Each year I keep a check on the use I've made of Starcross- partly to justify to myself the not inconsiderable investment that goes into the upkeep of a narrowboat - but mainly just out of interest. I count the number of days I've spent aboard, the distance travelled and the locks passed through.
Here are 2011's totals compared with previous years:
Year Days Miles Locks
2011 84 518 284
2010 69 508 276
2009 62 415 230
2008 64 396 206
2007 41 344 181
2006 60 514 378
2005 63 520 777
As expected, in the first full year of my retirement I spent more days on board, although not as many as I'd hoped due to moving house twice and finding a lot more work than anticipated needed doing on the second house. The mileage and lockage totals show that the time I did spend aboard was more leisurely - again as expected - with the 15 extra days producing only 10 extra miles and 8 more locks than last year.
My use of Starcross seems to be increasing slowly each year with the obvious exceptions being 2007, when she was out of commission for three months awaiting a new engine and 2005, when the high number of locks was due to being moored in the middle of the Lowsonford flight on the southern Stratford, when we had to pass through at least 14 locks just to turn round! (The 2005 figures include the last few weeks of 2004, when I owned Starcross but couldn't use her very much due to winter stoppages).
As usual, the annual totalling-up doesn't quite match the running totals I keep posted in the sidebar and as I have no independent record of these I have adjusted them (slightly) to match the figures above.
I wonder what 2012 will bring? I have great plans, but who knows whether they will come to fruition.. .
2 comments:
Make use of the boat, it does not get any cheaper as time goes by!
One other potentially useful - and easy - thing to record might be the engine hours.
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