fuel being so small it is not able to be collected. Engine distributor Barrus also confirmed the samples it sent off were returned with no issues.

Over the past four years, RCR has been working to identify solutions to this protracted residue build-up, to prevent it clogging up engine components. RCR engineers have however, seen fuel related call-outs (injectors/pumps/contamination etc) continue to rise and believe it’s directly attributed to sticky fuel related issues.

Be in the know

• Sticky fuel occurs in all types of engines, anywhere in the country and with boaters using a range of different fuel suppliers; local fuel supply is not the problem.
• Do not store fuel for more than six months
• Do not store/use fuel treatments for more than a year
• Leave your tank empty over winter
• If there are issues with the engine running and no clear cause – treat with Winns injector treatment to clear suspected signs of sticky fuel

Sticky fuel v contaminated fuel

Sticky fuel looks clear, has no signs of contamination, the filters are clean but injectors and injection pumps collect a sticky residue that stops them operating correctly, producing similar symptoms to contaminated fuel. It can also affect other elements such as return lines, filter plungers and lift pumps.

Contaminated fuel is typically diesel bug, but also water, rust and debris in the fuel. The fuel will look cloudy and have clear signs of contamination causing filters, pipes and pumps to block, and engines to run rough or cut-out, causing vibration and smoke.

During the last couple of years of my Mum’s life (when she was in her late 70s), I’d sometimes ask if she wanted to go out for lunch or come to us for dinner on a particular day and she’d refuse because she was going to the dentist/doctors/opticians that morning; it used to drive me crazy and I’d say to her ‘you can do more than one thing a day Mum’. I was so caught up in the busyness of my own life that I had little patience for anyone who wasn’t living their life at 100mph.

I so regret my attitude and behaviour now my life has changed so much and I can totally relate to wanting to live life at a different pace. For me, it has little to do with getting older and everything to do with choosing not to see busyness as a badge of honour.

My identity used to revolve around trying to pack in as much as I could each and every day and although being very busy and productive clearly fulfilled a need within me, it didn’t truly make me happy; I definitely wasn’t appreciating the present moment, but looking forward to all manner of planned events in the future.

When we sold our house, we spent 8 months living in our touring caravan whilst our narrow boat was being built. Moving into the caravan coincided with another lockdown in November 2020, so life changed dramatically.

When we sold our house, we spent 8 months living in our touring caravan whilst our narrow boat was being built. Moving into the caravan coincided with another lockdown in November 2020, so life changed dramatically.

Mum died in 2019, I was no longer working, we’d sold the house, we were in the middle of a pandemic and we had a narrow boat under construction despite having no boating experience whatsoever.

Sometimes life gives us opportunities for change that take time to understand, let alone embrace; when we’ve always lived life at breakneck speed, we need to adopt a change of pace before we can relax into a different way of life.

Of course, not everyone would make the choices I’ve made; living on a boat isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time, but we loved living in our caravan for those 8 months, so we were confident living on a boat would suit us just fine.

I now understand (and have adopted) my Mum’s ‘one thing a day’ attitude to life. I’m finding removing the need to be productive or to ‘achieve’ allows me to approach each day as it comes and enjoy the day as it unfolds; there are many days when I have no plans at all, yet seem to occupy myself and enjoy the simple things in life. I’m under no illusion that being retired allows me to live the lifestyle I choose, but it is a choice; many people choose to be busy at this age and that suits them too.

This week, we’re on a canal that we love and it’s close to where we lived in the caravan; we know where the best pubs, cafes, farm shops and walks are, so we’ve been able to stop and appreciate everything along the way.

The countryside is beautiful in this area and it’s a joy to walk along local footpaths listening to the sound of crisp newly fallen leaves underfoot. It’s lovely to walk in the afternoon and to see the milky late afternoon light gently envelop the fields as the sun sets…a real joy.

Some of my ‘one things a day’ this week have been a mocha coffee (literally the best mocha anywhere) and a bacon roll in a favourite cafe, several walks through much loved villages, lunch in a local gastropub, yoga (3 times!) on the towpath and chatting with a local lady who we met in lockdown when we were waiting for the boat to be built.

My Mum used to text me sometimes saying ‘I’m enjoying a G & T’ late in the afternoon and I always loved that she said ‘enjoying’ rather than ‘having’ a G & T. Although I had a busy life filled with regular holidays and a job I loved, I wonder how much I allowed myself to ‘enjoy’ those experiences in the moment. My propensity towards performing and perfectionism meant my mind was often tied up in either the past or the future; I was so rarely present.

Life changes for us all and there are opportunities to change direction if we choose to; We’re soon to become great grandparents and the reality of one of our grandchildren becoming a father has been an interesting concept! It’s a leveller when your children start having children, but when your grandchildren start having children, it feels like it’s time to embrace life even more fully.

Despite soon becoming a great grandma, it feels as if I’m only just beginning to know who I am; roles I’ve lived in the past have changed and I’m learning to adapt to the life I’ve chosen now. That’s not to say life is over…far from it! There are places we want to go and things we want to do away from the canals, so we’re making plans for new adventures too.

I’ve felt so grateful this week that I’m in a relationship at this point in my life where we share the same outlook (I won’t say goals as that sounds too ‘driven’); no relationship is perfect, but to be married to someone (for 39 years) who decides to make a loaf of bread and a rice pudding on a Friday morning (that’s 2 things a day!) is a keeper.

Being open to change in later life feels a good thing; I think my Mum would look at my life now and be pleased I’ve adopted her philosophy…after all, Mums do know best.

I don’t stress how I dress👗
because I live on a boat

But my favoured attire is
peaked cap and waist coat 🧢🦺

with sturdy worn boots👢👢
and a bright neckerchief 🧣

I sometimes let slip
those garments underneath 🩲

It’s a shock for gongoozlers📸
Who see more than they ought😱

A bare bottomed boater🍑
Hanging out on their boat